Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Solution No. 3,275

Sorry for the delay in getting solutions out: it was DVARP meeting weekend and we're in crunch time with a new fare system being proposed for our trains and buses among other stuff.

On to the solution (below the fold):

Link to puzzle: http://www.thenation.com/article/173305/puzzle-no-3275

Themework: “Snap, crackle, pop” is the slogan for Rice Krispies cereal

Difficulty (by standards of this weekly puzzle): Easy

Political content: 11a, 9d, 18d, and a couple of dictators nobody likes at 2d, 20d




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
*SNAP JUDGEMENT
*END ANGST JUMP (anagram indicated by “wildly”)
9a
<PER< | CA | PITA
<REP< (“agent”, reversal indicated by “returning”) + CA (“California”) + PITA (“bread”)
10a
*VOTER
*TROVE (anagram indicated by “relocated”)
11a
<PEEV | ED<
<DE (“Delaware”) + VEEP (vice president: “Joe Biden”)< (reversal indicated by “makes a comeback”)
12a
*SU(BS)ONIC
*COUSIN (anagram indicated by “wayward”) containing (“limiting”) BS (bulls___: “nonsense”)
13a
*LEAD ASTRAY
*TA YARD SALE (anagram indicated by “is off”)
Weak entry
15a
RAIL
Double definition
17a
*ROME
*MORE (anagram indicated by “corrupt”)
19a
T(E(LES)C)OPIC
TOPIC (“subject”) containing (“captivating”) EC (“European Community”) containing (“about”) LES (“the French”)
21a
*ROD L | AVER
*LORD (anagram indicated by “dissolute”) + AVER (“maintain”, as in hold an opinion)
23a
<LU(G)OS | I<
<I (“one”) + SOUL (“person”)< (reversal indicated by “in retrospect”) containing (“embraces”) G (“family rating”)
25a
~NEIGH
~NAY (homonym indicated by “sounds like”)
If you were solving in a hurry, you probably used “it’s heard” as the indicator, but it’s actually part of the definition.
26a
*ANGOSTURA
*ARGONAUTS (anagram indicated by “mixed”)
Angostura is a brand of aromatic bitters, a flavoring used in making some cocktails like the Manhattan.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitters 
27a
*RICE KRISPIES
*I RISK RECIPIES (anagram indicated by “recklessly”)


Down
2d
*NOR(I)EGA
I (“the first”) contained in (“to wear”) *ORANGE (anagram indicated by “surprisingly”)
3d
<PLA | C | E MAT<
<TAME (“to conquer”) + ^C^hilean (first letter indicated by “face”) + ALP (“mountain”), (reversal indicated by “ascent”)
4d
UNIT
UN-IT (pun: not “it” in the game of tag)
5d
GR <ANUL< ATE
<LUNA< (“moon”, reversal indicated by “coming up”) contained (“through”) GRATE (“an opening”)
6d
_EAVES
_l_EAVES (“foliage”, omission of first letter indicated by “cut the top off”)
7d
*TITANIA
*IT AIN’T A (anagram indicated by “unfortunately”)
8d
C | RACK | LE CH | IN | _A
^C^ommunist (first letter indicated by “originally”) + RACK (“torment”) + LECH (“Walesa”) + IN (†) + silesi^A^ (last letter indicated by “eastern”)
9d
POP(U)LAR | F(R)ONT
POPLAR (“tree”) containing (“hugging”) U (“union”) + FONT (“source”) containing (“concealing”) ^R^adical (first letter indicated by “head of”)
14d
THEME | PARK
THEME (cross reference to 27a, “rice krispies”) + PARK (“stop the car”)
16d
SCRUB | S UP
SCRUB (“brush”) + SUP (“eat”)
18d
<_MUD | DIER<
<REID (“senate majority leader”) + DUM_b_ (“stupid”, omission of last letter indicated by “cut short”), reversal indicated by “uprising”)
20d
PRODUCE
Pun: PRO-DUCE (for Il Duce: “Mussolini”)
22d
_AD HOC_
minnesot_A DH OC_cassionally (hidden phrase indicated by “covers”)
24d
U_G_L_I_
UnGaLlIc (alternate letters indicated by “oddly”)

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