Saturday, March 6, 2010 - Australian Menagerie

Introduction

The grid for today's puzzle from Cox and Rathvon is filled with a collection of animal life from Down Under.









Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

1a KANGAROO* - anagram (poorly) of ANORAK GO

5a ASS|AIL - ASS (dope) + (and) AIL (suffer)

9a WIGHT~ - sounds like (by the sound of it) WHITE (snowy)

10a BANDICOOT - BAND (group) + (with) I (one) COOT (duck-like bird)

12a SE(V)E|RED - SEE RED (get angry) containing (about) V (volume)

13a WALL(A)BY - A (article) contained in (inside) {WALL (barricade) BY (next to)}

14a KO|ALA - KO (render senseless) A LA (in the manner of)

16a SIGNORI* - anagram (dubious) of ORIGINS

19a E|LEAN|OR - E (Elizabeth's beginning; i.e., first letter of the word "Elizabeth") LEAN (to incline) OR (otherwise); Eleanor of Aquitaine: wife of King Henry II, mother of King Richard the Lionheart and King John

20a DIN|GO - DIN (racket) + (in front of) GO (exit)

22a ECHIDNA* - anagram (wild) of CHAINED

24a REA(CHE)D - CHE (Argentinian guerrilla) contained in (in) READ (study)

26a C|AS|SO|WARY - C (cold) + (and) AS SO (such) WARY (suspicious)

27a O(ATE)R - O (omelette initially; i.e., first letter of the word "omelette") contained in (consumed by) R (Rex: the reigning king)

28a NESTLE - double definition: nestle and Nestlé (Swiss multinational packaged foods company)

29a PLATYPUS* - anagram (in new light) of PUTS PLAY

Down

1d _KA|WAS|A|KI_ - hidden in (in) alasKA WAS A KIngpin; Kawasaki Heavy Industries: Japanese motorcycle manufacturer

2d N(EG)EV - EG (for example) contained in (in) NEV (Nevada)

3d A|L(TERN)ATE - TERN (seabird) contained in (caught by) {A LATE (recent)}

4d OR|BED - OR (operating room) BED (cot)

6d S|PILL - S (small) PILL (tablet)

7d ADO|RATION - ADO (trouble) + (connected with) RATION (budget)

8d L(A| TOY)A - {A TOY (trifle)} contained in (confined by) LA (Los Angeles)

11d _NE|W AGER - NE (one losing opening; i.e., delete the first letter from the word "one") WAGER (bet)

15d A|M(ETH*)YSTS - {A MYST (classic computer game) S ('s)} containing (about) an anagram (rolling) of THE

16d SA(N)TAN|A - {SATAN (the devil) containing (keeping) N (name)} + (with) A

17d {ODD MAN OUT}* - anagram (splattered) of MUD ON TOAD

18d HOND(UR)AS - HONDAS (Japanese cars) containing (going around) UR (ancient city)

21d BE|A|CON - BE (act as) A CON (prisoner)

23d D|ROLL - D (dancer's first; i.e., the first letter of the word "dancer") ROLL (gyration)

24d ROYAL~ - sounds like (you might say) ROIL

25d HI(T U)P - HIP (joint) containing (on either side of) TU (you in Rome; i.e., Latin word meaning "you")

Signing off for today - Falcon