Saturday, July 20, 2013 — On One's Feet

Introduction

In today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon, the setters may tempt those of you who are so inclined to indulge in a bit of retail therapy in your local shoe store.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

1a   GAL(O)S|HES — {GALS (lasses) + (and) HES (guys)} containing (packing) O (zip)

5a   SCALED — double definition; "went up" & "like a lizard"

9a   BASRA* — anagram (wrecked) of ARABS

Basra^[5] is an oil port of Iraq, on the Shatt al-Arab waterway; population 870,000 (est. 2007).

10a   M|OCCASI_NS — M ([Roman numeral for] 1000) + OCCASI[O]NS (†) with an O deleted (missing nothing) but not the first one (after the first)

12a   SING|LET — SING (belt, perhaps; belt being one way to sing) + LET (allowed)

For the benefit of any readers from the UK, a singlet is known as a vest in Britain.

13a   RADI(C)AL — RADIAL (sort of tire) containing C ([symbol for the chemical element] carbon)

14a   WELLING|TONS — WELLING (rising to the surface) + TONS (quite a lot)

Wellington^[5] is the British name for a rubber boot.

19a   ESPADRILLES* — anagram (off) of LEADERS SLIP

22a   TWI(NIN)G — TWIG (stick) containing (around) NIN (Anais)

Anais Nin^[5] (1903 – 1977) was an American writer, born in France. She published her first novel House of Incest in 1936 and went on to produce collections of short stories, essays, diaries, and erotica.

24a   S|LUMBER — S (start to [first letter of] Saw) + LUMBER (logs)

This is an & lit. (all-in-one) clue — a type of clue in which the entire clue serves as the definition (when read one way) and also as the wordplay (when read a second way).

25a   FLIPFLOPS* — anagram (spinning) of LP SLIP OFF

26a   IONIC* — anagram (tossed) of COIN I

27a   GA(TOR)S — GAS (vapour) containing (surrounding) TOR (hill)

28a   WIN|G| TIPS — WIN (gain) + G (good) + TIPS (pieces of advice)

Down

1d   GO BUST — GOT (understood) containing (about) BUS (vehicle)

2d   LO(SIN)G — SIN (wrong) contained in (in) LOG (record book)

3d   S(WALL)OWED — SOWED (broadcast) containing (about) WALL (masonry)

4d   EM|MET — EM (Dorothy's aunt;) + MET (encountered)

In the childrens' story The Wizard of Oz^[7] (or, as it was originally titled, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz), Dorothy Gale lives with her Uncle Henry and Aunt Em.

6d   CHAR|D — CHAR (turn black) + D (bit [first letter] of Desert)

7d   LO(IN CH)OP — INCH (creep) contained in (put in) LOOP (circuit)

8d   DISC|LOSE* — DISC (platter) + (with) an anagram (cooked) of SOLE

11d   COR(DI)AL — DI (princess; Diana, Princess of Wales^[7]) contained in (wearing) CORAL (pink)

15d   LYING TO — anagram (fudged) of GIL TONY

16d   GES(TURIN)G* — anagram (scrambled) of EGGS containing (around) TURIN (Italian city)

17d   PETTIFOG*  — anagram (prepared) of GIFT POET

18d   OPT|I|MIST — OPT (choose) + I ([Roman numeral for] one) + MIST (spray)

A Pollyanna^[5] is an excessively cheerful or optimistic person. The term comes from the name of the optimistic heroine created by Eleanor Hodgman Porter (1868 – 1920), American author of children's stories.

20d   _UBAN|GI_ — hidden in (employed in) CUBAN GIn

The Ubangi River^[5] flows for 660 miles (1,060 km) from the border of the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire), along the border of the latter with Congo, to join the Congo River, of which it is the chief northern tributary.

21d   CROC(U)S — CROCS (dangerous reptiles) containing (on both sides of) U ([symbol for the chemical element] uranium)

23d   INFER* — anagram (exotic) of FERN I

24d   SU|SHI~ — sounds like (heard) {SUE (petition) + SHE (that woman)}

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