Saturday, February 28, 2015 — Play Ball!

Introduction

With spring training underway, it is appropriate that a couple of baseball related clues take to the field in today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon.

I invite you to leave a comment to let us know how you fared with the puzzle.

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. Explicit link words and phrases are enclosed in forward slashes (/link/) and implicit links are shown as double forward slashes (//).

Across

1a   Prisoner obtaining press // card (8)

CO(MEDIA)N — CON (prisoner) containing (obtaining) MEDIA (press)

5a   Students sent back /for/ mistake (4-2)

{SLIP-UP}< — reversal (sent back) of PUPILS (students)

10a   A-B-C is ridiculously // elementary (5)

BASIC* — anagram (ridiculously) of ABC IS

11a   Sleepiest // promise withdrawn before nap cut short (9)

DROW<|SIEST_ — reversal (withdrawn) of WORD (promise) + SIEST[A] (nap) with the final letter removed (cut short)

12a   In a cell, a new // bond (8)

ALLIANCE* — anagram (new) of IN A CELL A

13a   Slimy crawlers /in/ socks (5)

SLUGS — double definition

15a   Love poetry by one // across the ocean (7)

O|VERSE|A — O (love; nil score in tennis) + VERSE (poetry) + A (one)

I cannot recall ever having seen the solution without a final S. However, the word oversea^[3] is found in the American Heritage Dictionary, listed as meaning overseas. Oxford Dictionaries Online characterizes oversea as an alternative British term for overseas^[5].

16a   Full // agent left before summer in Quebec (7)

REP|L|ETE — REP (agent) + L (left) +ETE (summer in Quebec)

The French word for summer is été^[8].

18a   Dirty, /or/ fresh instead (7)

STAINED* — anagram (fresh) of INSTEAD

21a   Middle Easterner // is one taking in king from the East (7)

IS(RAEL<)I —  {IS (†) + I ([Roman numeral for] one)} containing (taking in) a reversal (from the East) of LEAR (king)

Lear^[5] was a legendary early king of Britain, the central figure in Shakespeare’s tragedy King Lear. He is mentioned by the 12th century Welsh chronicler Geoffrey of Monmouth in his Historia Regum Britanniae (circa 1139; first printed in 1508), an account of the kings of Britain.

23a   Writer // missing the mark about lake (5)

WI(L)DE — WIDE (missing the mark) containing (about) L (lake)

Oscar Wilde^[5] (1854–1900) was an Irish dramatist, novelist, poet, and wit; full name Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde. His advocacy of ‘art for art’s sake’ is evident in his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890). As a dramatist he achieved success with the comedies Lady Windermere’s Fan (1892) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895). Wilde was imprisoned (1895-7) for homosexual offences and died in exile.

25a   Pale hue, // for example green, associated with second nightmare (8)

EG|G|S|HELL — EG (for example) + G (green) + (associated with) S (second) + HELL (nightmare)

27a   Kid I found in lists // does some groundbreaking work (9)

RO(TOT|I)LLS — {TOT (kid) + I (†)} contained in (found in) ROLLS (lists)

Note to overseas readers: Rototiller^[5] is the North American name for a rotovator.

28a   My pet ape /is/ hungry (5)

EMPTY* — anagram (ape; berserk) of MY PET

29a   Street baseball team in Tampa // wanders (6)

ST|RAYS — ST (street) + RAYS (baseball team in Tampa)

This team is actually not based in Tampa but in St. Petersburg.

The Tampa Bay Rays^[7] (formerly the Tampa Bay Devil Rays) are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida, that competes in Major League Baseball (MLB). They are currently a member of the East Division of the American League.

Tampa Bay^[7] is a large, natural harbor and estuary along the Gulf of Mexico on the west central coast of Florida. "Tampa Bay" is not the name of any municipality. This misconception may stem from the names of several local professional sports franchises which seek to draw support from the entire Tampa Bay Area, the hub of which is the city of Tampa, Florida. St. Petersburg^[7] is the second largest city in the Tampa Bay Area.

30a   Brilliance in idiot/’s/ lack of colour (8)

A(SHINE)SS — SHINE (brilliance) contained in (in) ASS (idiot)

Down

1d   Die /from/ Chicago player error (4)

CUB|E — CUB (Chicago [baseball] player) + E (error; baseball term)

Chicago Cubs^[7] are an American professional baseball franchise located on the north side of Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League.

2d   Homer’s bartender getting deal /in/ white wine (7)

MO(SELL)E — MOE (Homer's bartender) containing (getting) SELL (deal)

Morris "Moe" Szyslak^[7] is a fictional character from the American animated television series, The Simpsons. He is the proprietor and bartender of Moe's Tavern, a Springfield bar frequented by Homer Simpson.

Moselle^[5] (also Mosel) is a light medium-dry white wine produced in the valley of the River Moselle. The Mosel^[5] (also Moselle) is a river of western Europe, which rises in the Vosges mountains of northeastern France and flows 550 km (346 miles) north-east through Luxembourg and Germany to meet the Rhine at Koblenz.

3d   Poet // spilled ink on disc (9)

DICKINSON* — anagram (spilled) of INK ON DISC

Emily Dickinson^[5] (1830–1886) was an American poet. Her poems use an elliptical language, emphasizing assonance and alliteration rather than rhyme, reflecting the struggles of her reclusive life.

4d   Riders // notice lair by day, mostly (7)

AD|DEN|DA_ — AD ([commercial] notice) + DEN (lair) + (by) DA[Y] with the final letter removed (mostly)

6d   Cobbler’s equipment // endures (5)

LASTS — double definition

7d   Suppose // program’s beginning with applicant’s submission (7)

P|RESUME — P {initial letter of (beginning of; 's beginning) Program} + (with) RESUME (applicant's submission; résumé)

8d   Asperities ruined // bakery (10)

PATISSERIE* — anagram (ruined) of ASPERITIES

9d   Party outfit/’s/ place marker (3-3)

DO|G-EAR — DO (party) + GEAR (outfit)

14d   Exercise conflict dividing garden tools /and/ domestic items (10)

HO(USE|WAR)ES — {USE (exercise) + WAR (conflict)} contained in (dividing) HOES (garden tools)

17d   Pierce has changed // game (9)

PARCHEESI* — anagram (changed) of PIERCE HAS

19d   Select athlete // fifty-second in place for sacrifices (3-4)

AL(L|-S)TAR — {L ([Roman numeral for] fifty) + S (second)} contained in (in) ALTAR (place for sacrifice)

20d   Lives // down by water sources (6)

D|WELLS — D (down) + (by) WELLS (water sources)

21d   Room renter gags out loud /and/ swallows (7)

{IN|GESTS}~ — sounds like (out loud) {INN (room renter) + JESTS (gags)}

22d   Feel lip’s edge partially // curve (7)

_EL|LIPS|E_ — hidden in (partially) feEL LIPS Edge

24d   Guard behind the foremost // competitor (5)

_ENTRY — [S]ENTRY with the initial letter removed ([portion of the word found] behind the foremost [initial letter])

26d   Some breads // react to yeast, reportedly (4)

RYES~ — sounds like (reportedly) RISE (react to yeast)

Epilogue

The title of today's blog is inspired by 29a and 1d.

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