Saturday, May 7, 2011 - Authors

Introduction

In today's puzzle from Cox and Rathvon, we visit the library to study works by a couple of well-known authors - a political pamphleteer from the 18th century and a biographical novelist from the 20th century. The setters do seem to have left a loose thread dangling in their knitting, as I cannot find a definition in 24d.


Today's Glossary

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

[An asterisk beside an entry merely indicates that it has been taken it from a Cumulative Glossary of entries which have previously appeared, in either this blog or its companion blog, the Ottawa Citizen Cryptic Crossword Forum.]

Appearing in Clues:

Meanings listed in this section may reflect how the word is used in the surface reading of the clue. Of course, that meaning may be contributing to the misdirection that the setter is attempting to create.

{Placeholder Text}

Appearing in Solutions:

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Commentary on Today's Puzzle

24d   A couple of Germans, for example, in story (5)

I can only surmise that there is a mistake in this clue. The wordplay seems to want to be EG (for example) contained in LIE (story), thus producing LIEGE (which fits the checking letters). However, I do not see how "a couple of Germans" can possibly be the definition for LIEGE.

Perhaps we are seeing a clue that was never completed by the setters. They may have been dithering between clueing EG as "for example" or a reversal of "a couple of Germans", i.e., a reversal of the first two letters of GE(rman). If this theory is correct, we are left with one version of the wordplay, remnants of a second version of the wordplay, and no definition.

If you have a better explanation, please leave a comment.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

1a   {IRVING STONE}* - anagram (novel) of NOT REVISING

Irving Stone (1903 – 1989) - American writer known for his biographical novels of famous historical personalities, including Lust for Life, a biographical novel about the life of Vincent van Gogh, and The Agony and the Ecstasy, a biographical novel about Michelangelo.

7a   POP - double definition; "dad" & "little blow-up"

9a   {LUST FOR LIFE}* - anagram (bum) of URI TELLS OFF

Lust for Life (1934) - a biographical novel written by Irving Stone and is based on the life of the famous Dutch painter, Vincent van Gogh and his hardships.

10a   T(A)M - TM (Transcendental Meditation) containing (about) A

11a   DIVER|GENT - cryptically speaking, a "guy in scuba gear" might be called a DIVER GENT

12a   THE|ME - THE + ME (ego)

13a   B|ASSIST - B ([musical] note) + ASSIST (help)

14a   DUST(B)IN - B (bee) contained in (in) DUSTIN ([American actor Dustin] Hoffman)

dustbin - noun British a container for household refuse, especially one kept outside.

16a   DADAIST - anagram (cracked) of TAD SAID

Jean Arp / Hans Arp (1886 – 1966) was a German-French, or Alsatian, sculptor, painter, poet and abstract artist in other media such as torn and pasted paper. (When Arp spoke in German he referred to himself as "Hans", and when he spoke in French he referred to himself as "Jean".) Arp was a founding member of the Dada movement in Zürich in 1916. In 1920, as Hans Arp, along with Max Ernst, and the social activist Alfred Grünwald, he set up the Cologne Dada group.

19a   CHANCE|L - CHANCE (random) + L ([Roman numeral for] fifty)

21a   ERA|TO - ERA (some span of time) + TO (before; as in telling time, "a quarter to three")

23a   PRINCIPAL~ - sounds like (stated) PRINCIPLE (rule)

25a   _ICE_ - hidden in (kept by) ErIC Eisner

Eric Eisner - son of Disney magnate Michael Eisner and a producer. He currently co-owns the film production company L+E Productions.

26a   {THOMAS PAINE}* - anagram (at play) of SPAIN AT HOME

Thomas "Tom" Paine (1737 – 1809) - author, pamphleteer, radical, inventor, intellectual, revolutionary, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He has been called "a corsetmaker by trade, a journalist by profession, and a propagandist by inclination."

27a   G(A)S - GS (Girl Scouts) containing (having) A

28a   {COMMON SENSE}* - anagram (phony) of SOME CON MENS

Common Sense - a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine. It was first published anonymously on January 10, 1776, during the American Revolution. Common Sense presented the American colonists with an argument for freedom from British rule at a time when the question of independence was still undecided. It has been described as, "the most incendiary and popular pamphlet of the entire revolutionary era".

Down
1d   ID|LED - ID (I had; i.e., I'd) + LED (gone first)

2d   VIS-A-(VI)S - VI ([Roman numeral for] six) contained in (held by) VISAS (border guards requests)

3d   NEFERTIT*|I - anagram (destroyed) of TENT FIRE + I ([Roman numeral for] one)

Nefertiti (ca. 1370 BC – ca. 1330 BC) - the Great Royal Wife (chief consort) of the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten. Nefertiti and her husband were known for a religious revolution, in which they started to worship one god only. This was Aten, or the sun disc.

4d   S|ARGENT - S {dab [first letter] of S(hining)} + ARGENT (silver)

John Singer Sargent (1856 – 1925) - American painter, and a "leading portrait painter of his generation." During his career, he created roughly 900 oil paintings and more than 2,000 watercolors, as well as countless sketches and charcoal drawings.

5d   O(MITT)ED - MITT (baseball glove) contained in (in) OED (Brit's lexicon; i.e., Oxford English Dictionary)

6d   EVER|T - EVER (always) + T (time)

Chris Evert - a former world number 1 professional tennis player from the United States. She won 18 Grand Slam singles championships, including a record seven championships at the French Open and a record six championships at the U.S. Open.

7d   P(OTHER)B - OTHER (or else) contained in (put in) PB (peanut butter)

8d   PIMPERNE*|L - anagram (complicated) of PREP ME IN + L {closing [last letter] of (stee)L}

13d   BADGE|RING - BADGE (vest decoration) + (and) RING (jewelry)

15d   S|E(A)SCAPES - S (southern) + {ESCAPES (getaways) containing (including) A}

17d   DRAWERS - double definition; "underwear" & "artists"

18d   T(A|PRO)OM - TOM (cat) containing (going around) {A + PRO (professional}

19d   CHIC(AG)O - CHICO (Marx brother [American comedian and film star Chico Marx]) containing (taking in) {A + G (grand)}

20d   CAPTION* - anagram (wrecked) of PONTIAC

22d   OPTIC* - anagram (new) of TOPIC

24d   LI(EG)E - EG (for example) contained in (in) LIE (story)

There would appear to be no definition in this clue (see Commentary on Today's Puzzle above).

Signing off for today - Falcon