Saturday, July 14, 2012

Tough enough for you? (Puzzle No. 3243)

    

Hozom’s comment: “Loosening Up” (http://www.thenation.com/blog/168290/loosening)
Are American cryptic constructors descendants of the Puritans?  If you’re setting for The Nation, then you might well be expected to question authority. 

Themework: don’t know if a theme was intended, but 1a and 27a aren’t quite cricket by American rules.

Difficulty (by standards of this weekly puzzle):  Very hard.  This ought to satisfy the 

Political content: Pete Seeger may have been a subscriber to The Nation

solution and comments below the fold

Legend: "*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed; "( )" letters inserted; "_" or lower case: letters deleted; "†" explicit in the clue, “^” first letter or letters, “{“ relocated letter or letters

Across
1a
CELL BIOLOGIST
Pun on “sell by”-ologist
9a
*NEPALIS
*SPANIEL (anagram indicated by “trained”)
10a
<LAG | GARD<
Reversal (“back”) of DRAG (“to pull”) + GAL (“young woman”)
11a
*UNDONE
*NO NUDE (anagram indicated by “offensive”)
12a
S (*TEER) AGE
SAGE (“herb”) containing (“stows”) *TREE (anagram indicated by “mangled”)
14a
sAMPLE
_s_AMPLE (“try”, omission indicated by “starting late”)
16a
{E{TRU | SCAN
TRU{E{ (“genuine”, relocation indicated by “back to front”) + SCAN (“exam”)
18a
BAN | JOIST
BAN (“prohibit”) + JOIST (“support”)
20a
MA (T) TE
T (“time”) contained in (“to interrupt”) MATE (“spouse”)
21a
BOO (*K CLU) B
*LUCK (anagram indicated by “bad”) contained in (“being held hostage by”) BOOB (“an idiot”)
22a
~EXETER
~EXITER (“someone leaving”)
25a
<SNIP< | PET
<PINS< (“attaches”, reversal indicated by “upon reflection” + PET (“favorite”)
26a
*ARTISTS
*STRAITS (anagram indicated by “dire”)
Almost earns the exclamation point.
27a
MOTHER OF PEARL
Double definition
Definitely fits the “Loosening Up” theme

Down
1d
CO (*NJUG) AL
*JUNG (anagram indicated by “reinterpret”) contained in (“probing”) COAL (“one source of energy”)
2d
LIP | I | D
†LIP + I (“one”) + D_elivered_
3d
BA | *LANCE
BA (“college degree”) + *CLEAN (anagram indicated by “representation”)
Not an obvious indicator, but a fair one
4d
O (US) T
US (“American”) contained in “in” OT (“overtime”)
5d
OBLITERATE
Pun on “OB-literate”
Puns are also uncommon in American construction but common in British
6d
INGRES | S
INGRES (“French painter”)
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780-1867) was a neoclassical painter
7d
TEA | R AP | ART
TEA (“drink”) + RAP (“criticism”) + ART (“creative activity”)
Are crossworders now the last to use this definition of “rap”?
8d
EDGE
reunitED GErmany (container indicated by “inside”)
13d
NETIQUETTE
~_con_NECTICUT (“Nutmeg State”, homonym indicated by “when mentioning”)
15d
*PLATONIST
*LIMPA TO AN (anagram indicated by “unusually”)
17d
RE (<P | RIS<) AL
Reversal (indicated by “mounting”) of SIR (“knight”) + P (piano: “quiet”) contained in (“to get involved in”) REAL (“concrete”)
19d
JACK | POT
JACK (monterey jack “cheese”) + POT (“casserole”)
20d
MIX IT UP
<PUT (a type of financial option: “Wall Street Option”) + IX (“nine”) + †IM< (reversal indicated by “rising”)
A put option gives the investor the right to sell a block of stock at a given price.  It is a form of insurance against the price of the asset going down.  If the price goes down, your losses are limited.  If the price goes up, you keep the profits but lose the cost of the option.
21d
*BASH
*HASB_eens_ (half of the eight letter phrase, anagram indicated by “crazy”)
23d
*TESLA
*STEAL (anagram indicated by “surreptitiously”)
24d
I | AGO
†I + AGO (“back”)

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