Saturday, August 16, 2014 — In Memoriam

Introduction

It seems only fitting to mark the passing of actress Lauren Bacall who died earlier this week, just over a month shy of her 90th birthday. By sheer coincidence, she also features in today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon.

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 all-in-one (& lit.) clues, semi-all-in-one (semi-& lit.) clues and cryptic definitions.

Across

1a   Being proud to have snake bite (8)

BOA|STING — BOA (snake) + STING (bite)

5a   "Key Largo" star better than average with a phone (6)

B|A|CALL — B (better than average) + (with) A (†) + CALL (phone)

Lauren Bacall^[7] (born Betty Joan Perske) (September 16, 1924 – August 12, 2014) was an American actress known for her distinctive husky voice and sultry looks.

Key Largo^[7] is a 1948 film noir directed by John Huston and starring Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson and Lauren Bacall and featuring Lionel Barrymore and Claire Trevor. The film was the fourth and final film pairing of married actors Bogart and Bacall, after To Have and Have Not (1944), The Big Sleep (1946), and Dark Passage (1947).

9a   Altered statement or declaration (9)

TESTAMENT* — anagram (altered) of STATEMENT

11a   Movie about an unreasonable fear (5)

P(AN)IC — PIC (movie) containing (about) AN (†)

12a   Alien "E.T."— tiny being (6)

ENTITY* — anagram (alien) of ET TINY

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial^[7] (often referred to simply as E.T.) is a 1982 American science fiction film co-produced and directed by Steven Spielberg. It tells the story of a lonely boy who befriends an extraterrestrial, dubbed "E.T.", who is stranded on Earth. He and his siblings help the extraterrestrial return home while attempting to keep it hidden from their mother and the government.

13a   Stockier occupier of some land (8)

SQUATTER — double definition

14a   Comedian Steve and I drink at a cocktail party (7)

MARTIN|I — MARTIN (comedian Steve [Martin]^[7]) + (and) I (†)

16a   Worry line on a neck (4)

FRET — double definition; the second instance found on the neck of a guitar

19a   Secure timer with its face missing (4)

_LOCK — [C]LOCK (timer) with its initial letter removed (with its face missing)

20a   Hardship in hiking path around Virginia (7)

TRA(VA)IL — TRAIL (hiking path) containing (around) VA ([US Postal Service abbreviation^[7] for the state of] Virginia)

23a   The Argo's terrible lack of supplies (8)

SHORTAGE* — anagram (terrible) of THE ARGOS

In Greek mythology, the Argo^[10] was the ship in which Jason sailed in search of the Golden Fleece.

24a   Exclusive group's tip about IQ (6)

CL(IQ)UE — CLUE (tip) containing (about) IQ

27a   Slight evidence in extra cereal (5)

_TRA|CE_ — hidden in (in) exTRA CEreal

28a   Some Europeans ruined San Marino (9)

ROMANIANS* — anagram (ruined) of SAN MARINO

San Marino^[5] is a republic forming a small enclave in Italy, near Rimini; population 30,200 (est. 2009); official language, Italian; capital, the town of San Marino. It is perhaps Europe’s oldest state, claiming to have been independent almost continuously since its foundation in the 4th century.

29a   Imagines 500 bundles of paper (6)

D|REAMS — D ([Roman numeral for] 500) + REAMS (bundles of paper)

30a   Some chances to redeem a forebear (8)

_ANCES|TO|R_ — hidden in (some) chANCES TO Redeem

Down

1d   Article in tavern for someone in a tub (6)

BA(THE)R — THE ([definite] article) contained in (in) BAR (tavern)

2d   Something positive for a small group (5)

A|S|SET — A (†) + S (small) + SET (group)

3d   People raising glasses to flowers (8)

TO|ASTERS — TO (†) + ASTERS (flowers)

4d   Want to work with dough for an audience (4)

NEED~ — sounds like (for an audience) KNEAD (to work with dough)

6d   Emerge with A & P fruit (6)

A|P|PEAR — A (†) + (&) + P (†) + PEAR (fruit)

The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company^[7], better known as A&P, is a supermarket and liquor store chain in the United States. A&P Canada^[7] was a Canadian supermarket company from 1927 to 2009. The company was acquired by Metro Inc. in 2005. The Canadian A&P stores — together with a number of other supermarket chains owned by Metro Inc. — were consolidated under the Metro banner in 2009.

7d   Tune Laura reinterpreted in the nude (2.7)

{AU NATUREL}* — anagram (reinterpreted) of TUNE LAURA

8d   Cut fabric price (8)

LACE|RATE — LACE (fabric) + RATE (price)

10d   Quit ale, rum, and Mexican booze (7)

TEQUILA* — anagram (rum) of QUIT ALE

Rum^[5] is a dated informal British term meaning odd or peculiar ⇒ it’s a rum business, certainly.

14d   Appliance for 1001 Black Bird Ave. (9)

MI|CROW|AVE — MI ([Roman numeral for] 1001) + CROW (black bird) + AVE (†)

15d   Sick in ER, get number (7)

INTEGER* — anagram (sick) of IN ER GET

17d   Near Theodore, in a small room (8)

CLOSE|TED — CLOSE (near) + TED ([diminutive for] Theodore)

18d   Average spear, in a manner of speaking (8)

PAR|LANCE — PAR (average) + LANCE (spear)

21d   Current dancing master (6)

STREAM* — anagram (dancing) of MASTER

22d   Odd Easter riddle (6)

TEASER* — anagram (off) of EASTER

25d   Measure front of Quebec University with skill (5)

Q|U|ART — Q (front [initial letter] of Quebec) + U (university) + (with) ART (skill)

26d   Sign submarine captain reversed (4)

OMEN< — reversal of (reversed) NEMO (submarine captain)

Captain Nemo^[7] (in Latin Nobody) — also known as Prince Dakkar — is a fictional character invented by the French science fiction author Jules Verne (1828–1905). Nemo appears in two of Verne's novels, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870) and The Mysterious Island (1874), and makes a cameo appearance in Verne's play Journey Through the Impossible (1882).

Nemo, one of the most famous antiheroes in fiction, is a mysterious figure. The son of an Indian Raja, he is a scientific genius who roams the depths of the sea in his submarine, the Nautilus, which was built on a deserted island.

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