From Insoluble to Obvious (Puzzle No. 3,256)

After a couple of pretty easy weeks, this week's cryptic crossword in The Nation is more difficult.  But once you get through it, it all makes sense.  Just like Georges Perec says as quoted by Hot and Trazom: "What, in the end, characterizes a good crossword definition, is that its solution is obvious, as obvious as the problem had seemed insoluble as long as it was not solved."


Link to puzzle:  Puzzle No. 3,256

Hozom's comment: Georges Perec on Crosswords.  Another must-read, and be sure to click through to Perec's foreword to his book Les Mots Croisés, from which the above quote is taken.  The Word Salad post follows up on the introduction to Perec four weeks ago.

Now when you're reading the Perec foreword, you'll see an example that looks more like a word square than a crossword.  That's the French style in crosswords.  They tend to be small grids with no symmetry and few black squares.  Answers are located with row and column headings on the border of the puzzle rather than with numbers in the squares.  I've only done a few of them (my French is awful), but this may inspire me to give one a try.  If you happen to find one that's good for beginners, or better yet an English-language crossword with a French-style grid, please post a link in the comments for us.

Degree of difficulty:  On the harder side, but no obscure answers.

Political content: Not necessarily partisan, but everyone’s paying attention to the 12a.

Musical content: no composers, but if you’re a music scholar, 11d will be easier.

Solution and annotation below the fold.  Use the comments below for hint requests.

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	*SOLEMN	*LEMONS (anagram indicated by “squash”)
4a	S | MIDGE | N	MIDGE (“fly”) contained in (“between”) S (“south”) + N (“north”)
8a	<REMARK<	<KRAMER< (character from Seinfeld, reversal indicated by “coming back”)
9a	HALFBACK	Visual pun: “BA” is “half” of  “back”
10a	THOR | N	THOR (Norse god) + N (“new”)
11a	OF FENDERS	Heteronym: relating to Fender electric guitars
12a	~GALLUP POLL	Homonym (“loudly”) of GALLOP (“ride fast”) + POLE (“either north or south”)
14a	_TALC_	mois_T ALC_ohol (hidden word indicated by “found in”)
17a	MA(K)E	K (“banK”, last letter indicated by “finally”) contained in (inside) MAE (“West”: Mae West [1893-1980], film star)
18a	ART | ICULrATE	ART (“drawings”) + I CURATE (“R” changed to “L” indicated by “changing sides”) This is why you ought to work out the wordplay in each entry even if you get the answer from the crossing letters.
20a	B(L)ACK | L | <UNG<	L (“fifty”) contained in (“in”) BACK (“rear”) + L (“fifty”) + <GNU< (“antelope”, reversal indicated by “retreating”) “in front of” isn’t necessary to the wordplay but it’s a fair addition because it tells you correctly what to do.
21a	PE(T)ER	T (“T_ailors”, first letter indicated by “first of”) contained in (“interrupts”) PEER (“Lord”). Could merit an exclamation point: Lord Peter Wimsey was a Dorothy L. Sayers character.  I knew I’d seen the name somewhere: The Other Doctor Mitchell reads those books.
23a	<SP (>HERO>) ID<	HERO (“sandwich”) contained in (“covered with”) <DIPS< (“salsa and guacamole”, reversal indicated by “flipped”) This clue took me a long while to work out.
24a	E | NAMEL_	E (“error”) + NAMEL_y (“to wit”, omission of last letter indicated by “leaving a piece off the end”)
25a	LA (<TEN<) CY	<NET< (“net”, reversal indicated by “inverted”) contained in (“in … surrounding”) LACY (“frilly”)
26a	N(OT) YET	OT (“Old Testament”) contained in (“in”) NYET (“Russian no”) I think the exclamation point is more of a misdirection here than an indicator, though the “no” is used in both definition and wordplay.

Down

1d	<STRAT | AGEM<	MEGA (“huge”) + TARTS (“pastries”), reversal indicated by “turn up”
2d	LIMBO	Double definition
3d	*MERENG(_U)E	*REGIMEN (anagram indicated by “is disrupted”) containing (“eating”) “gateaU” (last letter indicated by “last bite”)
4d	SCAF | FOLDING	SCAF (“Supreme Council of the Armed Forces”) + FOLDING (“conceding defeat”)
5d	IN | FA(N)T	IN (“stylish”) + N (“nanny”, first letter indicated by “at first”) contained in (“engrossed by”) FAT (“chubby”)
6d	G | <UAT | EMAL | A<	G (“note”) + < A (†) + LAME (“feeble”) + TAU (“letter from Greece”< (reversal indicated by “uprising”)
7d	N | UKES	N (“no”) + UKES (short for ukeleles, “stringed instruments”)
11d	OP | PORT | UNITY	OP (abbreviation of opus, musical term for “work”) + PORT (“left”) + UNITY (“solidarity”)
13d	LIKE | A S | HOT	LIKE (“favor”) + AS (“playing”) + HOT (“sexy”)
15d	*CHEVROLET	*TECH LOVER (anagram indicated by “disassembled”)
16d	BUM | P INTO	BUM (“lousy”) + PINTO (“Ford model”) “apt to catch fire” is something of a misdirection, but some may take it as a further hint: the Ford Pinto (built 1971-1980) was recalled because of the potential for gas tank fires in a rear-end collision.  Pintos are pretty rare now because so many of them rusted away and there’s little incentive to preserve a cheap car like that.
19d	SKI (RU)N	RU (text message shorthand for “are you”) contained in (“wearing”) SKIN (“leather”)
20d	BASIL	Double definition
22d	_TUM MY_	taTUM MYsteriously (hidden word indicated by “clutching”)