Saturday, April 7, 2012 - What a Cock-up!

Introduction

As the Brits might say, the National Post has made a complete and utter cock-up of today's Cox and Rathvon puzzle. Instead of a blank grid, they have published the solution grid. But all is not lost - I was able to create a blank grid for the puzzle.

I first looked for another puzzle which had used the same grid but failed to find one, despite searching through previous puzzles going back several months. However, I noticed that the grid was fairly close to the one used last week, and with a bit of effort I was able to modify it to match the grid for this week's puzzle. While doing this, I tried diligently not to look at the letters in the grid published today. I was successful to some extent (managing to ignore all but the top two solutions), but the effort was akin to watching someone yawn and trying to force yourself not to yawn also.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

1a   HOM(E P)AGE - EP (record of sorts; extended-play) contained in (in) HOMAGE (tribute)

5a   I(BIDE)M - IM (I'm) containing (penning) BIDE (wait)

9a   ST|RAINING - ST (pair [of letters] of STorks) + RAINING (falling out of the sky)

11a   RE|SIN - RE (on the subject of) + SIN (wrongdoing)

12a   LILAC* - anagram (plastic) of I CALL

13a   {MEAL TIMES}* - anagram (out) of METES MAIL

14a   {SPRING PEEPER}* - anagram (dotty) of PEPPER SINGER

The spring peeper^[3] is a small brownish tree frog (Hyla crucifer) of eastern North America, having a characteristic shrill, high-pitched call.

To the best of my knowledge, Dotty Pepper is a fictitious name. Referring to a spring peeper as a hip-hopper is also a bit fanciful - but this is well-indicated by the question mark.

19a   {APRIL SHOWERS}* - anagram (altered) of HOW REPRISALS

"April Showers"^[7] is a song introduced in the 1921 Broadway musical Bombo, where it was performed by Al Jolson, becoming a well-known trademark of his.

22a   AT(AVIS)TIC - AVIS ([car] rental agency) contained in (in) ATTIC (room upstairs)

25a   DR|AWL - DR (doctor) + AWL (puncher)

Doctor Puncher would seem to be yet another invention of the setters.

26a   KNITS< - reversal (in retrospect) of STINK (smell bad)

27a   PUN|GENTLY - PUN (make a joke) + GENTLY (without attacking anyone)

The wordplay works well when considered as an entity, with "pun gently" meaning "make a joke without attacking anyone".

28a   YANKEE - double definition; "New Englander" & "guy who's gotten jerked around"

The second definition is cryptic (as flagged by the question mark). If a payee is someone who gets paid, then surely a yankee must be someone who gets yanked (jerked around).

29a   ON|E-LIN|ER - ON (about; concerning) + ELIN (Tiger's ex) + ER (medical drama)

The clue refers to Elin Nordegren^[7], a former Swedish model and the ex-wife of professional golfer Tiger Woods. ER^[7] is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 1994 to April 2009.

Down

1d   HUSTLE* - anagram (breaking up) of SLEUTH

2d   MA(RB)LE - {RB (rhythm and blues; R&B)} contained in (collected by) MALE (gender)

3d   PRINCIPAL~ - sounds like (stated) PRINCIPLE (rule)

4d   GRIMM~ - sounds like (by listening) GRIM (not to be placated)

The Brothers Grimm^[7], Jacob (Ludwig Carl) Grimm (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (Carl) Grimm (1786–1859), were German philologists and folklorists who compiled an anthology of German fairy tales, which appeared in three volumes between 1812 and 1822.

6d   _BUR|ST_ - hidden in (has) WilBUR STreet

Wilbur Street is likely the invention of the setters, although there is street by that name located in the Mansion Historic District^[7] of Albany, NY.

7d   DUSTMOPS* - anagram (fixed) of MUD SPOTS

8d   MINIS|TRY - MINIS (short dresses) + TRY (vex)

10d   GLAS_|GOW_ - GLAS (short mirror; GLAS[S] with the final letter deleted) + (and) GOW (short dress; GOW[N] with the final letter deleted)

15d   IMHOTEP* - anagram (new) of TO ME HIP

Imhotep^[5] (fl. 27th century bc) was an Egyptian architect and scholar, later deified. He probably designed the step pyramid built at Saqqara for the 3rd-dynasty pharaoh Djoser.

16d   _E|A|RED| SEA|L_ - hidden (essential to) in savE A RED SEA Lagoon

The phrase "essential to" is equivalent to saying "the essence of" or "the core of".

17d   MALAR|KEY - MALAR (cheeky) + KEY (explanation; a list of explanations of symbols, codes, etc.)

Malar^[4] means of or relating to the cheek or cheekbone. While using malar to mean cheeky is a bit of a stretch, the setters do signal this bit of mischief with the question mark.

18d   CROATIAN* - anagram (tailored) of RAINCOAT

20d   W|ANTON - W (with) + ANTON (Chekhov)

Anton Chekhov^[4] (1860 – 1904) was a Russian dramatist and short-story writer.

21d   S(L)AYER - SAYER (one speaking) containing (about) L (large)

23d   IS|SUE - IS (lives) + (with) SUE (Susan)

24d   CON|AN - CON (opposed to) + AN (†)

Conan the Barbarian^[7] is a 1982 fantasy film based on the stories by Robert E. Howard, a pulp fiction writer of the 1930s, about the adventures of the eponymous character in a fictional pre-historic world of dark magic and savagery. The film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger and James Earl Jones, and tells the story of a young barbarian (Schwarzenegger) who seeks vengeance for the death of his parents. The target of his hatred is Thulsa Doom (Jones), the leader of a snake cult.

Key to Reference Sources: 

^[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)
^[9]   - Infoplease (Random House Unabridged Dictionary)
^[10] - CollinsDictionary.com (Collins English Dictionary)

Signing off for today - Falcon