Saturday, August 11, 2012 - From Head to Toe

Introduction

In today's puzzle from Cox and Rathvon, the setters have cached body parts throughout the puzzle. I expect that the thought never occurred to the setters, but the mention of Luka in 25d brought to mind the infamous Luka Magnotta^[7] who has recently been in the news.

Keep your ears cocked, as the puzzle is seasoned with more the the usual number of homophone clues.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

9a   {THE FOUNTAINHEAD} — anagram (edited) of FIND OUT A HEATHEN

The Fountainhead^[7] is a 1943 novel by Russian-American writer Ayn Rand (1905 – 1982).

10a   POE|TASTER — double definition, the second being cryptic; "second-rate writer" & "one sampling (TASTER) "The Raven" ([a work by] POE)"

"The Raven"^[7], a narrative poem by American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809 – 1849), was first published in 1845.

11a   PEN|A|L — PEN (write) + A (†) + L (line)

12a   IN|TENTS — double definition, the second being cryptic; "aims" & "where campers sleep"

14a   V(AN)ILLA — AN (article) contained in (in) VILLA (large country house)

16a   {HEARTBREAK HOTEL}* — anagram (all about) HEAR THE BORE TALK

"Heartbreak Hotel"^[7], a song recorded by American rock and roll musician Elvis Presley (1935 – 1977), was released as a single in January 1956.

19a   {SAME OLD}~ — sounds like (out loud) SAY MOULD

21a   A(REA R)UG — REAR (back) contained in (in) AUG (August)

23a   _T|ENOR_ — hidden in (some) greaT ENORmous

24a   NOVITIATE* — anagram (wildly) of INTO EVITA

Evita^[7] is a musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. It concentrates on the life of Argentine political leader Eva Perón (1919 – 1952), the second wife of former Argentine president Juan Perón (1895 – 1974).

26a   {GORDON LIGHTFOOT}* — anagram (rambling) of TONIGHT GO FOR OLD

Gordon Lightfoot is a Canadian singer-songwriter who has achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music.

Down

1d   S(TOP)LIGHTS — SLIGHTS (insults) containing (about) TOP (leading)

2d   DEMENTIA* — anagram (wrongly) of DETAIN ME

3d   DO|MA|IN — double definition, the second being cryptic; "territory" & "commit matricide [do ma in!]"

4d   KNOT~ — sounds like (pronounced) NOT (†)

5d   {LA TRAVIATA}* — anagram (terrible) of TRAVAIL AT A

La traviata^[7], first performed in 1853, is an opera in three acts by Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi (1813 – 1901) set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave (1810 – 1876). It is based on La dame aux Camélias (1852), a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils (1824 – 1895). The title La traviata means literally The Fallen Woman, or perhaps more figuratively, The Woman Who Goes Astray.

6d   I|N A P|INCH — I (†) + NAP (sleep) + (on [in a down clue]) INCH (edge; move furtively)

7d   KERNAL~ — sounds like (orally transmitted) COLONEL (officer)

8d   IDOL~ — sounds like (in the audience) IDLE (just standing around)

13d   S(TRIDENT)LY — SLY ([American actor Sylvester] Stallone) containing (grabs) TRIDENT (forked stick)

15d   ALL|EGRET|TO — ALL (totally) + EGRET (white bird) + TO (before; as in "the time is now 5 minutes to eleven")

17d   {TOOL|ROOM}< — reversal (back) of {MOOR (secure) + LOOT (treasure)}

18d   TAR|RAG|ON — TAR (salt; "tar" and "salt" each being slang terms meaning sailor) + (with) RAG (scrap) + ON (resting atop)

20d   MANORS~ — sounds like (conversational) MANNERS (etiquette)

22d   E|STATE — E (English) + STATE (say)

23d   TO GO — double definition; "land in Africa" & "take-out"

Note to British readers: "take-out" is the North American equivalent of "take away". An alternative expression is "to go". When placing an order at a fast-food counter, the cashier may ask "Is that for here or to go?"

25d   _VE|GA_ — hidden in (in) loVE GAmbit

"Luka"^[7] is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega and released as a single in 1987. It remains her highest-charting hit in the United States, reaching #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. This song was one of the earliest to deal with child abuse and domestic violence.

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