Saturday, November 18, 2017 — Taking It Easy

Introduction

Although the theme of today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon may suggest an easy solve, I found it to be a fairly stiff test with the northeast corner putting up the most resistance.

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 — including whimsical and vague 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   Truly delicate fabric /gives you/ comfort (6)

SO|LACE — SO (truly; I'm so sorry) + LACE (delicate fabric)

4a   Rich // business journal enthusiast (2,6)

IN C|LOVER — INC (business journal; Inc.^[7] is an American weekly business magazine) + LOVER (enthusiast)

10a   Dilbert edited // a slight amount (7)

DRIBLET* — anagram (edited) of DILBERT

Scratching the Surface
Dilbert is an American comic strip written and illustrated by Scott Adams, first published on April 16, 1989. The strip is known for its satirical office humor about a white-collar, micromanaged office featuring engineer Dilbert as the title character.

11a   One by one entering senior riding // club (3,4)

S(I|X| I)R|ON — I ([Roman numeral for] one) + X ([multiplied] by) + I (ditto) contained in (entering) SR (senior; abbrev.) + ON (riding; on a horse ... or on a train)

12a   Brief sketch // transformed thin album (9)

THUMBNAIL*_ — anagram (transformed) of THIN ALBUM

13a   Hold the title // “Fall” in audio (5)

REIGN~ — sounds like (in audio) RAIN (fall; when the autumn winds blow, leaves rain down from my maple tree)

14a   Speak eloquently about Prince Edward Island // run (7)

O(PE)RATE — ORATE (speak eloquently) containing (about) PE ([Canada Post abbreviation^[7] for] Prince Edward Island)

16a   Strangely, he’s too // calm (6)

SOOTHE* — anagram (strangely) of HES TOO

18a   Snag about English /for/ engineering students? (2-4)

HI-T(E)CH — HITCH (snag) containing (about) E (English; abbrev.)

There is a convention in cryptic crosswords that one is to ignore all punctuation ... except, of course, in cases where it should not be ignored. This is one of those instances where the punctuation (in this case, a question mark) does convey information. The setters use it as a flag to indicate that the definition is whimsical, mischievously inferring that HI-TECH might be a rival school to Caltech (abbreviation for the California Institute of Technology^[7]).

21a   Spa offering // “Mom’s Fount of Wisdom” (7)

MA|S|SAGE — MA (Mom) + S ('S) + SAGE (fount of wisdom)

24a   Guru // took a dip with me (5)

SWAM|I — SWAM (took a dip) + I (me)

25a   Leave tail in knots /and/ take the edge off (9)

ALLEVIATE — anagram (in knots) of LEAVE TAIL

27a   Doubter // on hand for robbery (7)

AT|HEIST — AT (on hand for; in attendance) + HEIST (robbery)

28a   Buddy // film’s rating in trouble (7)

B(R)OTHER — R (film's rating) contained in (in) BOTHER (trouble)

Here and There
For the benefit of any overseas visitors, buddy[5] is an informal North American term for a close friend — someone the Brits would call a mate[5]. Brother[3] is used in the sense of a close male friend or comrade.

29a   Nice // small farmer gaining pound (8)

P(L)EASANT — PEASANT (small farmer) containing (gaining) L (pound)

The pound^[5] (also pound sterling) is the basic monetary unit of the UK, equal to 100 pence. While the symbol for pound is £, it is often written as L^[10].

Delving Deeper
The Chambers Dictionary defines the upper case L[1] as the abbreviation for pound sterling (usually written £) and the lower case l[1] as the abbreviation for pound weight (usually written lb) — both deriving from the Latin word libra* . * In ancient Rome, the libra[5] was a unit of weight, equivalent to 12 ounces (0.34 kg). It was the forerunner of the pound.

30a   Footwear // encountered in Cakes and Ale (6)

_S|AND|AL_ — hidden in (encountered in) CakeS AND ALe

Scratching the Surface
Cakes and Ale[5] (subtitled The Skeleton in the Cupboard) is a novel (published in 1930) by the British author W. Somerset Maugham (1874–1965).

Down

1d   Restful state, // as I noted carelessly (8)

SEDATION* — anagram (carelessly) of AS I NOTED

2d   Garland certainly /intended for/ relaxation (7)

LEI|SURE —LEI ([Hawaiian] garland) + SURE ([slangy synonym for] certainly)

3d   In France, LeBlanc /is/ someone famous (5)

_CE|LEB_ — hidden in (in) FranCE LEBlanc

5d   Swiss food giant’s // lies close up (7)

NESTLE|S — NESTLE (Swiss food giant [Nestlé S.A.^[7]]) + S ('s)

6d   Comfortable /with/ flux, and furious without fail? (9)

_LUX|_URIOUS — {[F]LUX (†) + [F]URIOUS (†)} from each of which the letter F (fail; abbrev. used in grading academic work) has been removed (without)

7d   Go away carrying red, // glossy coat (7)

VA(R)NISH — VANISH (go away) containing (carrying) R (red; abbrev. used to mark connectors on video equipment)

8d   Disputes // name found in archaeological site (3-3)

RU(N)-INS — N (name; abbrev.) contained in (found in) RUINS (archaeological site)

Kudos to our American setters for having avoided using the US spelling "Archeological".

9d   Relaxed // a kid (2,4)

A|T EASE — A (†) + TEASE (kid)

15d   Comforts // one in service ending relationships (9)

AMEN(I)TIES — I ([Roman numeral for] one) contained in (in) {AMEN (service ending; conclusion to a prayer) + TIES (relationships)}

17d   Intellectual // British interrupting breakfast, often (8)

CERE(BR)AL — BR (British; abbrev.) contained in (interrupting) CEREAL (breakfast, often; typical breakfast item)

19d   One truck garden tool /for/ work by Scott (7)

I|VAN|HOE — I ([Roman numeral for] one) + VAN (truck) + HOE (garden tool)

Ivanhoe^[7] is a historical novel by Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832) published in 1820 and set in 12th-century England. Wilfred of Ivanhoe, the titular character, is a knight and son of Cedric the Saxon.

20d   Listen to lacrosse team, /and/ encourage (7)

HEAR|TEN — HEAR (listen to) + TEN (lacrosse team)

Ten is the number of players on a men's field lacrosse^[7] team and used here as a metonym for such a team (just as a baseball team may be referred to as a nine).

Delving Deeper

Lacrosse[5] is a team game, originally played by North American Indians, in which the ball is thrown, carried, and caught with a long-handled stick having a curved L-shaped or triangular frame at one end with a piece of shallow netting in the angle. While there are ten players on each team in men's field lacrosse[7], there are only six players on each team in box lacrosse[7] (a version played at an indoor facility such as a hockey rink), and women's field lacrosse[7] teams have 12 players.

21d   California beach // bum roughly embracing boxer (6)

M(ALI)BU* — anagram (roughly) of BUM containing (embracing) ALI (boxer [Muhammad Ali^[5]])

Malibu^[5] is a beach city on the Pacific coast of southern California, immediately to the west of Los Angeles.

22d   A sack full of smoker’s residue // embarrassed (7)

A|B(ASH)ED — A (†) + BED (sack) containing (full of) ASH (smoker's residue)

23d   For instance, harmonica // key (1,5)

A S|HARP — AS (for instance) + HARP (harmonica; slang)

26d   Pansy/’s/ through, having nothing left (5)

VI(O|L)A — VIA (through) containing (having; eating) {O (nothing; letter that looks like a zero) + L (left; abbrev.)}

A viola^[3] is any of various plants of the genus Viola, which includes the violets and pansies.

Epilogue

It would seem a good day to curl up in front of a roaring fire and — as per the setters' advice — make oneself comfortable and relax.

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