Saturday, December 10, 2011 - Motley Mixture

Introduction

One might say that today's puzzle from Cox and Rathvon is a rather ragbag collection of odds and ends.

Errata

There are two errors in the solution published today for the December 3^rd puzzle. I presume that, at some point in the production process, the clues were revised without updating the solution. The correct solution for Clue 21a is INCH (rather than TACT) and for 21d is SIESTA (rather than MTOSSA [Mt. Ossa]). The correct solution is published in the December 17^th edition of the National Post.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

Legend:	"*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed
	"( )" letters inserted; "_" letters deleted; "†" explicit in the clue

Across

1a   MISHMASH~ - sounds like how someone in a drunken stupor might pronounce (recited by a drunk) MISS (skip) MASS (church service)

5a   GA(M)B|IT - {GAB (chat) + IT (Italian)} containing (about) M (male)

9a   CAME|L - CAME (arrived) + L (left)

10a   PATCHWORK* - anagram (out) of THROW PACK

12a   D(ARES)AY - ARES (Mars; Ares was the Greek war god whose Roman counterpart was named Mars) contained in (in) DAY (24 hours)

13a   PA|RAG|ON - PA (dad) + RAG (kid) + ON (regarding)

14a   M(I|S|CELL)ANY - {I ([Roman numeral for] one) + S (small) + CELL (room)} contained in (among) MANY (†)

17a   STUN< - reversal (returned) of NUTS (cracked)

19a   MAN|X - MAN (fellow) + (with) X (unknown; algebraic symbol)

20a   SALMAGUNDI* - anagram (playing) of AMUSING LAD

23a   S(PLOT)CH - PLOT (conspiracy) contained in (in) SCH (school)

24a   S(POT)LIT - SLIT (narrow opening) containing (stuffed with) POT (grass; marijuana)

26a   POTPOURRI* - anagram (otherwise) of TO RIP UP OR

27a   A(PRO)N - PRO (expert) contained in (in) AN (†)

28a   T|ANGLE - T (true) + ANGLE (fish)

29a   PASTICHE* - anagram (odd) of CHIA PETS

Down

1d   MA|CA|DAM - MA (mother [on one side]) + CA (California) + DAM (mother [on other side])

2d   SU(ME)R - SUR (south of Spain; i.e., Spanish word for 'south') containing (pinching) ME (myself)

3d   MO|LASSES - MO (technique; modus operandi [method of operating]) + (with) LASSES (girls)

4d   SA(PP)Y - SAY (for example) containing (about) PP (two pianos)

Here, piano (abbreviation p) is used in the sense of a musical direction and not a musical instrument.

6d   A S|HARP - AS (like) + HARP (harmonica)

7d   B|ROUGH|T O|N - B (bit [first letter] of burlesque) + ROUGH (difficult) + TO (†) + N (name)

8d   T(A|KEN) IN - {A (†) + KEN (doll of a guy; Barbie's boyfriend)} contained in (locked in) TIN (can)

11d   TO(PONY)M - TOM (Thomas) contains (keeps) PONY (horse)

15d   SING|LET|ON - SING (confess) + (and) LET ON (reveal)

16d   L(E)ATHER - E (error; baseball term) contained in (in) LATHER (agitation)

18d   I|G(NO)RANT - {I (†) + GRANT (admit)} containing (keeping) NO ("nay" voter)

19d   (MOSH PIT)* - anagram (about) of TIM HOPS

21d   {IN|TENSE}~ - sounds like (audited) {INN (lodge) + TENTS (shelters)}

22d   ST|ROLL - ST (street) + ROLL (list of names)

24d   SHIV|A - SHIV (knife) + (before) A (†)

25d   LYRIC* - anagram (edited) of CYRIL

Signing off for today - Falcon