Saturday, October 21, 2017 — A Toast to Our Visitors

Introduction

Today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon is hardly among their most difficult although it does introduce a couple of words which seem to have been new to many.

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

7a   Sanctioned // joke I dropped (8)

PUN|I|SHED — PUN (joke) + I (†) + SHED (dropped)

9a   Canadian author /and/ a couple overdose (6)

A|TWO/OD — A (†) + TWO (couple) + OD (overdose; abbrev.)

Margaret Atwood^[5] is a Canadian novelist, poet, critic, and short-story writer. Notable works: The Edible Woman (1969), The Handmaid's Tale (1985), Cat's Eye (1989), and The Blind Assassin (Booker Prize, 2000).

10a   Back // a violinist of note (6)

A|STERN — A (†) + STERN (violinist of note)

Isaac Stern^[6] (1920–2001) was a US violinist; born in Russia. He made his New York debut in 1937 at Town Hall. In 1956, he was the first American to perform in Russia after World War II, and he was invited to China in 1979. He served as president of Carnegie Hall from 1960.

11a   Sticky situation, admitting British queen/’s/ cruelty (8)

ME(ANNE)SS — MESS (sticky situation) containing (admitting) ANNE (British queen)

It would seem that Anne was the first true British Queen — in fact, the first true British monarch — as Britain came into being during her reign.

Anne^[7] (1665–1714) became Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702. On 1 May 1707, under the Acts of Union, two of her realms, the kingdoms of England and Scotland, united as a single sovereign state, the United Kingdom of Great Britain. She continued to reign as Queen of Great Britain and Ireland until her death.

12a   Looking back, it’s a // sparkling wine (4)

{A|STI}< — reversal (looking back) of ITS A

Asti^[7] (formerly known as Asti Spumante) is a sparkling white Italian wine that is produced throughout southeastern Piedmont but is particularly focused around the towns of Asti and Alba. Since 1993 the wine has been classified as a Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) and as of 2004 was Italy's largest producing appellation.

13a   Barack seen roaming // bamboo thickets (10)

CANEBRAKES* — anagram (roaming) of BARACK SEEN

Canebrake^[10] is a US term for a thicket of canes.

15a   “Veggie before real bread,” said // a former PM (6,7)

{PI|ERRE| TRU|DEAU}~ — sounds like (said) {PEA (veggie) + ERE (before; archaic or literary) + TRUE (real) + DOUGH (bread; slang for money)}

Pierre Trudeau^[5] (1919–2000) was a Canadian Liberal statesman, prime minister of Canada 1968–79 and 1980–4; full name Pierre Elliott Trudeau. Noted for his commitment to federalism, Trudeau made both English and French official languages of the Canadian government (1969), and presided over the transfer of residual constitutional powers from Britain to Canada in 1982. He was the father of current Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

17a   Figure found at a wedding // tossed amid debris (10)

BRIDESMAID* — anagram (tossed) of AMID DEBRIS

19a   Dry white wine // container (4)

SACK — double definition

Sack^[3,4] is an archaic term for any of various light, dry, strong wines from Spain and the Canary Islands, imported to England in the 1500s and 1600s.

21a   Earlier, run into one // meat found in a deli (8)

PAST|RAM|I — PAST (earlier) + RAM (run into) + I ([Roman numeral for] one)

23a   Screech owls, in part, // come back again (6)

_REECHO_ — hidden in (in part) scREECH Owls

24a   Tea snacks/’/ small pointed shapes (6)

S|CONES — S (small; abbrev.) + CONES (pointed shapes)

25a   Uncalled-for // teases before the start of school (8)

NEEDLES|S — NEEDLES (teases) preceding (before) S (the start [initial letter] of School)

Down

1d   Visitors /offer/ a speculation about time (6)

GUES(T)S — GUESS (a speculation) containing (about) T (time; abbrev.)

2d   Distinction of delicacy // in entering like a cat (4,4)

F(IN)E LINE — IN (†) contained in (entering) FELINE (like a cat)

3d   African heavyweight // changing his corner, circling ring (10)

RHIN(O)CEROS* or RHINOCER(O)S* — anagram (changing) of HIS CORNER containing (circling) O (ring)

4d   Heads of state are gabbing about // big adventure story (4)

S_|A_|G_|A_ — the initial letters (heads) of State Are Gabbing About

5d   African country/’s/ sun god carrying staff (6)

R(WAND)A — RA ([Egyptian] sun god) containing (carrying) WAND (staff)

6d   Painter of “The Sleeping Gypsy” // voiced regret in that way (8)

{ROUS|SEAU}~ — sounds like (voiced) {RUE (regret) + SO (in that way)}

The Sleeping Gypsy, 1897

Henri Rousseau^[5] (1844–1910) was a French painter; known as le Douanier (‘customs officer’). After retiring as a customs official in 1893, he created bold and colourful paintings of fantastic dreams and exotic jungle landscapes, such as Sleeping Gypsy (1897) and Tropical Storm with Tiger (1891).

8d   Evil spirit post assuming right // proof (13)

DEMON|ST(R)ATION — DEMON (evil spirit) + STATION (post; assigned position) containing (assuming) R (right; abbrev.)

14d   Spring zodiac sign/’s/ limits (10)

BOUND|ARIES — BOUND (spring) + ARIES (zodiac sign)

15d   Average spearman/’s/ way of speaking (8)

PAR|LANCE — PAR (average) + LANCE (spearman; using the name of the weapon as a metonym for the person who bears the weapon)

16d   Trees lay scattered /in/ a certain direction (8)

EASTERLY* — anagram (scattered) of TREES LAY

18d   Pooch kept outside can // like indulgent family members (6)

DO(TIN)G — DOG (pooch) containing (kept outside) TIN (can; container)

20d   Share the entertaining // laughs in bed (6)

CO(HOS)T — HOS (laughs; noun) contained in COT (bed)

Santa's laugh consists of three HOs; therefore, for him, it must take a least six HOs to make laughs.

22d   Too // emotional, softening in the middle (4)

_AL|SO_ — hidden (in the middle) of emotionAL SOftening

Epilogue

I had noted the correspondence between the solutions to 12a and 19a (which gives us a choice of white wines for the toast) but missed the one between 1d and 20d — so I thank Carola for bringing that one to my attention. Since the event is cohosted, the title is "A Toast to Our Visitors".

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