Saturday, February 20, 2010 - Canadian Waterways

Introduction

The theme of today's puzzle by Cox and Rathvon is Canadian waterways, with four of our major rivers making an appearance.

Today's Glossary

Some abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions used in today's puzzle that may be unfamiliar to our foreign visitors

Churchill River - a major Canadian river, arising in eastern Alberta and flowing through Saskatchewan and Manitoba to Hudson Bay

Coppermine River - a major Canadian river, arising near Great Slave Lake and flowing through the Northwest Territories and Nunavut to the Arctic Ocean

Mackenzine River - the longest river in Canada, flowing from Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories to the Arctic Ocean

P.E.I. - abbreviation Prince Edward Island, the smallest province in Canada

pol - noun informal a politician

shortstop - noun Baseball a fielder positioned between second and third base. [also, the position itself; i.e., a player may be a shortstop or he may play the position of shortstop]

St. Lawrence River - a major Canadian river, flowing from the Great Lakes through Ontario and Quebec (forming part of the International boundary with the United States) to the Atlantic Ocean

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

13a Make nice moves on either side of zigzag river (9)

In this clue, I believe that we are meant to substitute Z for "zigzag" not because Z is an abbreviation for zigzag but because a zigzag pattern looks like a Z, much like we would substitute O for "zero" or I for "one".

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

1a COP(P)ERMINE - COP (catch) ERMINE (weasel) containing (around) P (head of P.E.I.; i.e., first letter in the abbreviation P.E.I.)

6a SPAN< - reversal (facing the wrong way) of NAPS (sleeps)

9a M(ON)ARCH - ON (appearing) contained in (in) MARCH (late winter)

10a V(ILL)AIN - VAIN (useless) containing (harbouring) ILL (sick)

12a DUC(A)T - DUCT (tube) containing A

13a MACKEN(Z)IE* - anagram (moves) of MAKE NICE containing (on either side of) Z (zigzag); see Commentary on Today's Puzzle

14a YAM|AHA< - reversal (set back) of {AHA (inventor's call) MAY (might)}

16a B(I|AS)ED - {I AS (like)} contained in (being in) BED (the sack)

19a POL|AND - POL (politician) AND (too)

21a S(PIG)OT - SOT (souse) containing (hugging) PIG (slob)

25a C(H)UR|CHILL - CUR (rogue) containing H (hot) adjacent to (next to) CHILL (cool)

26a SA(SS)Y - SAY (articulate) containing (about) SS (shortstop)

27a L(A|D A D)OG - LOG (record) containing (about) {A DAD (father)}; Note: in the cryptic reading, the 's is a linkword (contraction for is)

28a GO (FIRS)T - FIRS (evergreens) contained in (inside) GOT (received)

29a DAYS - sounds like (by the sound of it) DAZE (fog)

30a {ST LAW(R)ENCE}* - R (right) contained in (in) an anagram (meandering) of NEWCASTLE

Down

1d CO(ME)DY - ME (yours truly; i.e., the setter of the puzzle) contained in (in) CODY (Buffalo Bill Cody - American showman, world famous for his Wild West Shows)

2d PA(NICK)Y - NICK (cut) contained in (in) PAY (salary)

3d _EGRET - removal of R (missing the first [letter]) from [R]EGRET (feel sorry for)

4d MA|HI MA|HI - repeat (echoed) of MA (mother) HI (greeting)

5d NO|VICE - NO VICE (nary a flaw); the wordplay works best by substituting the entire phrase rather than trying to do it word by word

7d PI(A)ZZAS - PIZZAS (some pies) containing (seen around) A (first-rate)

8d NINTENDO - hidden word (found in) in seveN IN TEN DOrms; Note: one must replace the numeral "10" with the word "ten"

11d LE(ERIN)G - LEG (part of a trip) containing (around) ERIN (Ireland)

15d MEN|ACED - MEN (fellows) ACED (performed very well)

17d S(PECK)LED - PECK (Gregory Peck - American actor) contained in (riding in) SLED (vehicle with runners)

18d A|POLO|(GI)A - GI (soldier) contained in (in) {A POLO (horseback game) plus (with) A}

20d LA|UNDRY - LA (note - as in do, re, mi, ...) UNDRY (damp)

22d {TEST RUN}* - anagram (off) of TURNS ET

23d W|ID|GET - W (with) ID (identification) GET (obtain)

24d {M(YRT)LE}< - reversal (on the way back) of {ELM (tree) containing (pierced by) TRY (shot)}

26d SO FA|R - R (run) following (behind) SOFA (couch)

Signing off for today - Falcon