Saturday, January 5, 2013 - Bone Breakers

Introduction

The objects featured in today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon may do you damage but no hurt will come from what appears on 26a.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

1a   MATCH|STICKS — MATCH (contest) + STICKS (lodges)

9a   G(REND)EL< — reversal (back) of LEG containing (sustaining) REND (tear)

Grendel^[5] is the water monster killed by Beowulf in the Old English epic poem Beowulf.

10a   _TORPEDO* — anagram (moved) of PET DOOR

11a   TORT< — reversal (in the wrong direction) of TROT (run)

12a   MILES|TONES — when split (5,5), the solution describes the TONES (sounds) that MILES (Davis) gets on his trumpet (Mile's tones)

Miles Davis^[7] (1926 – 1991) was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer who is widely considered to be one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century.

14a   ME|MO P|AD — ME (†) + MOP (clean up) + AD (spot)

15a   S|IGNORE — S (last [letter] of uS) + IGNORE (don't recognize)

Signore^[8] is the Italian word for gentleman.

16a   DESERTS — double definition; "wastelands" & "merits"

Desert^[4] in the sense of (1) (often plural) something that is deserved or merited; just reward or punishment; (2) the state of deserving a reward or punishment; (3) virtue or merit.

19a   ADMIRED* — anagram (strange) of DREAM ID

21a   CHOPSTICKS — Spoonerism of {STOP (halt) + CHICKS (hens)}

22a   A|BUT — A (†) + BUT (word of objection)

25a   TRUDEAU~ — sounds like (audited) {TRUE (actual) + DOUGH (money)}

Pierre Elliott Trudeau^[7] (1919 – 2000), the 15th Prime Minister of Canada, served from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979 and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.

26a   NAMETAG< — reversal (from the rear) of GATEMAN (guard)

27a   RHINESTONES* — anagram (excited) of TINHORN SEES

Down

1d   MIGHT — double definition; "may" & "power"

2d   THE(ORE)M — THEM (their group) containing (has penned) ORE (rock)

3d   HIDE — double definition; "make secret" & "pelt"

4d   T(ALL)IED — TIED (fixed) containing (about) ALL (everything)

5d   C|UTTERS — C (Conservative) + UTTERS (speaks)

6d   STRATA|GEMS — STRATA (layers) + (with) GEMS (valuable rocks)

7d   LE(A)N TO — LENTO (signal [musical direction] to go slowly) containing (around) A (†)

8d   {TOP |S|PEED}< — reversal (in reverse) of {DEEP (low) + S (small) + POT (vessel)}

13d   SPORTSWEAR* — anagram (wrong) of STORE WRAPS

14d   MEDI(C)ATE — MEDIATE (help settle disputes) containing (about) C (average [academic grade])

17d   S(HOG)UN — SUN (star) containing (straddling) HOG (motorcycle)

I thought (for the benefit of readers on the other side of the pond) I should verify that the term hog is used in Britain. I was surprised — actually astounded would be more like it — to see that Oxford Dictionaries Online defines hog^[5] as "informal, trademark in the UK a large motorcycle, in particular a Harley Davidson". Not only is this usage far from exclusive to the UK, but I find it hard to understand how something can possibly be called an "informal trademark"!

18d   STIMULI* — anagram (changed) of LITMUS I

19d   ASKANCE* — anagram (twisted) of AS A NECK

20d   RU(B IT) IN — BIT (scrap) contained in (among) RUIN (wreck)

23d   TO|GAS — TO (†) + GAS (stuff in a tank; petrol to our British friends)

24d   SMUT< — reversal (turn) of TUMS (stomachs)

Due to the way that this clue is phrased, the definition (pornography) appears to have been placed in the middle of the clue. Placing the definition in the middle of a clue is not often seen, especially in American puzzles. It is more common in British puzzles, but still rare. However, since the word "with" in this clue is actually a link word, I suspect that this may not technically be considered to be an instance of putting the definition in the middle of clue. The role of "with" as a link word becomes clearer if one undoes the inverted phrasing of the clue, thereby getting "Make stomachs turn with pornography".

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