Saturday, September 3, 2016 — Druggist Botches Actor's Orders

Introduction

After taking an extended break over the long weekend, it has taken me nearly a week to catch up. Fortunately, the comments to date indicate that most of you had little trouble with this 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. Explicit link words and phrases are enclosed in forward slashes (/link/) and implicit links are shown as double forward slashes (//).

Across

1a   European // vaulter's rod (4)

POLE — double definition

3a   Fellow actor and I fire // a Central American (5,5)

{COSTA RICAN}* — COSTAR (fellow actor) + (and) I () + CAN (fire; dismiss from employment)

9a   Judge // rarebit "awful" (7)

ARBITER* — anagram (awful) of RAREBIT

Scratching the Surface
Rarebit[5] (also Welsh rarebit or, probably originally humorously, Welsh rabbit[5]) is a dish of melted and seasoned cheese on toast, sometimes with other ingredients.

11a   Soldier makes alterations to // patriotic songs (7)

ANT|HEMS — ANT (soldier) + HEMS (makes alterations to [dresses, trousers, drapes, etc.])

12a   Grand home // not at all included in damage (5)

MA(NO)R — NO (not at all) contained in (included in) MAR (damage)

13a   One of the Great Lakes // tangled in a root (7)

ONTARIO* — anagram (tangled) of IN A ROOT

15a   American teenager carries // drink container (7)

_CAN|TEEN_ — hidden in (carries) AmeriCAN TEENager

16a   Stir too sloppily, /making/ Italian dish (7)

RISOTTO* — anagram (sloppily) of STIR TOO

Risotto^[5] is an Italian dish of rice cooked in stock with ingredients such as vegetables and meat or seafood.

18a   Nasal cavities/'/ wrong functions (7)

SIN|USES — SIN (wrong) + USES (functions)

21a   Fellow gets older // handles (7)

MAN|AGES — MAN (fellow) + AGES (gets older)

23a   Buddy allows // simple beds (7)

PAL|LETS — PAL (buddy) + LETS (allows)

25a   Kind /of/ green bananas (5)

GENRE* — anagram (bananas) of GREEN

27a   Cryptic clue: top // lines of poetry (7)

COUPLET* — anagram (cryptic) of CLUE TOP

28a   American League falsifying // act of association (7)

AL|LYING — AL (American League; abbrev.) + LYING (falsifying)

For the benefit of overseas readers, 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.

29a   Technocrat ruined // an outer garment (6,4)

{TRENCH COAT}* — anagram (ruined) of TECHNOCRAT

30a   Put up with // pessimistic investor (4)

BEAR — double definition

Down

1d   Sounding growing concern, help // drug seller (10)

{PHARM|ACIST}~ — sounds like (sounding) {FARM (growing concern) + ASSIST (help)}

2d   The French curse on // a Middle Eastern country (7)

LE|BAN|ON — LE (the French; French word meaning 'the') + BAN (curse) + ON (†)

Ban^[5] is an archaic term for a curse ⇒ the land might be smitten by the ban which once fell upon the Canaanites.

4d   Terribly worn out // Wilder play (3,4)

{OUR TOWN}* — anagram (terribly) of WORN OUT

Our Town^[7] is a 1938 Pulitzer Prize-winning drama by American playwright Thornton Wilder (1897–1975). It tells the story of the fictional American small town of Grover's Corners between 1901 and 1913 through the everyday lives of its citizens.

Far from being outworn, the play "remains popular today and revivals are frequent."

5d   Bagel put in food judge/'s/ kitchen appliance (7)

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

6d   Break down, with choice word /for/ chopper blade (5)

ROT|OR — ROT (break down) + (with) OR (choice word)

Chopper^[5] is an informal name for a helicopter.

7d   Cigar /and/ sandwich in bed (7)

C(HERO)OT — HERO (sandwich) contained in (in) COT (bed)

A cheroot^[2,5,10] is a cigar with both ends open (cut off squarely at both ends).

8d   In the mouth, recognizes // quality of wine (4)

NOSE~ — sounds like (in the mouth) KNOWS (recognizes)

10d   Sailor achieves // goals (7)

TAR|GETS — TAR (sailor) + GETS (achieves)

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.

14d   I get orders mixed up /for/ a movie actor (3,7)

{ROD STEIGER}* — anagram (mixed up) of I GET ORDERS

Rod Steiger (1925–2002) was an American actor, noted for his portrayal of offbeat, often volatile and crazed characters. His performance opposite Sydney Poitier in the film In the Heat of the Night won him the Academy Award for Best Actor.

17d   See young lady outside of north // African country (7)

SE(N)E|GAL — {SEE (†) + GAL (young lady)} containing (outside of) N (north; abbrev.)

Senegal^[5] is a country on the coast of West Africa; population 13,711,600 (est. 2009); languages, French (official), Wolof, and other West African languages; capital, Dakar.

19d   Returning, write song /for/ planet (7)

NEP<|TUNE — reversal (returning) of PEN (write) + TUNE (song)

20d   Unbeliever // pickets cast (7)

SKEPTIC — anagram (cast) of PICKETS

As an anagram indicator, cast^[5]. is used in the sense of to shape (metal or other material) by pouring it into a mould while molten ⇒ when hammered or cast, bronze could be made into tools.

According to Oxford Dictionaries, skeptic is an archaic or North American spelling of sceptic^[5]. I would hazard a guess that the word may have been brought to the New World in its original form by early settlers and the spelling subsequently changed in England.

21d   Cosmetic // Mom put around a blemish (7)

M(A|SCAR)A — MA (Mom) containing (put around) {A (†) + SCAR (blemish)}

22d   Shots // ruined fine rug (7)

GUNFIRE* — anagram (ruined) of FINE RUG

24d   Flower I call "silly" (5)

LILAC* — anagram (silly) of I CALL

26d   Get out /and/ sing jazzily (4)

SCAT — double definition

Epilogue

The title of the review is inspired by 1d and 14d.

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