Saturday, December 2, 2017 — Applying the Right Spin

Introduction

As many of the comments indicate, today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon put up a bit of a tussle. Like some of you, I did not get far on my first read through. It was then a process of gradually building out from the few bridgeheads that I had managed to establish. Yes, 19a was also my last one in and I worked it out from the wordplay before checking in the dictionary to see if it really exists. As it turns out, I have actually encountered the word before, but in  an equestrian context where it denotes an ornamental covering spread over a horse's saddle or harness.

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   Fats Waller playing // "Cascades" (10)

WATERFALLS* — anagram (playing) of FATS WALLER

Scratching the Surface
Fats Waller[5] (1904–1943) was an American jazz pianist, songwriter, bandleader, and singer; born Thomas Wright Waller. He was the foremost exponent of the New York ‘stride school’ of piano playing. It may be merely a coincidence, but "The Cascades"[7] is the name of a 1904 ragtime composition by American composer and pianist Scott Joplin (ca. 1867/68–1917).

6a   Portion of quiche for // cook (4)

_CHE|F_ — hidden in (portion of) quiCHE For

9a   Agent with Middle East land // collector of a sort (4.3)

REP|O MAN — REP (agent) + OMAN (Middle East land)

Oman^[5,7], officially the Sultanate of Oman, is an Arab country at the southeastern corner of the Arabian peninsula.

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Repo man^[5] is an informal North American^* term for a person employed to repossess goods for which a purchaser has defaulted on payment ⇒ for the last year, he's been one step ahead of the repo man.

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^* Strangely, this term appears in all my British dictionaries but in none of my US dictionaries.

10a   True scoundrel/'s/ racehorse (7)

T|ROTTER — T (true; abbrev.) + ROTTER (scoundrel)

Rotter^[5] is a informal, dated, chiefly British term for a cruel, mean, or unkind person ⇒Rosemary had decided that all men were rotters.

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A trotter^[5] is a horse bred or trained for the sport of trotting^*.

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^* Trotting is a form of harness racing^[7] in which horses move with a trotting gait rather than a pacing gait. The difference is that a trotter moves its legs forward in diagonal pairs (right front and left hind, then left front and right hind striking the ground simultaneously), whereas a pacer moves its legs laterally (right front and right hind together, then left front and left hind).

12a   Writer with weapon bagging one // bird (7)

PEN|GU(I)N — PEN (writer; author or writing implement) + GUN (weapon) containing (bagging) I ([Roman numeral for] one)

Here and There

This clue might cause some head scratching across the pond. While North Americans might interpret "pen" to mean either an author or a writing implement, to our British confreres it would mean only the latter. While North American dictionaries define pen[3,11] as a writer or an author ⇒ a hired pen, British dictionaries do not list this meaning although they do show pen[2,4] (or the pen[5,10]) as symbolically denoting writing as an occupation.

13a   Wasp returning around bit of hard // baloney (5)

PS(H)AW< — reversal (returning) of WASP (†) containing (around) H (hard; abbrev. for a grade of pencil lead)

Pshaw^[5] is a dated, humorous expression of contempt or impatience ⇒ Poison? Pshaw! The very idea!.

Here and There

The surface reading here might give pause to a British reader. While the term "baloney"[5] in the sense of foolish or deceptive talk or nonsense* does appear to be used in the UK, Oxford Dictionaries tells us that baloney, in the sense of bologna is a North American term — as is bologna[5] (or bologna sausage) itself. This would almost suggest that bologna may be foreign to the British diet. However, whether or not they eat it, they do have a term for it. They call it polony[5]. * in this sense, baloney[3] is a euphemism for bullshit

15a   Ancient Greek // nickel possessed by world sports organization (5)

IO(NI)C — NI ([Ni, symbol for the chemical element] nickel) contained in (possessed by) IOC (world sports organization; International Olympic Committee)

17a   Cold applied to sore // combatant (9)

C|ON|TENDER — C (cold; abbrev. found on a cold water faucet) + ON (applied to) + TENDER (sore)

19a   Aristotle's wearing chicken // outfit (9)

CAP(ARI|S)ON — {ARI ([diminutive of] Aristotle; Onassis perhaps) + S ('s)} contained in (wearing) CAPON (chicken)

A capon^[5] is a male chicken castrated when young to improve the quality of its flesh for food.

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Caparison^[3] as a noun denotes richly ornamented clothing or finery and as a verb means to dress (another) in rich clothing.

21a   Black // Beauty's opening in auction (5)

SA(B)LE — B (Beauty's opening [initial letter]) contained in (in) SALE (auction)

Scratching the Surface

Black Beauty[7] is an 1877 novel by English author Anna Sewell. The story is narrated in the first person as an autobiographical memoir told by the titular horse named Black Beauty—beginning with his carefree days as a colt on an English farm with his mother, to his difficult life pulling cabs in London, to his happy retirement in the country. Along the way, he meets with many hardships and recounts many tales of cruelty and kindness. It was composed in the last years of her life, during which she remained in her house as an invalid. The novel became an immediate best-seller, with Sewell dying just five months after its publication, but having lived long enough to see her only novel become a success. With fifty million copies sold, Black Beauty is one of the best-selling books of all time.

23a   Devoured // each decade (5)

EA|TEN — EA (each; abbrev.) + TEN (decade)

24a   Upset, in sum, at // coastal disaster (7)

TSUNAMI* — anagram (upset) of IN SUM AT

A tsunami^[5] is a long, high sea wave caused by an earthquake or other disturbance ⇒ the loss of human lives from this latest tsunami is staggering.

27a   Police officer // let loose after month (7)

MO|UNTIE — UNTIE (let loose) following (after) MO (month; abbrev.)

28a   Love wearing skirt covering // massive weight (7)

KIL(O)T|ON — O (love; tennis score of 0) contained in (wearing) KILT (skirt) + ON (covering)

29a   Northern island in French // river (4)

N|ILE — N (northern; abbrev.) + ILE (island in French; French word meaning 'island')

The Nile^[5] is a river in eastern Africa, the longest river in the world, which rises in east central Africa near Lake Victoria and flows 6,695 km (4,160 miles) generally northwards through Uganda, South Sudan, Sudan, and Egypt to empty through a large delta into the Mediterranean.

30a   The senator changed // shades (5,5)

{EARTH TONES}* — anagram (changed) of THE SENATOR

Down

1d   Get bent // with Dada artist (4)

W|ARP — W (with; abbrev.) + ARP (Dada artist)

Cloud Shepherd, Jean Arp (1953)

Jean Arp^[5] (1887–1966) was a French painter, sculptor, and poet; also known as Hans Arp. He was a co-founder of the Dada movement and is noted for his three-dimensional abstract curvilinear sculptures in marble and bronze.

2d   Sadly. Pop isn't // English? (7)

TOPSPIN* — anagram (sadly) of POP ISNT

Sadly, strictly speaking, English isn't topspin. Also known as side spin, english^[7] (which is usually not capitalized) is spin placed on the cue ball when hit with the cue tip to the left or right of the ball's center. The British and Irish do not use this term, instead preferring "side". "English" is sometimes used more inclusively, to colloquially also refer to follow (top spin) and draw (back spin).

3d   Certain Italian // male carried by horse (5)

RO(M)AN — M (male; abbrev.) contained in (carried by) ROAN (horse)

4d   Says // Ann's gaining small amount of weight (9)

ANN(OUNCE)S — {ANN (†) + S ('s)} containing (gaining) OUNCE (small amount of weight)

5d   Los Angeles can // talk in the Forum (5)

LA|TIN — LA (Los Angeles; abbrev.) + TIN (can)

In an ancient Roman city, a forum^[5] was a public square or marketplace used for judicial and other business. The Forum^[10] refers to the main forum of ancient Rome, situated between the Capitoline and the Palatine Hills.

Scratching the Surface
The Forum[7] is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Inglewood, California, adjacent to Los Angeles. It is  the former home of the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers and the NHL's Los Angeles Kings.

7d   Married, // husband had a hankering (7)

H|ITCHED — H (husband; abbrev.) + ITCHED (had a hankering)

8d   One prize picked up by swamp // safety official (4.6)

F(I|RE WARD)EN — {I ([Roman numeral for] one) + REWARD (prize)} contained in (picked up by) FEN (swamp)

11d   Storied musician // sloshed her soup (7)

ORPHEUS* — anagram (sloshed) of HER SOUP

In Greek mythology, Orpheus^[5] was a poet who could entrance wild beasts with the beauty of his singing and lyre playing. He went to the underworld after the death of his wife Eurydice and secured her release from the dead, but lost her because he failed to obey the condition that he must not look back at her until they had reached the world of the living.

14d   Flyer // altered Crimean War (10)

AIRCREWMAN* — anagram (altered) of CRIMEAN WAR

The word aircrewman is not found in my usual stable of dictionaries, although it is listed by TheFreeDictionary.com website citing other sources as meaning a member of an aircrew. An aircraftman^[4] (or aircraftwoman) a serviceman (or servicewoman) of the most junior rank in the RAF.

Scratching the Surface
The Crimean War[10] (1853-56) was a war fought mainly in the Crimea between Russia on one side and Turkey, France, Sardinia, and Britain on the other.

16d   Horn on the outside of old // monarch's headpiece (7)

COR(O)NET — CORNET (horn; musical instrument) containing (on the outside of) O (old; abbrev.)

A cornet^[5] is a brass instrument resembling a trumpet but shorter and wider.

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I have to wonder whether any self-respecting monarch would be found wearing a coronet^[5] which is a small or relatively simple crown, especially as worn by lesser royalty and peers or peeresses.

18d   New England island // article fit snugly inside mesh (9)

N(AN|TUCK)ET — {AN ([indefinite] article) + TUCK (fit snugly)} contained in (inside) NET (mesh)

Nantucket^[5] is an island off the coast of Massachusetts, south of Cape Cod and east of Martha’s Vineyard. It was an important whaling centre in the 18th and 19th centuries.

20d   Dog // bit bum in drag (3,4)

P(IT B)*ULL — anagram (bum) of BIT contained in (in) PULL (drag)

22d   Composer // attacked by bugs when taking run (7)

B(R)ITTEN — BITTEN (attacked by bugs) containing (when taking) R (run; abbrev. encountered in baseball and cricket)

Benjamin Britten^[5], Lord Britten of Aldeburgh (1913–1976) was an English composer, pianist, and conductor. He founded the Aldeburgh festival with Peter Pears in 1948, and in 1976 became the first composer to be made a life peer. Notable operas: Peter Grimes (1945), A Midsummer Night's Dream (1960), and Death in Venice (1973).

24d   Snarled at the // Greek character (5)

THETA* — anagram (snarled) of AT THE

Theta^[5] is the eighth letter of the Greek alphabet (Θ, θ).

25d   Tax returns after a // dole (5)

A|LLOT< — reversal (returns) of TOLL (tax) following (after) A (†)

26d   Burden // where we must bear it? (4)

ON|US — ON US ('where we must bear it')

Epilogue

The theme of today's review is inspired by 2d where the setters may not have applied the correct spin.

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