Saturday, July 18, 2020 — The Whole Shebang

Introduction

Today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon proved to be a pleasant way to while away the morning basking in the sun with frequent dips in a cool, inviting lake.

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

9a	Declare how old you are // (nothing unusual) (7)

AVER|AGE — AVER (declare) + AGE (how old you are)

10a	Nickel found in fireplace feature /of/ hard stone (7)

GRA(NI)TE — NI ([chemical symbol for] nickel) contained in (found in) GRATE (fireplace feature)

11a	In limbo, cook can’t reset // safety device (11,4)

{COMBINATION LOCK}* — anagram of (reset) IN LIMBO COOK CANT

12a	Mishandling // brunch item with egg in the middle (7)

MUFFIN|G — MUFFIN (brunch item) + (with) G (egg in the middle; middle letter of eGg)

13a	On returning, a private eye and a // fish (7)

TIL<|A|PI|A — reversal of (returning) LIT (on) + A (†) + PI (private eye; private investigator) + A (†)

15a	Familiar roles: // what you see in alphabet soup? (5,10)

STOCK CHARACTERS — double definition with the second a cryptic play on stock being a base for soup

18a	Deserter about to be in French // haven (7)

R(ETRE)AT — RAT (deserter) containing (about) ETRE (to be in French; être meaning 'to be' in French)

20a	Allergen // was out of control around our group (7)

RAG(WE)ED — RAGED (was out of control) containing (around) WE (our group)

22a	Novel by loner makes for // something fun (6,2,7)

{BARREL OF MONKEYS}* — anagram of (novel) BY LONER MAKES FOR

24a	Piles including family//  table linens (7)

NAP(KIN)S — NAPS (piles; surfaces of fabrics) containing (including) KIN (family)

25a	Quite legal // petition (7)

SO|LICIT — SO (quite) + LICIT (legal)

Down

1d	Powdery stuff // in supplemental cumin (6)

_TAL|CUM_ — hidden in (in) supplemenTAL CUMin

2d	Layer of soil // pot farmers mixed (10)

PERMAFROST* — anagram of (mixed) POT FARMERS

3d	Monster // herb is Karen’s first (8)

BASIL|IS|K — BASIL (herb) + IS (†) + K (Karen's first [letter])

The basilisk^[5] is a mythical reptile with a lethal gaze or breath, hatched by a serpent from a cock's egg.

4d	Take the bite out of // “Cool,” by director Lee (6)

DEF|ANG — DEF (cool; slang for 'excellent') + (by) ANG (director Lee; Taiwanese filmmaker Ang Lee^[7])

5d	Sparkly // silver mess on the ground (8)

AG|LITTER — AG ([chemical symbol for] silver) + LITTER (mess on the ground)

6d	Worldly // nurse, one in Calfornia (6)

CA(RN|A)L — {RN ([registered] nurse) + A (one)} contained (in) CAL(ifornia)

7d	Greeting for an Italian // food recited (4)

CIAO~ — sounds like (recited) CHOW (food)

8d	Feeble stupor, so we hear, // when most people work (8)

WEEKDAYS~ — sounds like (we hear) {WEAK (feeble) + DAZE (stupor)}

14d	Pisan’s first mention: // “leaning” (10)

P|REFERENCE — P (Pisan's first [letter]) + REFERENCE (mention)

15d	Arab in the midst of sand // dance (8)

S(ARAB)AND — ARAB (†) contained in (in the midst of) SAND (†)

The saraband^[5] (also sarabande) is a slow, stately Spanish dance in triple time.

16d	Building in a garden, // you put in irrigation tube (8)

HO(THOU)SE — THOU (you) contained in (put in) HOSE (irrigation tube)

17d	Commanding Officer with a light touch, // clearly (8)

CO|GENTLY — CO (commanding officer) + (with) GENTLY (a light touch)

19d	A certain amount of creme riles // chef (6)

_EMERIL_ — hidden in (a certain amount of) crEME RILes

Emeril Lagassé^[5] is an American celebrity chef known for his mastery of Creole and Cajun cuisine and his self-developed "New New Orleans" style of cooking.

20d	Careless // note by young lady (6)

RE|MISS — RE ([musical] note) + (by) MISS (young lady)

21d	New odes to // old explorer (2,4)

DE SOTO — anagram of (new) ODES TO

Hernando De Soto^[10] (?1500–1542) was a Spanish explorer who discovered the Mississippi River (1541).

23d	Knocks // box lightly from the rear (4)

RAPS< — reversal of (from the rear) SPAR (box lightly)

Epilogue

The title of today's review is inspired by the three fifteen letter solutions (11a, 15a, and 22a), elements of which provide the phrase 'lock, stock and barrel'.

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