Saturday, February 5, 2011 - Up and Down

Introduction

One might say that today's puzzle by Cox and Rathvon has its ups and downs. The setters do seem to lose direction at one point - sending us west instead of north. Although misdirection is the stock in trade of cryptic crossword puzzle compilers, I think this falls outside the bounds of generally accepted practice.

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

17d   Had a lot to drink with sandwich, heading to the west station (3,5)

It is ironic that in a puzzle whose theme is "Up and Down", the setters should get their directions confused. Rather than "to the west" which is used to indicate a reversal in an across clue (signifying that the text is to be written right to left), they should have used "to the north" in this down clue to denote that the text is to be written bottom to top.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

1a   REFUSING - double definition; "naysayer's act" & "forming another bond" (re-fusing; i.e., fusing again)

5a   SLA(L|O)M - {L (left) + (with) O (nothing)} contained in (in) SLAM (crash)

9a   _TH|ON|G_ - hidden in (clump of) earTH ON Girl

10a   {DIME NOVEL}* - anagram (reformed) of EVIL DEMON

12a   PAR|TNER< - reversal (returned) of {RENT (money for lodging) + RAP (complaint)}

13a   NETTLED* - anagram (bucks) of LENT TED

14a   D(OWN| TO T|HE W)IRE - {OWN (have) + TOT (child) + HEW (hack)} contained in (into) DIRE (warning of calamity)

Although English grammar is far from my forte, I would say that "warning of calamity" seems to be a nounal phrase acting as an adjective as might be used in a phrase such as 'disturbing events, ominous and warning of calamity'.

18a   {UP TO THE MINUTE}* - anagram (plays) of THEME PUT OUT IN

22a   D(ECO)RUM - ECO (Italian novelist; Umberto Eco) contained in (wearing) DRUM (barrel)

24a   HOG|ART|H - HOG (selfishly appropriate) + ART (painting) + (by) H (hot)

William Hogarth (1697 – 1764) - English painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, social critic and editorial cartoonist

25a   PUR(CHASE)R - PURR (sound contented) containing (around) CHASE (hunt)

26a   SMELT - double definition; "caught a whiff of" & "fish"

27a   TO(LED)O - TOO (also) containing (having) LED (been the first)

28a   T|{OP-(N)OTCH}* - T (time) + an anagram (nuts) of TO CHOP} containing (around) N (mid-morning; i.e., the middle letter of "morning")

Down

1d   RETAPE - RET (return) + APE (copy)

According to Encarta, ret. is used as an abbreviation for 'return' in the field of Law.

2d   F(LO)OR|ED IT - {LO (look) contained in (inside) FOR} + EDIT (review before publishing)

3d   S(AG|IN)AW - SAW (axiom) containing (about) {AG (silver) + IN}

Saginaw - a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, located on Lake Huron

4d   NADIR* - anagram (repaired) of DRAIN

6d   LU(NET)TE - LUTE (stringed instrument) containing (getting) NET (final)

7d   L(EVE)L - L (Liberal) + EVE (first lady) + L (Liberal)

8d   MA|LADIES - LADIES (women) following MA (mother)

11d   MENOTTI - anagram (broken) of INTO MET

• Gian Carlo Menotti (1911 – 2007) - an Italian-American composer and librettist
• Met - The Metropolitan Opera Association of New York City

15d   THERMOS - THE + RM (room) + (with) OS (doughnuts)

 The letter 'O' looks like a doughnut, so "doughnuts" becomes 'Os'.

16d   I|N EAR|NEST - I + NEAR (approach) + NEST (lair)

17d   {BUS DEPOT}< - reversal (to the west; inappropriate in a down clue) of {TOPED (had a lot to drink) + (with) SUB (sandwich)}

19d   T(ORC)HE|D - ORC (killer whale) contained in (in) {THE +D (distance)}

20d   [S→]URGE[→S] ON - SURGEON with the first letter (head) relocated (with a shift of the head)

21d   THAT|CH - THAT + CH (church)

23d   C|ORAL - C (piece of cake; i.e., first letter of "cake") + ORAL (in the mouth)

24d   HARPO< - reversal of (comeback) of OPRAH (talk show host, Oprah Winfrey)

Arthur Adolph "Harpo" Marx (1888 – 1964) - an American comedian and film star, a member of the Marx Brothers comedy team. His comic style was influenced by clown and pantomime traditions. He wore a curly reddish wig, and never spoke during performances (he blew a horn or whistled to communicate). Marx frequently used props such as a walking stick with a built-in bulb horn, and he played the harp in most of his films.

Signing off for today - Falcon