Saturday, February 6, 2010 - Small Change

Introduction

While today's puzzle by Cox and Rathvon starts out with some big money, by the time we are half-way done, we are begging for small change. We finish with a change for a small one - baby, that is.

Today's Glossary

Some possibly unfamiliar abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions used in today's puzzle (including some North American terms that might be new to overseas visitors)

American League - one of the two leagues (the other being the National League) constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada

dime - noun N. Amer. a ten-cent coin

gendarme - a member of the French national police organization constituting a branch of the armed forces with responsibility for general law enforcement

nickel - noun 2 N. Amer. informal a five-cent coin

nickel-and-dime - adjective N. Amer. of little importance; petty

Wit (or W;t) - a play written by American playwright Margaret Edson which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1999

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

24a Jude Law film set in frigid mining area (9)

Perhaps this clue might have (better ?) read "Michael Caine film set in frigid mining area".

14d Interstate close to home, seriously (2,7)

It took me a while to see the wordplay here, but eventually the penny dropped. Similar to the U.K. where M stands for motorway, in the U.S., I stands for Interstate (or, more formally, the Interstate Highway System, or, in its full glory, the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways).

The longest Interstate route is I-90 running from Boston, Massachusetts to Seattle, Washington - a distance of over 4800 km (3000 miles). The longest north-south route is the I-95, running from the Canadian border (at Houlton, Maine/Woodstock, New Brunswick) to Miami, Florida - a distance of almost 3100 km (over 1900 miles) - along the way traversing fifteen states plus the District of Columbia.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

1a C(A|PIT)AL - {A PIT (mine)} contained in (in) CAL (California); Capital is "money for developing" as in money raised to establish a business

5a P(ERIW)IG - ERIW {reversal of (going the wrong way) WIRE (strand of metal)} contained in (in) PIG (slob); the 's is short for is and serves as a linking word between the wordplay and the definition (hairpiece)

9a LAR(G)E* - anagram (confused) of REAL containing (about) G (green); Green Giant - a brand name of General Mills for fresh, frozen and canned produce

10a GO(RE VID)AL - GOAL (objective) containing (about) REVID {reversal (on the rebound) of DIVER (aquatic athlete)}; Gore Vidal - American writer

11a ISHMAEL* - anagram (nomadic) of EMIL HAS; Ishmael - according to Islamic tradition, ancestor of Northern Arab people

12a MOO|CHER - MOO (call from a bovine) CHER (actress); Cher - American entertainer, born Cherilyn Sarkisian

13a PE(N|NY) P|INCHING - {PEP (energy) INCHING (moving gradually)} containing (around) N (northern) NY (New York)

17a NICKEL-AND-DIME - NICE (French resort) containing (keeping) {K (grand; one thousand) ELAND (antelope) DIM (poorly lit)}

21a OR|BITER - OR BITER (one that attacks; e.g., a dog); orbiter: craft that circles, e.g., spacecraft

23a PA(ROLE)D - ROLE (part) contained in (written in) PAD (tablet)

24a CO(AL FIE)LD - ALFIE (Jude Law film) contained in COLD (frigid); Alfie: 2004 film starring English actor Jude Law

25a _TIMOR_ - hidden in (section of) balTIMORe

26a W(INGS) IT - anagram (new) of SIGN contained in (in) WIT

27a LAYETTE - YET (still) contained in (wearing) LATE (bygone)

Down

1d C(ALL|I)OPE - COPE (manage) containing (including) {ALL (everything) adjacent to (with) I (one)}

2d PART|HEN|ON - PART (leave) HEN (chicken) ON (just next to; as a holster on one's hip)

3d THE(RAP)Y - RAP (talk) contained in (among) THEY (those guys)

4d LEG|AL - LEG (part of trip) AL (American League)

5d PARAMECIA* - anagram (out of order) of A PAIR CAME

6d R(A|VIOL)I - {A VIOL (string)} contained in (found in) RI (Rhode Island)

7d WI(D)TH - D (diameter) contained in (inside) WITH (accompanying)

8d G(A|L)ORE - GORE (pierce) containing (gains) {A L (pound; pound sterling, £)}

14d I|N EAR|NEST - I (Interstate) NEAR (close to) NEST (home)

15d GUIL(LEMO)T - GUILT (remorse) containing (about) {anagram (disturbed) of MOLE}

16d GEN(D|ARM)E - GENE (hereditary unit) containing (given) {D (low grade, as in school) ARM (weapon)}

18d CU(T-O)FFS - TO contained in (put in) CUFFS (turned up hems)

19d DO|R|O|THY - DO (make) R (elevator's last; i.e., last letter of the word elevator) O (operator; i.e., telephone operator - a vanishing occupation) THY (your); Dorothy (fantasy girl) from the children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

20d MO|SCOW - MO (Missouri) SCOW (boat)

22d BRA|IN - IN (popular) following (after) BRA (supporting underwear)

23d _PED|AL_ - hidden in (features) wrapPED ALien

Signing off for today - Falcon