Saturday, January 25, 2014 — Dream the Impossible

Introduction

Let your imagination soar with today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

1a   F(LASH)LIGHT —

Torch^[3] is a chiefly British name for a flashlight.

6a   WA|IF — WA (Washington; US state) + IF (provided)

10a   {CASTLES IN THE AIR}* — anagram (crackpot) of HAS TEN REALISTIC

11a   DA(IS)Y — IS (†) contained in (in) DAY (time for sunshine)

12a   GOUR(MAN)DS — GOURDS (squashes) containing (divided by) MAN (fellow)

13a   SKILL|ET — SKILL (talent) + (connected with) ET (Spielberg movie)

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.

15a   ST|RANGE — RANGE (place for shooting) following (behind) ST (street)

17a   M(AGENT)A — AGENT (spy) contained in (taken in by) MA (mother)

19a   L|A|SAG(N)A — L (left) + A (†) + SAGA (long, complicated story) containing (about) N (Northern)

21a   GAL|VEST|ON — GAL (young lady) + (with) VEST (sleeveless garment) + ON (†)

Galveston^[5] is a port in Texas, south-east of Houston; population 57,086 (est. 2008). It is situated on Galveston Bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico.

23a   MOTE|L — MOTE (speck) + (on) L (front [first letter] of Lamp)

24a   CHA(SIN|G RAIN|BOW_)S — CHAS () containing (takes) {SIN (wrong) + GRAIN (cereal) + BOW[L] with the final letter deleted (not quite finishing)}

25a   LYNX~ — sounds like (vocalized) LINKS (golf course)

26a   WAND|E|RINGS — WAND (wizard's helper) + (by) E (error; as a baseball term) + RINGS (circles)

Down

1d   F(A|C)ADES — FADES (goes south) containing (around) {A (beginning [first letter] of Arctic) + C (cold)}

2d   ASS|AILING — ASS (donkey) + AILING (in bad shape)

3d   HO(L)LY — L (head [first letter] of Lettuce) contained in (put in) HOLY (sacred)

4d   INSIGHT* — anagram (altering) of THING IS

5d   HO(NO)URS — HOURS (scheduled time for work) containing (keeping) NO (†)

7d   A|G|A|IN — A (one) + G (good; a result on an assignment or test at school) + A (alto) + IN (during)

8d   F(ORES)EE — ORES (valuable rocks) contained in (in) FEE (payment)

9d   CHIMER(A)S — A (author originally; first [original] letter of Author) contained in (put in) CHIMERS (bells; things that chime)

14d   L(INGER)IE — LIE (tell tales) containing (about) INGER (†)

Inger is a Scandinavian given name; for instance, Swedish-American actress Inger Stevens^[7] (1934-1970).

16d   NIGH|T(G)OWN — NIGH (nearby) + TOWN (city) containing (stocks) G (green)

17d   M(A|G)ICAL* — anagram (fantastic) of CLAIM containing (about) {A (†) + G (general)}

18d   ANTIGUA* — anagram (busted) of A GUT IN A

19d   L(ANY)ARD — LARD (rendered fat) containing (used to coat) ANY (some)

20d   ATLASES* — anagram (damaged) of SEA SALT

22d   LEAR|N — LEAR (Shakespearean sovereign) + N (name)

King Lear^[7] is a tragedy by English poet and playwright William Shakespeare (1564-1616).

23d   MINOR~ — sounds like (overheard) MINER (labourer in a pit)

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