Saturday, July 17, 2010 - Maximization

Introduction

In today's Cox and Rathvon puzzle, we encounter five prefixes plus one word denoting largeness.

Commentary on Today's Puzzle
12a Organize $1,000 political platform (5)

In old gangster movies, $1,000 was a G note. Has it become a K in the computer age?

1d Grandfather takes exercise with dolphins (9)

Filling in PORPOISES for this clue was a bad move. Not only could I not make sense of the wordplay but it prevented me from solving the whole northwest quadrant until I discovered my error.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

1a GI|GAB|ITS - GI (soldier) + GAB (talk) + (and) ITS; the first large-scale prefix (GIGA-)

5a SPIDER< - reversal (back) of REDIPS (again drops) 10a A|B|STAIN - A + B (blue) + STAIN (blemish)

11a N(AS|ALL)Y - {AS (like) + ALL (everyone)} contained in (in) NY (New York)

12a PLAN|K - PLAN (organize) + K ($1,000)

13a ULTRACOOL* - anagram (dancing) of TO CALL OUR; the second large-scale prefix (ULTRA-)

14a SUPERHERO* - anagram (rearranged) of OUR SPHERE; the third large-scale prefix (SUPER-)

16a HITCH - double definition; "thumb" (as in "thumb a ride" or hitchhike) and "problem"

18a SO(WE)D - SOD (turf) containing (outside) WE

20a MA|CROC(O)S|M - MA (mother) + {[CROCS (crocodiles) + M (mass)] containing (around) O (nothing)}; the fourth large-scale prefix (MACRO-)

23a MAXIMIZED - the wordplay (made into Gorky's style) is a play on words involving the name of Russian author Maxim Gorky.

24a _KE|A|NU_ - hidden in (featuring) taKE A NUmber; Canadian actor Keanu Reeves

25a SP|INNER - SP (pair of spurs; i.e., the first two letters of the word "spurs") + INNER (private)

26a I|R(ON)ING - I + RING (call) containing (about) ON (performing; on, as in "You're on" meaning on stage or on the air)

27a A|U|GUST - A + U (university) + GUST (rush; as a wind)

28a MEGASTAR* - anagram (disrupted) of ARTS GAME; the fifth large-scale prefix (MEGA-)

Down

1d GRAMPUSES - GRAMPS (grandfather) containing (takes) USE (exercise)

2d GA(S LAM)P - SLAM (impact) contained in (in) GAP (narrow opening)

3d B(L)ACK - L (left) contained in (in) BACK (rear)

4d TON|SURE - TON (weight) + OK (sure)

6d PISTACHIO* - anagram (busted) of HAITIS COP

7d {DOLE OUT}~ - sounds like (said) "dough lout"

8d _ROY|AL_ - hidden in (in) tROY ALmost

9d ONE-TWO - sounds like (we hear) {WON (was victorious) TOO (also)}

15d RU(DIME)NTS - DIME (money) contained in (grasped by) RUNTS (little guys)

17d HAMBURGER* - anagram (new) of HAREM GRUB

19d WAX(W)ING - WAXING (growing) containing (around) W (start of winter; i.e., first letter of the word "winter")

20d M(OZ)ART - MART (store) containing (stocking) OZ; Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

21d CODEINE* - anagram (oddly) of ONE ICED

22d {ON A DIET}* - anagram (bad) of IDEA NOT

23d MISHA_ - MISHAP (accident) with the final letter deleted (near-accident); Russian ballet dancer Mikhail (Misha) Baryshnikov

24d K|IOWA - IOWA (Hawkeye State) following K (kay)

Signing off for today - Falcon