Saturday, June 9, 2012 - Stanley Cup Champs

Introduction

A hockey season that seems to have gone on far too long may finally come to an end tonight. In today's puzzle, Cox and Rathvon salute a half-dozen former Stanley Cup champions.

On another matter, I quess I need to eat a bit of crow. As MG has reminded me in a comment below, my solution to 26a in last week's puzzle has, in fact, proved to be incorrect (or, at least, it is not the solution envisioned by the setters). Well done to those of you who came up with SHRUB.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

1a   PUCK - double definition; "trickster" & "hard disk"

Puck^[5] is another name for Robin Goodfellow^[5], a mischievous sprite or goblin believed, especially in the 16th and 17th centuries, to haunt the English countryside. Puck^[7] is likely most familiar to many as a character in William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream. A puck^[5] is a black disc made of hard rubber, used in ice hockey.

3a   BLACKHA(WK)S* - anagram (silly) of BACKLASH containing (about) WK (week)

Bobby Hull and Jack Evans with the Cup

The Chicago Blackhawks were the 1961 Stanley Cup Champions.

9a   CAN|A(DIE)NS - {CAN (are able to) + ANS (answer)} containing (including) DIE (end)

Montéal Canadiens celebrate winning the Cup

The Canadiens were the 1993 Stanley Cup Champions.

The name of this team from Montréal uses the French spelling with an E.

11a   BORNE~ - sounds like (for the audience) BORN (delivered; the baby was born in mid-afternoon)

An example of borne used in the sense of stood would be "I've borne just about as much abuse as I can stand."

12a   L|ENIN< - reversal of {NINE (9) + L ([Roman numeral for] 50)}

Vladimir Lenin (1870 – 1924) was a Russian Marxist revolutionary, intellectual and politician who led the October Revolution of 1917 – and thus a "Big Red".

13a   LIGHTNING - LIGHT[E]NING (loosing weight) with the E deleted (losing Energy).

Captain Dave Andreychuk hoists the Cup

The Tampa Bay Lightning won Stanley Cup in 2004.

14a   DISAVOW* - anagram (sadly) of WAS VOID

16a   SUP|PORT - SUP (banquet; as a verb) + (followed by) PORT (dessert wine)

18a   G|LEANED - G ($1,000) + LEANED (tipped)

20a   DUNG|EON - DUNG (fertilizer) + EON (many, many years)

22a   I|SLANDERS - I ([Roman numeral for] one) + SLANDERS (maligns)

Captain Denis Potvin with the Cup

The New York Islanders were the champions in 1983.

24a   CAR(O)B - O ([looks like a] doughnut) + contained in (covered with) CARB (sugar, perhaps; an example of a carbohydrate)

26a   HE|ROD - HE (the man) + ROD (sceptre)

Herod^[7], also known as Herod the Great (born 73 or 74 BCE, died 4 BCE), was a Roman client king of Judea. He is known for his colossal building projects in Jerusalem and elsewhere, including his expansion of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, the construction of the port at Caesarea Maritima, and building fortresses such as Masada and Herodium.

27a   A|VALANC(H)E - {A (†) + VALANCE (drapery)} containing H (hot)

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman presents the Cup to Avalanche captain Joe Sakic

In 2001, the Colorado Avalanche won the Stanley Cup.

28a   {MAPLE LEAFS}* - anagram (about) of FLAMES LEAP

The 1967 Toronto Maple Leafs pose with the Cup

No, not the Calgary Flames. The Toronto Maple Leafs won the Cup in 1967.

29a   S|PIT - S (small) + PIT (seed)

Down

1d   PICK|LED - PICK (choice) + LED (went first)

2d   CAN|ON - CAN (fire) + ON (†)

4d   LIE|S LOW - LIE (story) + SLOW (behind)

5d   COSIGNS - sounds like (out loud) COSINES (trig functions)

6d   HA|BIT - HA (laugh) + BIT (routine; stage performance)

7d   W{ORR|IS)OME_ - {ORR (hockey legend [Bobby Orr^[7]]) + IS (†)} contained in (embraced by) WOME[N] (ladies, almost; all but the last letter of a synonym for "ladies")

8d   SLEIGHT~ - sounds like (listens to) SLIGHT (insult)

10d   D(ON)O|VAN - ON (playing) contained in (in) {DO (party) + VAN (wagon)}

I wondered whether the words van and wagon were truly synonymous. However, one meaning of van^[3] is a covered or enclosed truck or wagon often used for transporting goods or livestock.

15d   {STEEL-TRAP}* - anagram (exploded) of SALTPETRE

17d   PAN|ACE|A - PAN (criticize) + ACE (expert) + (with) A (†)

18d   GRISHAM* - anagram (novel) of HAS GRIM

John Grisham is an American lawyer and author, best known for his popular legal thrillers.

19d   {DUE DATE}~ - sounds like (heard) DUDE (guy) + ATE (had dinner)

20d   _DIST|AFF_ - hidden in (in) MethoDIST AFFection

The definition is "for fillies". A filly^[5] (a young female horse, especially one less than four years old) is also a humorous way to refer to a lively girl or young woman.

21d   NO|BLEST - NO (not at all) + BLEST (holy)

23d   NUD(G)E - NUDE (naked) containing (around) G (green)

25d   RECAP< - reversal (from behind) of PACER (runner)

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