Saturday, May 5, 2012 - Flowers Spring Forth

Introduction

March winds and April showers,

Bring forth May flowers.

Last week, following an upper half of the puzzle experiencing scattered showers, flowers began to sprout in the lower portion of the puzzle. In today's puzzle from Cox and Rathvon, flowers burst into bloom throughout the puzzle.







Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

1a   HEAR|T(S)EASE - {HEAR (listen to) + TEASE (kidder)} containing (describing) S (Southern)

Heartsease (Viola tricolor)

Heartsease^[7] is a wild European pansy (Viola tricolor, family Violaceae) which typically has purple and yellow flowers. It has given rise to hybrids from which most garden pansies were developed.

The use of "describe" as a containment indicator is a common cryptic crossword convention. This device relies on describe^[3] being used in the sense of to trace the form or outline of • describe a circle with a compass. Thus, in today's clue, we have TEASE containing (describing) S with the rationale for the wordplay being that the container (TEASE) forms an outline around the contained entity (S) in a similar manner to the circumference of a circle forming an outline around the circular area contained within it.

6a   SPAM< - reversal (sent back) of MAPS (diagrams)

9a   SUP|PORT - SUP (dine) + PORT (wine)

10a   F|ACTUAL - F (false) + (and) ACTUAL (true)

12a   O|PAL - O (love; a score of zero in tennis) + PAL (buddy)

13a   A|MA|RAN|THUS - A (†) + MA (parent) + RAN (operated) + THUS (in this way)

Amaranthus caudatus

Amaranthus^[7], collectively known as amaranth, is a cosmopolitan genus of herbs. Approximately 60 species are recognized, with inflorescences and foliage ranging from purple and red to gold. Members of this genus share many characteristics and uses with members of the closely related genus Celosia.

15a   {STRAT|UM}< - reversal (back) of {MU (Greek character) + TARTS (bawds)}

According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, bawd^[5] is an archaic term for a woman in charge of a brothel, giving its origin as late Middle English, shortened from obsolete bawdstrot, from Old French baudestroyt 'procuress', from baude 'shameless'. Today, in North America, we would refer to her as a madam. In addition to this meaning, both the American Heritage Dictionary and Collins English Dictionary define bawd as meaning a prostitute^[3,4]. They also translate the French word baude as 'merry' or 'licentious' (rather than 'shameless'). I suppose that one person's merriment is shameless behaviour to others.

17a   RUPEE* - anagram (bananas) of PUREE

20a   {ME|DIA}< - reversal (returning) of {AID (help) + EM (Emily)}

21a   SOUP|CON - SOUP (chowder) + CON (scam)

The question mark warns us that this clue has a wrinkle. To fully appreciate the clue, one must read both the wordplay and the solution as entire phrases. Thus a "scam involving chowder" might be described as a "soup con" (groan!). A soupçon^[5] (a word adopted from the French) is a very small quantity of something • a soupçon of mustard.

23a   CORN(FLOW)ER - CORNER (part of a room) containing (†) FLOW (spring; as a verb "madness and creativity could spring from the same source"^[5])

Cornflower

Cornflower^[7] (also known as Bachelors button) is a small annual flowering plant (Centaurea cyanus) in the family Asteraceae, native to Europe.

26a   SCAT - double definition; "get out" & "sing like Cab Calloway"

Cab Calloway^[7] (1907 – 1994), an American jazz singer and bandleader, was a master of energetic scat singing. He was strongly associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City where he was a regular performer.

28a   BE|AT|LES - BE (live) + AT (†) + LES (The Parisian; the plural form of the French definite article)

29a   REAL(IS)M - IS (†) contained in (dividing) REALM (kingdom)

30a   _E|CHO_ - hidden in (part of) thE CHOrus

31a   SNAPDRAGON* - anagram (ground) of ON GRANDPAS

Snapdragons

Antirrhinum^[7] is a genus of plants commonly known as snapdragons or dragon flower from the flowers' fancied resemblance to the face of a dragon that opens and closes its mouth when laterally squeezed (thus the 'snap').

Down

1d   HES|TON - HE (that guy) + S ('s) + TON (vogue)

Charlton Heston^[7] (1923 – 2008), born John Charles Carter, was an American actor known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes. Ton^[9] (another word adopted from the French) means (1) high fashion; stylishness or (2) the current fashion, style, or vogue.

2d   A|PP|RAISED - A (†) + PP (couple of pages; P + P) + RAISED (brought up)

3d   THOU - double definition; "gee" (G; thousand) & "you; archaic form"

4d   ESTIMATES* - anagram (new) of TEAM SITES

5d   SO FA|R - SOFA (a place to sit) + R (right)

7d   PLUS|H - PLUS (also) + H (hot)

8d   MO(LASS)ES - LASS (girl) contained in (taken in by) {MOE (stooge) + S ('s)}

Moses Harry Horwitz (1897 – 1975), known professionally as Moe Howard^[7], was an American actor and comedian who was best known as the leader of The Three Stooges comedy team.

11d   CONTRACT - double definition; "make a deal with" & "shrink"

14d   DREADFUL* - anagram (out of order) of FAD RULED

16d   MOUSETRAP* - anagram (stirred) of UP MAESTRO

18d   PA|NICKING - PA (pop) + NICKING (making cuts)

19d   A|MI_|CABLE - A (†) + MI (half mile; the first half, to be precise) + CABLE (wire)

22d   _ST|AMEN_ - hidden in (covers) FirST AMENdment

24d   _REACH - [P]REACH (to give sermons) with the first letter deleted (after the first)

25d   OR|SON - OR (†) + SON (someone in the family)

Orson Welles (1915 – 1985) was an American actor, director, writer and producer who worked extensively in theater, radio and film. He is best remembered for his innovative work in all three media, most notably Caesar (1937), a groundbreaking Broadway adaption of Julius Caesar and the debut of the Mercury Theatre; The War of the Worlds (1938), the most famous broadcast in the history of radio; and Citizen Kane (1941), which many critics and scholars name as the best film of all time.

27d   FAIR - double definition; "pretty decent" & "market exhibition"

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