Saturday, August 31, 2013 — It's Hard Work

Introduction

The solutions to the clues in today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon contain several references to hard work — the obvious trio at 1a, 30a, and 23a as well as 13a.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

1a   BLOODSTONE* — anagram (sporting) of NOBLE STOOD

6a   IDOL~ — sounds like (listened to) IDLE (unemployed)

9a   DO|NO|VAN — DO (make) + NO (†) + VAN (truck)

Donovan^[7] (born Donovan Phillips Leitch) is a Scottish singer, songwriter and guitarist whose song "Mellow Yellow" reached #2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1966.

10a   MEDDLED~ — sounds like (for speaking) MEDALLED (took a prize)

12a   N(A)IL — NIL (goose egg; nothing) containing (broken by) A (†)

13a   TO(I|LET)RIES — {I (†) + LET (allow)} contained in (dividing) TORIES (Conservatives)

15a   SAGA|MORE — SAGA (long story) + MORE (again)

16a   ANCHOR* — anagram (plastic) of ON ARCH

18a   BUSTLE — double definition; ""Victorian fashion" & "excited activity"

20a   S(HUT| A)WAY — {HUT (shelter) + A (one)} contained in (surrounded by) SWAY (rock)

23a   TEARSTAINS — anagram (wrecked) of AS TRAIN SET

24a   SNIP< — reversal (the wrong way) of PINS (stickers)

27a   GO (FOR)TH — FOR (†) contained in (set in) GOTH (postpunk genre)

28a   SE(A)TTLE — SETTLE (put down roots) containing (about) A (†)

29a   DU(D)E — DUE (owing) containing (about) D ([Roman numeral for] five hundred)

30a   S(W)EAT|PANTS — {SEAT (usher; as a verb) + PANTS (is breathless)} containing (about) W (western)

Down

1d   BID ON — ID (papers) contained in (in) BON (good French; French word meaning good)

2d   O|IN|KING — O (love; as a tennis score) + IN (popular) + KING (ruler)

3d   DOVE — double definition; "peacenik" & "went underwater"

4d   TAN|DOOR|I — TAN (bronze) + DOOR (swinger) + (and) I (†)

5d   NA(MEL)Y — MEL (Gibson; American-born Australian actor Mel Gibson) contained in (getting in) NAY (no)

7d   DOLTISH* — anagram (novel) of THIS OLD

8d   LED A|S|TRAY — LEDA (Helen's mother) + S ('s) + TRAY (load for a waiter)

In Greek mythology, Leda^[5] is the wife of Tyndareus king of Sparta. She was loved by Zeus, who visited her in the form of a swan; among her children were the Dioscuri, Helen [of Troy], and Clytemnestra.

11d   D(ETON)ATE — DATE (appointment) containing (around) ETON (school on the Thames)

Eton College^[7], often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent [private] school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor". It is located in Eton, near Windsor in England, and is one of the original nine English public schools as defined by the Public Schools Act 1868. [Note: In Britain, "public schools" are a special class of private school; what North Americans would call public schools seem to be referred to in Britain by terms such as state-run or state-funded schools].

14d   IM A LOSER — anagram (terrible) of MORALE IS

"I'm a Loser"^[7] is a song by the Beatles, originally released on Beatles for Sale in the United Kingdom, later released on Beatles '65 in the United States. Written by John Lennon, (though credited to Lennon–McCartney), it was considered for release as a single until Lennon wrote "I Feel Fine".

15d   SABOTAGED*  — anagram (when blended) of TEAS GO BAD

17d   CH(IN)A SE|A — {CHASE (follow) + A (Australia's leader; first letter of Australia)} containing (around) IN (†)

19d   SCAR|FED — SCAR (mark) + FED (given a meal)

21d   WINS|TON — WINS (gains) + TON (large amount of weight)

Sir Winston Churchill^[7] (1874 – 1965) was a British politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (that is, for most of the Second World War) and again from 1951 to 1955. Widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the 20th century, Churchill was also an officer in the British Army, a historian, a writer, and an artist. He is the only British Prime Minister to have received the Nobel Prize in Literature, and was also the first person to be made an honorary citizen of the United States.

22d   C(A|S)HEW — CHEW (gnaw) containing (outside) {A (†) + S (small)}

25d   PRES|S — PRES (President) + S ('s)

26d   WAS|P — WAS (†) + P (passing; possibly based on its use in a pass/no pass grading system)

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