Saturday, December 5, 2009 - Putting the E in Soul

Introduction

Today's puzzle from Cox and Rathvon is a fairly easy - though soulful - effort.

Today's Glossary

Some possibly unfamiliar abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions used in today's puzzle

Montreal Expos - a former Major League Baseball team in Montreal, Quebec, Canada; following the 2004 season, the team moved to Washington, D.C., U.S.A. and became the Washington Nationals

smack³ - noun 1. Eastern U.S. a fishing vessel, esp. one having a well for keeping the catch alive. 2. British any of various small, fully decked, fore-and-aft-rigged vessels used for trawling or coastal trading.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

6a EC(H)O - H (bit of history) contained in (penned by) ECO (Italian author Umberto Eco)

7a {SOUL SISTER}* - anagram of (prepared) SUITOR LESS; American singer, songwriter and pianist Aretha Franklin, known as the "Queen of Soul"

10a S(ASH)AYS - SAYS (speaks) containing (about) ASH (tree)

11a V(AN)ILLA - VILLA (country house) containing (possessing) AN

12a _G|REBE_ - hidden word in (involved in) quellinG REBEllion

13a CONES|TOGA - CONES (tepee shapes) TOGA (wrap)

15a {FILET OF SOLE}* - anagram of (strangely) OFF TO LESLIE

19a {MERGANSER}* - anagram of (ground) RAMS GREEN

21a TI(B)ER - TIER (row) containing (around) B (blue)

23a CAKE BOX - spoonerism of BAKE (cook) COCKS (roosters)

25a ORG(AND)Y - AND (also) contained in (found in) ORGY (wild party)

26a {SEOUL KOREA}* - anagram of (changing) A LOOK REUSE

27a LIED - DD

Down

1d TH(IS|B)E - IS B (second-rate) contained in (in) THE (article); Greek legend of Pyramus and Thisbe

2d {HOUSE CAT}* - anagram of (spilled) HOT SAUCE

3d C(L)OVEN - L (head of lettuce) contained in (in) COVEN (witches' group)

4d DI(O)N - DIN (racket) containing (about) O (love); Canadian chanteuse Celine Dion or American doo-wop, pop, rock and R&B singer Dion (DiMucci).

5d STALL|ONE - STALL (delay) ONE (single); American actor Sylvester Stallone

6d _ENS|IGN_ - hidden word in (some) maidENS IGNore

8d REAGAN* - anagram of (nuts) ANGER A; former U.S. President Ronald Reagan

9d CAMELLIA* - an anagram of (mistakenly ordered) ME A LILAC

14d SHOR(TAG)E - TAG (children's game) contained in (in) SHORE (beach area)

15d FOR(E)K|NOW - E (piece of eclair) contained in (held by) FORK (utensil) NOW (at present)

16d FUR|RO(WE)D - FUR (hide) ROD (pole) containing (around) WE (our bunch)

17d SMACKS - DD; see Today's Glossary

18d B(RAY)ED - RAY (short for Raymond) contained in (in) BED

20d S(EXPO)T - EXPO (Montreal pro) contained in (in) ST (street); see Today's Glossary

22d BAND|I|T - BAND (group) with I (one) T (time)

24d BILL - DD; Microsoft co-founder and Chairman Bill Gates

Signing off for today - Falcon