Saturday, August 14, 2010 - In the Wine Cellar

Introduction

In today's puzzle, Cox and Rathvon invite us down to their wine cellar for a tasting. Departing from standard practice, though, they start us off with a sparkling wine and then proceed to offer us the reds before the whites.

Today's Glossary

Some possibly unfamiliar abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions used in today's puzzle

Used in Solutions:

Ellen Burstyn - American actress, who has worked in film, stage and television.

Agnes Moorehead (1900-1974) - American actress who played Endora on the 1960's television series Bewitched.

Pinotage - noun 1. a red grape variety of South Africa, a cross between the Pinot Noir and the Hermitage; 2. any of the red wines made from this grape.

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

19a "Fantastic ole guy"? (6)

This is an & lit. (or, as some prefer to call it, an all-in-one clue). The entire clue (read one way) serves as the definition, and (read another way) is the wordplay. In this case, "Fantastic ole guy" is an example of a brief EULOGY, while the wordplay is an anagram (fantastic) of OLE GUY.

21a Speaker's observed change in wine (8)

In this clue, the definition is "wine" with the correct selection from the wine list being SAUTERNE. This is a homophone (sounds like) clue, indicated by "speaker's", with SAW TURN (observed change) sounding like SAUTERNE.

The word "speaker's" could be either a possessive, a contraction for "speaker is" or a contraction for "speaker has". In this case, the correct choice is the first one (a possessive) - with the idea conveyed by the phrase "speaker's observed change" being "speaker's uttering of 'observed change'".

5d Big Ben sadly losing power (6)

The setters probably had the bell in the London clock tower in mind when they conceived this clue. However, with riders from around the world currently here in Ottawa for the National Capital Show Jumping Tournament, and with Ian Millar and his horses doing very well in competition, perhaps we should accept this as a tribute to Ian's world champion show jumping horse, Big Ben (1976-1999).

27d Retracted crazy wild guess (4)

The definition is "wild guess" and the wordplay is a reversal (retracted) of a word meaning "crazy". My first guess proved to be too wild as I discovered that, although NUTS does mean crazy, its reversal STUN does not fit the definition. However, my second STAB at the answer proved more successful.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

1a CHAMP|AGNES - CHAMP (winner) + AGNES (American actress Agnes Moorehead)

6a FLOW< - reversal (backing up) of WOLF (big bad animal, a reference to the fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood)

9a NIRVANA* - anagram (wild) of IVAN RAN

10a BURSTYN~ - sounds like (from the audience) BURST IN (suddenly entered)

12a RAD|II - RAD (radical) + II (Roman duo; i.e., Roman numeral for the number two)

13a PI|NOT|AGE - hidden in (a bit) philipPI NOT AGEd

15a CA(BERNE)T - BERNE (Swiss capital; i.e., capital city of Switzerland) contained in (swallowed by) CAT (kitty)

17a HOSTEL~ - sounds like (sounding) HOSTILE (mean)

19a EULOGY - anagram (fantastic) of OLE GUY

21a SAUTERNE~ - sounds like (speaker's) {SAW (observed) + TURN (change)}

24a R|IE|SLING - {IE (that is) + SLING (cast)} following (after) R (year's end; i.e., the final letter in the word "year")

25a {NAOM|I}< - reversal of (while facing west; i.e., as text running right to left on the page) {I + MOAN (pronounce in misery)} 28a TOR(TON)I - TON (2000 pounds) contained in (in) TORI (doughnuts)

29a TEEMING~ - sounds like (heard) TEAMING (making a squad)

30a BU(S)T - BUT (yet) containing S (sulphur; i.e., the symbol used in chemistry for this element)

Down

1d CONTRACTED - double definition; "made a deal" and "downsized"

2d A(IRE)D - AD (spot) containing (full of) IRE (anger)

3d PEA|TIER - PEA (vegetable) + TIER (row)

4d GR|APPLES - GR (pair of green; i.e., the first two letters of the word "green") + APPLES (fruit)

5d EBBING* - anagram (sadly) of BIG BEN

7d LIT|I|GATOR - LIT (set fire to) + I (one) + GATOR (reptile)

8d WAND* - anagram (breaking) of DAWN

11d RATIO* - anagram (dotty) of IRA TO

14d FLEE|TINGLY - FLEE (run) + TINGLY (feeling nervously excited)

16d BILLIARDS* - anagram (mixed up) of BIRD IS ALL

18d DAUGHTER* - anagram of (changing of) THE GUARD; "clan" used in the sense of family

20d GUST|O - GUST (blow) + (with) O (zip)

22d _T|ANGEL|O_ - hidden in (some) brighT ANGEL Offers

23d FINISH~ - sounds like (heard) FINNISH (Scandinavian)

26d OR|ION - OR + ION (particle); Orion (star cluster; i.e., constellation)

27d STAB< - reversal (retracted) of BATS (crazy)

Signing off for today - Falcon