Saturday, February 17, 2018 — Pistols at Dawn

Introduction

I was going to suggest that today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon should not seriously eat into your Olympics-viewing time today. However, the comment from our first visitor indicates that not everyone found it as easy as I did.

I invite you to leave a comment to let us know how you fared with the puzzle.

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 semi-all-in-one (semi-&lit.) clues. All-in-one (&lit.) clues and cryptic definitions — including whimsical and vague definitions — are marked with a dotted underline. Explicit link words and phrases are enclosed in forward slashes (/link/) and implicit links are shown as double forward slashes (//).

Across

1a   Checkered fabric // shreds completely (10)

TATTERS|ALL — TATTERS (shreds) + ALL (completely)

Tattersall^[5] (also tattersall check) is a woollen fabric with a pattern of coloured checks and intersecting lines, resembling a tartan.

8a   Due // nothing before building extension (5)

O|WING — O (nothing; letter that looks like a zero) preceding (before) WING (building extension)

9a   Card // cheat taking in press and TV (8)

CO(MEDIA)N — CON (cheat) containing (taking in) MEDIA (press and TV)

10a   Name noted orphan’s // caretakers (7)

N|ANNIE|S — N (name; abbrev.) + ANNIE (noted orphan; comic strip character Little Orphan Annie^[7]) + S ('s)

11a   Gets to // see arch reconstructed (7)

REACHES* — anagram (reconstructed) of SEE ARCH

13a   Calibrate spread // of germs (9)

BACTERIAL* — anagram (spread) of CALIBRATE

15a   West Side Story character/’s/ masculine song (5)

M|ARIA — M (masculine; abbrev.) + ARIA (song; operatic solo)

Maria is the female protagonist in the musical West Side Story^[7] which was originally performed on Broadway in 1957.

17a   Fork out // penny aboard ship (5)

S(P)END — P (penny) contained in (aboard) SEND (ship)

Although Canadians commonly refer to a one cent coin as a penny (or, at least, we did when we still had pennies), we don't use the British abbreviation for penny.

In Britain's current decimal currency system, a penny^[5] (plural pennies [for separate coins] or pence [for a sum of money]) is a bronze coin and monetary unit equal to one hundredth of a pound. The abbreviation for penny or pence is p^[5].

19a   Assert CIA changed // flight (9)

STAIRCASE* — anagram (changed) of ASSERT CIA

21a   Old airline // empty toward the rear (7)

E|ASTERN — E (empty; abbrev. seen on fuel gauges) + ASTERN (toward the rear)

Eastern Air Lines^[7] was a major American airline founded in 1926 as Pitcairn Aviation. Once one of the "Big Four" US domestic airlines, it suffered financially following deregulation in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Strained by labour disputes and high debt loads and weakened by a corporate restructuring, Eastern ran out of money and was liquidated in 1991.

23a   Chant with piano /and/ snare (7)

MANTRA|P — MANTRA (chant) + (with) P (piano; abbrev. as musical direction to play softly)

In addition to being a sexually aggressive woman, a mantrap^[3] is a trap for catching people, especially trespassers or poachers.

24a   Smooth, shiny quality /of/ new sax is different (8)

WAXINESS* — anagram (different) of NEW WAX IS

25a   Dramatist // ad-libs entrance near the middle (5)

_IBS|EN_ — hidden (near the middle; i.e., a bit off-centre) in ad-lIBS ENtrance

Henrik Ibsen^[5] (1828–1906) was a Norwegian dramatist. He is credited with being the first major dramatist to write tragedy about ordinary people in prose. Ibsen’s later works, such as The Master Builder (1892), deal increasingly with the forces of the unconscious and were admired by Sigmund Freud. Other notable works: Peer Gynt (1867), A Doll’s House (1879), Ghosts (1881).

26a   Misplaced anger riled // crime boss (10)

RINGLEADER* — anagram (misplaced) of ANGER RILED

Down

1d   End of a joke // excited a tingle (3,4)

{TAG LINE}* — anagram (excited) of A TINGLE

In addition to meaning slogan, tag line^[3,4,11] (or tagline) is also another term for punch line.

2d   Folds // formal suit for the audience (5)

TUCKS~ — sounds like (for the audience) TUX (formal suit; short for tuxedo)

Here and There
Tuxedo[5] is the North American term for a garment that Brits would call a dinner jacket.

3d   De la Mare’s funny // lady of fiction (9)

ESMERALDA* — anagram (funny) of DE LA MARES

Esméralda^[7] is a fictional character in Victor Hugo's 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.

Scratching the Surface
Walter de la Mare[5] (1873–1956) was an English poet, known particularly for his verse for children. Notable works: The Listeners (1912); full name Walter John de la Mare.

4d   Small room housing concept // weapon (7)

S(IDEA)RM — {S (small; abbrev.) + RM (room; abbrev.)} containing (housing) IDEA (concept)

5d   Heals broken // collar attachment (5)

LEASH* — anagram (broken) of HEALS

6d   Matter before foundation involving one // jazzman (5,5)

COUNT BAS(I)E — COUNT (matter) preceding (before) BASE (foundation) containing (involving) I ([Roman numeral for] one)

Count Basie^[5] (1904–1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, and bandleader; born William Basie. In 1935 he formed a big band, known as the Count Basie Orchestra, which became one of the most successful bands of the swing era.

7d   Salt lodged in tree // top (8)

PIN(NACL)E — NACL (salt) contained in (lodged in) PINE (tree)

The scientific name for common table salt is sodium chloride, the chemical symbol for which is NaCl — a combination of the chemical symbols for sodium (Na) and chlorine (Cl).

12d   False pretenses about a // monster of the deep (3,7)

{SE(A) SERPENT}* — an anagram (false) of PRETENSES containing (about) A (†)

14d   Phony // portion of raisins in cereal (9)

_INS|IN|CERE_ — hidden in (portion of) raisINS IN CEREal

16d   For the second time, nab // place to sit down? (8)

REAR|REST — split (4,4), the solution would denote a spot to plunk one's derrière

18d   Yale student dividing manure // in a one-on-one fight (7)

DU(ELI)NG — ELI (Yale student) contained in (dividing) DUNG (manure)

A Yale University student or alumnus is known informally as an Eli^[7] (after Yale founder Elihu Yale).

20d   Shorter // dash level (7)

RUN|TIER — RUN (dash) + TIER (level)

22d   Wise guy // did laps before one (5)

SWAM|I — SWAM (did laps) preceding (before) I ([Roman numeral for] one)

In North American English^*, a swami^[12] is a learned person.

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^* Swami^[12] is originally a Hindu term meaning lord or master used as a title of respect, especially for a Hindu religious teacher.

23d   Medium employed // thought (5)

M|USED — M (medium; abbrev. used to mark the size of clothing) + USED (employed)

Epilogue

The title of today's review is inspired by the symmetrically-positioned 18d and 4d.

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)
^[12] - CollinsDictionary.com (Webster’s New World College Dictionary)
^[13] - MacmillanDictionary.com (Macmillan Dictionary)

Signing off for today — Falcon