Saturday, December 4, 2010 - Which way to Harlem?

Introduction

In today's puzzle by Cox and Rathvon, one of the legends of American jazz shows us the way to Harlem - perhaps to take in a show at the Cotton Club.

Today's Glossary

Selected abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions appearing in today's puzzle

Appearing in Clues:

American League - one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada, with the only remaining Canadian team being the Toronto Blue Jays of the American League following the departure of the Montreal Expos of the National League to Washington, DC where they were rechristened the Nationals

National League - the other league making up Major League Baseball

Appearing in Solutions:

Duke Ellington - an American composer, pianist, and big band leader, whose song "Take the "A" Train", written by Billy Strayhorn, hit big in 1941. This jazz standard, the signature tune of the Duke Ellington orchestra, is arguably the most famous of the many compositions to emerge from the collaboration of Ellington and Strayhorn. Strayhorn, originally hired as a lyricist, began his association with Ellington in 1939. Nicknamed "Swee' Pea" for his mild manner, Strayhorn soon became a vital member of the Ellington Organization. Ellington showed great fondness for Strayhorn and never failed to speak glowingly of the man and their collaborative working relationship, "my right arm, my left arm, all the eyes in the back of my head, my brain waves in his head, and his in mine". Strayhorn, with his training in classical music, not only contributed his original lyrics and music, but also arranged and polished many of Ellington's works, becoming a second Ellington or "Duke's doppelganger". It was not uncommon for Strayhorn to fill in for Duke, whether in conducting or rehearsing the band, playing the piano, on stage, and in the recording studio.

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

This commentary should be read in conjunction with the review at Big Dave's Crossword Blog, to which a link is provided in the table above.

Capricious Capitalization

We have several examples in today's puzzle of what I will call 'capricious capitalization' - where the setters arbitrarily capitalize words that otherwise would not be capitalized in order to make them misleadingly appear to be proper nouns, person's names in the three instances highlighted below. This enhances - or, more correctly, enables - the surface reading of the clue. This is a device that one often encounters in American puzzles but, in my experience, does not see in British puzzles. In fact, I have seen British setters virtually jump through hoops to place particular words at the beginning of clues so that they can legitimately be capitalized. Examples from today's puzzle:

• 10a Emphasize a common key, Penny (6)
• 20d Present has arrived for Slim (6)
• 22d Golly, Kay is an attractive sort (4)

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

8a A|PP|ARENT - A + PP (couple of pages) + ARENT (are not)

9a LETTER - double definition

10a A|C|CENT - A + C (common key) + CENT (penny)

11a MARCHES|A - MARCHES (walks) preceding (before) A (one)

12a STRAY|HORN - STRAY (errant) + HORN (tuba or trombone); composer Billy Strayhorn

14a CAWS~ - sounds like (audibly) CAUSE (make)

15a {TAKE THE A TRAIN}* - anagram (butchered) of AN E EARTHA KITT

Note: The title of the song is correctly Take the "A" Train (with quotation marks around the A). While the quotation marks are not entered in the grid, they actually appear in the anagram fodder. Very nice touch.

17a EWES~ - sounds like (vocalizing) USE (employ)

18a _ELLING|TO|N_ - hidden in (somewhat) compELLING TO Novices

21a F(RIGID)LY - FLY (insect) containing (gets) RIGID (stiff)

24a C(HER)RY - CRY (shout) containing (about) HER

25a ENDE(A)R - ENDER (finisher) contains (possesses) A

26a ALLUSION* - anagram (modified) of IN US LOLA

Down

1d SPECKS~ - sounds like (reportedly) SPECS (glasses)

2d {CANE|BRAKES}~ - sounds like (from what we hear) {CAIN (Adam's boy) + BREAKS (ruins)}

3d G|ENTRY - G (green) + ENTRY (door)

4d STEM< - reversal (returned) of METS; the New York Mets, a Major League Baseball team playing in the National League

5d CLAR(IN)ET - IN (popular) contained in (cased in) CLARET (red)

6d _ET|CH_ - hidden in carpET CHoices

7d GERSHWIN* - anagram (revamped) of HER SWING; composer George Gershwin

13d ONE|AL - ONE (a single) + AL (American League); 7-foot 1-inch pro basketball player Shaquille (Shaq) O'Neal, a member of the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA)

14d CHART|REUSE - REUSE (recycle) following (pursuant to) CHART (diagram)

The use of "pursuant to" to mean 'following' may perhaps resonant better with North Americans than with Brits. The American Heritage Dictionary defines pursuant as "proceeding from and conformable to" as well as "in accordance with". The latter wording also appears in Oxford Dictionaries Online and Collins gives an equivalent definition, "in agreement or conformity", while the word is not found in Search Chambers.

15d TOWERING* - anagram (sporting) of WRONG TIE

Note: "Sporting" as an anagram indicator could derive from the word 'sport' (verb) either used in the sense of 'to dally or trifle (with)' or, as employed in Biology, meaning 'to mutate'.

16d THE|OD(OR)E - OR (alternatively) contained in (found in) {THE + ODE (poem)}

19d N(ICE|L)Y - {ICE (bartender's supply) + L (left)} contained in (in) NY (New York)

20d N(ARR)OW - NOW (present) containing (has) ARR (arrived)

22d GEE|K - GEE (golly) + K (kay)

23d Y|EAR - Y (yellow) + EAR (piece of corn)

Signing off for today - Falcon