Saturday, November 20, 2010 - National Icons

Introduction

Today's relatively easy offering from Cox and Rathvon serves up a quartet of objects and foods iconically associated with particular nations - not to mention a couple of iconic actresses from the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

5d Sauces for pair of artists in places with yachts (9)

Our American setters offer us a clue where the definition is "sauces", the solution is MARINARAS, and the wordplay is AR (pair of artists; i..e., first two letters of "artists") contained in (in) MARINAS (places with yachts) or MARIN(AR)AS.

A British setter may well have taken a different tack, giving us "Sauces for artists in places with yachts (9)" where the definition and solution would remain the same, but he wordplay would be RA (Royal Academy) in MARINAS or MARINA(RA)S.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

Legend:	"*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed
	"( )" letters inserted; "_" letters deleted

Across

1a {SPANISH OMELET}* - {SPAN (period) + IS + LET (allowed)} containing (outside) HOME (house)

9a ICELANDER~ - sounds like (you might say) I SLANDER (badmouth)

10a MARCH - double definition; month (time of year) and genre of music (Sousa piece)

John Philip Sousa (1854 – 1932) - an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era, known particularly for American military and patriotic marches, regarded (at least in the U.S.) as "The March King".

11a S(I)TAR - I contained in (donated to) STAR (celebrity)

12a SE|N(S)ATION - SE (southeast) + {NATION (country) containing (adopts) S (small)}

13a {RICE PAPER}* - anagram (off) of PAIR CREPE

16a A(BET)S - AS (while) containing (holding) BET (wager)

17a Y|EATS - Y (fork; like a fork in a road, for example) + EATS (has dinner)

William Butler Yeats (1865 – 1939) - an Irish poet and dramatist, and one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature.

19a {ROSE PETAL}* - anagram (new) of REAL POETS

21a _N|EARTH|IN|G_ - hidden (interior) in oN EARTH IN Germany

23a OR|SON - OR (Oregon) + SON (boy)

25a F|LAME - F (failing; as a grade at school) + LAME (feeble)

26a THE|REF|ORE - THE + REF (referee) + ORE (rocks)

27a {CANADIAN BACON}* - anagram (hurt) of A BAN ON ACID CAN

Down -
1d {SWISS ARMY KNIFE}* - anagram (sloppy) of KISS IF MY ANSWER

2d A|GENT - A + GENT (male)

3d _IN A TRA|P_ - hidden in (part of) sINATRA Performance

4d HIDES - double definition

5d MARIN(AR)AS - AR (pair of artists; i.e., first two letters of "artist") contained in (in) MARINAS (places with yachts)

6d LAMB(A)DA - LAMBDA (Greek character; i.e., a letter in the Greek alphabet) containing (holding) A

The association of Lambada and the idea of 'dirty dancing' became quite extensive. The appellative forbidden dance was and is often ascribed to the Lambada. This was largely due to

• its links to Maxixe. The true forbidden dance of the early 1920s in Brazil is the Maxixe, because of its spicy lyrics and movements.
• the 1990 movies Lambada and The Forbidden Dance, and
• the short skirts, typical to the Lambada dance, that were in fashion around 1988.

7d TOR(RIDES)T - RIDES (taunts) contained in (in) TORT (legal case)

8d {CHINESE LANTERN}* - anagram (changed) of IN RESET CHANNEL

14d _CH|ARAB|ANC_ - hidden in (essential to) riCH ARAB ANCestors

charabanc - a type of horse-drawn vehicle or early motor coach, usually open-topped, common in Britain during the early part of the 20th century. It was especially popular for sight-seeing or "works outings" to the country or the seaside, organised by businesses once a year.

15d PER|MITTED - PER (by means of) + MITTED (wearing a glove)

18d SO|THE|RN - SO (likewise) + THE + RN (nurse)

• registered nurse (abbreviation RN) - noun North American a fully trained nurse with an official state certificate of competence
• Ann Sothern (1909 – 2001) - an American film and television actress with a career spanning six decades.

20d P(ROVER)B - ROVER (dog's tag) contained in (written in) PB (lead; i.e., the chemical symbol for the element lead)

22d _G|RETA_ - hidden in (in) demandinG RETAke

Greta Garbo (1905 – 1990) - a Swedish actress primarily known for her work in the United States during Hollywood's silent film period and part of its subsequent Golden Age.

24d S(TO)IC - SIC (order to attack) containing (is bracing) TO

 I believe "bracing" here is used in the sense of 'to enclose in braces ("{ }")'.

Signing off for today - Falcon