Saturday, February 15, 2014 — Love is in the Air

Introduction

Today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon is a Valentine's treat — with lots of references to love.

My apologies to reader's who visited the blog this morning. Somehow my original posting contained last week's puzzle instead of today's puzzle. I have no idea how it happened. It was not merely a matter of posting the wrong file — files actually mysteriously changed names.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

1a   {FROM THE HEART}* — anagram (exchanging letters) of {MOTHER + (&) FATHER}

10a   CL(AMOR)ING — AMOR (Antony's [Latin word for] love) contained in (in) CLING (embrace)

As I expect the setters intended, I spent a lot of time trying to incorporate CLEO into the solution.

Mark Antony^[5] (circa 83-30 BC) was a Roman general and triumvir; Latin name Marcus Antonius. A supporter of Julius Caesar, he was appointed one of the triumvirate after Caesar’s murder. Following the battle of Philippi he took charge of the Eastern Empire, where he established his association with Cleopatra. Quarrels with Octavian led finally to his defeat at the battle of Actium and to his suicide.

11a   SOLVE* — anagram (lost) of LOVES

12a   RE|VERSE — RE ([musical] note) + (with) VERSE (poetry)

13a   TEAR| GA|S — TEAR (separation) + GA (Georgia) + S ('s)

14a   AS|SENT — AS (while) + SENT (enraptured)

15a   PAR|AM|OUR — PAR (norm) + AM (in the morning) + (with) OUR (†)

18a   HER(ME)TIC — {HER (that lady's) + TIC (odd mannerism)} containing (keeps) ME (†)

20a   COO|L|ED — COO (bill's partner) + L (left) + ED (†)

To bill and coo^[5] is to behave or talk in a very loving or sentimental way.

23a   ORPHEUS* — anagram (sloshed) of HER SOUP

In Greek mythology, Orpheus^[5] is a poet who could entrance wild beasts with the beauty of his singing and lyre playing. He went to the underworld after the death of his wife Eurydice and secured her release from the dead, but lost her because he failed to obey the condition that he must not look back at her until they had reached the world of the living.

25a   ADAM|ANT — ANT (colony member) following (pursuing) ADAM (the first man)

In the biblical and Koranic traditions, Adam^[5] is the name of the first man. According to the Book of Genesis, Adam was created by God as the progenitor of the human race and lived with Eve in the Garden of Eden.

27a   IDOLS~ — sounds like (in conversation) IDLES (passes the time lazily)

28a   RESPIRING* — anagram (clumsily) of GRIP REINS

29a   ENTANGLEMENT* — anagram (foreign) of TAN GENTLEMEN

Down

2d   {RIO GRANDE}* — anagram (fresh) of ORDERING A

The setters use "flower" in the whimsical cryptic crossword sense meaning something that flows — in other words, a river.

The Rio Grande^[5] is a river which rises in the Rocky Mountains of southwestern Colorado and flows 3,030 km (1,880 miles) generally south-eastwards to the Gulf of Mexico, forming the US-Mexico frontier from El Paso to the sea.

3d   M(AID)EN — MEN (guys) containing (outside) AID (help)

4d   {HIGH TEAS}~ — sounds like (out loud) {HI (greeting) + TEASE (flirt)}

The British distinguish between afternoon tea and high tea, although both may be referred to simply as tea^[10]. Afternoon tea^[2,5,7,10] (or Low Tea) is a light afternoon meal, typically eaten between 3:00 pm and 5:00 pm, at which tea, sandwiches, biscuits [British term for cookies or crackers] and cakes are served.

High tea^[7] (also known as meat tea) is the evening meal or dinner of the working class, typically eaten between 5pm and 7pm. It typically consists of a hot dish such as fish and chips, shepherd's pie, or macaroni cheese [macaroni and cheese to North Americans], followed by cakes and bread, butter and jam. Occasionally there would be cold cuts of meat, such as ham salad. Traditionally high tea was eaten by middle to upper class children (whose parents would have a more formal dinner later) or by labourers, miners and the like when they came home from work. The term was first used around 1825 and high is used in the sense of well-advanced (like high noon, for example) to signify that it was taken later in the day.

5d   HOST|A — HOST (entertainer) + (with) A (answer)

6d   ALLEGRO* — anagram (adapted) of ROLE GAL

As either an adjective or adverb, allegro^[5] is a musical direction indicating that a piece of music is to be performed at a brisk speed.

7d   TREA(SURE)D — SURE (certainly) contained in (in) TREAD (step)

Note: The setters have employed an inverted sentence order in the clue.

8d   S_|C_|A_|R_ — initial letters of (starts from) Scratch + Chasing + After + Rhonda

9d   W(A)IVES — A (one) contained in (among) WIVES (mates)

14d   APHRODITE* — anagram (wrongly) of PAIRED HOT

In Greek mythology, Aphrodite^[5] is the goddess of beauty, fertility, and sexual love. She is variously described as the daughter of Zeus and Dione, or as being born from the sea.

16d   ADO|RATION — RATION (share) following (with) ADO (trouble)

Note: The setters once again have employed an inverted sentence order in the clue.

17d   MINSTREL* — anagram (botched) of MR TS LINE

Mr. T^[7] (born Laurence Tureaud) is an American actor known for his roles as B. A. Baracus in the 1980s television series The A-Team, as boxer Clubber Lang in the 1982 film Rocky III, and for his appearances as a professional wrestler. Mr. T is known for his trademark African Mandinka warrior hairstyle, his gold jewelry, and his tough-guy image.

19d   RAP|PORT — RAP (conversation) + PORT (wine)

21d   LEA(D-I)N — LEAN (bend) containing (when embracing) DI (Diana)

22d   HANS|O|M — HANS (†) + O (Olivia originally; initial letter of Olivia) + M (married)

Historically, a hansom^[5] (or hansom cab) was a two-wheeled horse-drawn cab accommodating two inside, with the driver seated behind.

24d   _ESS|EN_ — hidden in (in_ agelESS ENjoyment

26d   _T_O_G_S_ — even letters of (oddly ignored; odd letters deleted) of sTrOnGeSt

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