Saturday, June 16, 2012 - Across and Down

Introduction

The theme of today's puzzle from Cox and Rathvon is most appropriate for a crossword puzzle.

I hadn't noticed that the solution published last week for the June 2 puzzle was incorrect. However, even with the corrected solution, the answer to 26a is still SHRUB!






Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

8a   BRU(NET)TE - BRUTE (beast) containing (grabbing) NET (butterfly catcher)

9a   HER(AL)D - AL (Pacino; American actor Al Pacino) contained in (introduced to) HERD (group of followers)

10a   ANG(L)ER - L (left) contained in (in) ANGER (rage)

11a   D|UST BOWL* - D ([Roman numeral for] 500) + anagram (scattered around) of LOW TUBS

12a   C(HAT S)HOW - HATS (occupations) contained in (in) CHOW (food)

Chat show^[4] is the British name for a talk show.

13a   L(A)YING - LYING (telling stories) containing (about) A (one)

14a   {PUTS ONE ACROSS ON}* - anagram (about) of COURTESANS SNOOP

18a   S(TOP) IT - TOP (upper body) contained in (in) SIT (pose)

20a   DISC|LOSE - DISC (recording) + (and) LOSE (come up short)

23a   SHANGHAI* - hidden in (around) barberS HANG HAIrbrushes

24a   NO|D OFF - DOFF (shed) following (after) NO (refusal)

25a   P(RIM)AL - PAL (friend) containing (skirting) RIM (border)

26a   T(REE FER)N - REEFER (joint [of marijuana]) contained in (in) TN (Tennessee)

Down

1d   B|RANCH - B (piece [first letter] of Bread) + RANCH (spread)

2d   INFLATES* - anagram (pitching) of A SNIT ELF

3d   STAR|CH - STAR (celebrity) + CH (church)

4d   {GET DOWN AND DIRTY}* - anagram (sporting) of IN DRAG TWENTY ODD

5d   WHISTLER* - anagram (rum) of SWIRL THE

Rum^[5] is dated British slang meaning odd or peculiar. Whistler^[7] is a ski resort near Vancouver, British Columbia which hosted many events during the 2010 Winter Olympics.

6d   CR(A|BB)Y - CRY (yell) containing (about) {A (†) + BB (pellet)}

7d   P(LOW) INTO - PINTO (pony) containing (circling) LOW (small)

15d   {UP TO HERE}* - anagram (bananas) of PUREE HOT

16d   NUTS|HELL - NUTS (blast) + HELL (darn)

17d   SO(LID|IF)Y - {LID (top) + IF (condition)} contained in (seen in) SOY (sort of bean)

19d   P(AN)A|MA - {PA (dad) + (and) MA (mom)} containing (going around) AN

21d   SUN|KEN - SUN (bask) + (with) KEN (Barbie's beau)

Barbie^[7] and her boyfriend, Ken^[7], are dolls manufactured by the American toy-company Mattel, Inc.

22d   S(A|FAR)I - SI (Spaniard's assent) containing (about) {A (†) + FAR (distant)}

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