Saturday, September 25, 2010 - Musical Farmer

Introduction

In today's puzzle by Cox and Rathvon we are introduced to a farmer (11a), well known in song (and it's not The Farmer in the Dell). Also in the puzzle, we have a term for the branch of agriculture in which this farmer is clearly engaged (5d). Hidden in the solutions are a couple of the animals under his care (14a and 20a), as well as a word that might be used to describe his livestock, in general (17a). Perhaps there are more themed clues that I have missed. If you find some, please leave a comment.

Today's Glossary

A selection of abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions used in today's puzzle

Used in Solutions:

Beatrice "Bea" Arthur - an American actress, comedienne and singer

[Don't] have a cow! - a humorous cautionary phrase, dating from the late 1950s at least, possibly of US origin. Although probably most frequently heard in the negative as an admonition to calm down, it may also be used in the affirmative sense, "She had a cow when she discovered that her daughter had actually been hanging out at the mall rather than studying at a friend's home." The phrase is often used by Shaggy in the cartoon series Scooby Doo. However, it is probably most closely associated with Bart Simpson from the cartoon series The Simpsons, who used the phrase "Don't have a cow, man!" as a catch phrase in early episodes of the series. And finally, it may be a fitting conclusion (in the context of today's clue) to note that according to essayist Diana Souhami, in her biography of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, Stein used the term to have a cow to refer to her partner's orgasms.

"Old MacDonald Had a Farm" - a [North American] children's song about a farmer named MacDonald and the various animals he keeps on his farm

R (Restricted) - a category in various film rating systems. While motion picture rating is a provincial responsibility in Canada (and the rules therefore vary somewhat from province to province), in general an R-rating (where used) signifies that only persons 18 years of age and older are admitted to the film. On the other hand, under the Motion Picture Association of America's film-rating system, this rating is used for films to which those under age 17 are admitted if accompanied by a parent or adult guardian.

Barnaby Rudge - a historical novel by Charles Dickens

Leon Trotsky (1879 – 1940) - a Bolshevik revolutionary and Marxist theorist

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

1a {MAR|MOT}< - reversal (coming back) of {TOM (cat) + (and) RAM (sheep)}

5a ANNALIST~ - sounds like (in conversation) ANALYST (shrink)

9a NEW DELHI~ - sounds like (reportedly) KNEW (was familiar with) DELI (food store)

10a SUMMER - double definition; "hot time" and "one doing arithmetic"

11a {OLD MACDONALD}* - anagram (straightened out) of DAMN ODD LOCAL

13a B|RAN - BAN (restriction) containing (including) R (restricted)

14a {HAVE A COW}* - anagram of HOW A CAVE

17a BEA|STIES - BEA (Actress [Beatrice] Arthur) + STIES (pens)

18a L|ONE - L (50; i.e., Roman numeral for "50") + ONE (1)

20a HORSE-TRADING - anagram (out) of SORTING A HERD

23a STRAIN - double definition; "tax" and "ancestral line"


24a DO|NATION - DO (make) + NATION (country)

25a D(RUDGE)RY - RUDGE (Dicken's [novel] Barnaby [Rudge]) contained in (in) DRY (plain)

26a W(I)RING - I contained in (caught in) WRING (a squeeze) [Note: for clarity, I have undone the inverted sentence structure used by the setter]

Down

2d A|MEN - A + MEN (people)

3d MIDPOINTS* - anagram (organized) of TOP MINDS I

4d TO(LED)O - LED (was first) contained in (occupying) TOO (excessively)

5d {ANIMAL HUSBANDRY}* - anagram (ground) of IN A MARSHLAND BUY

6d NOSE-D__IVE - NO SED[at]IVE with AT deleted (missing AT)

7d LE(M)ON - LEON (Trotsky) containing M (half of M[y])

8d SPELL|BOUND - SPELL (recite [the letters of]) BOUND (jump)

12d FREEBOOTER* - anagram (altered) of ROTE BEFORE

15d ALLIGATOR* - anagram (mad) of AT GORILLA

16d DI(STAN)CE - STAN (Stanley) contained in (among) DICE (casino rollers)

19d M(INN)OW - MOW (cut the grass) containing (around) INN (tavern)

21d SWARD< - reversal (back) of DRAWS (pulls)

22d DOWN - double definition

Signing off for today - Falcon