Saturday, April 20, 2013 — Feathered Friends

Introduction

What better way to spend a beautiful — if somewhat chilly — spring day than by doing a bit of bird watching. In today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon, not only do we find ourselves encircled by a quartet of avians on the outskirts of the puzzle — but even make a bonus sighting in the interior.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

1a   {BARNACLE GOOSE}* — anagram (crazy) of BARCELONA GOES

9a   ROU(G)E — ROUE (libertine) containing (receives) G (grand; slang for one thousand)

10a   BALL|IS|TIC — TIC (jerk) following (after) {BALL (big dance) + IS (†)}

11a   OBE(SIT)Y — SIT (pose) contained in (kept in) OBEY (mind)

12a   A|L|LAYER — A (†) + L (large) + LAYER (hen in action)

The whimsical nature of layer being defined by a "hen in action" is indicated by the the question mark.

13a   PETTY| CASH — PETTY (music's Tom; American musician Tom Petty^[7]) + (and) CASH ([music's] Johnny; American musician Johnny Cash^[7] (1932 – 2003)).

15a   SOL(V)E — SOLE (only) containing (around) V ([Roman numeral for] five)

17a   R|USES — R (Russia's leader [first letter]) + USES (employs)

19a   HER|BA|LIST — HER (the lady's) + BA LIST (roster [list] of bachelors [BA, Bachelor of Arts])

Once again, the setters flag the whimsical nature of the clue with a question mark.

21a   DOMINGO* — anagram (dancing) of DOOMING

Plácido Domingo^[5] is Spanish-born tenor. His performances in operas by Verdi and Puccini have met with particular acclaim.

23a   _S|A|RACE|N_ — hidden in (in the middle) of joinS A RACE Never

24a   SITUATION* — anagram (moving) of TO TUNISIA

25a   A|LONG — A (†) + LONG (pine)

26a   OYSTERCATCHER* — anagram (anagrams) of SAY THE CORRECT

Down

1d   {BIRD OF PARADISE}* — anagram (mistakenly) of PAID FOR SIDEBAR

2d   ROU(LET)TES — LET (permitted) contained in (in) ROUTES (paths)

A roulette^[5] is a tool or machine with a revolving toothed wheel, used in engraving or for making slit-shaped perforations between postage stamps.

3d   AMEN|IT|Y — AMEN (I agree) + (with) IT (†) + Y (yes)

4d   LOB|BY — LOB (hit a tennis shot) + BY (through; by means of)

5d   GAL|LAG|HER — LAG (delay) contained in (between) {GAL (young lady) + HER (†)}

Gallagher^[7] is an American comedian and prop comic, known [apparently to some people] for smashing watermelons as part of his act.

6d   O(RIO)LES — OLES (Mexican cheers) containing (about) RIO (Brazilian resort; Rio de Janeiro^[7])

7d   _ENTRY — [S]ENTRY (guard) with the first letter deleted (after opening; the part following the first letter)

8d   SCARLET T|AN(A)GER — SCARLETT (O'Hara of Tara) + (with) ANGER (outrage) containing (about) A (†)

Scarlett O' Hara^[7] is the protagonist in Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel Gone with the Wind and in the later film of the same name. Tara is the name of the O'Hara family plantation.

14d   APHRODITE* — anagram (badly) of ATROPHIED

In Greek mythology, Aphrodite^[5] is the goddess of beauty, fertility, and sexual love. She is variously described as the daughter of Zeus and Dione, or as being born from the sea. Her Roman equivalent is Venus.

16d   LOINCLOTH* — L (left) + anagram (awfully) of  COOL THIN

18d   _S|AND|ALS_ — hidden (some) in sockS AND ALSo

20d   A|B(R)EAST — A (†) + BEAST (brute) containing (keeping) R (right)

22d   ME(T)RO — T (time) contained in (caught in) anagram (new) of ROME

23d   SONIC* — anagram (scattered) of COINS

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)
^[11] - TheFreeDictionary.com (Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary)

Signing off for today — Falcon