Saturday, March 19, 2011 - Artistic Impressions

Introduction

In today's puzzle from Cox and Rathvon, the setters feature a well-known French painter as well as a couple of his major works. This artist was not only one of the founders of French impressionist painting, but gave this school of painting its name (from the title of one of his masterpieces).



Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

1a   {CLAUDE MONET}* -  anagram (crackpot) of EMULATED CON

Claude Monet (1840 – 1926) - a founder of French impressionist painting

9a   A|G|ROUND - A + G (general; military rank) + ROUND (serving of drinks)

10a   LOW|B(R)OW - LOW (sound from a bovine) + {R (right) contained in (in) BOW (front of a boat)}

11a   HA(Y)|S|TACKS - {HAS + TACKS (nails)} containing (and ... inside) Y (fork)

Haystacks by Claude Monet

12a   GLE(A)N - GLEN (valley) containing (holding) A

13a   MA|SAD|A - MA (mom) + SAD (unhappy) + A

Masada - a site of ancient palaces and fortifications in Israel located atop an isolated rock plateau on the eastern edge of the Judean Desert overlooking the Dead Sea. Following the First Jewish-Roman War, a siege of the fortress by troops of the Roman Empire led to the mass suicide of the Sicarii rebels.

15a   S(ERR)ATED - ERR (slip) contained in (in) SATED (full)

17a   DEC|O|RATE - {O (bagel; from its shape) + RATE (price)} following (after) DEC (December)

19a   IM|PRO|V - IM (I'm) + PRO (in favour of) + V (verse)

23a   SHE(B)A - B (bee) contained in (in) SHEA (old baseball stadium)

The Queen of Sheba - a monarch of the ancient kingdom of Sheba,  believed to have been located in present-day Ethiopia or Yemen.

24a   C(A|THE|DR)AL - {A (article) + THE + DR (doctor)} contained in (put in) CAL (California)

Rouen Cathedral by Claude Monet

26a   {D(ECIM)AL}< - reversal (from behind) of {LAD (boy) containing (catching) MICE (rodents)}

27a   ART|EMIS* - ART (painting) + anagram (abstract) of SEMI

Artemis - Greek goddess of the hunt, the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and the twin sister of Apollo

28a   {WATER LILIES}* - anagram (after arranging) of I WILL SEE ART

Water Lilies, 1920-1926, by Claude Monet

Down

1d   CURRY - double definition; "groom; as a verb" & "Indian dish"

2d   A|BUTTE|D - D (down) following (behind) {A + BUTTE (flat-topped hill)}

3d   DE(D)UCE - DEUCE (2) containing (÷; divided by) D (500; Roman numeral)

4d   MOL(AS|S)ES - {AS + S (sugar originally; i.e., first letter of "Sugar")} contained in (eaten by) MOLES (diggers underground)

5d   NE|W AGER - NE ([chemical symbol for] neon) + WAGER (venture)

6d   TOR|MEN|TOR - MEN (guys) contained in (stuck between) {TOR + TOR (two peaks)}

7d   MAY|HEM - MAY (springtime) + HEM (border)

8d   T(WIN)ED - TED (Theo) containing (bears) WIN (victory)

Here "wound" is a verb, not a noun, as in "The beanstalk wound around the pole.".

14d   S(ACRED) COW - ACRED (landed) contained in (in) SCOW (boat)

16d   STICK(L)ER - STICKER (label) containing (wrapped around) L (litre)

17d   DO-S|I|-DO - DOS (two of the Spaniards; i.e., the Spanish word for "two") + (and) I + DO (perform)

18d   READMIT* - anagram (bum) of MAITRE D

20d   {MAES|TRI}< - reversal (backing) of {IRT (New York City Subway) + SEAM (connecting line)}

The Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) was the private operator of the original underground New York City Subway line that opened in 1904, as well as earlier elevated railways and additional rapid transit lines in New York City. The IRT was purchased by the City in June 1940. The former IRT lines (the numbered lines in the current subway system) are now the A Division or IRT Division of the Subway.

21d   VAL(IS)E - IS contained in (found in ) VALE (valley)

22d   STRATI - anagram (retouched) of ARTIST

strati - plural of stratus

25d   R|UMPS - R (last of senior; i.e., last letter of "senioR") + UMPS (officials)

Signing off for today - Falcon