Saturday, May 30, 2020 — Lights! Camera! Action!

Introduction

I would say that today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon is, as the Brits like to say, nothing to scare the horses.

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

Symbols and Markup Conventions
"*" - anagram "~" - sounds like "<" - indicates the preceding letters are reversed "( )" - encloses contained letters "_" - replaces letters that have been deleted  "†" - indicates that the word is present in the clue	"//" - marks the boundary between wordplay and definition when no link word or link phrase is present "/[link word or phrase]/" - marks the boundary between wordplay and definition when a link word or link phrase is present "solid underline" - precise definition "dotted underline" - cryptic definition "dashed underline" - wordplay "double underline" - both wordplay and definition
Click here for further explanation and usage examples of the symbols and markup conventions used on this blog.

Across

1a	Going around bend, cover // action scene (3,5)

C(AR CH)ASE — CASE (cover) containing (going around) ARCH (bend)

5a	Bobbing // doughnut in an apartment (6)

A|FL(O)AT — O ([letter that looks like a] doughnut) contained in (in) FLAT ([British word for] apartment)

9a	Whiter // wine consumed by each (7)

P(ASTI)ER — ASTI ([Italian sparkling] wine) contained in (consumed by) PER (each)

10a	Group of soldiers // ordered outside of truck (7)

B(RIG)ADE — BADE (ordered) containing (outside of) RIG (truck)

11a	Settle up with // agent with a final bit of money (5)

REP|A|Y — REP (agent) + (with) A (†) + Y (final bit [last letter] of moneY)

12a	Publicist, holding wild bash, // interjected scene from the past (9)

FL(ASHB*)ACK — FLACK (publicist) containing (holding) anagram of (wild) BASH

13a	Never permits // recesses (5)

NO|OKS — NO (never; emphatic no ⇒ When pressed whether she had ever gossiped about her boss, the secretary indignantly replied ‘Never!’) + OKS (permits)

15a	Interrupting award, miss // movie technique (5-2)

C(LOSE)-UP — LOSE (miss) contained in (interrupting) CUP (award)

18a	Heard Dunaway express skepticism /for/ film technique (4-3)

{FADE-OUT}~ — sounds like (heard) FAYE (Dunaway; American actress Faye Dunaway^[7]) + DOUBT (express skepticism)

19a	Stoic // performing in pen (5)

ST(ON)Y — ON (performing; on [stage], on [the screen], on [the air], on [radio], on [television]) contained in (in) STY (pen)

21a	A temple is reconstructed /using/ a sped-up process (4-5)

{TIME_LAPSE}* — anagram of (reconstructed) A TEMPLE IS

24a	Some old Spaniards // in Palermo or Salerno (5)

_MO|OR|S_ — hidden in (in) PalerMO OR Salerno

Scratching the Surface
Palermo[7] and Salerno[7] are cities in Italy.

25a	Elderly widow // gathering bet (7)

DO|WAGER — DO (gathering; get-together, party) + WAGER (bet)

26a	Nary an item // diluted in Yule drink (7)

NO(THIN)G — THIN (diluted) contained in (in) NOG (Yule drink)

27a	New toy did // strange thing (6)

ODDITY* — anagram of (new) TOY DID

28a	Pig thief changed // comedy scene (3,5)

{PIE FIGHT}* — anagram of (changed) PIG THIEF

Down

1d	Frisking // props for Batman and Frodo? (8)

CAPE|RING — CAPE (prop for Batman) + (and) RING (prop for Frodo)

Batman^[7] and Frodo^[7] are fictional characters. The former is a superhero often referred to as the Caped Crusader. The latter is one of the main protagonists in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, a hobbit of the Shire who inherits the One Ring from his cousin and undertakes the quest to destroy it in the fires of Mount Doom in Mordor.

2d	Give some protection // for Proust novel (9)

RUSTPROOF* — anagram of (novel) FOR PROUST

Scratching the Surface
Marcel Proust[7] (1871–1922) was a French novelist, critic, and essayist best known for his monumental novel À la recherche du temps perdu (In Search of Lost Time; earlier rendered as Remembrance of Things Past).

3d	Precarious, // hot and breezy (5)

H|AIRY — H(ot) + AIRY (breezy)

4d	Part of a letter // shoots back (5)

SERIF< — reversal of (back) FIRES (shoots)

6d	Spooks // right inside swamps (9)

F(RIGHT)ENS — RIGHT (†) contained in (inside) FENS (swamps)

7d	Part of Oklahoma hates // city in Nebraska (5)

_OMA|HA_ — hidden in (part of) OklahOMA HAtes

8d	Slightly changes // task we reorganized (6)

TWEAKS* — anagram (reorganized) TASK WE

10d	Lulu getting around to // edge (4,3)

BEA(T O)UT —BEAUT (lulu) containing (getting around) TO (†)

14d	Port or starboard lamp // is put back with pleasure (9)

SI<|DELIGHT — reversal of (put back) IS + (with) DELIGHT (pleasure)

15d	Helicopter // crew’s first jumper (7)

C|HOPPER — C (Crew's first [letter]) + HOPPER (jumper)

16d	Riling // Utah city autocrat (9)

PROVO|KING — PROVO (Utah city) + KING (autocrat)

17d	Octet possessing fine // vision (8)

E(YES)IGHT — EIGHT (octet) containing (possessing) YES (fine; lukewarm agreement)

20d	Movie outfit // fastener I love (6)

STUD|I|O — STUD (fastener) + I (†) + O (love; nil score in tennis)

22d	Cut back // style for the audience (5)

MOWED~ — sounds like (for the audience) MODE (style)

23d	Boredom // among ten nuisances (5)

_EN|NUI_ — hidden in (among) tEN NUIsances

24d	Witty word provided // theme (5)

MOT|IF — MOT (witty word) + IF (provided)

Epilogue

Today's puzzle contains a pair of stock movie scenes book-ending a quartet of story-telling and filming techniques — and even the locale where this all takes place.

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 Advanced 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)
^[14] - CollinsDictionary.com (COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary)

Signing off for today — Falcon