Saturday, December 16, 2017 — Mmm ... M&M's to the Maximum

Introduction

Today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon is a sweet treat that I found to my taste although it did present more than a modicum of challenge.

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   Opening // remark interrupted by 100 English fellows (12)

COMMEN(C|E|MEN)T — COMMENT (remark) containing (interrupted by) {C ([Roman numeral for] 100) + E (English; abbrev.) + MEN (fellows)}

9a   One point about that guy/’s/ Disneyland locale (7)

AN|A(HE)IM — {AN (one) + AIM (point)} containing (about) HE (that guy)

Disneyland Park^[7], originally Disneyland, is the first of two theme parks^* built at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It opened on July 17, 1955 and is the only theme park designed and built under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. It was originally the only attraction on the property; its official name was changed to Disneyland Park to distinguish it from the expanding complex in the 1990s.

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^* The other being Disney California Adventure Park^[7] which opened in 2001.

10a   Hurt by one small // economic doctrine (7)

MAR|X|I|SM — MAR (hurt) + X ([multiplied] by) I ([Roman numeral for] one) + SM (small; abbrev.)

11a   Conventional // armaments I modified (10)

MAINSTREAM* — anagram (modified) of ARMAMENTS I

12a   One-track // mind, initially, on love (4)

M|ON|O — M (mind, initially; initial letter of Mind) + ON (†) + O (love; nil score in tennis)

14a   Female spirit // seen in pseudonym “Phoebe” (5)

_NYM|PH_ — hidden in (seen in) pseudoNYM PHoebe

15a   Moroccan city // leaf collector standing in swamp (9)

MAR(RAKE)SH — RAKE (leaf collector) contained in (standing in) MARSH (swamp)

Marrakesh is an alternate spelling of Marrakech^[5], a city in western Morocco, in the foothills of the High Atlas Mountains.

16a   British nobleman skirting a // Polynesian island group (9)

MARQUES(A)S — MARQUESS (British nobleman) containing (skirting; going around) A (†)

In Britain, a marquess^[5] is a nobleman^* ranking above an earl and below a duke.

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^* The nobility (or peerage^[5]) in Britain or Ireland comprises the ranks of duke or duchess, marquess or marchioness, earl or countess, viscount or viscountess, and baron or baroness.

The Marquesas^* Islands^[5] are a group of volcanic islands in the South Pacific, forming part of French Polynesia. The islands were annexed by France in 1842. The largest island is Hiva Oa, on which the French painter Paul Gauguin spent the last two years of his life.

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^* A marquesa is a Spanish noblewoman equivalent in rank to a British marchioness.

18a   Mother takes in good, // hot rock (5)

MA(G)MA — MAMA (mother) containing (takes in) G (good; abbrev. that might be used by a school teacher)

21a   Note // the first person married with ring (4)

ME|M|O — ME (the first person [grammatically]) + M (married; abbrev.) + (with) O ([letter that looks like a] ring)

22a   Grind in menu misspelled /for/ a really long time (10)

MILL|ENNIUM* — MILL (grind) + anagram (misspelled) of IN MENU

25a   Reversing call, scratch // football player (7)

{LIN|EMAN}< — reversal (reversing) of {NAME (call) + NIL (scratch)}

26a   Boggy area bearing revolutionary // sponge (7)

MOO(CHE)R — MOOR (boggy area) containing (bearing) CHE (revolutionary; Argentine Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara^[7])

I was rather surprised to see moor being clued by "boggy area". However, according to Oxford Dictionaries, moor^[5] is a US dialect term for fen — and the setters are Americans. Nevertheless, this usage may not be entirely an Americanism. According to Wikipedia, moorland^[7] (or moor) nowadays generally means uncultivated hill land (such as Dartmoor in South West England), but includes low-lying wetlands (such as Sedgemoor, also in South West England).

27a   Terrible crime tests my // way of gauging things (6,6)

{METRIC SYSTEM}* — anagram (terrible) of CRIME TESTS MY

Down

1d   Stupidly ruin Mac: // case for a brain? (7)

CRANIUM* — anagram (stupidly) RUIN MAC

2d   Pipe // repaired each summer (10)

MEERSCHAUM* — anagram (repaired) of EACH SUMMER

3d   Composer Bernstein // embraced by Ethel Merman (5)

_EL|MER_ — hidden in (embraced by) EthEL MERman

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The clue was not only incorrectly printed in the paper as:

• Composer Bernste in embraced by Ethel Merman (5)

but run over three lines with the first break occurring in the middle of "Bernste in".

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Elmer Bernstein^*[7] (1922–2004) was an American composer and conductor who is best known for his many film scores. In a career which spanned fifty years, he composed music for hundreds of film and television productions. His most popular works include the scores to The Magnificent Seven, The Ten Commandments, The Great Escape, To Kill a Mockingbird, Ghostbusters, The Black Cauldron, Airplane!, The Rookies, Cape Fear, Animal House, and The Age of Innocence. He won an Oscar for his score to Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967).

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^* He was not related to the celebrated composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein; but the two men were friends. Within the world of professional music, they were distinguished from each other by the use of the nicknames Bernstein West (Elmer) and Bernstein East (Leonard). They pronounced their last names differently; Elmer pronounced his (BERN-steen), and Leonard's was (BERN-stine).

Scratching the Surface
Ethel Merman[5] (1908–1984) was a US singer and actress; born Ethel Zimmerman. The “queen of Broadway” for three decades, she performed in many plays and musicals, including Annie Get Your Gun (1946), Call Me Madam (1950), Gypsy (1959), and Hello, Dolly! (1970).

4d   Core groups including old lawmaker // friends (9)

C(O|MP)ADRES — CADRES (core groups) containing (including) {O (old; abbrev.) + MP (lawmaker; abbrev. for Member of Parliament)}

5d   Sea // horse (4)

MARE — double definition

In astronomy, a mare^[5] (Latin 'sea') is a large, level basalt plain on the surface of the moon, appearing dark by contrast with highland areas. They were once thought to be seas.

6d   Foul-smelling // goose egg is found in Alaskan town (7)

N(O|IS)OME — {O (goose egg; letter that looks like a zero) + IS (†)} contained in (found in) NOME (Alaskan town)

Nome^[5] is a city in western Alaska, on the south coast of the Seward Peninsula. Founded in 1896 as a gold-mining camp, it became a centre of the Alaskan gold rush at the turn of the century.

Here and There
Goose egg[5] is an informal North American term for a zero score in a game ⇒ once again, our team goes home with a big goose egg. In cricket, a duck[5] (short for duck's egg) is a batsman’s score of nought [zero] ⇒ he was out for a duck.

7d   One in 3,000 touching // wealth (6)

M(A)MM|ON — A (one) contained in (in) MMM ([Roman numeral for] 3,000) + ON (touching)

8d   Unwrinkled // orange eaten by southern insect (6)

S|M(O)OTH or S|MO(O)TH — O (orange; abbrev.) contained in (eaten by) {S (southern; abbrev.) + MOTH (insect)}

13d   Subcontracting // reconstruction of giant forum (7,3)

{FARMING OUT}* — anagram of (reconstruction of) GIANT FORUM

15d   Grandly liberating // cinemas is wrong (9)

MESSIANIC* — anagram (wrong) of CINEMAS IS

16d   Indistinctly say // Manitoba invested in drug smuggler (6)

MU(MB)LE — MB ([postal abbrev. for] Manitoba) contained in (invested in) MULE (drug smuggler)

17d   Cameron revised // Love Story (7)

ROMANCE* — anagram (revised) of CAMERON

Scratching the Surface
James Cameron[5] is a Canadian film director. His films include The Terminator (1984) and Titanic (1997). Love Story[7] is a 1970 American romantic drama film starring Ali MacGraw and Ryan O'Neal and written by Erich Segal, who was also the author of the best-selling novel of the same name. The film is memorable for the line "Love means never having to say you're sorry".

19d   Suspense writer/’s/ ominous about quiet article (7)

GRI(SH|A)M — GRIM (ominous) containing (about) {SH ([admonition to be] quiet) + A ([indefinite] article}

John Grisham^[7] is an American bestselling writer, attorney, politician, and activist best known for his popular legal thrillers.

20d   Like // mad new rage (6)

ADM*|IRE — anagram (new) of MAD + IRE (rage)

23d   Unevenly mixed // up my liquid after first bit of lunch (5)

L|UMPY* — anagram (liquid) of UP MY following (after) L (first bit [initial letter] of Lunch)

24d   Sharif // hit hoop from behind (4)

{O|MAR}< — reversal (from behind) of {RAM (hit) + O ([letter that looks like a] hoop)}

Omar Sharif^[7] (1932–2015), born Michel Dimitri Chalhoub, was an Egyptian actor. He began his career in his native country in the 1950s, but is best known for his appearances in both British and American productions. His films included Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Doctor Zhivago (1965), and Funny Girl (1968).

Epilogue

The title of today's review is inspired by the fact that every solution in this puzzle has at least one M, and many have two or three.

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