Saturday, April 28, 2012 - Showers Bring Flowers

Introduction

I thought that today's puzzle from Cox and Rathvon was a bit more challenging than usual. However, as I tackled it after having spent several hours outdoors with the temperature hovering at the freezing mark, my brain cells may not have had the opportunity to completely thaw out. The theme of the puzzle is appropriate as we will shortly transition from April (with its showers) into May (with its flowers). The former are sprinkled through the top half of the puzzle, while the latter sprout in the bottom half. In both halves, there is evidence of cryptic licence which — not unlike poetic licence^[5] — is the freedom to depart from the facts of a matter or from the conventional rules of language when speaking or writing in order to create an effect.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

1a   DEMONS|TRA_TORS - DEMONS (fiends) + (and) {TRA[i]TORS (double-crossers) with the I deleted (having no Interest)}

Here "shower" does not refer to a spray of water. Instead, the setters use "shower" — with a bit of cryptic licence — to mean 'someone who shows (something)'.

9a   BUG|A|BOO - BUG (glitch) + (with) A (†) + BOO (frightening sound)

10a   AL (DENT)E - DENT (impression) contained in (gained by) ALE (serving at a brewpub)

11a   TOT|A|L - {TOT (kid) + L (Liberal)} containing (about) A (†)

12a   SPRINKLES* - anagram (mistakenly) of PRESS LINK

13a   DEN(SIT)Y - DENY (refuse) containing (holding) SIT (pose)

15a   MO(NI)TOR - MOTOR (mechanism) containing (†) NI ([symbol for the chemical element] nickel)

16a   CALIPER* - anagram (plastic) of REPLICA

19a   STE(AM)ED - STEED (horse) containing (put outside) AM (in the morning)

21a   {DA|FFO|DILS}< - reversal (on the way back) of {SLID (slipped) + OFF (†) + AD (notice)}

22a   MOGUL - double definition; "on a slope, bump" & "baron"

24a   W{HOOP)EE - HOOP (ring) contained in (wrapped with) WEE (little)

25a   INTENSE~ - sounds like (by the sound of) IN TENTS (inside shelters)

26a   FOUNTAINHEADS* - anagram (arranged) of A THOUSAND FINE

A fountainhead^[2] is a spring from which a stream flows. Thus the setters use "flower" — again with a bit of cryptic licence — to mean 'something which flows'.

Down

1d   DEBUT< - reversal (in reverse) of TUBED (floated downstream)

The clue refers to tubing^[7], a recreational activity in which an individual rides on top of an inner tube, either on water, snow, or through the air.

2d   ME(GAT)ON - MEN (guys) containing (packing) {GAT (heat; American gangster slang for a firearm, especially a pistol) + O (love; a score of zero in tennis)}

3d   NO|BEL - sounds like (heard) {NO (nary) + BELL (a chime)}

4d   TROTS|KY - TROTS (runs) + KY (Kentucky)

5d   A|NAG|RAM - RAM (batter) following (after) {A (†) + NAG (scolding reminder)}

6d   ORDINANCE* - anagram (breaking) of CON A DINER

In North America, an ordinance^[5] is a municipal by-law.

7d   SING|LET - SING (spill the beans) + LET (rented)

8d   MEA(SURE)D - MEAD (fermented honey) containing (holding) SURE (steady)

13d   DUCK DOWN - double definition; "quickly lower" & "feathers for insulation"

14d   IM(PROM)PTU - anagram (out) of IM PUT containing (about) PROM (ball)

17d   L|I|FT|OF|F - L (left) + I ([Roman numeral for] one) + FT (foot) + OF (†) + F (filament initially; initial letter of Filament)

18d   R(AIM)ENT - AIM (train; as 'train one's sights on') contained in (in) RENT (torn)

19d   SASHIMI* - anagram (surprisingly) of IS AMISH

20d   M(AGENT)A - AGENT (spy) contained in (caught by) MA (mom)

22d   MATCH - double definition; "lighter" & "companion"

23d   L(O)ESS - O ([letter that looks like a] doughnut) contained in (coated with) LESS (no so; as in 'I prefer my curry not so hot')

Key to Reference Sources: 

^[1]   - The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition
^[2]   - Search Chambers - (Chambers 21st Century Dictionary)
^[3]   - TheFreeDictionary.com (American Heritage Dictionary)
^[4]   - TheFreeDictionary.com (Collins English Dictionary)
^[5]   - Oxford Dictionaries (Oxford Dictionary of English)
^[6]   - Oxford Dictionaries (Oxford American Dictionary)
^[7]   - Wikipedia
^[8]   - Reverso Online Dictionary (Collins French-English Dictionary)
^[9]   - Infoplease (Random House Unabridged Dictionary)
^[10] - CollinsDictionary.com (Collins English Dictionary)

Signing off for today - Falcon