Saturday, May 14, 2011 - Please Be Seated

Introduction

It being spring, what better time to rearrange the furniture - a chore that Cox and Rathvon have embarked upon in today's puzzle.












Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

1a   CHESTERFIELD* - anagram (getting wild) of CHEERS LIFTED

9a   {TOUR BUS}* - anagram (the wrong way) of TO RUB US

10a   PAL|F(R)EY - PAL (chum) + {FEY (clairvoyant) containing (about) R (Derby's third; i.e., third letter of DeRby)}

11a   RU(PE)E - RUE (regret) containing (eating) PE (most of peg; i.e., all but the last letter of PEg).

12a   {EASY (CHAI)R}* - anagram (new) of YEARS containing (consuming) CHAI (spiced tea)

13a   RE(CL)INER - REINER ([American] director Rob [Reiner]) containing (placed around) CL (sides of cell; i.e., the outside letters of CelL)

15a   ST|AGED - ST (street) + AGED (grew more mature)

18a   {I|S|RAEL}< - reversal (set back) of {LEAR (tragic king) + S ('s) + I (ego)}

19a   LOVE SE(A)T - A (one) contained in (involved in) LOVE SET (six-game shutout)

• love set - Tennis a set in which the loser has a score of zero.
• tete-a-tete - noun 2. A short sofa intended to accommodate two persons.

22a   DAVENPORT* - anagram (repaired) of ON TV PADRE

24a   WICC~|A - {sounds like (in hearing) WICK (something ignited)} + A

26a   BO(L)O TIE - L (left) contained in (in) BOOTIE (infant's shoe)

27a   BAN|D (A)ID - A (article) contained in (appearing in) {BAN (prohibition) + DID (achieved)}

28a   {CHAISE LONGUE}* - anagram (spilled) of GOULASH NIECE

Down

1d   CATERER* - anagram (rearranged) of TERRACE

2d   E|QUIP - QUIP (witticism) following (after) E (nd of joke; i.e., last letter of jokE)

3d   T(A|BLE W)INE - TINE (point) containing (about) {A + BLEW (squandered)}

4d   RESEEDED~ - sounds like (say) RECEDED (moved back)

5d   I|MP|IS|H - I {[symbol (in Physics) for] current} MP (legislator; i.e., Member of Parliament) + IS + H (hit; e.g., abbreviation used in baseball)

6d   L(I)LAC< - I contained in (involved in) a reversal (from the right) of CALL (visit)

7d   TRIANGLE* - anagram (alien) of ALTERING

8d   _HY|BRID_ - hidden in (borne by) tropHY BRIDe

14d    C|A|RAVEL|S - C (average [grade at school]) + A + RAVEL (knot) + (by) S (sail, at first; i.e., first letter of Sail)

16d   TAE-KW(O)N-DO - O (nothing) contained in (in) an anagram (changed) of TAKEDOWN

17d   PO(R)TABLE - POTABLE (good to drink) containing (about) R (fifth of Seagram's; i.e., fifth letter of SeagRam's)

The Seagram Company Ltd. was a large corporation headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada that was the largest distiller of alcoholic beverages in the world. Toward the end of its independent existence it also controlled various entertainment and other business ventures. The Seagram assets have since been acquired by other companies, notably PepsiCo, Diageo, and Pernod Ricard.

18d   {IN DEBT}* - anagram (bucks) of BID TEN

The use of "bucks" as an anagram indicator is likely based on this usage:

• buck¹ - [Collins English Dictionary] verb 5. US and Canadian informal (especially of a car) to move forward jerkily; jolt

Perhaps the rationale is that if a vehicle were to buck severely enough, its load might become rearranged.

20d   T|WADDLE - WADDLE (take baby steps) following (after) T (beginning to taste; i.e., first letter of Taste)

21d   D(O-R)E-MI - DEMI (actress [Demi] Moore) containing (assuming) OR (otherwise)

"Do-Re-Mi" is a show tune from the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music. Within the story, it is used by Maria to teach the notes of the major musical scale to the Von Trapp children who learn to sing for the first time, even though their father has disallowed frivolity after their mother's death. The song is notable in that each syllable of the musical solfege system appears in its lyrics, sung on the pitch it names.

23d   NOT|C|H - NOT + C ([Roman numeral for] 100) + H (hours)

25d   CLAN|G - CLAN (family) + G (guy's opening; i.e., first letter of Guy)

Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family living in the fictional city of Quahog, Rhode Island, and bases much of its humor on parodying American pop culture.

Signing off for today - Falcon