Saturday, November 17, 2012 - As One Might Say ...

Introduction

Today's puzzle from Cox and Rathvon amounts to an exercise in solving homophone clues (clues in which all, or part, of the solution sounds like something found in the clue).

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

1a   {COMMEN|TATOR}~ — sounds like (announced) {COMMON (widespread) + TATER (source of starch; slangy name for a potato)}

7a   SONNETEER* — anagram (ordered) of NO ENTREES

8a   _RE|AL|M_ — hidden (maintains) in wheRE AL Martino (American singer and actor Al Martino (1927 – 2009))

10a   INS(P)ECT — INSECT (bug) containing (pierced by) P (tip [first letter] of Prong)

11a   NE(I)THER — I ([Roman numeral for] one) contained in (inside) NETHER (of the underworld)

12a   {TROU|SSEAU}~ — sounds like (for hearing) {TRUE (right; in the first way) + SO (right; in the second way)}

14a   HIP|PO — HIP (in) + PO (Post Office)

16a   LEASH* — anagram (wound; past participle of the verb to wind) of HEALS

18a   {CHAM|PAGNE}~ — sounds like (audibly) {SHAM (pretend) + PAIN (to be hurt)}

20a   A|PP|ARE|L — A (†) + PP (ParsniP's ends) + ARE (†) + L (left)

22a   BE|L|FAST — BE (live) + L (large) + (and) FAST (securely)

Belfast^[7] is the capital of, and largest city in, Northern Ireland.

23a   _EGRET — [R]EGRET (sense of loss) with the initial letter deleted (missing the first [letter])

24a   PRIM|ARIES — PRIM (prudish) + ARIES (sign [of the zodiac])

In the US, a primary^[5] (also known as a primary election) is a preliminary election to appoint delegates to a party conference or to select the candidates for a principal, especially presidential, election ⇒ these two republicans should win their primaries easily.

25a   ARCHIMEDEAN~ — sounds like (as some say) AR (dialectal pronunciation of OUR) COMEDIAN (†)

The definition is "of an old philosopher" making the solution an adjective. Archimedes^[5] (circa 287–212 BC) was a Greek mathematician and inventor, of Syracuse. He is famous for his discovery of Archimedes‘ principle (legend has it that he made this discovery while taking a bath, and ran through the streets shouting ’Eureka!'); among his mathematical discoveries are the ratio of the radius of a circle to its circumference, and formulas for the surface area and volume of a sphere and of a cylinder.

Down

1d   CONES|TOGA — CONES (tapering figures) + TOGA (wrap)

Conestoga Wagon

The Conestoga wagon^[7] is a heavy, covered wagon that was used extensively during the late 18th century and the 19th century in the United States and Canada. It was large enough to transport loads up to 8 tons (7 metric tons), and was drawn by horses, mules or oxen.

2d   MEETERS~ — sounds like (speaking of) METRES (distances) [or METERS for US readers]

3d   EVEN|T — EVEN (uniform) + T (time)

4d   TARANTULA* — anagram (weaving) of NATURAL AT

5d   TARNISH — double definition; "get discoloured" & "like a mountain lake?"

The second definition is whimsical (as indicated by the question mark). The setters invent a new word by appending the suffix -ISH (like) to TARN (a mountain lake).

6d   R|EACH — R (run) + EACH (every)

7d   {SCIN|TILL|ATE}~ — sounds like (reportedly) {SIN (act immoral) + TIL (until) + EIGHT (early in the evening)}

To sin only until eight would be to "quit acting immoral early in the evening". On the other hand, one might choose to SCIN|TIL|LATE (sin til late), and continue to enjoy oneself well into the wee hours of the morning. In fact, I initially tried to parse the clue in the latter fashion — which clearly did not jibe with the wordplay.

9d   MARI|ONETTES — sounds like (for an audience) {MARRY (pair up) + ANNETTE'S (Ms. Bening's; American actress Annette Bening^[7])}

13d   EUCALYPTI* — anagram (about) of CLUE A PITY

15d   PYGMALION* — anagram (broken up) of LAY MOPING

In Greek mythology, Pygmalion^[7] was a king of Cyprus who fashioned an ivory statue of a beautiful woman and loved it so deeply that in answer to his prayer Aphrodite gave it life. The woman (at some point named Galatea) bore him a daughter, Paphos.

17d   HERE|TIC — HERE (present) + (next to) TIC (jerk)

19d   PAL|MATE — PAL (friend) + (and) MATE (spouse)

21d   PARK|A — PARK (temporarily set down) + A (†)

22d   B|RIDE — B (second rate) + RIDE (mount)

Isn't "second-rate mount" a rather uncharitable way to refer to a bride?

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