Saturday, November 6, 2010 - Gigantic Furniture?

Introduction

I felt that today's offering from Cox and Rathvon was not quite up to their usual high standard. There seemed to be a lot of not very imaginative charades and a few old chestnuts (such as 1a) that I have seen in a number of other puzzles. However, 26a did bring back good memories of my recent trip to Italy where I enjoyed large amounts of this delightful drink as we made our way through Tuscany and other regions.

The theme of this puzzle is a bit difficult to discern - unless I am overlooking something. The opening and closing entries are synonyms for gigantic and the middle entries are pieces of furniture. I did wonder momentarily if it might possibly be themed around Starbucks, the gigantic Seattle-based coffee retailer, as there are a few coffee-related words in the puzzle.

Finally, I must thank Matt Mitchell for supplying solutions to the two Saturday puzzles that were published during my absence. Apparently he missed the puzzles so greatly that he travelled all the way to Toronto to pick up copies of the National Post ; )

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

17d U.S. soldier, carefree as a savanna dweller? (9)

This clue probably gave me the most difficulty, as I initially wrote in GIRAFFINE rather than GIRAFFISH.

giraffine - adjective Resembling a giraffe; giraffe-like. [Century Dictionary]; Of or relating to the giraffe or giraffes. [Wiktionary]

giraffish - adjective from the noun giraffe [American Heritage Dictionary]

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

1a CO(LOSS)AL - LOSS (shortfall) contained in (in) COAL (fossil fuel)

5a I|SOB|A|R - I + SOB (cry) + A + R (river)

9a RAM|PAGE - RAM (male sheep) + PAGE (call)

10a P|OR|TRAY - P (front of platter; i.e., first letter of "platter") + OR + TRAY (salver)

11a U-BOAT - anagram (tossing) of ABOUT

12a DET|RAINED - DET (detective) + RAINED (came down)

13a C(OF|FEE T)ABLE - CABLE (wire) containing (wrapping) OF FEET (pedal; pedal being an adjective meaning "of [the] feet")

16a SAG< - reversal (coming back) of GAS (fossil fuel)

18a ERA< - reversal (recalled) of ARE

19a BASK|ET CH|AIR - BASK (enjoy the sun) + ETCH (create some art) + (and) AIR (song)

21a A|C|CORD|I|ON - A + C + CORD (string) + I + ON (attached)

23a DECAF< - reversal (the wrong way) of FACED (looked at)

25a CEILING~ - sounds like (audibly) SEALING (spackling)

Spackle - A trademark used for a powder to be mixed with water or a ready-to-use plastic paste designed to fill cracks and holes in plaster before painting or papering. This trademark often occurs in lowercase and as a verb in print: "Two young men quietly spackled and whitewashed the walls . . . for an exhibition" (New York Times).

26a CHI|ANTI - CHI (Greek character) + ANTI (opposed to)

27a THE(OR)Y - OR (alternatively) contained in (accepted by) THEY (those guys)

28a BE|HE|MOTH - MOTH (insect) following (going after) {BE (live) + HE (man)}

Down

1d CARBUNCLE* - anagram (erratically) of CLEAN CURB

carbuncle - noun 2. a. A deep-red garnet, unfaceted and convex. b. Obsolete A red precious stone. [American Heritage Dictionary]

2d LIMB|O - LIMB (arm or leg) + (and) O (hoop)

3d SE(A)TTLE - SETTLE (put down roots) containing (around) A

Seattle ² - A city of west-central Washington bounded by Puget Sound and Lake Washington. First settled in the 1850s, it prospered after the coming of the railroad in 1884 and became a boom town during the Alaskan gold rush of 1897. It is now an important commercial, transportation, and industrial hub and a major port of entry. Population: 582,000.

Vancouver - The setters are almost certainly referencing the first of these cities, though either would satisfy the clue.

1. A city of southwest British Columbia, Canada, on the Strait of Georgia opposite Vancouver Island. The largest city in the province, it is a major port, commercial and industrial center, and railroad hub. Population: 578,000.
2. A city of southwest Washington on the Columbia River opposite Portland, Oregon. Founded as Fort Vancouver by the Hudson's Bay Company in the 1820s, it is a deep-water port with shipyards, lumber mills, and other processing facilities. Population: 159,000.

[American Heritage Dictionary]

4d A(MEN)D - AD (commercial) containing (including) MEN (guys)

6d S(URN)AME - URN (jar) contained in (carried by) SAME (identical)

7d {BERING SEA}* - anagram (strange) of BEINGS ARE

8d RAYED~ - sounds like (in the sound) RAID (attack)

10d PO(TAB)LE - TAB (check) contained in (pocketed by) POLE (European)

14d FRANC(HIS)E - FRANCE (continental country) contains (accepts) HIS

15d T|A|STING - T (bit of tea; i.e., first letter of "tea") + A + STING (member of the Police)

Sting - Professional name of Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, CBE (born 2 October 1951),  who is an English musician, singer-songwriter, activist, actor and philanthropist. Prior to starting his solo career, he was the principal songwriter, lead singer and bassist of the rock band The Police.

17d GI|RAFFISH - GI (U.S. soldier) + RAFFISH (carefree)

19d BARRIE|R - R (right) following (behind) BARRIE (Peter Pan author)

 J. M. Barrie - Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, OM (9 May 1860 – 19 June 1937) was a Scottish author and dramatist, best remembered today as the creator of Peter Pan.

20d CODE|IN|E - CODE (cipher) + IN + E (English)

21d A|SCOT - A + SCOT (Highlander)

22d NIC(H)E - H (heroin) contained in (stuck in) NICE

24d CON|DO - CON (opposed) + DO (party)

Signing off for today - Falcon