Saturday, April 27, 2013 — Turning the Calendar

Introduction

Today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon, is certainly very appropriate to the season — midway through it, the setters turn the page of the calendar from April to May.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

1a   S(A)WHORSE — anagram (scattered) of SHOWERS containing (around) A (beginning [first letter] of April)

5a   T(R)OPIC — TOPIC (subject) containing (including) R (red)

10a   TYPE|E — TYPE (print) + E (excellent; mark on an academic assignment or exam)

Typee^[7] (1846; in full: Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life) is American writer Herman Melville's first book, a classic in the literature of travel and adventure partly based on his actual experiences as a captive on the island Nuku Hiva (which Melville spelled as Nukuheva) in the South Pacific Marquesas Islands, in 1842. The title comes from the name of a valley there called Tai Pi Vai. It was Melville's most popular work during his lifetime, but made him notorious as the "man who lived among the cannibals." For 19th century readers, his career seemed to decline afterward, but during the early 20th century it was seen as the beginning of a career that peaked with Moby-Dick (1851).

11a   _RAINSTORM — [B]RAINSTORM (great idea) with the first letter deleted (after the first; the portion of the word after the first letter)

12a   PIT S|TOP — PITS (Stones; likely in reference to the English rock band The Rolling Stones^[7]) + TOP (foremost)

13a   {PAY DIRT}*_ — anagram (altered) of DAY TRIP

14a   DEMONSTRATOR* — anagram (wrongly) of TERMS TORNADO

A very different kind of "shower".

19a   FORGE|T-(ME-N)OTS — FORGE (make) + {MEN (guys) contained in (into) TOTS (babies)}

22a   TEN(AN)TS — TENTS (primitive shelters) containing (housing) AN (one)

In the cryptic reading, the 's is read as a contraction of is (a link word between the wordplay and definition).

24a   V(A|CC)INE — VINE (climber) containing (swallows) {A (†) + CC (small amount of liquid; cubic centimetre}

25a   MOS|S PINKS — MOS (months) + (before) SPINKS (boxer Leon; American boxer Leon Spinks^[7])

26a   L|ET ON — L (Liberal) + ETON (British school)

Eton College^[7], often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent [private] school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor". It is located in Eton, near Windsor in England, and is one of the original nine English public schools as defined by the Public Schools Act 1868. [Note: In Britain, "public schools" are a special class of private school; what North Americans would call public schools seem to be referred to in Britain by terms such as state-run or state-funded schools].

27a   SUPPLY — double definition; "provide" & "in a flexible [supple] way"

28a   PR|I(M)ROSE_ — {PR (pair) + I ([Roman numeral for] one) + ROSE (came up)} containing (around) M (start [first letter] of May)

Down

1d   S(IT)-UPS — IT (the animal) contained in (inside) SUPS (eats)

2d   _WA|PITI_ — hidden in (in) OttaWA PITIed

3d   OVER T|HERE — OVERT (open) + HERE (present)

4d   STROP< — reversal of (from the East) PORTS (fortified wines)

This being a down clue, should the clue not have specified "from the south" as the reversal indicator?

6d   R|A|SPY — {A (†) + SPY (secret agent)} following (behind) R (restricted; film classification)

7d   P(LOW) INTO — PINTO (spotted pony) containing (circling) LOW (mean)

8d   C(OMET*)ARY — CARY (Grant; English-born American actor Cary Grant^[7] (1904 – 1986)) containing (includes) anagram (new) of TOME

9d   DIAPASON* — anagram (playing) of SAD PIANO

15d   O|SMO(SIN)G — SIN (stray) contained in (inside) {O (ring) + (with) SMOG (hazardous vapour)}

16d   RETICULUM* — anagram (unfortunately) of RULE IM CUT

17d   OFTTIMES* — anagram (misplaced) of SOFT ITEM

18d   C(RANKS) UP — CUP (vessel) containing (†) RANKS (enlisted personnel)

20d   G(I)OT|TO — GOT TO (bothered) containing (about) I ([Roman numeral for] one)

Giotto di Bondone^[7] (1266/7 – 1337), better known simply as Giotto, was an Italian painter and architect from Florence in the late Middle Ages. He is generally considered the first in a line of great artists who contributed to the Italian Renaissance.

21d   SEANCE* — anagram (affected) of A SCENE

23d   NEPAL* — anagram (flying around) of PLANE

24d   V|IS|OR — V (violet) + IS (†) + OR (alternative)

Something to shade your eyes from the light.

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)
^[11] - TheFreeDictionary.com (Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary)

Signing off for today — Falcon