Saturday, July 29, 2017 — Beyond the Rainbow

Introduction

Today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon adds a splash of colour to a sunny summer day.

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 semi-all-in-one (semi-&lit.) clues. All-in-one (&lit.) clues and cryptic definitions are marked with a dotted underline. Explicit link words and phrases are enclosed in forward slashes (/link/) and implicit links are shown as double forward slashes (//).

Across

1a   Paint // farm animal encountered around back of cabin (7)

PIG|ME(N)T — PIG (farm animal) + MET (encountered) containing (around) N(back of cabin; final letter of cabiN)

5a   Yellowish-pink // rice left unfinished in a kettle (7)

A|P(RIC)OT — RIC (rice left unfinished; RIC[E] with the final letter missing) contained in (in) {A (†) + POT (kettle)}

9a   One of the Stooges embracing the sixth // film (5)

MO(VI)E — MOE (one of the Stooges) containing (embracing) VI (the sixth; as George VI, [King] George the Sixth)

The Three Stooges^[7] were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1928 until 1970, best known for their 190 Columbia short-subject films that have been airing on television regularly since 1958. Their hallmark was physical farce and slapstick. In films, the Stooges were commonly known by their actual first names. There were a total of six stooges over the act's run, with only three active at any given time, but Moe Howard and Larry Fine were mainstays throughout the ensemble's run of more than forty years.

The original team consisted of Moe Howard (real name Moses Harry Horowitz), Moe's brother Shemp Howard (real name Samuel Horowitz) and Larry Fine (real name Louis Feinberg). In 1932, Shemp Howard left the group and was replaced by by his younger brother, Curly Howard (real name Jerome Lester Horowitz). Curly suffered a debilitating stroke in May 1946, and Shemp returned, reinstating the original lineup, until his death of a heart attack in November, 1955. Following the death of Shemp Howard, various other actors appeared as the third member of the trio.

10a   Reverse-colour pictures, // for example, taken by locals (9)

N(EG)ATIVES — EG (for example) contained in (taken by; consumed by [as one would say of medicine, for instance]) NATIVES (locals)

11a   Pink // state of wheels? (9)

CAR|NATION — NATION (state) of CARS (wheels) or, in other words, CAR NATION

12a   The guy with Ann returned // hair colouring (5)

HE|NNA — HE (the guy) + reversal (returned) of ANN

13a   In excavation, old // colouring matter (6)

IN|DIG|O — IN (†) + DIG ([archaeological] excavation) + O (old; abbrev.)

14a   Classes // at painting, sculpture, etc. retracted (6)

{STRA|TA}< — reversal (retracted) of {AT (†) + ARTS (painting, sculpture, etc.)}

18a   Mere GI breaking // rule (6)

REGIME* — anagram (breaking) of MERE GI

20a   Al Pacino halfway through with a // wool supplier (6)

AL|PAC|A — AL (†) + PAC (Pacino halfway through; initial half of PAC[INO]) + (with) A (†)

Scratching the Surface
Al Pacino[7] is an American actor of stage and screen, filmmaker, and screenwriter. Pacino, who has had a career spanning over five decades, is one of few performers to have won a competitive Oscar, an Emmy and a Tony Award for acting, dubbed the "Triple Crown of Acting".

24a   Lose tension, like // long stories (5)

SAG|AS — SAG (lose tension) + AS (like)

26a   Treatment of a top tooth /is/ something tough to handle (3,6)

{HOT POTATO}* — anagram of (treatment of) A TOP TOOTH

27a   Endure // one Mafia boss going after thug (2,2,3,2)

GO ON| AN|D ON — {AN (one) + DON (Mafia boss)} following (going after) GOON (thug)

28a   Substituted // paint finish (3,2)

SAT IN — SATIN (paint finish)

29a   Misleads // tenderfeet about the Spanish (7)

D(EL)UDES — DUDES (tenderfeet) containing (about) EL (the Spanish; Spanish definite article)

30a   Moderately warm, bright colour /for/ title character Pierce (7)

MILD|RED — MILD (moderately warm) + RED (bright colour)

Mildred Pierce^[7] is a 1941 hardboiled novel by James M. Cain. It was made into an Academy Award–winning film of the same name in 1945, starring Joan Crawford, and a 2011 Emmy Award–winning miniseries of the same name, starring Kate Winslet.

Down

1d   Rock // note held by Deep Purple? (6)

PU(MI)CE — MI ([musical] note) contained in (held by) PUCE (deep purple)

Scratching the Surface

Deep Purple[7] are an English rock band formed in 1968. The band is considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock. Deep Purple, together with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, have been referred to as the "unholy trinity of British hard rock and heavy metal in the early to mid-seventies". They were listed in the 1975 Guinness Book of World Records as "the globe's loudest band" for a 1972 concert at London's Rainbow Theatre, and have sold over 100 million albums worldwide.

2d   Ruling // verging on crazy (9)

GOVERNING* — anagram (crazy) of VERGING ON

3d   Colour of a fantastic city // in ephemeral daydream (7)

_EMERAL|D_ — hidden in (in) ephEMERAL Daydream

The Emerald City^[7] (sometimes called the City of Emeralds) is the capital city of the fictional Land of Oz in L. Frank Baum's Oz books, first described in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900).

4d   Hergé cartoon hero’s given green // colourings (8)

TINTIN(G)S — {TINTIN (Hergé cartoon hero) + S ('s)} containing (given) G (green; abbrev.)

Tintin^[7] is a fictional character in The Adventures of Tintin, the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé, pen name of Georges Remi (1907–1983).

5d   Silver // transformed garnet (6)

ARGENT* — anagram (transformed) of GARNET

Argent^[5] is silver as heraldic tincture.

6d   Teeth in a set // chatter badly (7)

RATCHET* — anagram (badly) of CHATTER

7d   Group of witches // around roasting place (5)

C|OVEN — C (around; abbreviation for circa) + OVEN (roasting place)

8d   Chuck eating small amount with a // Mexican dish (8)

TOS(TAD|A)S — TOSS (chuck) containing (eating) {TAD (small amount) + (with) A (†)}

A tostada^[5] (also tostado) is a Mexican deep-fried corn flour pancake topped with a seasoned mixture of beans, mincemeat, and vegetables.

15d   White // flower behind a research site (9)

A|LAB|ASTER — ASTER (flower) following (behind) {A (†) + LAB (research site)}

16d   Anticipated // hype by editor about herb (8)

PR|E(SAGE)D — PR (hype; abbrev. for public relations) + (by) ED (editor; abbrev.) containing (about) SAGE (herb)

17d   A container wrapped in purplish /and/ silvery colour (8)

PL(A|TIN)UM — {A (†) + TIN (container)} contained in (wrapped in) PLUM (purplish; adjective)

19d   Brownish-yellow // ooze covering name on a marquee (7)

MU(STAR)D — MUD (ooze) containing (covering) STAR (name on a marquee)

21d   Wild partying, after the initial // excitement (7)

_AROUSAL — [C]AROUSAL (wild partying) with the initial letter removed (after the initial)

22d   Underworld getting behind school’s primary // colours (6)

S|HADES — HADES (underworld) following (getting behind) S (school's primary; initial (primary) letter of School)

23d   Charitable about one Italian // opera composer (6)

GO(UN)OD — GOOD (charitable) containing (about) UN (one Italian; Italian word meaning 'one')

A bit of electronic guidance was required here. Opera is hardly my forte.

Charles François Gounod^[5] (1818–1893) was a French composer, conductor, and organist. He is best known for his opera Faust (1859).

Un^[8] is an Italian word meaning 'one'.

25d   Threatening sound /from/ grey bird of prey (5)

GR|OWL — GR (grey; abbrev.) + OWL (bird of prey)

Epilogue

Today's colourful puzzle mentions most of the colours of the rainbow. Several (red, yellow, green, and indigo) appear explicitly in either the clues or solutions. I think purple (as either plum or puce) is an acceptable stand-in in for violet. That leaves only orange and blue missing. A number of other colours are also mentioned. As well, there are several other references to colour in general. And Judy Garland sang "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" in the film to which allusion is made in 3d.

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)
^[12] - CollinsDictionary.com (Webster’s New World College Dictionary)
^[13] - MacmillanDictionary.com (Macmillan Dictionary)

Signing off for today — Falcon