Saturday, June 13, 2020 — Above and Below

Introduction

I was a bit late in posting  today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon. However, it probably didn't take you an excessively long time to complete it.

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	Old // greeting in public place of torment (4,3,4)

OVER T|HE (HI)LL — HI (greeting) contained in (in) {OVERT (public) + HELL (place of torment)}

9a	Painting // front of mountain range in Russia (5)

M|URAL — M (front [initial letter] of Mountain) + URAL (range in Russia)

I don't believe the word Ural can stand alone in reference to the mountains. It is either the Ural Mountains or the Urals. This is like referring to the Rocky Mountains as the Rocky rather that the Rockies. The situation is different for the river. It is the Ural River or the Ural.

10a	Stone-faced // people’s leader embraced by one giant (9)

I|M(P)ASSIVE — P (People's leader [initial letter]) contained in (embraced by) {I ([Roman numeral for] one) + MASSIVE (giant)}

11a	Pleasure-seeker // Mafia boss brought into robbery (8)

HE(DON)IST — DON (Mafia boss) contained in (brought into) HEIST (robbery)

12a	Paint’s first coat, // one involved in a game (6)

P|LAYER — P (Paint's first [initial letter]) + LAYER (coat)

14a	Encounter // swarm on the way back (4)

MEET< — reversal of (on the way back) TEEM (swarm)

15a	Handle // second-rate room’s check (10)

B|ROOMS|TICK — B (second-rate) + ROOM (†) + TICK (check)

18a	Outline // hotel suite wrongly (10)

SILHOUETTE* — anagram of (wrongly) HOTEL SUITE

19a	Dizzy // bats facing the wrong way (4)

STUN< — reversal of (facing the wrong way) NUTS (bats)

Dizzy is used as a verb.

21a	Summertime // gold rush (6)

AU|GUST — AU ([chemical symbol for] gold) + GUST (rush [of air])

August is summertime — but summertime is not necessarily August.

23a	Type of wine // hipster found around Swiss capital (8)

CA(BERNE)T — CAT (hipster) containing (found around) BERNE (Swiss capital)

26a	Employ fur scarf in toasty // home by the shore (9)

HO(USE|BOA)T — {USE (employ) + BOA (fur scarf)} contained in (in) HOT (toasty)

27a	Recited shower // rule (5)

REIGN~ — sounds like (recited) RAIN (shower)

28a	Nudge hunter, awfully // stressed (5,3,3)

{UNDER THE GUN}* — anagram of (awfully) NUDGE HUNTER

Down

1d	Punch // lawmaker in reaction to something amazing (5)

OO(MP)H — MP (lawmaker; Member of Parliament) contained in (in) OOH (reaction to something amazing)

2d	Released a confused // marine mammal (5,4)

{EARED SEAL}* — anagram of (confused) RELEASED A

3d	Campground home sheltering a large // gift (6)

T(A|L)ENT — TENT (campground home) containing (sheltering) {A (†) + L(arge)}

4d	Agents // inside of jet don’t see sign (10)

E|MISS|ARIES — E (inside [middle letter] of jEt) + MISS (don't see) + ARIES (sign [of the zodiac])

5d	Rascals // starts in indie movie palaces soon (4)

IMPS — initial letters of (starts in) {Indie Movie Palaces Soon}

6d	Lazy, // like an unprepared shopper? (8)

LISTLESS — double definition, the second rather whimsical

7d	Small, // like a fork? (4)

TINY — double definition, once again the second rather whimsical

8d	Carries family // rug of a sort (8)

BEARS|KIN — BEARS (carries) + KIN (family)

13d	Mail official // reorganized sports team (10)

POSTMASTER* — anagram of (reorganized) SPORTS TEAM

14d	Growth on a lip // has got to hurt (8)

MUST|ACHE — MUST (has got to) + ACHE (hurt)

Mustache is the US spelling of moustache.

16d	Meaning // in tragedy’s beginning and ending (9)

IN|T|ENDING — IN (†) + T (Tragedy's beginning [initial letter]) + (and) ENDING (†)

17d	French painter // arouses different university (8)

ROUSSEA|U — anagram of (different) AROUSES + U(niversity)

20d	Dirt in back of hot // fireplace (6)

H|EARTH — EARTH (dirt) following (in back of) H(ot)

22d	Affected by recession, town // eats (4)

GRUB< — reversal of (affected by recession) BURG (town)

In astronomy, recession^[5] denotes the action of receding; motion away from an observer.

24d	“X” adorning // part of a joint (5)

TEN|ON — TEN (X; Roman numeral for ten) + ON (adorning)

A mortise and tenon is a joint used in woodworking.

25d	Frame of mind // low down (4)

MOO|D — MOO (low; sound made by a bovine) + D(own)

Epilogue

Due to some technical gremlins today, 28a is an apt descriptor of the situation I found myself in. Some might say that 1a also applies.

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