Saturday, January 17, 2015 — Trios in Combo

Introduction

Perhaps I was off my game, but I found today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon a bit more difficult than usual. At 24a, I twigged to the solution fairly early but initially avoided writing it in as I was not able to see the wordplay. At 1d, I needed to call in my electronic assistants to give me a hand.
Saturday readers will encounter for the first time a new feature that I introduced earlier this week, a box labelled "Scratching the Surface". These boxes contain information about the surface reading of the clue (which the Brits frequently shorten to simply surface). This information does not help in deciphering the clue but is intended to help readers better appreciate the surface reading of the clue. To solve the clue, one must dig beneath the surface to discover the cryptic meaning of the clue. The name "Scratching the Surface" was chosen because these boxes contain information which does not dig beneath the surface.

The surface reading of the clue often provides misdirection to the solver. In effect, it sets a trap that the setter expects the solver to fall into. In the case of British puzzles, North Americans often do not understand the Briticisms employed by the setter and thus fail to fall into the trap. While this can sometimes actually make the clue easier to solve, it can also leave North American solvers scratching their heads wondering what is so cryptic about certain clues. Of course, this is less of a concern with Cox and Rathvon, who are American.

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. Explicit link words and phrases are enclosed in forward slashes (/link/) and implicit links are shown as double forward slashes (//).

Across

1a   Farm food /for/ female stranger (6)

F|ODDER — F (female) + ODDER (stranger)

4a   Neckwear expert/’s/ criminal nickname (8)

SCARF|ACE — SCARF (neckwear) + ACE (expert)

Scarface was the nickname of American gangster Al Capone^[7] — by the way, a nickname that he loathed^[7].

9a   Just say no to // garbage (6)

REFUSE — double definition

10a   Bit // actor finally admitted into party (8)

F(R)ACTION — R (actor finally; final letter of actoR) contained in FACTION (party)

11a   Microbes /in/ camp area I disturbed (9)

PARAMECIA* —  anagram (disturbed) of CAMP AREA I

The paramecium^[5] (plural paramecia) is a single-celled freshwater animal which has a characteristic slipper-like shape and is covered with cilia.

13a   Theatre // is essential to Shakespeare, naturally (5)

_ARE|NA_ — hidden in (is essential to) ShakespeARE NAturally

14a   New Cumberland’s // not rearranged (11)

UNSCRAMBLED* — anagram (new) of CUMBERLANDS

Scratching the Surface
New Cumberland is the name of several communities in Canada and the United States: New Cumberland, Nova Scotia New Cumberland, Ohio New Cumberland, Pennsylvania New Cumberland, West Virginia

18a   Bug keeps changing // in an uncertain way (11)

F(ALTERING)LY — FLY (bug) containing (keeps) ALTERING (changing)

21a   Scent /of/ a tomato variety (5)

A|ROMA — A (†) + ROMA (tomato variety)

The Roma tomato^[7] (or Roma) is a plum tomato popularly used both for canning and producing tomato paste. Commonly found in supermarkets in some countries, Roma tomatoes are also known as Italian tomatoes or Italian plum tomatoes.

22a   Cold and confused, misteach // set of questions for a test (9)

C|ATECHISM — C (cold) + (and) an anagram (confused) of MISTEACH

24a   Paper money/’s/ downfall having twist (4,4)

BAN(K NOT)E — BANE (downfall) containing (having) KNOT (twist)

I have to admit that it took me a bit of time to untwist this one.

25a   Place holding estimated // group of six (6)

S(EST)ET — SET (place; as a verb) containing (holding) EST (estimated)

26a   Do something about funfair attractions // smelling most nasty (8)

AC(RIDES)T — ACT (do something) containing (about) RIDES (funfair attractions)

Funfair^[5] is a chiefly British term for a fair consisting of rides, sideshows, and other amusements ⇒ (i) a travelling funfair set up every year; (ii) a funfair ride.

27a   Well-built // chair’s back in den (6)

STU(R)DY — R {chair's back; final letter (back) of chaiR} contained in (in) STUDY (den)

Down

1d   Swallower given in return // a source of water (8)

{FI|REPLUG}< — reversal (in return) of {GULPER (swallower) + IF (given; presuming)}

It took me a lot of time and effort to find the solution — and substantially more to decipher the wordplay. It did not help that I was trying to make the wordplay be FOR (given in return) + SPOUT (a source of water). Of course, that produced a nonexistent word.

In the US (and New Zealand), fireplug^[10] is another name for a fire hydrant.

2d   Clear, // valuable rocks collected by expert (8)

DEF(ORES)T — ORES (valuable rocks) contained in (collected by) DEFT (expert)

3d   Mopes about // an English race site (5)

EPSOM* — anagram (about) of MOPES

Epsom Downs^[7] is a Grade 1 racecourse near Epsom, Surrey, England. The "downs" referred to in the name are part of the North Downs, a ridge of chalk hills in south east England. The course is best known for hosting the Epsom Derby, the United Kingdom's premier thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old colts and fillies, over a mile and a half (2400m). It also hosts the Epsom Oaks for three-year-old fillies and the Coronation Cup for all ages over the same distance.

5d   Cutting short // brief malady (11)

CURT|AILMENT — CURT (brief) + AILMENT (malady)

6d   Rolling in dough, I’d air revamped // Shakespeare play (7,2)

RICH|{ARD II}* — RICH (rolling in dough) + an anagram (revamped) of ID AIR

King Richard the Second^[7] is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in approximately 1595. It is based on the life of King Richard II of England (ruled 1377–1399) and is the first part of a tetralogy, followed by three plays concerning Richard's successors: Henry IV, Part 1; Henry IV, Part 2; and Henry V.

7d   A Rhode Island senator/’s/ gotten out of bed (6)

A|RI|SEN — A (†) + RI ([US Postal Service abbreviation^[7] for the state of] Rhode Island) + SEN (senator)

8d   Nine in a group // ruined an Eden (6)

ENNEAD* — anagram (ruined) of AN EDEN

Ennead^[5] is a rarely seen term for a group or set of nine.

12d   Gets involved /with/ ectoplasmic mutant (11)

COMPLICATES — anagram (mutant) of ECTOPLASMIC

I believe that gets involved and complicates are used in the sense of becomes complex or thickens as in the well-known expression the plot thickens.

I did consider the possibility that the definition might be "gets involved with". However, "gets involved with" does not necessarily denote "complicates". The involvement of the right individuals can be helpful.

15d   Held back, // football official fell (9)

REF|RAINED — REF (football official) + RAINED (fell)

16d   Sparkling silver rubbish (8)

AG|LITTER — AG ([symbol for the chemical element] silver) + LITTER (rubbish)

17d   New mystery about male/’s/ formal beauty (8)

SY(M)METRY* or SYM(M)ETRY* — anagram (new) of MYSTERY containing (about) M (male)

19d   Innocent daughter with a // Greek character (6)

LAMB|D|A — LAMB (innocent) + D (daughter) + (with) A (†)

Lambda^[5] is the eleventh letter of the Greek alphabet (Λ, λ).

20d   Bad experience among landowners (6)

_DOWNER_ — hidden (among) lanDOWNERs

23d   Walked out after comic’s first // crack (5)

C|LEFT — LEFT (walked out) following (after) C (comic's first; first letter of Comic)

Epilogue

The title of today's blog was inspired by 25a and 8 down.

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