Saturday, June 21, 2014 — Bald Archer

Introduction

For the most part, today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon caused me little difficulty. However, I did spend a very long period of time pondering 19d before the penny finally dropped.

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.

Across

1a   Upsetting, losing one's hair? (11)

DISTRESSING — double definition, the latter whimsical

The setter uses "losing one's hair" to clue DISTRESSING based on the whimsical logic that if disrobe means to remove one's robes (clothing), then it only stands to reason that distress must mean to remove one's hair (tresses).

9a   Item on a roll careening at sea (7)

LISTING — double definition

10a   Virginia visitor seeming least certain (7)

VA|GUEST — VA ([US Postal Service abbreviation for the state of] Virginia) + GUEST (visitor)

11a   Little rascal wandering around on the way up (9)

IMP|ROVING — IMP (little rascal) + ROVING (wandering around)

12a   Make off with small duck (5)

S|TEAL — S (small) + TEAL (duck)

13a   Supervise poetry in Old English (7)

O(VERSE)E — VERSE (poetry) contained in (in) {OE^[5] (Old English)}

Old English^[5] (abbreviation OE^[5]) was the language of the Anglo-Saxons (up to about 1150). Also called Anglo-Saxon, it was an inflected language with a Germanic vocabulary, very different from modern English.

15a   Tighten up argument held by senator (7)

S(TIFF)EN — TIFF (argument) contained in (held by) SEN (senator)

17a   Tower section housing ape (7)

PAR(APE)T — PART (section) containing (housing) APE (†)

The problem with this clue is that a PARAPET is not a tower.

A parapet^[10] is (1) a a low wall or railing along the edge of a balcony, roof, etc or (2) (also called breastwork) a rampart, mound of sandbags, bank, etc, in front of a trench, giving protection from fire from the front.

19a   African country's exotic regalia (7)

ALGERIA* — anagram (exotic) of REGALIA

In parsing the clue, the 's is interpreted as a contraction for is and serves as a link (expressing equality) between the definition and wordplay.

21a   Earthy tone running through Cumberland (5)

_UMBER_ — hidden in (running through) CUMBERland

Cumberland^[5] is a former county of northwestern England. In 1974 it was united with Westmorland and part of Lancashire to form Cumbria.

23a   Fog's shrouding Russian range for certain artists (9)

M(URAL)IST|S — {MIST (fog) + S ('s)} containing (shrouding) URAL (Russian [mountain] range)

The Ural Mountains^[5] (also called the Urals) is a mountain range in Russia, extending 1,600 km (1,000 miles) from the Arctic Ocean to the Aral Sea in Kazakhstan, and rising to 1,894 m (6,214 ft) at Mount Narodnaya. It forms part of the conventional boundary between Europe and Asia.

25a   Dad, take a gander - a lousy boxer (7)

PA|LOOK|A — PA (dad) + LOOK (take a gander) + A (†)

Palooka^[5] is (1) an informal North American term for a stupid, uncouth person; in other words, a lout ⇒ these bearded, stumbling palookas in their peasants' breeches or (2) a dated US name for an inferior or average prizefighter ⇒ he was just another palooka trying to muscle in on the fight racket.

26a   Chronicle was printed the wrong way by judge (7)

NAR<|RATE — reversal (the wrong way) of RAN (was printed) + (by) RATE (judge)

27a   Bowman is planning to recite around one in the morning (7,4)

WILL(IAM) TELL — {WILL (is planning) + TELL (to recite)} containing (around) {I ([Roman numeral for] one) + AM (in the morning; abbreviation for ante meridiem}

William Tell^[5] was a legendary hero of the liberation of Switzerland from Austrian oppression. He was required to hit with an arrow an apple placed on the head of his son, which he did successfully. The events are placed in the 14th century, but there is no evidence for a historical person of this name, and similar legends are of widespread occurrence.

Down

1d   Pass spade pair off (9)

DISAPPEAR* — anagram (off) of SPADE PAIR

2d   Irish county log is tossed (5)

SLIGO* — anagram (tossed) of LOG IS

Although the caber toss is traditionally associated with Scotland, I note that it is among the events to be held at the upcoming Dublin Irish Festival.

3d   Be angry about Tim's piano style (7)

RAG(TIM)E — RAGE (be angry) containing (about) TIM (†)

As was the case in 19a, the 's is interpreted as a contraction for is and serves as a link (expressing equality) between the wordplay and definition.

4d   Harshly criticizes silver found in rescues (7)

SAV(AG)ES — AG ([symbol for the chemical element] silver) contained in (found in) SAVES (rescues)

5d   Eating scrambled eggs in tin (9)

INGESTING* — anagram (scrambled) of EGGS IN TIN

6d   Fliers in formation held back by Pete Seeger (5)

{_GEES|E_}< — reversed (back) and hidden in (held ... by) PetE SEEGer

Pete Seeger^[5] (1919-2014) was an American folk musician and songwriter. Seeger was a prominent figure in the American folk revival. Notable songs: ‘If I Had a Hammer’ (circa 1949) and ‘Where Have All the Flowers Gone?’ (1956).

7d   White-skinned one in love gaining pound (6)

A(LB)IN|O — {A (one) + IN (†) + O (love; a nil score in tennis)} containing (gaining) LB ([abbreviation for] pound)

In tennis, squash, and some other sports, love^[5] is a score of zero or nil ⇒ love fifteen. The resemblance of a zero written as a numeral (0) to the letter O leads to the cryptic crossword convention of the word "love" being used to clue this letter.

8d   Soviet dictator left in disgrace (6)

STA(L)IN — L (left) contained in (in) STAIN (disgrace)

Joseph Stalin^[5] (1879–1953) was a Soviet statesman, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the USSR 1922–53. His adoptive name Stalin means ‘man of steel’. Having isolated his political rival Trotsky, by 1927 Stalin was the uncontested leader of the Communist Party. In 1928 he launched a succession of five-year plans for rapid industrialization and the enforced collectivization of agriculture; as a result of this process some 10 million peasants are thought to have died. His large-scale purges of the intelligentsia in the 1930s were equally ruthless. After the victory over Hitler in 1945 he maintained a firm grip on neighbouring Communist states.

14d   Great nocturnal hunter's sporting event (5,4)

SUPER B|OWL — SUPERB (great) + OWL (nocturnal hunter)

The Super Bowl^[5] is the National Football League championship game played annually between the champions of the National and the American Football Conferences.

Once again, the 's is interpreted as a contraction for is and serves as a link (expressing equality) between the the wordplay and definition.

16d   Woods and everybody hinder in advance (9)

FOREST|ALL — FOREST (woods) + (and) ALL (everybody)

17d   Bit of sugar, in afterthought, is fattening (6)

P(LUMP)S — LUMP (bit of sugar) contained in (in) PS (afterthought; abbreviation for postscript)

In this case, the word "is" does not serve as a link word but, rather, is part of the definition.

18d   Drums of paint I'm stirring (7)

TIMPANI* — anagram (stirring) of PAINT IM

Timpani^[5] (also spelled tympani) are kettledrums, especially when played by one musician in an orchestra.

In this clue, the word "of" is a link (indicating constituent parts) between the definition and wordplay. The preposition of^[5] may be used to indicate the material or substance constituting something ⇒ (i) the house was built of bricks; or (ii) walls of stone.

19d   Kind of message a comrade made at first (7)

A(CRONY)M — A (†) + CRONY (comrade) + M (made at first; initial letter of the word "Made")

This would seem to be a very loose definition. An acronym^[5] is an abbreviation formed from the initial letters of other words and pronounced as a word (e.g. ASCII, NASA). An initialism^[5], on the other hand, is an abbreviation consisting of initial letters pronounced separately (e.g. BBC).

20d   British novelist with a Yankee lacrosse team (6)

A|US|TEN — A (†) + US (Yankee) + TEN (lacrosse team)

Lacrosse^[5] is a team game, originally played by North American Indians, in which the ball is thrown, carried, and caught with a long-handled stick having a curved L-shaped or triangular frame at one end with a piece of shallow netting in the angle. In men's field lacrosse, there are ten players on each team (box lacrosse teams are comprised of six players, while women's field lacrosse teams have 12 players).

The number of players on a sports team is commonly used as a metonym for the team. Thus a baseball team might be referred to as a nine, a rowing crew as an eight, and a lacrosse team as a ten.

Jane Austen^[5] (1775–1817) was an English novelist. Her major novels are Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), Emma (1815), Northanger Abbey (1818), and Persuasion (1818). They are notable for skilful characterization, dry wit, and penetrating social observation.

In this clue, the word "with" serves as a link (expressing causality) between the definition and wordplay. The preposition with^[5] may be used to indicate the cause of condition ⇒ he was trembling with fear. Used in this sense, the word "with" essentially means "resulting from".

22d   Under train overhead, in front of the boat (5)

B(EL)OW — EL (train overhead) contained in (in) BOW (front of the boat)

El^[5] is a US term for an elevated railway, especially that in Chicago.

24d   Big lager spilled (5)

LARGE* — anagram (spilled) of LAGER

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