Saturday, January 30, 2010 - Sounds Right To Me

Introduction

While it may sound like there is more than one right answer in today's puzzle by Cox and Rathvon, you will see that there is really only one.

Today's Glossary

Some possibly unfamiliar abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions used in today's puzzle (including ones that may be new to visitors from outside North America)

English - 6. Sports (sometimes lower case) a. a spinning motion imparted to a ball, esp. in billiards

phat - hip-hop slang meaning great, excellent, first-rate, terrific, superb

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

17a Taking hour, change cockpit instrument (9)

My first thought was that hour is strictly only an example of TIME (as a duration), and therefore that the clue might have been better worded as "Taking perhaps an hour, change cockpit instrument". However, I then realized that TIME can mean hour, as in the query "What time is it?" which is equivalent to asking "What is the hour?".

26d Cool selection of top hats (4)

Phat is hip-hop slang denoting excellence. The Online Etymology Dictionary has the following to say about the word: "hip-hop slang, "great, excellent," 1992, originating perhaps in the late 1980s and meaning at first "sexiness in a woman." The word itself is presumably a variant of fat (q.v.) in one of its slang senses, with the kind of off-beat spelling preferred in street slang (cf. boyz). The spelling is attested as far back as 1678, as an erroneous form of fat (a classical over-correction; see -ph-). This spelling is said by some to be an acronym, but various versions are given: "pretty hot and tasty," or "pretty hips and thighs" among them. These, too may have been innovations given as explanations to women who felt insulted by the word."

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

1a {SACRED RITE}* - anagram (busted) of SECRET RAID

6a P(L)UG - PUG (boxer) contains (swallows) L (large); pug: a pugilist, not a dog

10a CHAP|AT|I - CHAP (bloke) AT I (Roman numeral for one); chapati: (in Indian cookery) a flat coarse unleavened bread resembling a pancake

11a PIC|AS|SO - PIC (picture) AS (like) SO; Pablo Picasso: Spanish painter, draughtsman and sculptor

12a C|AROUSER - C (cocktail's first [letter]) AROUSER (stirrer)

13a A|BOUT - A BOUT (ring engagement; i.e., a boxing or wrestling match)

15a TOLLS - double definition

17a AL(TIME)TER - ALTER (change) containing (taking) TIME (hour)

19a G(A|RIBALD)I - GI containing (captures) A RIBALD (vulgar); Guiseppe Garibaldi: Italian military and political figure

21a DEB(U)T - U (university) contained in (in) DEBT (financial trouble)

23a R|OVER - R (right) OVER (above):Rover: common name for a dog

24a JO|KINGLY - JO (Meg's sister) KINGLY (regal); sisters Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy March are the principal characters in Louisa May Alcott's novel Little Women

27a _GE_|LATIN - LATIN following (after) GE (middle [letters of] aGEs)

28a ENGLISH* - anagram (all around) of SHINGLE

29a TIDE~ - sounds like (from the sound of it) TIED (even)

30a CARTWRIGHT* - R (run) contained in (into) anagram (revised) of WHIG TRACT

Down

1d SACK - double definition, "item for carrying" and "fire, as in dismiss from employment"

2d C(HAG)ALL - HAG (crone) contained in (breaking into) CALL (song, as that of a bird)

3d ERA|TO - ERA (significant period) TO; Erato: muse of lyric poetry, especially love and erotic poetry

4d REIN|STALL - REIN (equestrian control) preceding (before) STALL (delay)

5d TAPER - double definition

7d LA|SH OUT - LA (the Spanish; i.e., Spanish word meaning "the") SHOUT (yell)

8d {GHOST WRITE}* - anagram (when dancing) of WORE TIGHTS

9d S|CRAMMED - S (sardines initially; i.e., first letter of sardines) CRAMMED (packed)

14d {STAGE RIGHT}* - anagram (changing) of GREAT SIGHT

16d SYBARITE* - anagram (weird) of BESTIARY

18d T(RICKI)EST - TEST (exam) containing (catches) RICKI (Ms. Lake); Ricki Lake: American actress and television talk show host

20d R(EVIL)ED - EVIL (like Satan) contained in (dressed in) RED

22d BALLING~ - sounds like (out loud) BAWLING (crying)

24d JUNTA* - anagram (odd) of JAUNT

25d NIGER* - anagram (crooked) of REIGN

26d _P|HAT_ - hidden in (selection of) toP HATs

Signing off for today - Falcon