Saturday, November 30, 2013 — That's Not All Folks!

Introduction

Two trends continue in today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon. First, there would once again seem to be no clear theme to the puzzle and, second, Looney Tunes characters continue to make an appearance.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

1a   KINDER|G(ART)EN — KINDER (nicer) + GEN (general) containing (holds) ART (painting)

8a   HAIRPIECE* — anagram (all over) of I HEAP RICE

9a   MOPED — double definition; "vehicle" & "was blue"

11a   _INS|ULT_ — hidden in (from) TwaINS ULTimatum

... and never the Twain shall meet ...

Mark Twain

Shania Twain

12a   O|PEN| A|RMS — O (love; score of nil in tennis) + PEN (to write) + A (†) + RM (room) + S ('s)

13a   EUPHOR(B)IA — EUPHORIA (happiness) containing (engulfing) B ([the letter] bee)

Euphorbia ^[5] is a plant of a genus that comprises the spurges, herbaceous plants or shrubs with milky latex and very small, typically greenish, flowers. Many kinds are cultivated as ornamentals and some are of commercial importance.

16a   ANTS — the even numbered letters of mAgNaTeS (oddly ignored; odd numbered letters deleted)

Not this "Bugs" ...

18a   O|INK — O (round [letter]) + INK (sign)

... but definitely this "Porky".

19a   LODGE|POLE — LODGE (get stuck) + (with) POLE (European)

21a   GRAP(HIT)E — HIT (STRUCK) contained in (inside) GRAPE (fruit)

22a   PORT|I|A — PORT (left [hand side] on a ship) + I (†) + A (assist [on a goal in hockey])

Portia^[7] is the heroine of William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice.

25a   ELGAR* — anagram (arrangement) of REGAL

Sir Edward Elgar^[5] (1857–1934) was an English composer. He is known particularly for the Enigma Variations (1899), the oratorio The Dream of Gerontius (1900), and for patriotic pieces such as the five Pomp and Circumstance marches (1901–30).

26a   WE|ARIS(OM)E — WE (you and I) + ARISE (come up) containing (with) OM (mantra)

Om^[5] is a mystic syllable, considered the most sacred mantra in Hinduism and Tibetan Buddhism. It appears at the beginning and end of most Sanskrit recitations, prayers, and texts.

"With" usually serves as a charade indicator. I can't say that I have ever seen it used as a containment indicator before today.

27a   {NEW YORK TIMES}* — anagram (funny) of MONKEYS WRITE

Down

1d   KNITS< — reversal (uplifting; in a down clue) of STINK (smell)

2d   NAP|OLE|ON — NAP (snooze) + (then) OLE (cheer) + ON (†)

Napoleon I^[5] (1769–1821) was emperor of France 1804–14 and again in 1815; full name Napoleon Bonaparte; known as Napoleon. In 1799 Napoleon joined a conspiracy which overthrew the Directory, becoming the supreme ruler of France. He declared himself emperor in 1804, and established an empire stretching from Spain to Poland. After defeats at Trafalgar (1805) and in Russia (1812), he abdicated and was exiled to the island of Elba (1814). He returned to power in 1815, but was defeated at Waterloo and exiled to the island of St Helena.

3d   EVEN — double definition; "flat; level" & "indeed"

Indeed^[5] may be used to introduce a further and stronger or more surprising point ⇒ the idea is attractive to many men and indeed to many women.

4d   {GLEN PLAID}* — anagram (erratically) of PEDALLING

Glen plaid^[7] (short for Glen Urquhart plaid) or Glenurquhart check is a woollen fabric with a woven twill design of small and large checks.

5d   _ROM|A|NO_ — hidden in (stuffing) fROM A NOodle

Romano^[5] is a strong-tasting hard cheese, originally made in Italy.

6d   ESPERANTO* — anagram (bad) of PROSE NEAT

Esperanto^[5] is an artificial language devised in 1887 as an international medium of communication, based on roots from the chief European languages. It retains the structure of these languages and has the advantage of grammatical regularity and ease of pronunciation.

7d   CHAISE LONGUE — anagram (ordered) of ENOUGH LACE IS

A chaise longue^[5] is a sofa with a backrest at only one end. The unfamiliar-looking spellinɡ of chaise longue (‘long chair’ in French) has led many people to interpret it as the more English chaise lounge. This is regarded as an error in British English but is a common and accepted variant in US English.

10d   {DISASTER AREA}* — anagram of (different view of) ERITREA AS SAD

14d   PENT|ANGLE — PENT (confined) + ANGLE (fish)

Pentangle^[5] is another name for pentagram, a five-pointed star that is formed by drawing a continuous line in five straight segments, often used as a mystic and magical symbol.

15d   BELL (T)OWER — BELLOWER (somebody yelling) containing (around) T (front [first letter] of The)

A campanile^[5] is an Italian bell tower, especially a free-standing one.

I first attempted to make the solution be TOWN CRIER

17d   HEDONISM* — anagram (exercised) of SONDHEIM

Stephen Sondheim^[5] is an American composer and lyricist. He became famous with his lyrics for Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story (1957). He has since written a number of musicals, including A Little Night Music (1973) and Sweeney Todd (1979).

20d   C(HER)RY — CRY (act unhappy) containing (about) HER (the lady)

In the cryptic reading, the 's becomes a contraction for is.

23d   TOO|L|S — TOO (excessively) + L (large) + (and) S (small)

24d   PART< — reversal (facing the other way) of TRAP (snare)

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