Saturday, January 16, 2010 - Afternoon Delight

Introduction

Today's puzzle, a rather delightful creation by Yankee crossword setters Cox and Rathvon, is full of PMs - one being of the political variety.

Today's Glossary

Some possibly unfamiliar abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions used in today's puzzle (including those that may be especially obscure to visitors from outside Canada)

Paul Martin - 21st Prime Minister of Canada

sine die - adverb (with reference to an adjournment) with no appointed date for resumption; ORIGIN Latin, ‘without a day’.

Yankee (Yank, for short) - outside the U.S., this term tends to be applied to any American while within the U.S. it tends to be applied primarily to those Americans from the New England states

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

1a PASS (MUST)ER - PASSER (player getting an assist) containing (outside) MUST (has to)

6a ABBA - double definition

9a RE(VIV)AL - VIV (short form for Vivian) contained in (infiltrates) REAL (true)

10a G(R)ANGES - GANGES (Indian river) containing (covers) R {last of (final letter of) theiR}

12a AUNT~ - sounds like (heard) ANT (insect) [to some people]

13a {PINE MARTEN}* - anagram (bad) of TEMPER IN AN

15a COMB|O - COMB (thoroughly search) O {leader of (first letter of) Our}

16a RAP|IDLY - RAP (chant rhymes) IDLY (lazily)

19a SIN|E DIE - SIN (big mistake) adjacent to (by) EDIE (actress Edie Falco)

20a NO W|A|Y - NOW (present) A Y (fork; as a fork in a road, for example)

23a {PAST MASTER}* - anagram (reworked) of SPAM-TASTER

25a _OS|LO_ - hidden (in) in ontariO'S LOcale

27a TRAINED - cryptic definition; TRAINED (practiced) riding the choo-choo (TRAIN)

28a BAR (COD)E - COD (fish) contained in (filled) BARE (strip)

29a YANK - YANK (pull); Yank {short form for Yankee)

30a {PAUL MARTIN}* - anagram (oddly depicting) of PAINT MURAL; Paul Martin, 21st Prime Minister of Canada

Down

1d PAR|LANCE - PAR (average) LANCE (spear)

2d S(EVEN) AM - SAM (short form for Samuel) containing (keeps) EVEN (still)

3d MO(V)E - V (Roman numeral for five) contained in (kept by) MOE (a stooge); Moe Howard, a member of the Three Stooges comedy act

4d SOLDIERED* - anagram (awfully) of SOILED RED

5d _EAGLE - bEAGLE (dog) with first letter removed (loses its head)

7d BIG|O|TRY - BIG (great) TRY (essay) containing (possesses) O (zero)

8d ASSENT* - anagram (clowns) of SANEST

11d A|MAN|DINE - {A MAN (for each guy)} DINE (have supper)

14d CO(GNOME)N - CON (fool) containing (penning) GNOME (aphorism); for me, this is a new meaning for gnome

17d P(REVERB)AL - REVERB (echo) contained in (apprehended by) PAL (friend)

18d TYRO|LEAN - TYRO (novice) adjacent to (with) LEAN (thin)

19d S(US)TAIN - US (our group) contained in (in) STAIN (disgrace)

21d WA_|SHOUT - WA {first two letters of (pair of) WArriors} SHOUT (cry)

22d S(POT)TY - POT (grass) contained in (in) STY (pigpen)

24d SIDRA* - anagram (wild) of RAIDS; Gulf of Sidra: a body of water on the northern coast of Libya

26d _ARIA_ - hidden (among) in barbARIAns

Signing off for today - Falcon