Saturday, November 3, 2012 - If It's Not Pink, It's Bad

Introduction

I must admit that I had trouble discerning the theme of today's puzzle from Cox and Rathvon. It was only when I sat down to write the review that I thought, "The setters are being very unimaginative in their choice of anagram indicators today". Doh! So the theme seems to be 'bad' — although the "pink" clue doesn't appear to fit the pattern. They may have compensated for this "oversight", though, by incorporating a couple of the down clues into the theme. Nevertheless, I cannot help but think that I have missed some subtle - or perhaps not so subtle - aspect of the theme.

As always, if you happen to see something that I have overlooked, please leave a comment.
 

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

1a   LED|A — LED (escorted) + A (†)

In Greek mythology, Leda^[5] is the wife of Tyndareus king of Sparta. She was loved by Zeus, who visited her in the form of a swan; among her children were the Dioscuri, Helen [known as Helen of Troy], and Clytemnestra.

3a   MONSIGNORI* — anagram (bad) of MOON RISING

10a   GENDARMES* — anagram (bad) of EMS GARDEN

Bad Ems^[7] is a town in Germany well known as a bathing resort on the river Lahn. A gendarme^[5] is a paramilitary police officer in France and other French-speaking countries.

11a   EVER|T — EVER (always) + T (true)

Chris Evert^[7] is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from the United States. She won 18 Grand Slam singles championships and three doubles titles.

12a   BAG|EL — BAG (sack) + (in front of) EL (train)

In the US, the El^[5] is (1) an elevated railway, especially that in Chicago or (2) a train running on an elevated railway ⇒ the El rumbled by.

13a   SHEA|RED — SHEA (N.L. stadium) + (and) RED (N.L. player)

Shea Stadium^[7] was a stadium in the New York City borough of Queens, in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. It was the home of the New York Mets of Major League Baseball's National League from 1964 to 2008. The stadium was named in honor of William A. Shea, the man who brought National League baseball back to New York. It was demolished in 2009 to furnish additional parking for the adjacent Citi Field, the current home of the Mets.

The Cincinnati Reds^[7] are a professional baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio in the United States. They are a member of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League.

15a   HALITOSIS* — anagram (sadly) of LOIS HAS IT

17a   L|EDGE — L ([Roman numeral for] fifty) + EDGE (inch; move furtively)

18a   NOVA|K_ — NOVA (big star) + K {initial letter (in the lead) of Kim}

Kim Novak as Jeanne Eagels (1957)

This is at least a semi & lit. (all-in-one) clue — if not a full-blown & lit. clue. The entire clue provides the wordplay. If one considers the entire clue to also be the definition, it is an & lit. clue. On the other hand, if one deems the definition to be merely "big star Kim", then it is a semi & lit. clue. The question mark signals that there is something a bit out of the ordinary about this clue — in this case, that this is an all-in-one clue of some description.

Kim Novak^[7] is an American film and television actress.

20a   CAR|NATION — double definition (the second being cryptic — as flagged by the question mark); "pink" & "land of automobiles"

23a   {ERA|SMUS}< — reversal (in retrospect) of {SUMS (math problems) + ARE (†)}

Desiderius Erasmus^[7] (circa 1469–1536), was a Dutch humanist and scholar; Dutch name Gerhard Gerhards. He was the foremost Renaissance scholar of northern Europe, paving the way for the Reformation with his satires on the Church, including the Colloquia Familiaria (1518). However, he opposed the violence of the Reformation and condemned Luther in De Libero Arbitrio (1523).

24a   CUFFS — double definition; "sleeve features" & "hits"

26a   PIN(O)T — PINT (beer order) containing (with ... in it) O (nothing; letter that looks like a zero)

27a   L|AN|DOWNER — L (left) + (before) AN (one) + DOWNER (bad experience)

28a   NAME BRANDS — anagram (awfully) of BAD MANNERS

Adidas^[7] and Nike^[7] are brands of sports clothing, equipment and accessories — in particular, athletic footwear.

29a   A|YES — A (one) + YES (positive)

Down

1d   LAGS BEHIND — anagram (marred) of BAD ENGLISH

2d   DONE|GAL — GAL (lass) following (chasing) DONE (over)

Donegal^[5] is a county in the extreme north-west of the Republic of Ireland, part of the old province of Ulster.

4d   OS|MOSES — OS (Baltimore's team) + MOSES (prophet)

How many thought that the solution was ORIOLES?

The Baltimore Orioles^[7] are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Nicknames for the team include the O's and the Birds.

Moses^[5] (fl. circa 14th-13th centuries bc) was a Hebrew prophet and lawgiver, brother of Aaron. According to the biblical account, he was born in Egypt and led the Israelites away from servitude there, across the desert towards the Promised Land. During the journey he was inspired by God on Mount Sinai to write down the Ten Commandments on tablets of stone (Exod. 20).

Osmose^[5] is a literary term meaning to pass by or as if by osmosis ⇒ publishing companies osmose like amoebae into ever larger conglomerates.

5d   _SY|STEMS — SY {last couple of [letters in] grassSY} + STEMS (stalks)

6d   GUERRILLA~ — sounds like (outspoken; spoken out loud) GORILLA (ape)

7d   O(VERDI)D — VERDI (Italian composer [Giuseppe Verdi]) contained in (breaking into) OD (Old Dutch)

Old Dutch^[10] (abbreviation OD) is the Dutch language up to about 1100, derived from the Low Franconian dialect of Old Low German.

8d   IOT|A< — reversal (returned) of A TOI (to you in Quebec)

"À toi" means "to you" in French, the Official Language of Québec.

9d   H|AIL — AIL (trouble; as a verb) following (†) H (hot)

14d   {TENNIS PROS}* — anagram (bad) of SPORTS NINE

16d   {TAKE A STAB}* — anagram (dances) of STAB AT SKA

Ska^[5] is a style of fast popular music having a strong offbeat and originating in Jamaica in the 1960s, a forerunner of reggae.

19d   VI(ETNA)M — VIM (life) containing (around) ETNA (volcano; Mount Etna^[5] in eastern Sicily)

20d   {CAMI|LLA}< — reversal (sent back) of {ALL (whole) + IMAC (Apple computer; iMac^[7] is a brand of computer manufactured by Apple Inc.)}

Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall^[7] is the second wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, and a member of the British Royal Family. Although she is the Princess of Wales because of her marriage to the Prince of Wales, she prefers to be known by the secondary title of Duchess of Cornwall (Duchess of Rothesay in Scotland) out of respect for her husband's first wife, the late Diana, Princess of Wales.

21d   RO(SINE)D — ROD (fishing pole) containing (includes) SINE ([trigonometric] function)

22d   IN|FANCY — IN (amid) + FANCY (daydream; as a verb)

24d   C(L)OG — COG (machine part) containing (jammed with) L (large)

25d   S|PAN — S (small) + PAN (skillet)

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