Saturday, May 17, 2014 — Go West, Young Bishop

Introduction

Here is today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon.

Note: I have replaced the smudged image of the puzzle that was originally posted with a clear version.

I was unable to access the National Post ePaper today to download the puzzle. As a result the image of the puzzle is one that I have scanned from the newspaper. Unfortunately, I had already completed the puzzle when I discovered this problem. This explains the smudged condition of the puzzle — I had to erase my markings before scanning it. In case the clues should happen to be difficult to read, I have reproduced them below. I tried to find an old puzzle using the same grid so that I could provide a cleaner version, but it is a rarely used grid and I was unable to find one.

Of all days for this to happen, there couldn't have been a worse one. I am leaving for Europe this afternoon and really did not need this added aggravation today.

Finally, don't be surprised if next Saturday's puzzle appears late.

Clues For Today's Puzzle

ACROSS

1 True North American country composer (5)
4 Peachy expert in an Egyptian language (9)
9 Comic strip teen officer had a bite around gumshoe's church district (15)
10 Utilitarian cloth rug seen in movie (9)
11 Celebrity taking one step (5)
12 Broad joke about human leg (6)
13 Rob only stranger carrying $1000 in part of New York City (8)
16 Hence, explorer's grave? (8)
18 Mary's pet entered in Iron Jubilee (6)
21 Collars thugs in the audience (5)
23 Broadcasts in casual shirts, with jeans tucked in (9)
25 Reconstructed pioneer's chair or covered wagon (7,8)
26 European city prosecutor carried by thirsty camel (9)
27 Getting into grass, our group scattered seed (5)

DOWN

1 Paddled quietly in watery area (5)
2  Loosen up about northern quahog (7)
3 A former kingdom in conjunction with Anatolia (4,5)
4 Writer playing ace gets poker prize (6)
5 Mail slot outside shows returned piece of mail (8)
6 Ill-humoured about Arctic explorer (5)
7 Pain and anguish follow divided by a victory (7)
8 Taking heed, cancel convertible sale (9)
12 Mollusk's good parts in a stew (9)
14 Patent catching 51 without a clue (9)
15 Song by alto about a curse (8)
17 Puzzle fan with a look (7)
19 Nerdy students I’m backing fail to understand (7)
29 Brave pitcher, and fortunate (6)
22 Small egg burst (5)
24 Trapped in outbuilding, rattler initially bit (5)

Solution to Today's Puzzle

Falcon's Experience ┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐ ███████████████████████████████████ └────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘ Legend: █ - solved without assistance █ - incorrect prior to use of puzzle solving tools █ - solved with assistance from puzzle solving tools █ - solved with aid of checking letters provided by puzzle solving tools █ - solved but without fully parsing the clue █ - yet to be solved

Legend:	"*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed
	"( )" letters inserted; "_" letters deleted; "†" explicit in the clue
	Primary indications (definitions) are marked with a solid underline in the clue; subsidiary indications (be they wordplay or other) are marked with a dashed underline in all-in-one (& lit.) clues, semi-all-in-one (semi-& lit.) clues and cryptic definitions.

Across

1a   True North American country composer (5)

SO|USA — SO (true; "I swear that it's so") + USA (North American country)

American composer John Philip Sousa

4a   Peachy expert in an Egyptian language (9)

COP(ACE)TIC — ACE (expert) contained in (in) COPTIC (an Egyptian language)

9a   Comic strip teen officer had a bite around gumshoe's church district (15)

ARCHIEPISCOPATE — {ARCHIE (comic strip teen; Archie Andrews) + COP (officer) + ATE (had bite)} containing (around) {PI (gumshoe; private investigator) + S ('s)}

10a   Utilitarian cloth rug seen in movie (9)

P(RAG|MAT)IC — {RAG (cloth) + MAT (rug)} contained in (in) PIC (movie)

11a   Celebrity taking one step (5)

STA(I)R — STAR (celebrity) containing (taking in) I ([Roman numeral for] one)

12a   Broad joke about human leg (6)

GA(PIN)G — GAG (joke) containing (about) PIN (human leg)

13a   Rob only stranger carrying $1000 in part of New York City (8)

BROO(K)LYN* — anagram (stranger) of ROB ONLY containing (carrying) K ($1000)

16a   Hence, explorer's grave? (8)

SO|BERING — SO (hence) + BERING (explorer; Danish explorer Vitus Bering)

18a   Mary's pet entered in Iron Jubilee (6)

F(LAMB)E — LAMB (Mary's pet; from the nursery rhyme 'Mary had a little lamb') contained in (in) FE ([symbol for the chemical element] iron)

21a   Collars thugs in the audience (5)

RUFFS — sounds like (in the audience) ROUGHS (thugs)

23a   Broadcasts in casual shirts, with jeans tucked in (9)

TE(LEVIS)ES — TEES (casual shirts) containing (with ... tucked in) LEVIS (jeans)

25a   Reconstructed pioneer's chair or covered wagon (7,8)

{PRAIRIE SCHOONER}* — anagram (reconstructed) of PIONEERS CHAIR OR

26a   European city prosecutor carried by thirsty camel (9)

D(ROME|DA)RY — {ROME (European city) + DA (prosecutor)} contained in (carried by) DRY (thirsty)

27a   Getting into grass, our group scattered seed (5)

SO(WE)D — WE (our group) contained in (getting into) SOD (grass)

Down

1d   Paddled quietly in watery area (5)

SWAM|P — SWAM (paddled) + P (quietly; piano, a musical direction)

2d   Loosen up about northern quahog (7)

U(N|CLAM)P — UP (†) containing (about) {N (northern) + CLAM (quahog)}

3d   A former kingdom in conjunction with Anatolia (4,5)

A|SIA M|IN|OR — A (†) + SIAM (former kingdom) + IN (†) + OR (conjunction)

4d   Writer playing ace gets poker prize (6)

CA(POT)E* — anagram (playing) of ACE containing (gets) POT (poker prize)

American writer Truman Capote.

5d   Mail slot outside shows returned piece of mail (8)

{PO(STCA)RD}< — DROP (mail slot) containing (outside) ACTS (shows)

6d   Ill-humoured about Arctic explorer (5)

C|ROSS — C (about; circa) + ROSS (explorer)

Either British Arctic explorer Sir John Ross or his nephew, British Arctic and Antarctic explorer Sir James Clark Ross.

7d   Pain and anguish follow divided by a victory (7)

TR(AV)AIL — TRAIL (follow) containing (divided by) {A (†) + V (victory; sign associated with British wartime leader Sir Winston Churchill)}

8d   Taking heed, cancel convertible sale (9)

CL(EAR)ANCE — anagram (convertible) of CANCEL containing (taking) EAR (heed)

12d   Mollusk's good parts in a stew (9)

GASTROPOD* — anagram (in a stew) of GOOD PARTS

14d   Patent catching 51 without a clue (9)

OB(LI)VIOUS — OBVIOUS (patent) containing (catching) LI ([Roman numeral for] 51)

15d   Song by alto about a curse (8)

AN(A)THEM|A — {ANTHEM (song) + A (alto)} containing (about) A (†)

17d   Puzzle fan with a look (7)

BUFF|A|LO — BUFF (fan) + A (†) + LO (look; archaic, "and lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them")

19d   Nerdy students I’m backing fail to understand (7)

{MI|SNOW}< — reversal (backing) of {WONKS (nerdy students) + IM (†)}

A Scottish expression according to Collin's English Dictionary

20d   Brave pitcher, and fortunate (6)

P|LUCKY — P (pitcher; baseball player) + (and) LUCKY (fortunate)

22d   Small egg burst (5)

S|URGE — S (small) + URGE (egg)

24d   Trapped in outbuilding, rattler initially bit (5)

SH(R)ED — R (rattler initially; initial letter of Rattler) contained in (trapped in) SHED (outbuilding)

Shred is used as a noun, "not a shred of evidence"

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