Saturday, February 1, 2014 — Prep for Spring Training

Introduction

I found today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon to lie toward the more challenging end of their spectrum. While there does not seem to be any particular theme, I suppose that with this being Super Bowl weekend, it is appropriate to find a quarterback among the clues. However, with spring training soon to commence, baseball is featured more prominently.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

1a   F|ACTUAL — F (false) + ACTUAL (true)

5a   CA(PITA)L — CAL (Calvin) containing (gets) PITA (bread)

9a   _R|ENDS — R (actoR finally) + ENDS (finishes)

10a   MEN|AG|ERIE — MEN (guys) + (next to) AG ([symbol for the chemical element] silver) + ERIE (lake of [more precisely, bordering on] Ontario)

Lake Erie^[5] is one of the five Great Lakes of North America, situated on the border between Canada [Ontario] and the US [Michigan, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania]. It is linked to Lake Huron by the Detroit River and to Lake Ontario by the Welland Ship Canal and the Niagara River, which is its only natural outlet.

11a   COLLABORATION* — anagram (bananas) of TO BAR COLONIAL

13a   S(IMMER)ING — SING (†) containing (about) IMMER (German [word meaning] always)

15a   S|POOR — S (small) + POOR (inadequate)

16a   _LAR|GE_ — hidden in (middle [of]) particuLAR GEntleman

Note that seven letters must be removed from each end of the fodder.

18a   PA|TROLLED — TROLLED (went fishing) following (after) PA (dad)

20a   {THE GONDOLIERS}* — anagram (madly) of ENGLISH ROOTED

The Gondoliers; or, The King of Barataria^[7] is a Savoy Opera, with music by English composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) and libretto by English dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836 –1911). It premiered at the Savoy Theatre in London, England in December 1889. This was the twelfth comic opera collaboration of fourteen between Gilbert and Sullivan.

23a   ESOTERICA* — anagram (breaking) of A TIE SCORE

24a   QUA|KE_ — QUA (as) + KE (pair [first two letters] of KEttles)

Although "pair" could conceivably indicate any two letters in "kettles", this construct usually — if not always — indicates the first two letters.

25a   RO(SET)TE — SET (fixed) contained in (in) ROTE (routine)

26a   _KNESS|ET_ — hidden in (covered by) darKNESS ETernally

The Knesset^[5] is the parliament of modern Israel, established in 1949. It consists of 120 members elected every four years.

Down

1d   FORECAST|LE — FORECAST (make a prophecy) + (with) LE (the French; French word meaning 'the')

2d   CONG(L)O|ME|RATIONS — L (left) contained in (in) CONGO (African land) + (with) ME + RATIONS (shares)

3d   UPSCALE* — anagram (new) of CAPSULE

I did wonder if trendy and upscale are really synonymous? After some consideration, I would have to say that they seem to be close enough in meaning. Chambers 21st Century Dictionary defines upscale^[2] as a US colloquialism meaning up-market^[2] which it, in turn, defines as relating to or suitable for the more expensive end of the market; high in price, quality or prestige ⇒ lives in an up-market area of town.

4d   LIMBO — double definition; "dance" & "neither here nor there"

5d   CON|NAUGHT — CON (take in; scam) + NAUGHT (nothing)

Connaught is the Anglicized spelling for Connacht^[5], a province in the west of the Republic of Ireland.

6d   PYGMIES* — anagram (swimming) of I SPY MEG

7d   {TORONTO BLUE JAYS}* — anagram (liquid) of ENJOY ULTRA BOOST

The Toronto Blue Jays^[7] are a professional baseball team located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Blue Jays are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball (MLB)'s American League (AL).

8d   LEES — LEE (Confederate general) + S ('s)

Robert E. Lee^[5] (1807–1870) was an American general who was the commander of the Confederate army of Northern Virginia for most of the American Civil War. His invasion of the North was repulsed at the Battle of Gettysburg (1863) and he surrendered in 1865.

12d   I|RIDE|SCENT — I (†) + RIDE (get transported) + (by) SCENT (perfume)

14d   IMP|ROV(IS)E — IMP (little rascal) + {IS (†) contained in (breaking up) ROVE (stray)}

17d   EVE|REST — EVE (a lady in an old garden) +REST (recess)

In the Biblical account of the Creation, Eve^[5] was the first woman, companion of Adam and mother of Cain and Abel. Adam and Eve first lived the Garden of Eden^[5], from which they were expelled for disobediently eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge.

Mount Everest^[5] is a mountain in the Himalayas, on the border between Nepal and Tibet. Rising to 8,848 m (29,028 ft), it is the highest mountain in the world. It was first climbed in 1953 by New Zealand mountaineer and explorer Sir Edmund Hillary (1919–2008) and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay (1914–1986).

19d   OBLIQUE* — anagram (tossed) of QB LOUIE

In American [and Canadian] football, a quarterback^[5] (abbreviation QB) is a player stationed behind the centre who directs a team’s offensive play.

Aside from being played on different fields, with a different number of players, and according to different rules, American and Canadian football are very similar games!

21d   D|RANK — D (dee; the misleading capitalization is an exercise of setter's licence) preceeding (before) RANK (class)

22d   PEAR~ — sounds like (audibly) PARE (skin)

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