Saturday, December 3, 2011 - Out of This World

Introduction

In today's puzzle, Cox and Rathvon take us on a journey into the reaches of outer space. Here is the puzzle - the solution will be posted shortly.

Errata

There are two errors in the solution for today's puzzle published in the December 10^th edition of the National Post. I presume that, at some point in the production process, the clues were revised without updating the solution. As shown below, the correct solution for Clue 21a is INCH (rather than TACT) and for 21d is SIESTA (rather than MTOSSA [Mt. Ossa]). The correct solution is published in the December 17^th edition of the National Post.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

Legend:	"*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed
	"( )" letters inserted; "_" letters deleted; "†" explicit in the clue

Across

1a   PLANE~ - sounds like (sound of) PLAIN (ordinary)

4a   SPACE (WAL<)K - SPACEK (Sissy; American actress and singer Sissy Spacek^[7]) containing (gets) a reversal (reversed) of LAW (†)

9a   {ALTO SAX}* - anagram (maverick) of OX A LAST

10a   PAR(OLE)E - OLE (cheer) contained in (amid) PARE (strip)

11a   ROCK|ET S|HIP - ROCK (shake) + ET'S (extraterrestrial's) + HIP (chic)

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial^[7] (often referred to simply as E.T.) is a 1982 American science fiction film co-produced and directed by Steven Spielberg which tells the story of a lonely boy who befriends an extraterrestrial, dubbed "E.T.", who is stranded on Earth, and the efforts of the boy and his siblings help the extraterrestrial return home while attempting to keep it hidden from their mother and the government.

12a   OWED~ - sounds like (to audience) ODE (poem)

14a   _ET HAN_ - hidden (some) in pockET HANdkerchiefs

Ethan Hawke^[7] is an American actor, writer and director.

16a   K(ITCH)EN - KEN (understanding) containing (about) ITCH (yen)

18a   PYRAMID* - anagram (convertible) of MY RAPID

19a   RE|EVE - RE (regarding) + EVE {Ms. Arden; American actress Eve Arden^[7] (1908 – 1990)}

Christopher Reeve^[7] (1952 – 2004) was an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, author and activist. He achieved stardom for his acting achievements, including his notable motion picture portrayal of the fictional superhero Superman.

On May 27, 1995, Reeve became a quadriplegic after being thrown from a horse in an equestrian competition in Virginia, requiring him to use a wheelchair and breathing apparatus for the rest of his life. Following this accident, he lobbied on behalf of people with spinal cord injuries, and for human embryonic stem cell research.

21a   _INCH - FINCH (songbird) with the first letter deleted (after the first)

22a   {BUCK ROGERS}* - anagram (punk) of ROCKER BUGS

In North America, punk (as an adjective) can mean in poor condition^[5], of poor quality^[3], inferior^[2,4], rotten^[4], worthless^[2,3,4]. This sense of the word was either missing from British dictionaries or was identified as a North American usage.

26a   S(WE)DISH - WE (†) contained in (put in) {S (small) + DISH (platter)}

27a   P|REST|ON - ON (riding) following (behind) {P (posse's leader; i.e., leading letter of Posse) + (and) REST (others)}

Sergeant Preston of the Yukon^[7] was a long-running American radio and television series. Debuting in 1938 under the title Challenge of the Yukon (the title changed in 1951), the series ran on radio until 1955 and on television from 1955 to 1958. The program was an adventure series about Sergeant William Preston of the North-West Mounted Police (the forerunner to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police) and his lead sled dog, Yukon King, as they fought evildoers in the Northern wilderness during the Gold Rush of the 1890s.

28a   A|STRONAUT* - A (one) + an anagram (flying) of TO SATURN

This is a clue type known as an & lit. (or all-in-one). The entire clue serves both as the definition as well as the wordplay. The solution is an example (as indicated by the question mark) of someone who might be flying to Saturn.

29a   RAYED~ - sounds like (in the sound) RAID (attack)

Down

1d   PE(A GREE)N - PEN (write) containing (about) AGREE (assent)

"Soupy tone" is a cryptic definition (as indicated by the question mark) for this colour shade.

2d   AN|TIC - AN (article) + (with) TIC (odd mannerism)

3d   _E|A|STERNER|S_ - hidden in (inside) havE A STERNER Spirit

4d   {SI|XES}< - reversal (brought back) of {SEX (taboo subject) + IS}

Six is a cardinal (or cardinal number)^[2,3,4].

5d   APPOINTED* - anagram (crackers) of AND POTPIE

6d   EYRE~ - sounds like (outspoken) AIR (aura)

Jane Eyre^[7] is a novel by English writer Charlotte Brontë that was first published in 1847.

7d   A|L(LOW)ANCE - {A (†) + LANCE (spearman)} containing (pockets) LOW (†)

A cavalry lancer is also known as a lance^[3]. This may be a North American usage, as I did not find it in Chambers, Collins, or Oxford.

8d   KNEADS* - anagram (all about) of ASK NED

13d   CH(A|RIOT)EER - CHEER (OLE) containing (about) {A (†) + RIOT (melee)}

15d   HO(PE CHE)ST - HOST (†) containing (keeps) PECHE (French peach; i.e., French word meaning "peach")

16d   KAMPUCHEA* - anagram (modified) of A PEAK MUCH

Kampuchea^[5] is a former name (1976–89) for Cambodia.

17d   RE(A|SON)ED - {A (†) + SON (kid)} contained in (into) REED (grass)

20d   SI|ESTA - SI (yes [in Spanish]) + ESTA (this is [in Spanish])

This could be interpreted as a semi & lit. (or semi-all-in-one) clue if one takes the definition to be the entire clue (siesta does mean nap in Spanish). The clue does not qualify as a true & lit. since the wordplay ("in Spanish, yes, this is") does not use the entire clue. On the other hand, one might say that the definition is merely "nap" (the word siesta having entered the English language), in which case it would be a regular cryptic clue.

23d   KA_|PUT - KA ([first] half of KAne) + PUT (place)

24d   _ENTRY - SENTRY (guard) with the front letter deleted (abandoning the front)

25d   DID|O - DID (accomplished) + O (zip; i.e., nothing)

In the Aeneid, Dido^[5] is the queen and founder of Carthage, who fell in love with the shipwrecked Aeneas and killed herself when he deserted her.

References: 
^[1] - The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition
^[2] - Search Chambers - (Chambers 21st Century Dictionary)
^[3] - TheFreeDictionary.com (American Heritage Dictionary)
^[4] - TheFreeDictionary.com (Collins English Dictionary)
^[5] - Oxford Dictionaries (Oxford Dictionary of English)
^[6] - Oxford Dictionaries (Oxford American Dictionary)
^[7] - Wikipedia
^[8] - Reverso Online Dictionary (Collins French-English Dictionary)

Signing off for today - Falcon