Saturday, July 22, 2017 — Occupational Potpourri

Introduction

You can savour the chance to relax and entertain yourself with today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon as you contemplate all the workers busy in their respective lines of work who are mentioned in the puzzle.

Despite time constraints and uncooperative technology, I did manage to get a semblance of a preliminary post up on Saturday. It wasn't perfect, but better than nothing.

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   Big river test // of manufacturers (10)

INDUS|TRIAL — INDUS (big river) + TRIAL (test)

The Indus^[5] is a river of southern Asia, about 2,900 km (1,800 miles) in length, flowing from Tibet through Kashmir and Pakistan to the Arabian Sea. Along its valley an early civilization flourished from circa 2600 to 1760 BC. The Indus^[7] is the longest river of Pakistan.

6a   Composer // right inside panhandle (4)

BE(R)G — R (right; abbrev.) contained in (inside) BEG (panhandle)

Alban Berg^[5] (1885–1935) was an Austrian composer, a leading exponent of twelve-note composition. Notable works: the operas Wozzeck (1914–21) and Lulu (1928–35) and his violin concerto (1935).

9a   One involved in business line’s // harangues (7)

T(I)RADE|S — I ([Roman numeral for] one) contained in (involved in) TRADE (business line) + S ('s)

10a   Whisky // shared by Labour bondsmen (7)

_BOUR|BON_ — hidden in (shared by) LaBOUR BONdsmen

Methinks that the setters may have been a bit overzealous in their efforts to Canadianize the spelling in this clue. Bourbon is American whiskey — not Scottish or Canadian whisky.

12a   Knight’s superior // drinking establishment, one time (7)

BAR|ONE|T — BAR (drinking establishment) + ONE (†) + T (time; abbrev.)

A baronet^[5] is a member of the lowest hereditary titled British order, with the status of a commoner but able to use the prefix ‘Sir’.

In modern times, a knight^[10] is a person invested by a sovereign with a nonhereditary rank and dignity usually in recognition of personal services, achievements, etc. A British knight bears the title Sir placed before his name, as in Sir Winston Churchill.

A Baronetcy^[7] is the lowest title of honour in the United Kingdom. It carries the title Sir. A Baronetcy is, in the order of precedence, below a Barony but above most knighthoods.

13a   Worker with a needle /and/ pipe (5)

SEWER — double definition

15a   Pop // musician’s ending captivating lots (5,4)

C(REAM S)ODA — CODA (musician's ending) containing (captivating) REAMS (lots)

In music, a coda^[5] is the concluding passage of a piece or movement, typically forming an addition to the basic structure ⇒ the first movement ends with a fortissimo coda.

18a   Examine // German car factory’s centre (5)

AUDI|T — AUDI (German car) + T (factory's centre; middle letter of facTory)

Audi AG^[7] is a German automobile manufacturer that is part of the Volkswagen Group. The company name is based on the Latin translation of the surname of the founder, August Horch. "Horch", meaning "listen" in German, becomes "audi" in Latin. The four rings of the Audi logo each represent one of four car companies that banded together to create Audi's predecessor company, Auto Union.

19a   Chose // second of items in newspaper page (5)

OP(T)ED — T (second [letter] of iTems) contained in (in) OP ED (newspaper page)

Op-ed^[10] denotes a page of a newspaper where varying opinions are expressed by columnists, commentators, etc. It is so-named as it is customarily the page OPposite the EDitorial page.

21a   Veiled worker/’s/ pager catching sound of alarm (9)

B(EEK)EEPER — BEEPER (pager) containing (catching) EEK (sound of alarm; especially when spotting a mouse according to the comic pages)

23a   New England editor’s// requirements (5)

NE|ED|S — NE (New England; abbrev.) + ED (editor; abbrev.) + S ('s)

NE^[3,4] (or N.E.^[4,11]) is the abbreviation for New England.

24a   New Testament gripped by certain believer // filling job? (7)

DE(NT)IST — NT (New Testament; abbrev.) contained in (gripped by) DEIST (certain believer)

28a   NATO, for one // morning, accepting partner (7)

A(CRONY)M — AM (morning) containing (accepting) CRONY (partner)

29a   Eye specialist // is in love cult (7)

OCULIST — IS (†) contained in (in) {O (love; nil score in tennis) + CULT (†)}

30a   Almost entice // part-time worker (4)

TEMP_ — TEMP[T] (entice) with the final letter removed (almost)

31a   Funereal figure/’s/ weirdly dark tenure (10)

UNDERTAKER* — anagram (weirdly) of DARK TENURE

Down

1d   Speck // found in audio tape (4)

_IO|TA_ — hidden in (found in) audIO TApe

2d   Awfully bad rule // that can last (7)

DURABLE* — anagram (awfully) of BAD RULE

A durable^[3] (noun) is a good or product made to withstand repeated use over a relatively long period, usually several years or more ⇒ tracked the orders for automobiles and other durables.

3d   500 involved in psychic/’s/ annual feast (5)

SE(D)ER — D ([Roman numeral for] 500) contained in (involved in) SEER (psychic)

Seder^[5] is a Jewish ritual service and ceremonial dinner for the first night or first two nights of Passover.

4d   Check about second // varnishing agent (5)

RE(S)IN — REIN (check) containing (about) S (second; abbrev.)

5d   Referee // tossed irate brat (9)

ARBITRATE* — anagram (tossed) of IRATE BRAT

7d   Spanish article bent /and/ jostled (7)

EL|BOWED — EL (Spanish [definite] article) + BOWED (bent)

8d   Playing organ, reset // power sources (10)

GENERATORS* — anagram (playing) of ORGAN RESET

11d   High-end // capsule shattered (7)

UPSCALE* — anagram (shattered) of CAPSULE

14d   A dialect penetrated by noble // finance worker (10)

A|C(COUNT)ANT — A (†) + CANT (dialect) containing (penetrated by) COUNT (noble)

A count^[5] is a foreign [from a British perspective] nobleman whose rank corresponds to that of a British earl.

16d   Humour magazine is located by // Wisconsin town (7)

MAD|IS|ON — MAD (humour magazine) + IS (†) + ON (located by)

Mad^[7] is an American humor magazine founded in 1952. Launched as a comic book before it became a magazine, it was widely imitated and influential, impacting not only satirical media but the cultural landscape of the 20th century, reaching a readership of more than two million during its 1970s circulation peak.

Madison^[3] is the capital of Wisconsin, in the south-central part of the state west of Milwaukee. It was chosen as territorial capital in 1836 and settled the same year. The main branch of the University of Wisconsin (founded 1848) is here.

17d   Public official // busted dumb mason (9)

OMBUDSMAN* — anagram (busted) of DUMB MASON

20d   Proposition // the military’s leader about mine’s contents (7)

THE(ORE)M — {THE (†) + M (military's leader; initial letter of Military)} containing (about) ORE (mine's contents)

22d   Couple of pals fool // a saint (7)

PA|TRICK — PA (couple [initial two letters of] of PAls) + TRICK (fool)

St Patrick^[5] (5th century) was an apostle and patron saint of Ireland. Of Romano-British parentage, he was taken as a slave to Ireland, where he experienced a religious conversion. Feast day, March 17.

25d   Snare // breather taking in oxygen (5)

NO(O)SE or N(O)OSE — NOSE (breather) containing (taking in) O ([symbol for the chemical element] oxygen)

26d   Arctic dweller, // one night in Quebec (5)

I|NUIT — I ([Roman numeral for] one) + NUIT (night in Quebec; French word meaning 'night')

27d   Southern sailor/’s/ guide to navigation (4)

S|TAR — S (southern; abbrev.) + TAR (sailor)

Epilogue

The title of today's review is inspired by the many references to workers and types of work which riddle the puzzle.

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