Saturday, June 29, 2013 — Olio

Introduction

In today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon, we seem to get a little bit of everything thrown into the pot — with no clear theme that I have been able to discern. Perhaps an eagle-eyed reader will be able to find a common thread.

Finally, you may be pleased to see that last week's puzzle and its solution have now been posted at Saturday, June 22, 2013 - Seeing Stars.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

1a   B(RAIN S)URGEON — BURGEON (flower) containing (fed by) RAINS (showers)

10a   A|R|C LAMP — A (†) + R (red) CLAMP (fastener)

11a   F(EVER)ED — FED (G-man) containing (keeps) EVER (continually)

In the US, G-man^[3,4,11] is an informal term for an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and fed^[3,4,11] is slang for a federal official or law-enforcement officer — in particular, an agent of the FBI.

12a   G(A|ME W)ARDEN — GARDEN (†) containing (suppressing) {A (†) + MEW (catcall)}

13a   OGRE< — reversal (backward) of ERGO (so)

Shrek!^[7] is a picture book written and illustrated in 1990 by American writer William Steig (1907 – 2003) about a young ogre who finds the ogre of his dreams when he leaves home to see the world. The book served as the basis for the popular Shrek film series.

15a   _VISH|NU_ — hidden in (embraces) derVISH NUttily

In Hinduism, Vishnu^[5] is a god, originally a minor Vedic god, now regarded by his worshippers as the supreme deity and saviour, by others as the preserver of the cosmos in a triad with Brahma and Shiva. Vishnu is considered by Hindus to have had nine earthly incarnations or avatars, including Rama, Krishna, and the historical Buddha; the tenth avatar will herald the end of the world.

16a   TUR(A)N|DOT — {TURN (reverse) + DOT (point)} containing (about) A (†)

Turandot^[7] is an opera in three acts by Italian composer Giacomo Puccini (1858 – 1924). The opera was unfinished at the time of Puccini's death in 1924 and was completed by fellow Italian composer Franco Alfano (1875 – 1954) in 1926.

19a   RO(W HO)USE — ROUSE (get agitated) containing (about) WHO (†)

21a   {ONE-TWO}~ — sounds like (we hear) {WON (was successful) + TOO (also)}

24a   TAIL~ — sounds like (recited) TALE (story)

25a   FOREST(ALL)S — ALL (everything) contained in (in) FORESTS (woodlands)

27a   PEG|A|S|US — PEG (identify) + A (†) + S (southern) + US (U.S.)

In Greek mythology, Pegasus^[5] was a winged horse which sprang from the blood of Medusa when Perseus cut off her head.

28a   I RE|SIGN — IRE (anger) + (with) SIGN (gesture)

29a   {SERIAL RIGHTS}~ — sounds like (discussed) {CEREAL (grain) + RITES (ceremonies)}

Down

2d   {REAR WINDOW}* — anagram (amok) of WIDOWER RAN

Rear Window^[7] is a 1954 American suspense film directed by English film director and producer Alfred Hitchcock (1899 – 1980).

3d   IMP|ART — ART (paintings) produced by IMPS (rascals) would be IMP ART (what rascals paint)

4d   SOFTEN UP — anagram (spoiled) of POETS FUN

5d   R|AVE — R (Republican) + AVE (greeting)

6d   ENRAGED* — anagram (terribly) of ANGERED

This is an & lit. (all-in-one) clue in which the entire clue is both the definition (when read one way) and the wordplay (when read a second way).

7d   NUD(G)E — NUDE (painter's model) containing (receives) G (good)

8d   HAN(G)OVER — HANOVER (British royal family) containing (inherits) G (general; film classification)

The House of Hanover^[5] was the British royal house from 1714 to the death of Queen Victoria in 1901.

9d   SCAM(P)S — P (chief of police; first letter of Police) contained in (amid) SCAMS (cons)

14d   {MAIN STREET}* — anagram (badly) of TERMINATES

Main Street: The Story of Carol Kennicott^[7] is a satirical novel by American writer Sinclair Lewis (1885 – 1951) that was published in 1920.

17d   THOU|SAND — THOU ([archaic form of] you) + SAND (employ grit on)

18d   ESPOUSER* — anagram (new) of PROSE USE

20d   W|RINGER — W (with) + RINGER (bell)

22d   TILSIT* — anagram (misprinted) LIST IT

Tilsit^[5] is a semi-hard mild cheese, named after the town in East Prussia (now Sovetsk, Russia) where it was first produced.

23d   HE|WING — HE (male) + WING (hockey position)

24d   TAP(A)S — TAPS (dances) containing (around) A (†)

26d   _OSS|A_ — hidden in (spanning) acrOSS Asia

Mount Ossa^[5] is a mountain in Thessaly, NE Greece, south of Mount Olympus, rising to a height of 1,978 m (6,489 ft). In Greek mythology the giants were said to have piled Mount Ossa on to Mount Pelion, and vice versa, in an attempt to reach heaven and destroy the gods.

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