Ice dance (solution no. 3,366)

The solution and annotation to The Nation puzzle 3,366 is below the fold.

While I was working the desk at the weekend’s fencing tournament, the conversation among a few of the parents turned to competitive ballroom dancing and the judging system (which needless to say isn’t like Dancing With the Stars).

It was timely from my perspective, because Saturday night was the big ice show at the skating club—Bangle being in several pieces (The Other Doctor Mitchell is on the 30-day DL while she undergoes physical therapy on the hip that’s been bothering her).  The choreography was good, and the kids learned their routines pretty quickly.  But the ice dancers were just as impressive, even though most of them were just skating their regular routines.

It was really great to watch, because the club is figure skating only: one of the few rinks in the country that doesn’t have any hockey program.  In fact there are no dasher boards, which makes it a great place to watch skating.

If you know what to watch, it’s even better.  While most spectators and the people watching on TV watch the faces and upper bodies of the skaters, our family and the judges watch the skates.  Are they tracing a smooth line?  Are the two skaters keeping their feet close together and working in unison? Are they making nice deep edges on the turns?  With no glass and no boards, and seats right next to the ice, you get a perfect view.

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

Across

1a	LAST SUPPER	LASTS (“has legs”) + UPPER (“on top”)
6a	SKI P	SKI (“to go downhill”) + ^P^essimist (first letter indicated by “starting point”)
9a	*CO(PYR)IGHT	*GOTHIC (anagram indicated by “novel”) containing (“involving”) PYR_e_ (“material for funeral,” omission of last letter indicated by “endless”)
10a	O(US)T S	US (“American”) contained in (“in”) OT (“overtime”) + pas^S^ (last letter indicated by “completion”)
11a	*EXACT	*AX ETC (anagram indicated by “improved”)
12a	A NARC*HIST	A (†) + NARC (“government agent”) + HITS (anagram indicated by “ferociously”) Emma Goldman was
13a	<YAR<*D SALE	<RAY< (“Charles,” reversal indicated by “returns”) + *DEALS (anagram indicated by “amazing”) Nice and smooth.
15a	L EDGES	^L^oad (first letter indicated by “beginning”) + EDGES (“borders”)
17a	_PSY CHE_	ti_PSY CHE_apskate (hidden word indicated by “has”)
18a	DEA TH ROW	DEA (“federal bureau”) + THROW (“to launch”)
21a	P(*OLAR B)EAR	*LABOR (anagram indicated by “organized”) contained in (“splits”) PEAR (“fruit”)
22a	A N(V)IL	^V^inyl (first letter indicated by “originally”) contained in (“inside”) A (†) + NIL (“zero”)
24a	*RE(L)IC	*RICE (anagram indicated by “fried”) containing (“contains”) ^L^emon (first letter indicated by “a bit”)
25a	}B{RITICISM	{C}RITICISM (“review,” replacement of initial C with B indicated by “raise initial grade”)
26a	<STEM<	<METS< (“nine from Queens,” reversal indicated by “in retreat”)
27a	MAN(GO)S TEEN	MAN’S (“adult male’s”) + TEEN (“adolescent”) containing (“grabbing”) GO (“game”)

Down

1d	LE(CH)ERY	^CH^urch (first two letters indicated by “leaders”) contained in (“implicated in”) LEERY (“suspicious”) A bit of misdirection as you think “suspicious” goes with “sexual activity”).
2d	_SEPIA_	milane_SE PIA_no (hidden word indicated by “within”)
3d	*STRATOSPHERIC	*ORCHESTRA PIT (cross-reference to 10d, anagram indicated by “drunk”)
4d	*P(IG)TAILS	*PLAITS (anagram indicated by “twisted”) containing (“framing”) pipp^I^ longstockin^G^ (last letters indicated by “ultimately”) Exclamation point for “twisted plaits” being both definition and anagram.  I can’t make out a reason why the words are all run together: typographical error?
5d	*ENTRAP	*PARENT (anagram indicated by “ina mix-up”)
7d	KISSINGER	Pun. Not sure why “surprisingly” is in the clue: it would imply an anagram.  The pun is surprising, but this kind of clue doesn’t normally use any indicator.
8d	_PESET A_	ty_PESET A_simov (hidden word indicated by “excerpt”)
10d	*ORCHESTRA PITS	*STRATOSPHERIC (cross-ref to 3d, anagram indicated by “scattered”)
14d	*ROYAL BLUE	*LABEL YOUR (anagram indicated by “incorrectly”)
16d	REARMING	REAR (“back”) + MING (“Chinese dunasty”)
17d	PA*PYRUS	PA (“father”) + *SYRUP (anagram indicated by “cooking”)
19d	WALKMAN	Pun
20d	*SERBIA	*RABIES (anagram indicated by “outbreak”)
23d	VOICE	V (“5”) + O (“0”) + (“1”) + CE ([common era]: “AD”) Novel.  Using “say” as definition rather than an indicator makes this considerably more challenging.