Saturday, November 4, 2017 — Going to the Dogs

Introduction

Today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon is not too difficult. One might even finish it before it is time to walk the dog.

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

8a   Barkers /were/ televised with pub drinks (9)

AIRED|ALES — AIRED (televised) + (with) ALES (pub drinks)

10a   My turn to pass out the cards? // Perfect (5)

I|DEAL — "I DEAL" ("My turn to pass out the cards?")

11a   Story about bee // put on ice (5)

TA(B)LE — TALE (story) containing (about) B (bee)

The setters of this puzzle, Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon, are Americans. While they clearly appear to make an effort to avoid Americanisms in the puzzle, occasionally one creeps in — as is the case today with the word "table" (and it is not for the first time for this one).

In Canada, as in Britain, table^[5] means to present formally for discussion or consideration at a meeting ⇒ more than 200 amendments to the bill have already been tabled.

On the other hand, in the US, the term table^[5] has essentially the opposite connotation, meaning to postpone consideration of ⇒ I'd like the issue to be tabled for the next few months.

12a   Fixes Cher’s // canines (9)

PINS|CHER|S — PINS (fixes; affixes or attaches) + CHER (†) + S ('s)

13a   Easygoing // Air Force story (7)

AF|FABLE — AF (Air Force) + FABLE (story)

15a   Warnings // at going into grottoes (7)

CAVE(AT)S — AT (†) contained in (going into) CAVES (grottoes)

16a   Restrict heirs to snarling // dog (8,7)

{SCOTTISH TERRIER}* — anagram (snarling) of RESTRICT HEIRS TO

20a   Call about help // on a sortie (7)

R(AID)ING — ring (call [on a telephone]) containing (about) AID (help)

22a   Was furious about a peace sign // ruined (7)

R(A|V)AGED — RAGED (was furious) containing (about) {A (†) + V (peace sign)}

Sir Winston Churchill's victory sign from World War II transformed into a peace sign in the 1960s.

24a   Yapper // disturbed pink geese (9)

PEKINGESE* — anagram (disturbed) of PINK GEESE

25a   Get out // small stuff (5)

S|CRAM — S (small; abbrev.) + CRAM (stuff; verb denoting to pack tightly)

27a   Cancel // annual missing article (5)

ANNUL — ANNU[A]L with A ([indefinite] article) removed (missing)

28a   Tossed nail at mad // dog (9)

DALMATIAN* — anagram (tossed) of NAIL AT MAD

Down

1d   Legendary maid’s keeping time /for/ unearthly strangers (8)

MAR(T)IANS — {MARIAN (legendary maid; Maid Marian^[5], love interest of the legendary outlaw Robin Hood) + S ('s)} containing (keeping) T (time; abbrev.)

2d   Seize // yak carrying leader of rebels (4)

G(R)AB — GAB (yak) containing (carrying) R (leader [initial letter] of Rebels)

3d   Dotty braved // part of speech (6)

ADVERB* — anagram (dotty) of BRAVED

4d   Undergoing turbulence cripples // sailing vessels (8)

CLIPPERS* — anagram (undergoing turbulence) of CRIPPLES

5d   Find // record on (8)

DISC|OVER — DISC ([phonograph] record) + OVER (on)

6d   Creating // rank for Wilder? (10)

GENE|RATING — "GENE RATING" ("rank for Wilder?")

Jerome Silberman, known professionally as Gene Wilder^[7], is an American stage and screen comic actor, director, screenwriter, author, and activist.

7d   Chief of police in class // hugs (6)

CLAS(P)S — P (chief [initial letter] of Police) contained in (in) CLASS (†)

9d   Icon’s altering // of sound (5)

SONIC* — anagram (altering) of ICONS

14d   Kermit, for one, conveying little taste in // cavorting (10)

FRO(LICK|IN)G — FROG (Kermit, for one) containing (conveying) {LICK (little taste) + IN (†)}

Kermit the Frog^[7] is a Muppet character and most well-known creation of American puppeteer Jim Henson (1936–1990). Introduced in 1955, Kermit serves as the straight man protagonist of numerous Muppet productions, most notably Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, as well as in movies, specials, and public service announcements through the years. Henson originally performed Kermit until his death.

17d   Delta’s shape // altering with changes (8)

TRIANGLE* — anagram (with changes) of ALTERING

18d   Residents of North Carolina // renovated a shelter (8)

TARHEELS* — anagram (renovated) of A SHELTER

Tarheel^[3,10,12] (or Tar Heel^[3,5,7,11]) is a nickname applied to the U.S. state of North Carolina and its inhabitants. It is also the nickname of the University of North Carolina athletic teams, students, alumni, and fans.

Delving Deeper

The exact etymology of the nickname Tar Heel[7] is unknown, but most folklore believe its roots come from the fact that tar, pitch, and turpentine created from the vast pine forests were some of North Carolina's most important exports early in the state's history. For a time after the American Civil War, the name Tar Heel was derogatory, but it was later reappropriated by the people of North Carolina. Because the exact history of the term is unknown, a number of legends have developed to explain it. One such legend claims it to be a nickname given during the U.S. Civil War, because of the state's importance on the Confederate side, and the fact that the troops "stuck to their ranks like they had tar on their heels". The term "Tar Heel" gained popularity during the Civil War.

19d   Basic // coin pocketed by little squirt (8)

RU(DIME)NT — DIME (coin) contained in (pocketed by) RUNT (little squirt)

20d   Take back // ring again? (6)

REPEAL — double definition; the second on the whimsical side

21d   Coveting // green grass (5)

G|REED — G (green; abbrev. often used to label connectors on video equipment) + REED (grass)

23d   Views // travel papers, including back of passport (6)

VIS(T)AS — VISAS (travel papers) containing (including) T (back [final letter] of passporT)

26d   Went jogging outside one // fall (4)

RA(I)N — RAN (went jogging) containing (outside) I ([Roman numeral for] one)

Rain is likely being used in a figurative sense ⇒ The leaves were raining down faster than I could rake them up.

Epilogue

No scratching of the head was needed to come up with a title for the review of this 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