Saturday, June 6, 2015 — Sittin' On The Dock of the Bay

Introduction

Last week, we encountered hurricanes and today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon delivers more stormy weather.

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   Long // wood (4)

PINE — double definition

Scratching the Surface
The surface reading is likely meant to suggest a golf club.

3a   Old vehicle // for men individually receiving company (10)

STAG|E(CO)ACH — {STAG (for men) + EACH (individually)} containing (receiving) CO ([abbreviation for] company)

9a   Get a tar moving /in/ boat race (7)

REGATTA* — anagram (moving) of GET A TAR

Scratching the Surface
Tar[5] is an informal, dated term for a sailor. The term, which dates from the 17th century, is perhaps an abbreviation of tarpaulin, which was also used as a nickname for a sailor at that time.

11a   Germ // Robert found in rodents (7)

MIC(ROB)E — ROB ([diminutive for] Robert) contained in (found in) MICE (rodents)

12a   Mostly have high regard for // big name in cosmetics (5)

ESTEE_ — ESTEE[M] (have high regard for) with the final letter removed (mostly)

Estée Lauder^[7] (1908–2004) was an American businesswoman. She was the co-founder, along with her husband, Joseph Lauter (later Lauder), of Estée Lauder Companies, her eponymous cosmetics company.

13a   Revised interim // ends (7)

TERMINI* — anagram (revised) of INTERIM

15a   Go back // through green terrain (7)

_REEN|TER_ — hidden in (through) gREEN TERrain

16a   Peg getting urge // to lend a hand (5,2)

P(ITCH) IN — PIN (peg) containing (getting) ITCH (urge)

18a   Adhesive band, scarlet, // got narrower (7)

TAPE|RED — TAPE (adhesive band) + RED (scarlet)

21a   Start of plot fit to farm // story (7)

P|ARABLE — P (start [first letter] of Plot) + ARABLE (fit to farm)

23a   Ubiquitous // American League fan (3,4)

AL|L OVER — AL (American League) + LOVER (fan)

"American League" = AL (show explanation)

The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League^[7] (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada.

hide explanation

25a   Reversed charge for crossing a // portion out (5)

{A|LLOT}< — reversal (reversed) of {TOLL (charge for crossing) + A (†)}

27a   Church incense // switching device (7)

CH|ANGER — CH (church) + ANGER (incense)

28a   Strangely, one part /is/ variable (7)

PROTEAN* — anagram (strangely) of ONE PART

29a   Check fellows’ // cleaners (10)

DETER|GENTS — DETER (check; stop or slow the progress of) + GENTS (fellows)

30a   Name associated with elevators // involved in hypnotism (4)

OTIS — hidden in (involved in) hypnOTISm

Elisha Otis^[7] (1811–1861) was an American industrialist, founder of the Otis Elevator Company, and inventor of a safety device that prevents elevators from falling if the hoisting cable fails.

While he did not invent the elevator, Otis did something far more significant — he made elevators safe to use.

Down

1d   Commit // Francophone father keeping tame rodent (10)

PER(PET|RAT)E — PERE (Francophone father; French word meaning 'father') containing (keeping) {PET (tame) + RAT (rodent)}

2d   Sleep wear // near neckwear (7)

NIGH|TIE — NIGH (near) + TIE (neckwear)

4d   Bagel put in food sampler/’s/ appliance (7)

T(O)ASTER — O ([letter that looks like a] bagel) contained in (put in) TASTER (food sampler)

5d   MD group chewed up // candy (7)

GUMDROP* — anagram (chewed up) of MD group

6d   Plants // fifth of Scotch at play’s start (5)

C|ACTI — C (fifth [letter] of ScotCh) + (at; next to) ACT I (play's start)

7d   Outlaw // has boil, oddly (7)

ABOLISH* — anagram (oddly) of HAS BOIL

8d   In audience, actor Grant’s // shades (4)

HUES~ — sounds like (in audience) HUGH'S (actor Grant's)

Hugh Grant^[7] is an English actor and a film producer. Despite having appeared in more than a dozen films over the course of twelve years, he first achieved major acclaim for his role in Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994).

10d   Wet tree disturbed // speaker (7)

TWEETER* — anagram (disturbed) of WET TREE

A tweeter^[5] is a loudspeaker designed to reproduce high frequencies.

14d   Low sounds // tuner’s done badly (10)

UNDERTONES* — anagram (badly) of TUNERS DONE

Not necessarily sounds that would be played through a woofer — these sounds are low in volume rather than pitch.

A woofer^[5] is a loudspeaker designed to reproduce low frequencies.

hide explanation

17d   Big wind // ripped a coif (7)

TORN|A|DO — TORN (ripped) + A (†) + DO (coif)

19d   Green veggies bug // lowly farmer (7)

PEAS|ANT — PEAS (green veggies) + ANT (bug)

20d   Various // scuba users at end of cove (7)

DIVERS|E — DIVERS (scuba users) + (at; next to) E (end [final letter] of covE)

21d   Wall which protects // simian, in part (7)

PAR(APE)T — APE (simian) contained in (in) PART (†)

22d   Elderly among best /and/ bravest (7)

B(OLD)EST — OLD (elderly) contained in (among) BEST (†)

24d   Said, “lumberjack’s // beer” (5)

LAGER~ — sounds like (said) LOGGER (lumberjack)

26d   A platter holding one // tart (4)

A|C(I)D — {A (†) + CD (platter; compact disc)} containing (holding) I ([Roman numeral for] one)

Platter^[2] is a colloquial North American term for a phonograph record — whose meaning has apparently been extended to encompass CDs.

Epilogue

The theme of today's post was inspired by 1a and 30a which brought to mind a certain Southern lad longing for his home in Georgia.

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