Saturday, September 19, 2009 - Double or Nothing

Introduction

Today's puzzle, by Cox and Rathvon, displays the setters' usual clever wordplay and is notable for the fact that all entries are either two words or a hyphenated word.

Today's Glossary

Some references found in today's puzzle that may be unfamiliar to readers outside North America

G-man - US slang an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

go - Japanese board game

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) - US government tax collection agency

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

27a Outstanding player left second, getting in place for a sacrifice (3-4)

While a knowledge of baseball is not essential to finding the solution to this clue, it does help one appreciate the surface reading. For readers (particularly those outside North America) who may not be familiar with baseball, I will attempt to offer an explanation.

First, let's deal with "player left second". In baseball, players may "lead off" from a base before the ball is pitched. In this case, the player has left second base moving several feet toward third base. The advantage of this is that the player has a shorter distance to run to reach the next base when the ball is hit. The risk is that the player will be caught off base - that is, the pitcher may throw the ball to a fielder who will attempt to tag the runner (touch the runner with the ball). If the runner is tagged before reaching an open (unoccupied) base (either the base he led off from or the next one), the runner is out.

Second, "getting in place for a sacrifice". A sacrifice is a play in which the batter hits the ball in a manner that will almost certainly result in the batter being put out while allowing a runner already on base to advance to the next base (or beyond). Examples of a sacrifice, are a bunt and a sacrifice fly.

In a bunt, the batter gently taps the ball in such a manner that it rolls slowly down either the first base line or the third base line. The objective is to place the ball in such a position that it is as far away as possible from any infielder on the opposing team. By the time the ball is fielded, there is little possibility of throwing out the runner who was already on base, leaving the fielder with only the the option of throwing to first base to get the batter out.

A sacrifice fly is a ball hit deep to the outfield. It will likely be caught by an outfielder, resulting in the batter being out. However, a runner on second or third base will have time to advance at least one base before the outfielder can return the ball to the infield.

Having the runner who is already on base take a lead off (preferably a long one) [i.e., get in place] will improve the chances for success of the sacrifice play.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

Legend:	"CD" Cryptic Definition; "DD" Double Definition
	"*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed
	"( )" letters inserted; "_" letters deleted

Across

1ac S(TOW A)WAY - TOW (tug) A (one) caught in (containment indicator) SWAY (wave)

5ac COO|L IT - COO (murmur) LIT (turned on)

9ac {TEA TRAY}* - breaking {A TREATY}

10ac ODD JOBS - went overboard → overdosed → OD'D

11ac {ON TAP}< turned back (reversed) {PAT (completely) + NO (zero)}

12ac TA(KE AF)*TER - TATER (spud) with FAKE plastic (anagram indicator) stuffing (containment indicator)

13ac {NOEL COWARD}* - reworked {OCEAN WORLD}

16ac G-M|AN - GM (General Motors) with AN (one)

18ac _TO-BE_ - segment of Oc[TOBE]r

19ac GREE_|N ACRES - [GREE]t (mostly welcome) + NACRES (materials with lustre)

22ac {LOWER CASE}* - {WORE LACES} undone

24ac D F(L)AT - L (Roman Numeral 50) in (containment indicator) D (Roman Numeral 500) FAT (overweight)

26ac B(LOW-DR)Y - BY taking (containment indicator) LOW (short) DR (drive)

27ac AL(L-S)TAR - L (left) S (second) getting in (containment indicator) ALTAR (place for a sacrifice)

28ac GY(M) RAT_ - [GYRAT]e (endlessly spin) around (containment indicator) M (masculine)

29ac AL (CAP)ONE - CAP (cover) assumed by (containment indicator) ALONE (unaccompanied)

Down

1d S(IT D)OWN - SOWN (planted) outside (containment indicator) IT'D (it would)

2d O|P ART - O (love) and PART (leave)

3d A(IR S)PACE - APACE (quickly) filled by (containment indicator) IRS (tax collection agency)

4d {AS YET}* - YEATS travelling

6d _OLD _HAT - after introductions (delete initial letters) t[OLD] t[HAT]

7d {LION TAMER}* - adjusted {NORMAL TIE}

8d _TEST RUN_ - going through (hidden word indicator) pira[TES TRUN]k

10d O(AK) T|RE|E - A K (king) in (containment indicator) OT (Old Testament) RE (regarding) E (eastern)

14d {ELBOW ROOM}* - {LOWER BOOM} exercising

15d WAR (BAB*)Y - WARY (suspicious) about (containment indicator) A BB shot (anagram indicator)

17d S(AND FL)EA - AND (moreover) FL (Florida) 's beset by (containment indicator) SEA (ocean)

18d {TALK BIG}* - shaking {KGB TAIL}

20d SET F(R)EE - SET (group) FEE (admission price) around (containment indicator) R (mid-April, i.e., the middle letter of April)

21d {GRADE A}~ pronounced (sounds like indicator) GRAY DAY (gloomy weather)

23d E-M(A)IL - EMIL (Jannings) receives (containment indicator) A

25d LE|T GO - LE (French article) on (before in a down clue) T (true) GO (Japanese game)

Signing off for today - Falcon