Saturday, February 24, 2018 — Top to Bottom, Left to Right

Introduction

Today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon may have been a bit more challenging than usual — or I may not have been in top form due to too many late nights and early mornings keeping tabs on the happenings at the Olympics.

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   Leading comedians, // lead one inside to Granny’s (3,7)

TO(P B|A)NANAS — {PB ([symbol for the chemical element] lead) + A (one)} contained in (inside) {TO (†) + NANA (Granny) + S ('s)}

Top banana^[3,4,11] is a theatrical term for the leading comedian in a vaudeville or burlesque show.

6a   Mark/’s/ neck wrap shortened (4)

SCAR_ — SCAR[F] (neck wrap) with the final letter removed (shortened)

10a   One in charge // put last of alfalfa in trough (7)

MAN(A)GER — A (last [letter] of alfalfA) contained in (put ... in) MANGER (trough)

11a   Except for // article right inside, deliver (7)

B(A|R)RING — {A ([indefinite] article) + R (right; abbrev.)} contained in (inside) BRING (deliver)

12a   Opera house containing paintings by trendy // drillmaster (8)

M(ART|IN)ET — MET (opera house; Metropolitan Opera House in New York City) containing (†) {ART (paintings) + (by; next to) IN (trendy)}

A martinet^[3,4,11] is a strict disciplinarian, especially a military one.

13a   Perceive true // courage (5)

HEAR|T — HEAR (perceive) + T (true; abbrev.)

15a   Edge cutting into otherwise // round shape (7)

EL(LIP)SE — LIP (edge) contained in (cutting into) ELSE (otherwise)

17a   Pasta dish // partly for a violinist (7)

_R|A|VIOLI_ — hidden in (partly) foR A VIOLInist

18a   Wet spot ruined // dance (3-4)

{TWO-STEP}* — anagram (ruined) of WET SPOT

21a   Fuel mixture London district carried in gallons (7)

GA(SOHO)L — SOHO (London district) contained in (carried in) GAL (gallons; abbrev.)

Soho^*[7] is an area of the City of Westminster and part of the West End of London. Long established as an entertainment district, for much of the 20th century Soho had a reputation for sex shops as well as night life and film industry. Since the early 1980s, the area has undergone considerable transformation. It now is predominantly a fashionable district of upmarket restaurants and media offices, with only a small remnant of sex industry venues.

---

^* The name Soho^[5] dates to the mid 17th century and probably derives from the old word soho, used as a hunting cry: the area was a royal park in Tudor times.

23a   Casting // connection understood (5)

IN|GOT — IN (connection; pull or influence He's got an in with the senator^[11]) + GOT (understood)

24a   Pal taken aboard by the Pequod’s captain next to one // Persian Gulf land (3,5)

A(BU D)HAB|I — BUD (pal) contained in (taken aboard by) AHAB (the Pequod's captain) + (next to) I ([Roman numeral for] one)

Captain Ahab^[7] is a fictional character in Herman Melville's Moby-Dick (1851)^*, the monomaniacal captain of the whaling ship Pequod.

---

^* The work was published as The Whale in London in October 1851 and as Moby-Dick or The Whale in New York in November 1851. Despite the hyphen in the title of the New York edition, the whale appears in both editions as "Moby Dick", with no hyphen.

---

Abu Dhabi^[5] is the largest of the seven member states of the United Arab Emirates, lying at the southeastern end of the Persian Gulf.

27a   Silly people going around not at all // like Columbus (7)

GE(NO)ESE — GEESE (silly people) containing (going around) NO (not at all)

Christopher Columbus^[5,7] (1451–1506) was a Spanish explorer born in the Republic of Genoa (now part of Italy), credited as being the first European to reach the Americas^*.

---

^* presumably unbeknownst to him, the Vikings had been here 500 years before him, establishing a settlement in northern Newfoundland at L'Anse aux Meadows^[7]. Perhaps if they had wintered in the Caribbean, as Columbus did, they might have stayed.

28a   Auto going in reverse in distance // event that’s hard to explain (7)

MI(RAC<)LE — reversal (in reverse) of CAR (auto) contained in (in) MILE (distance)

29a   In the sound, bring up // flat-bodied fishes (4)

RAYS — sounds like (in the sound) RAISE (bring up)

30a   Lily on the screen held by bum to be // final reckoning (6,4)

BOT(TOM LIN)E* — TOMLIN (Lily on the screen; American comedienne and actress Lily Tomlin^[7]) contained in (held by) an anagram (bum) of TO BE

Down

1d   Very long book, // in my opinion (4)

TO|ME — TO ME (in my opinion)

2d   Something hard to swallow about NBA // arcade game (7)

PI(NBA)LL — PILL (something difficult to swallow; alluding to the expression a bitter pill to swallow^[5]) containing (about) NBA (†; abbrev. for National Basketball Association)

3d   Film about the “Canadian Caper” with bit of Toronto // slang (5)

ARGO|T — ARGO (film about the "Canadian Caper") + (with) T (bit [initial letter] of Toronto)

Argo^[7] is a 2012 American historical drama film directed by Ben Affleck. The film, which stars Affleck with Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, and John Goodman in supporting roles, deals with the "Canadian Caper," in which six U.S. diplomats were rescued from Tehran, Iran, during the 1979-1981 Iran hostage crisis. The film is a highly fictionalized account of the affair which glorifies the role of the CIA and minimizes the role of Canadian ambassador Ken Taylor and other Canadian embassy staff. Former US President Jimmy Carter has said:

90% of the contributions to the ideas and the consummation of the plan was Canadian. And the movie gives almost full credit to the American CIA. And with that exception, the movie is very good. But Ben Affleck's character in the film was... only in Tehran a day and a half. And the main hero, in my opinion, was Ken Taylor, who was the Canadian ambassador who orchestrated the entire process.

Affleck's defense of the gross historical inaccuracies in the film:

Because we say it's based on a true story, rather than this is a true story, we're allowed to take some dramatic license. There's a spirit of truth ....

Pity the poor American public who learn their history at the feet of Hollywood and think they are well educated.

4d   Plan // “R” operated in historical period (7)

A(R|RAN)GE — {R (†) + RAN (operated)} contained in (in) AGE (historical period)

5d   Judge // fixed rarebit (7)

ARBITER* — anagram (fixed) of RAREBIT

Scratching the Surface
Rarebit[5] (also Welsh rarebit) is a dish of melted and seasoned cheese on toast, sometimes with other ingredients. The name is an alteration of Welsh rabbit[5] (probably originally used humorously).

7d   Groucho’s brother taking in Silver // City (7)

CHIC(AG)O — CHICO (Groucho's brother) containing (taking in) AG ([symbol for the chemical element] silver)

The Marx Brothers^[5] were a family of American comedians, consisting of the brothers Chico (Leonard, 1887–1961), Harpo (Adolph Arthur, 1888–1964), Groucho (Julius Henry, 1890–1977), and Zeppo (Herbert, 1901–1979). Their films, which are characterized by their anarchic humour, include Duck Soup (1933) and A Night at the Opera (1935).

8d   Where flies may go // if red light changes (5,5)

{RIGHT FIELD}* — anagram (changes) of IF RED LIGHT

In baseball, flies (fly balls) may go to any part of the outfield — right field, centre field, or left field.

9d   Playful U.S. composer/’s/ records (8)

ARCH|IVES — ARCH (playful) + IVES (U.S. composer)

Charles Ives^[5] (1874–1954) was a US composer, noted for his use of polyrhythms, polytonality, quarter-tones, and aleatoric techniques. Notable works: The Unanswered Question (1906), Three Places in New England (1903–14), and Concord (1915).

14d   Radical // French painter framing female double (4-6)

LE(F|T-WIN)GER — LEGER (French painter) containing (framing) {F (female; abbrev.) + TWIN (double)}

Fernand Léger^[5] (1881–1955) was a French painter. From about 1909 he was associated with the cubist movement, but then developed a style inspired by machinery and modern technology; works include the Contrast of Forms series (1913).

16d   Plant container with a little pig’s // veggies (8)

POT|A|TOES — POT (plant container) + (with) A (†) + TOE (little pig; alluding to the nursery rhyme and fingerplay game "This Little Piggy"^[7]) + S ('s)

19d   Cloth // also found in wild party (7)

ORG(AND)Y — AND (also) contained in (found in) ORGY (wild party)

20d   OPEC lab developed // experimental drug? (7)

PLACEBO* — anagram (developed) of OPEC LAB

A placebo^[5] is a substance that has no therapeutic effect, used as a control in testing new drugs.

Scratching the Surface
Although pharmaceutical research would seem to be beyond its mandate, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries[5] (OPEC) is an association of the thirteen major oil-producing countries, founded in 1960 to coordinate policies. Its headquarters are in Vienna.

21d   Discriminating diner // employed in testing our methods (7)

_G|OUR|MET_ — hidden in (employed in) testinG OUR METhods

22d   Greeting composer, I // grill (7)

HI|BACH|I — HI (greeting) + BACH (composer; German composer Johann Sebastian Bach^[5]) + I (†)

25d   Pacesetter in front of married // group in a seraglio (5)

HARE|M — HARE (pacesetter) + (in front of) M (married; abbrev.)

Seraglio^[5] is a historical term for the women’s apartments (harem^*) in an Ottoman palace.

---

^* The word harem^[5] can denote either the separate part of a Muslim household reserved for wives, concubines, and female servants or the women occupying a harem; namely, the wives (or concubines) of a polygamous man.

26d   Entertain // tenor, in payment (4)

FE(T)E — T (tenor; abbrev.) contained in (in) FEE (payment)

Epilogue

The title of today's review is inspired by 1a, 30a, 14d, and 8d.

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