Introduction
I invite you to leave a comment to let us know how you fared with the puzzle.
I wish all readers a happy and prosperous New Year replete with engaging puzzles.
Solution to Today's Puzzle
Falcon's Experience
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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
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| 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 Look at // Gerard oddly (6)
REGARD* — anagram (oddly) of GERARD
4a Alienate // sergeant badly (8)
ESTRANGE* — anagram (badly) of SERGEANT
9a Said, “every seven days” // in a feeble manner (6)
WEAKLY~ — sounds like (said) WEEKLY (every seven days)
10a Scheduling // sting around parking area (8)
S(LOT)TING — STING (†) containing (around) LOT (parking area)
11a Undisguised present // in that place (4,5)
OVER T|HERE — OVERT (undisguised) + HERE (present)
13a Somewhat horrible attempt // to sound like a sheep (5)
_BLE|AT_ — hidden in (somewhat) horriBLE ATtempt
14a Confess about big dish // making a mess (11)
S(PLATTER)ING — SING (confess) containing (about) PLATTER (big dish)
18a Street kid // put integers out of order (11)
GUTTERSNIPE* — anagram (out of order) of PUT INTEGERS
21a Reportedly lousiest // sausage (5)
WURST~ — sounds like (reportedly) WORST (lousiest)
22a Unfortunately, train isn’t // on the way (2,7)
{IN TRANSIT}* — anagram (unfortunately) of TRAIN ISNT
24a Children’s game // concerning herder (3,5)
RE|D ROVER — RE (concerning) + DROVER (herder)
I spent a moment or two stalled at a RED LIGHT before realizing that the wrong children's game had popped to mind.
25a Each // dessert eaten by fighter pilot (6)
A(PIE)CE — PIE (dessert) contained in (eaten by) ACE (fighter pilot)
26a Unpaid worker, flushed, // reacted to a promised treat (8)
SLAVE|RED — SLAVE (unpaid worker) + RED (flushed)
27a One wearing trousers // works with a brush and oils (6)
PA(I)NTS — I ([Roman numeral for] one) contained in (wearing) PANTS (trousers)
Note to British readers: In North America, the word "pants" would generally mean trousers rather than underwear.
Down
1d Stir about who /is/ dwelling in town (3,5)
RO(W HO)USE — ROUSE (stir) containing (about) WHO (†)
2d Left inside seriously // rasping (8)
GRAVE(L)LY or GRAVEL(L)Y — L (left; abbrev.) contained in (inside) GRAVELY (seriously)
3d Again illuminated // inside of barrel itself (5)
_REL|IT_ — hidden in (inside of) barREL ITself
5d Field events turned // obvious (4-)
SELF-EVIDENT* — anagram (turned) of FIELD EVENTS
6d Groove with a snare, as // “Roots” (9)
RUT|A|BAG|AS — RUT (groove) + (with) A (†) + BAG (snare; literally, as a verb) + AS (†)
Scratching the Surface
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| Roots is an American television miniseries based on Alex Haley's 1976 novel, Roots: The Saga of an American Family; the series first aired on ABC-TV in January 1977. |
7d Dancing, Daniel // performed perfectly (6)
NAILED* — anagram (dancing) of DANIEL
8d Momentous after the first // number (6)
_EIGHTY — [W]EIGHTY (momentous) with the initial letter deleted (after the first)
12d Pick grain with the old-fashioned // detector (8,3)
ELECT|RIC E|YE — ELECT (pick) + RICE (grain) + (with) YE (the old-fashioned)
15d Right poet, wrong // line (9)
TIGHTROPE* — anagram (wrong) of RIGHT POET
16d Nineties excited // scientist (8)
EINSTEIN* — anagram (excited) of NINETIES
Albert Einstein[5] (1879–1955) was a German-born American theoretical physicist, founder of the special and general theories of relativity.
17d Dad’s carrying eagle’s tail // plumes (8)
F(E)ATHERS — {FATHER (dad) + S ('s)} containing (carrying) E (eagle's tail; final letter (tail) of eaglE)
19d A prison division’s // prizes (6)
A|WARD|S — A (†) + WARD (prison division) + S ('s)
20d Top-notch // vocalization of “Grey Day” (5,1)
{GRADE A}~ — sounds like (vocalization of) GREY DAY
Scratching the Surface
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|---|---|
| "Grey Day"[7] is likely just a convenient figment of the setters' imaginations, although it is the title of a pop song recorded by British pop/ska band Madness which reached number 4 on the UK Singles Chart in 1981. |
23d The Greeks’ first // mountain—that’s a laugh (5)
ALP|HA — ALP (mountain) + HA (that's a laugh;
You really believe he'll repay you? Ha!)
Epilogue
The title of today's review is inspired by 14a and 18a.Key to Reference Sources:Signing off for today — Falcon
[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)
