Saturday, April 18, 2020 — Romantic Tongues?

Introduction

Here is today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon. I will return later with the solution.

I invite you to leave a comment to let us know how you fared with the puzzle.

Introduction

Today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon proved none too difficult — aside from my inability to correctly read one clue.

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

Symbols and Markup Conventions
"*" - anagram "~" - sounds like "<" - indicates the preceding letters are reversed "( )" - encloses contained letters "_" - replaces letters that have been deleted  "†" - indicates that the word is present in the clue	"//" - marks the boundary between wordplay and definition when no link word or link phrase is present "/[link word or phrase]/" - marks the boundary between wordplay and definition when a link word or link phrase is present "solid underline" - precise definition "dotted underline" - cryptic definition "dashed underline" - wordplay "double underline" - both wordplay and definition
Click here for further explanation and usage examples of the symbols and markup conventions used on this blog.

Across

1a	Notably crossed current // symbol, after difficulty (7)

RUB|ICON — ICON (symbol) following (after) RUB (difficulty)

The definition is a cryptic allusion to a stream of flowing water ("current") which was the site of a historic crossing (was "notably crossed").

The Rubicon^[5,10] is a stream in north-eastern Italy that marked the ancient boundary between Italy and Cisalpine Gaul. By leading his army across it into Italy in 49 BC, Julius Caesar broke the law that forbid a general from leading an army out of the province to which he was posted and so committed himself to war against the Senate and Pompey. The ensuing civil war resulted in victory for Caesar after three years.

5a	Identify as our group/’s/ mythical mount (7)

PEG|AS|US — PEG (identify) + AS (†) + US (our group)

In Greek mythology, Pegasus^[5] (also Pegasi) is a winged horse which sprang from the blood of Medusa when Perseus cut off her head.

9a	Conductor // to examine in debut of “Iolanthe” (9)

TO|SCAN|IN|I — TO (†) + SCAN (study) + IN (†) + I (debut [initial letter] of "Iolanthe")

Arturo Toscanini^[5] (1867–1957) was an Italian conductor. He was musical director at La Scala in Milan (1898–1903; 1906-8) before becoming a conductor at the Metropolitan Opera, New York (1908–21).

Scratching the Surface
Iolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri[7] is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) and libretto by W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911). Iolanthe is a fairy who has been banished from fairyland because she married a mortal — an act forbidden by fairy law.

10a	Fruit // guy split (5)

MAN|GO — MAN (guy) + GO (split; depart)

11a	Breakfast // starch: often, bananas (6,5)

{FRENCH TOAST}* — anagram of (bananas) STARCH OFTEN

14a	Trophy, having tipped, // restored to order (7,2)

C(LEANED) UP — CUP (trophy) containing (having) LEANED (tipped)

16a	Crown // I found in the O’Hara place (5)

T(I)ARA — I (†) contained in (found in) TARA (the O'Hara place)

Tara^[7] is the name of a fictional plantation in the state of Georgia, the home of Scarlett O'Hara in the historical novel Gone with the Wind (1936) by American writer Margaret Mitchell (1900–1949).

17a	Get to // sermonize after the first (5)

_REACH — [P]REACH (sermonize) with the initial letter removed (after the first)

18a	University place writing, // communicating to a satellite (9)

U|PL|INKING — U(niversity) + PL(ace) + INKING (writing)

19a	Tossed capers in his // dish of grains (7,4)

{SPANISH RICE}* — anagram of (tossed) CAPERS IN HIS

Spanish rice^[5] is a dish of rice with onions, peppers, tomatoes, and other vegetables, often coloured and flavoured with saffron.

24a	Vehicle for Madonna // partly levitating (5)

_EVITA_ — hidden in (partly) lEVITAting

Evita^[7] is a 1996 American musical drama film based on the 1976 rock opera concept album of the same name produced by the English musical collaborators, lyricist Tim Rice and composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, which also inspired an award-winning 1978 musical. The film depicts the life of Argentine political leader Eva Perón [known familiarly as Evita], the second wife of Argentine president Juan Perón, detailing her beginnings, rise to fame, political career and death at the age of 33. Directed by Alan Parker, and written by Parker and Oliver Stone, Evita stars Madonna as Eva, Jonathan Pryce as Eva's husband Juan Perón, and Antonio Banderas as Ché, an everyman who acts as the film's narrator.

25a	Mary taking a drink after I // made up (9)

I|MA(GIN)ARY — {MARY (†) containing (taking) GIN (a drink)} following (after) I (†)

26a	Moroccan port // with more spice? (7)

TANGIER — double definition

Tangier^[3,5] (also Tangiers) is a seaport on the northern coast of Morocco,  at the western end of the Strait of Gibraltar commanding the western entrance to the Mediterranean. (show more )

Tangier was founded  by the Phoenicians and later controlled by a variety of powers, including Portugal and Great Britain. Portuguese from the end of the 15th century, Tangier was ruled by the sultan of Morocco 1684–1904, when it came under international control. It was administered as part of an international zone from 1923 until 1956 at which time it passed to the newly independent monarchy of Morocco.

hide

27a	Betrayal/’s/ true motive (7)

T|REASON — T(rue) + REASON (motive)

Down

1d	Learning method: // put down on paper when listening (4)

ROTE~ — sounds like (when listening) WROTE (put down on paper)

2d	Stud // supervisor (4)

BOSS — double definition

3d	Songbird // a short distance behind threshed material (9)

CHAFF|INCH — INCH (a short distance) following (behind) CHAFF (threshed material)

The chaffinch^[5] is a Eurasian and North African finch, typically with a bluish top to the head and dark wings and tail.

This clue would have been solved much sooner had I both not misread "threshed" as "threshold" and noticed that the clue continues onto a third line in the paper.

4d	Innocent, // I must stand in part of the church (5)

NA(I)VE — I (†) contained in (must stand in) NAVE (part of the church)

5d	School’s chief // rule announced (9)

PRINCIPAL~ — sounds like (announced) PRINCIPLE (rule)

6d	Bits of germs and microorganisms under the // scope (5)

G_|A_|M_|U_|T_ — initial letters of (bits of) Germs And Microorganisms Under The

7d	Ship // colony member into part of ancient Palestine (5,5)

S(ANT)A MARIA — ANT (colony member) contained in (into) SAMARIA (part of ancient Palestine)

Samaria^[7] was the region of ancient Palestine around the city of Samaria*, between Galilee in the north and Judaea in the south.

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^* Samaria was an ancient city of central Palestine, founded in the 9th century BC as the capital of the northern Hebrew kingdom of Israel. The ancient site is situated in the modern West Bank, north-west of Nablus.

The Santa Maria^[10] was the flagship of Columbus on his first voyage to America (1492).

8d	Errant hog’s oddly // nearsighted? (5-5)

{SHORT-RANGE}* — anagram of (oddly) ERRANT HOGS

12d	Hector sees new // paper for a sports fan (10)

SCORESHEET* — anagram of (new) HECTOR SEES

13d	State of calm // kin taking chopper (10)

REL(AX)ATION — RELATION (kin) containing (taking) AX (chopper)

15d	More gutsy // cash level (9)

DOUGH|TIER — DOUGH (cash) + TIER (level)

Doughty^[5] is a humorous, archaic term meaning brave and persistent ⇒ his doughty spirit kept him going.

16d	Fork prong holding passion // fruit (9)

T(ANGER)INE — TINE (fork prong) containing (holding) ANGER (passion)

Scratching the Surface
Passion fruit[5] is the edible purple fruit of a kind of passion flower that is grown commercially, especially in tropical America and the Caribbean.

20d	Soldiers in Ulster question one // Middle Easterner (5)

IRA|Q|I — IRA (soldiers in Ulster) + Q(uestion) + I ([Roman numeral for] one)

Ulster^[10] is a widely-used [albeit considered inaccurate by many^*] informal name for the UK province of Northern Ireland.

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^* Historically Ulster was a province and former kingdom of northern Ireland which passed to the English Crown in 1461. In the 17th century, confiscated land was given to English and Scottish Protestant settlers giving rise to serious long-term conflict. Ulster was partitioned in 1921, with six counties [Antrim, Down, Armagh, Londonderry, Tyrone, and Fermanagh] forming Northern Ireland (a province within the United Kingdom) and three counties [Cavan, Donegal, and Monaghan] joining the Republic of Ireland.

The Irish Republican Army^[10] (abbreviation IRA) is a militant organization of Irish nationalists founded with the aim of striving for a united independent Ireland by means of guerrilla warfare.

21d	Splattered paint /is/ not suitable (5)

INAPT* — anagram of (splattered) PAINT

22d	Low // fish (4)

BASS — double definition

23d	Song in church // that guy heard (4)

HYMN~ — sounds like (heard) HIM (that guy)

Epilogue

Today's puzzle features a couple of the Romance languages^[10], the languages derived from Latin such as Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French and Romanian.

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 Advanced 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)
^[14] - CollinsDictionary.com (COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary)

Signing off for today — Falcon