Saturday, June 11, 2016 — Momentous Daydreams

Introduction

Like many of those who commented on today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon, I found it somewhat more challenging than usual.

Writing and posting the review also turned out to be a challenge. I was away from home for the weekend and my laptop took it upon itself to pack it in.

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   Grave significance /of/ holey quality about shelter (14)

POR(TENT)OUSNESS — POROUSNESS (holey quality) containing (about) TENT (shelter)

8a   Check // others holding practice (9)

RES(TRAIN)T — REST (others) containing (holding) TRAIN (practice)

9a   First of rubes taken in by present // swindle (5)

G(R)IFT — R (first [letter] of Rubes) contained in (taken in by) GIFT (present)

11a   Basketball giant // shot alone (5)

ONEAL* — anagram (shot) of ALONE

Shaquille O'Neal^[7], nicknamed Shaq, is a retired American professional basketball player who is currently an analyst on the television program Inside the NBA. Listed at 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) tall and weighing 325 pounds (147 kg), he was one of the heaviest players ever to play in the NBA. O'Neal played for six teams throughout his 19-year NBA career.

12a   Scheme // backing really huge pies? (9)

{STRAT|AGEM}< — reversal (backing) of MEGA (really huge) + TARTS (pies)

13a   Acts like // it’s a mite strange (8)

IMITATES* — anagram (strange) of ITS A MITE

15a   Crown // Democrat after withdrawing help (6)

DIA<|DEM — DEM (Democrat; abbrev.) following (after) a reversal (withdrawing) of AID (help)

18a   Stadium sections occupied by green // team from Detroit (6)

TI(G)ERS —TIERS (stadium sections) containing (occupied by) G (green; abbrev.)

The Detroit Tigers^[7] are a professional baseball team based in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the Central division in the American League (AL). One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in 1901. They are the oldest continuous one-name, one-city franchise in the AL.

19a   Superlative // goddess sitting in tree (4-4)

FIVE-STAR —VESTA ([Roman] goddess) contained in (sitting in) FIR (tree)

In Roman mythology, Vesta^[5] is the goddess of the hearth and household. Her temple in Rome contained no image but a fire which was kept constantly burning and was tended by the Vestal Virgins.

21a   Outspoken curlers’ needs: // carriages (9)

BROUGHAMS~ — sounds like (outspoken) BROOMS (curlers' needs)

A brougham^[5] is:

1. (historically) a horse-drawn carriage with a roof, four wheels, and an open driver’s seat in front; or
2. a car with an open driver’s seat.

23a   Damage quiet // wetland (5)

MAR|SH —MAR (damage) + SH (quiet; Sh!)

24a   Like brownies, // as evident in self-indulgence (5)

_ELFIN_ — contained in (as evident in) sELF-INdulgence

A brownie^[5] is a benevolent elf that supposedly haunts houses and does housework secretly. [Apparently, none inhabit my house!]

25a   Prisoner attempts holding up // nations (9)

CO(U)N|TRIES — {CON (prisoner) + TRIES (attempts)} containing (holding) U (up; abbrev.)

The abbreviation U for upper is found in none of my commonly-consulted dictionaries.

26a   Top scientist/’s/ elite brain sent astray (6,8)

{ALBERT EINSTEIN}* — anagram (astray) of ELITE BRAIN SENT

Albert Einstein^[5] (1879–1955) was a German-born American theoretical physicist, founder of the special and general theories of relativity.

Down

1d   Clip to be aired misrepresented // chemist’s chart (8,5)

{PERIODIC TABLE}* — anagram (misrepresented) of CLIP TO BE AIRED

In chemistry, the periodic table^[5] is a table of the chemical elements arranged in order of atomic number, usually in rows, so that elements with similar atomic structure (and hence similar chemical properties) appear in vertical columns.

2d   Reportedly going back /and/ planting anew (9)

RESEEDING~ — sounds like (reportedly) RECEDING (going back)

3d   Sign on // S.N.L producer Michaels reading the wrong way (5)

ENROL< — reversal (reading the wrong way) of LORNE (S.N.L. [Saturday Night Live] producer [Lorne] Michaels)

Lorne Michaels^[7] (born Lorne Lipowitz) is a Canadian-American television producer, writer, comedian, and actor, best known for creating and producing Saturday Night Live, and producing the Late Night series (since 1993), and The Tonight Show (since 2014).

4d   Playing third set, // had a craving (8)

THIRSTED* — anagram (playing) of THIRD SET

5d   Pronounces // certain clubs unopened (6)

_UTTERS — [P]UTTERS (certain [golf] clubs) with the initial letter removed (unopened)

6d   Late activity // nearby, if let loose (9)

NIGH|TLIFE* — NIGH (nearby) + an anagram (loose) of IF LET

7d   Attempt to hit // small hockey player along the boards (5)

S|WING — S (small; abbrev.) + WING (hockey player [positioned] along the boards)

10d   “Nothing stays the same,” // Catherine’s mom cracked (4,7,2)

{TIME MARCHES ON}* — anagram (cracked) of CATHERINES MOM

14d   Orange car excited // vanity (9)

ARROGANCE* — anagram (excited) of ORANGE CAR

16d   Find /and/ halt explosive (9)

DETER|MINE — DETER (halt) + MINE (explosive)

17d   “Em is spoiled,” I // state (8)

M|IS|SOUR|I — M (em) + IS (†) + SOUR (spoiled) + I (†)

20d   Character on the sidelines // married a Highlander (6)

M|A|SCOT — M (married; abbrev.) + A (†) + SCOT (Highlander)

A Highlander^[10] is:

1. a native of the Highlands of Scotland; or
2. a member of a Scottish Highland regiment or battalion.

The Highlands^[5] are the mountainous part of Scotland, to the north of Glasgow and Stirling, often associated with Gaelic culture ⇒ (as modifier) a Highland regiment.

22d   Terrible-sounding // butchery byproduct (5)

OFFAL~ — sounds like (-sounding) AWFUL (terrible)

23d   Brings together // South American drinks (5)

MATES — double definition

Maté^[5] (also maté tea) is a bitter infusion of the leaves of a South American shrub^*, which is high in caffeine ⇒ maté has an agreeable slightly aromatic odor.

^* Maté (also yerba maté), the South American shrub (Ilex paraguariensis) of the holly family which produces maté leaves.

Epilogue

The title of today's review is inspired by 1a and 26a

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