Saturday, November 7, 2009 - Half Steps

Introduction

I found today's puzzle by Cox and Rathvon to be a little more difficult than usual; but still, on the whole, solving it was an enjoyable endeavour. Musically speaking, we start by taking a half step up and finish with a half step down.

Today's Glossary

Abbreviations, people, places, words or expressions used in today's puzzle with which readers, especially those from overseas, may not be familiar

Buffalo Bill Cody - American showman famous for his Wild West Shows

Podunk - slang a small isolated town, region, or place that is regarded as unimportant

twi-night - baseball designating a double-header (a pair of games played in succession on the same day, usually by the same two teams) that starts in the late afternoon and continues into the evening

ute - Australian slang for a pickup truck

Cy Young - American baseball Hall of Fame pitcher in whose honour the Cy Young Award, given each year to the pitcher voted the most effective in each of the two leagues, was created

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

15a State when surrounded by worthless stuff? (10)

I found this clue to be somewhat obscure, but I think it may be intended as an &lit. clue. That is a clue in which the entire clue can be read two different ways to give the solution. In one reading, this is a container type clue:

OPINE (state) when surrounded by (contained in) DROSS (worthless stuff) to give DROOPINESS

In the other reading, I am presuming that one finds oneself in a state of DROOPINESS (depression?) when surrounded by worthless stuff.

18a A spearman's accepting base payments (10)

In the solution to this clue, a spearman is a lance. I was a bit sceptical about this at first, but I did find a dictionary defining lance as a synonym for lancer (noun, defn. 2).

3d Inebriated doctor in joke bit (5-5)

Unless I am mistaken, inebriated and punch-drunk are not at all the same thing - although I suppose those suffering from these conditions may exhibit similar symptoms. Inebriated means "Exhilarated or stupefied by or as if by alcohol; intoxicated", while the meaning of punch-drunk is "Showing signs of brain damage caused by repeated blows to the head. Used especially of a boxer". Perhaps the setter is intending PUNCH-DRUNK to mean "drunk from drinking too much punch" - but that seems a fair stretch.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

1a {SHARP AS A TACK}* - dancing (anagram indicator) {ACT HAS A SPARK}

9a A|BOUT - A BOUT (boxing match)

10a NAP(OLEO|N)S - NAPS (piles) filled with (containing) OLEO (margarine) and N (bit of [i.e., first letter of] nougat)

11a {CHEETAHS}* - {CHASE THE} horses around (anagram indicator)

12a CAME (T)O - T (Tom's debut [i.e., first letter]) in CAMEO (small role)

14a NO(A)H - NOH (Japanese drama) involving (containing) A

15a DRO(OPINE)SS - OPINE (state) when surrounded by (contained in) DROSS (worthless stuff)

18a A|L(LOW)ANCES - A LANCES (spearman's) accepting (containing) LOW (base)

19a A|TO|P - 8/13 of the alphabet [i.e., first 16 letters of the alphabet or, in other words, A TO P]

22a P(OD)UNK - PUNK (hoodlum) takes (containing) OD (overdose)

24a CY|CLONES - CY (Young) CLONES (lookalikes); see Today's Glossary for Cy Young

26a IN|AUG|URAL - IN AUG (August) URAL (European river)

27a SP(L)AT - SPAT (dispute) about (containing) L (large)

28a {FLAT AS A BOARD}* - {OF SALAD BAR AT} ground (anagram indicator)

Down

1d ST(O|NEW)ALL - STALL (booth) containing O (nothing) NEW

2d AS|T|UTE - AS T (debut of [i.e., first letter of] the) UTE (pickup Down Under); see Today's Glossary

3d PUNCH-DRUNK - DR (doctor) in (contained in) PUN (joke) CHUNK (bit)

4d SAPS< - SPAS (springs) the wrong way (reversal indicator)

5d _T|OLD| A LIE_ - some (hidden word indicator) thoughT OLD ALIEn

6d CLOSE - DD

7d CAN|CAN - two times (repeated) CAN (is able to)

8d A|SCOTS - A SCOTS (Highlander's)

13d CO(ME)DY| CLUB - (Buffalo Bill) CODY and CLUB (card in a suit) captivating (containing) ME

16d ENT|ANGLED - ENT (Tolkien creature) and ANGLED (tried to catch fish)

17d T(WI-N)IGHT - WIN (victory) in (contained in) TIGHT (hard-fought); see Today's Glossary

18d A|U P|AIR - A UP (happy) AIR (melody)

20d PE(SET)A - SET (rendered) in (contained in) PEA (shade of green)

21d ALAS|KA_ - ALAS (that's a shame) KA (KAy without finishing [i.e., with last letter deleted])

23d DRAW|L - DRAW (tie) L (left)

25d _ARES - dARES (shows courage) after introduction [i.e., with first letter deleted]

Signing off for today - Falcon