Saturday, May 28, 2011 - On The Water

Introduction

In today's puzzle by Cox and Rathvon, the setters present us with a fleet of boats ranging from single person craft propelled by paddle or oar up to behemoths of the ocean, and ranging from vessels existing in antiquity up to those of the modern age.

Hopefully, I have avoided making any blunders in the solutions this week. Many thanks to MG for her note pointing out the error at 2d in my solution to last weeks puzzle, where I confused the words 'ordinance' and 'ordnance' - an error I have now corrected.


Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

1a   BRI(GANTI*)NE  or BR(IGANT*)INE - BRINE (sea water) containing (surrounding) an anagram (new) of GIANT

6a   YAW|L - YAW (swerve sharply) + L (left)

9a   C|ORACLE - C ([Roman numeral for] 100) + ORACLE (visionary)

10a   TUGBOAT* - anagram (lost) of TUBA GOT

Note: In this clue, a "tower" is not a tall structure but rather 'something that tows'.

12a   OVER|T - OVER (ended) + T (time)

13a   CAT(A)MA|RAN - {CAT (feline) + MA (mom) + RAN (trotted)} containing (around) A

14a   F(RIG)ATE - RIG (tractor-trailer) contained in (kept in) FATE (lot)

16a   SP(LASH)Y - LASH (tie) contained in (acquired by) SPY (agent)

18a   MAESTRO* - anagram (trashed) of SOME ART

20a   C|A|RAVEL - C (cruised initially; i.e., the first letter of Cruised) + A (one) + RAVEL (knot)

22a   _OU|TRIGGER - OU (after the first you; i.e., the part of yOU that remains after the first letter is deleted) + TRIGGER (set off)

24a   S(IN)EW - SEW (stitch) containing (taking) IN

25a   G|ALL|EON - {ALL (entire) + EON (period of time)} following (chasing) G (good)

26a   T(R)IRE|ME - {TIRE (exhaust) + ME} containing (taking) R (run)

27a   D(O)RY - DRY (out of the water) containing (with ... aboard) O (nothing)

28a   {OCEAN LINER}* - anagram (odd) of RELIANCE ON

Down

1d   B(AC)K| OF|F - {BK (book) + OF + F (facts initially; i.e., first letter of Facts)} containing (including) AC (sort of current; i.e., alternating current)

2d   I|S(RAEL<)ITE - {RAEL [reversal (retreating) of LEAR (king)]} contained in (in) {I ([Roman numeral for] one) + SITE (location)}

King Lear - a tragedy by William Shakespeare, considered to be one of his greatest dramatic masterpieces. The title character descends into madness after foolishly disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all. The play is based on the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological pre-Roman Celtic king.

3d   A|SCOT - A + SCOT (Gaelic person)

Ascot Racecourse - a famous English racecourse, located in the small town of Ascot, Berkshire, used for thoroughbred horse racing. It is one of the leading racecourses in the United Kingdom, hosting 9 of the UK's 32 annual Group 1 races, the same number as Newmarket. The course is closely associated with the British Royal Family, being approximately six miles from Windsor Castle, and owned by the Crown Estate.

4d   TREACLE* - anagram (prepared) of Electra

Electra - Greek Mythology the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. She persuaded her brother Orestes to kill Clytemnestra and Aegisthus (their mother's lover) in revenge for the murder of Agamemnon.

5d   NOTATES* - anagram (novel) of TEST ON A

7d   AM|OUR - AM (in the morning) + OUR (involving us)

8d   LA(TEN)CY - TEN (decade) contained in (in) LACY (finely meshed)

11d   G|AMBLER - G (green) + AMBLER (stroller)

15d   A|ST|RIDE - A (one) + ST (street) + RIDE (go on; e.g., a horse or a train)

17d   S(EVENT)EEN - SEEN (observed) containing (with ... inside) EVENT (something happening)

18d   MO(ON| G)OD - MOOD (spirit) containing (taking) {ON + G (gravity)}

g - symbol Physics the acceleration due to gravity, equal to 9.81 m/s² [at the surface of the Earth]. Note: the symbol is customarily written in italics (g) to distinguish it from the symbol g (meaning gram), something that Oxford fails to do.

19d   ORGANIC* - anagram (bananas) of IN CARGO

20d   CORETTA* - anagram (agitated) of REACT TO

Coretta Scott King - (1927 – 2006) American author, activist, and civil rights leader and the widow of Martin Luther King, Jr. She helped lead the African-American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s.

21d   {LOW GEAR}~ - sounds like (speaking) {LO (look) + GERE (Chicago actor [Richard Gere])}

American actor Richard Gere played the role of Billy Flynn in the 2002 musical film Chicago which was adapted from the 1975 stage musical of the same name, exploring the themes of celebrity, scandal, and corruption in Jazz age Chicago.

23d   TILER< - reversal (from the rear) of RELIT (illuminated again)

24d   STILL - double definition; "quiet" & "apparatus from making liquor"

Signing off for today - Falcon