Saturday, May 18, 2013 — Let's Tour Canada

Introduction

In today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon we pay visits to a quartet of communities across Canada.

As soon as I saw 1a, I thought we might have a Victoria Day theme today — Prince Albert having been consort to Queen Victoria. However, as I was to discover as I progressed through the puzzle, that seems not to have been the intent of the setters.

Finally, I swear I could hear the gnashing of teeth all the way from Toronto as Leaf fans tackled 20d.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

1a   {PRINCE ALBERT}* — anagram (repaired) of PRINTER CABLE

9a   A(P|P|ARE)L — {PP (two pages) + ARE (†)} contained in AL (†)

10a   M(A|D R)USH — MUSH (take a dogsled) containing (carrying) {A (†) + DR (doctor)}

11a   TROIS-RIVIERES* — anagram (on the move) of REVISIT ROSIER

13a   RUSTLE~ — sounds like (overheard) RUSSELL (Mr. Crowe; New Zealand-born Australian actor Russell Crowe^[7])

14a   ATHLETIC* — anagram (surprisingly) of LITHE CAT

The definition is "with a dynamic body".

17a   HILAR(IT)Y —HILARY (climber of Everest) containing (describes) IT (†)

On 29 May 1953, New Zealand mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary^[7] ( 1919 –  2008) and Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers confirmed as having reached the summit of Mount Everest.

The use of the word "describe" as a containment indicator is a common cryptic crossword convention. This device relies on describe^[3] being used in the sense of to trace the form or outline of ⇒ describe a circle with a compass. Thus, in today's clue, we have HILARY containing (describing) IT with the rationale for the wordplay being that the container (HILARY) forms an outline around the contained entity (IT) in a similar manner to the circumference of a circle forming an outline around the circular area contained within it. 

19a   E-M|AILS — EM ([nickname for] Emily) + AILS (does poorly)

22a   {SAULT STE MARIE}* — anagram (new) of ERA STIMULATES

25a   RIGHTER~ — sounds like (outspoken; spoken out loud) WRITER (author)

26a   INS(P)ECT — INSECT (bug) containing (around) P (left end [first letter] of Pond)

27a   SAINT_GEORGES — anagram (remedied) of SEGREGATIONS

Down

1d   PEAK~ — sounds like (pronounced) PEEK (gander)

2d   I|M|PET|US — I (†) + M (1000) + PET (favourite) + US (United States)

I think I-1000 is intended to be a mythical US Interstate highway^[7]. I would tend to discount the idea that it refers to Initiative 1000^[7] (I-1000) of 2008 that established the U.S. state of Washington's Death with Dignity Act, which legalizes physician-assisted dying with certain restrictions.

3d   CAR(POOL)ER — CARER (one who minds) containing (about) POOL (shooting game)

4d   AT LAS|T — ATLAS (book of maps) + (on [in a down clue]) T (time)

5d   BUM|P INTO_ — BUM (lame) + PINTO (pony)

6d   RA|DII — RA ([Egyptian] sun god) + DII ([Roman numeral for] 502)

In Egyptian mythology, Ra^[5] is the sun god, the supreme Egyptian deity, worshipped as the creator of all life and typically portrayed with a falcon’s head bearing the solar disc. From earliest times he was associated with the pharaoh.

7d   TU(RRE<)T — reversal (turning) of ERR (mistake [?]) contained in (in) TUT (pharaoh)

Surely, this clue should have read "Make a mistake, turning in Pharaoh's tower".

Tutankhamen^[5] (died circa 1352 BC), known informally as King Tut, was an Egyptian pharaoh of the 18th dynasty, who reigned circa 1361-circa 1352 BC. His tomb, containing a wealth of rich and varied contents, was discovered virtually intact by the English archaeologist Howard Carter in 1922.

8d   PHYSICIST~ — sounds like (heard) {FIZZ (carbonated bubbles) + ASSIST (aid)}

12d   ORCHESTRA* — anagram (organized) of SHORT RACE

15d   LAMBRUSCO* — anagram (ruined) of CRUMB ALSO

Lambrusco^[5] is a sparkling red wine made from the Lambrusco grape, a variety of wine grape grown in the Emilia-Romagna region of North Italy.

16d   S(TATE-R)UN — SUN (star) containing (eating) TATER (spud)

18d   L(O)UNGE — LUNGE (thrust) containing (with ... in it) O (nothing)

20d   _ICE|BERG_ — hidden in (essential to) PatrICE BERGeron

Patrice Bergeron (c.) Tyler Seguin (r.) and Brad Marchand (l.) of the Boston Bruins celebrate following Bergeron's game-winning overtime goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Patrice Bergeron^[7] is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who plays for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL).

In this year's Stanley Cup Playoffs, Bergeron certainly proved to be an iceberg — sinking any hope that the Toronto Maple Leafs might have had to advance to the second round. In the seventh game of round one, he scored at 19:09 of the third period to send the game to overtime, and then scored again at 6:05 in overtime to give Boston a 5-4 win and eliminate Toronto.

21d   UM|PING — PING (sonar sound) following (after) UM (hesitation)

23d   _TE|TRA_ — hidden in (caught in) piraTE TRAp

A tetra^[5] is any of numerous genera and species of small tropical freshwater fish that is typically brightly coloured. Native to Africa and America, many tetras are popular in aquaria.

24d   OT|IS — OT (Old Testament) + IS (lives)

Elisha Otis^[5] (1811 – 1861) was an American inventor and manufacturer. He produced the first efficient elevator with a safety device in 1852.

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)

Happy Victoria Day — Falcon