Saturday, October 20, 2012 - A Clue for All Seasons

Introduction

One might say that today's puzzle from Cox and Rathvon has been well seasoned.

With the Major League Baseball championship series well under way and the World Series just around the corner, we also get a couple of mentions of baseball. Since both instances refer to the American League, should we infer that our setters lean in that direction?

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

1a   WIN(E TAS<)TER — reversal (back) of SATE (stuff) contained in (in) WINTER (season)

6a   ARGO_ — ARGO[N] (gas) with the final letter deleted (short)

In Greek mythology, the Argo was the ship on which Jason and the Argonauts sailed from Iolcos to retrieve the Golden Fleece. It was named after its builder, Argus.

9a   D|ANGLED — D (dee) + ANGLED (had a scheme)

10a   ROTUNDA* — anagram (dancing) of DO A TURN

12a   BU(G)S — BUS (vehicle) carrying G (good)

Bugs Bunny^[7] is an American animated character (toon^[3,4]) created in 1938 at Leon Schlesinger Productions, later Warner Bros. Cartoons. Bugs is an anthropomorphic gray hare or rabbit and is famous for his flippant, insouciant personality, a pronounced New York accent, and his portrayal as a trickster. He has primarily appeared in animated cartoons, most notably the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of theatrical shorts during the Golden Age of American animation. Bugs has appeared in more films than any other cartoon character and is the ninth most portrayed film personality in the world.

13a   SPR(INK|L)ING — {INK (writing fluid) + L (left)} contained in (in) SPRING (season)

15a   GUNSHIP* — anagram (out) of PUSHING

16a   {G(ENER)AL}< — reversal (back) of {LAG (delay) containing (holding) RENE (Descartes; French philosopher, mathematician, and writer René Descartes)}

René Descartes^[7] (1596 – 1650) was a French philosopher, mathematician, and writer who spent most of his adult life in the Dutch Republic. He has been dubbed the 'Father of Modern Philosophy', and much subsequent Western philosophy is a response to his writings, which are studied closely to this day. In particular, his Meditations on First Philosophy continues to be a standard text at most university philosophy departments. Descartes' influence in mathematics is equally apparent; the Cartesian coordinate system — allowing reference to a point in space as a set of numbers, and allowing algebraic equations to be expressed as geometric shapes in a two-dimensional coordinate system (and conversely, shapes to be described as equations) — was named after him. He is credited as the father of analytical geometry, the bridge between algebra and geometry, crucial to the discovery of infinitesimal calculus and analysis. Descartes was also one of the key figures in the Scientific Revolution and has been described as an example of genius.

18a   SPAR|ROW — ROW (fight) following (after) SPAR (fight)

21a   SHINDIG* — anagram (bananas) of DISHING

23a   SUMM(ARIZ)ER — ARIZ ([abbreviation for] Arizona) contained in (in) SUMMER (season)

24a   CO(A)T — A ([indefinite] article) contained in (in) COT (bed)

26a   SUN (DEC)K — SUNK (lowered) containing (around) DEC ([abbreviation for] December)

27a   TO (SPA)RE — TORE (ran) containing (around) SPA (health resort)

28a   LOCK — double definition; "secure; as a verb" & "strand of hair"

29a   F(REE-F|OR)-ALL — {REEF (ocean hazard) + OR (alternatively)} contained in (in) FALL (season)

Down

1d   WADE BOGGS — sounds like (for audit) {WEIGHED (measured) + BOGS (wetlands)}

Wade Boggs^[7] is an American former professional baseball third baseman. He spent his 18-year baseball career primarily with the Boston Red Sox, but also played for the New York Yankees, with whom he won his only World Series, and Tampa Bay Devil Rays, with whom he recorded his 3,000th hit. His hitting in the 1980s and 1990s made him a perennial contender for American League batting titles. Boggs was elected to the Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005.

2d   NO(NAG)ON — NAG (jade^[4]; old overworked horse) contained in twelve (noon)

3d   TOLL — double definition; "ring; as a verb" & "tax"

4d   SODA POP — SOD (green layer) + A POP (for each)

5d   E(A)RRING — ERRING (wandering) containing (around) A (†)

7d   RANGIER* — anagram (nuts) of I GARNER

8d   O|RANG — O (love; as a score in tennis) + RANG (gave a call)

11d   T(A|KING) IN — {A (†) + KING (monarch)} contained in (clad in) TIN (metal)

14d   SHOR(TAG)E — TAG (game) contained in (in) SHORE (coastal area)

17d   {LIGHT MEAL}* — anagram (set in order) of ELLA MIGHT

19d   AL|MAN|A|C — AL (American League) + MAN (guy) + A (†) + C (catcher; baseball position)

The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League^[7] (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball^[7] in the United States and Canada — the other being the National League^[7].

20d   WHISKER* — anagram (working) of WE SHIRK

21d   S(HEAT)HE — HEAT (warm; as a verb) contained in (tucked in) SHE (the lady)

In the cryptic reading, the apostrophe-s on the end of "lady's" serves as a link word (being interpreted as a contraction of is).

22d   D(I|O)RAMA — DRAMA (play) contains (includes) {I ([Roman numeral for] one) + O ([letter shaped like a] ring)}

23d   S(IS)AL — IS (†) contained in SAL ([nickname for] Salvatore)

25d   _OS|LO_ — hidden in (in) OntariOS LOngitude

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