Saturday, July 4, 2020 — Exceptional Camouflage

Introduction

I thought that today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon was edging toward the upper range of the difficulty scale.

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	Wildlife official // repaired wren damage (4,6)

{GAME WARDEN}* — anagram of (repaired) WREN DAMAGE

6a	Land // possessed by Nebuchadnezzar (4)

_CHAD_ — hidden in (possessed by) NebuCHADnezzar

Chad^[7], officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in north-central Africa.

Scratching the Surface

Nebuchadnezzar II[7], king of Babylon c. 605 BC – c. 562 BC, was the longest-reigning and most powerful monarch of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Nebuchadnezzar ascended the throne in 605 BC and subsequently fought several campaigns in the West, where Egypt was trying to organize a coalition against him. His conquest of Judah is described in the Bible's Books of Kings, Books of Chronicles and Book of Jeremiah. His capital, Babylon, is the largest archaeological site in the Middle East. The Bible remembers him as the destroyer of Solomon's Temple and the initiator of the Babylonian captivity. He is an important character in the Book of Daniel, a collection of legendary tales and visions dating from the 2nd century BC.

9a	Destroyed, // like the Yanks when Mickey quit? (10)

DISMANTLED — double definition, the second a whimsical description of the New Yankees following the retirement of slugger Mickey Mantle

Mickey Mantle^[7] (1931–1995), nicknamed The Commerce Comet and The Mick, was an American professional baseball player. Mantle played his entire Major League Baseball (MLB) career (1951–1968) with the New York Yankees as a center fielder, right fielder, and first baseman. Mantle was one of the best players and sluggers and is regarded by many as the greatest switch hitter in baseball history.

10a	A bit of land // is left empty (4)

IS|L|E — IS (†) + L(eft) + E (empty; symbol on a fuel gauge)

11a	Head writers changed // material for suits (6,5)

{HARRIS TWEED}* — anagram of (changed) HEAD WRITERS

Harris Tweed^[7] is a tweed cloth that is handwoven by islanders at their homes in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, finished in the Outer Hebrides, and made from pure virgin wool dyed and spun in the Outer Hebrides. This definition, quality standards and protection of the Harris Tweed name are enshrined in the Harris Tweed Act 1993.

15a	Stuck // present in annex (7)

AD(HERE)D — HERE (present) contained in (in) ADD (annex)

16a	Gangster /in/ the wings of gambling casino (7)

_GAMB|INO_ — the outer halves of (the wings of) GAMB(ling cas)INO

The Gambino crime family^[7] is one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the American Mafia.

17a	Clever scam // failing, while sound (4,3)

F|AS|T ONE — F (failing; academic assessment) + AS (while) + TONE (sound)

19a	Fuel container // Georgia smelled (3,4)

GA|S TANK — GA ([postal designation for] Georgia) + STANK (smelled)

20a	Some skeptic on derogatory // name of a New York fort (11)

_TIC|ON|DEROGA_ — hidden in (some) skepTIC ON DEROGAtory

Fort Ticonderoga^[7], formerly Fort Carillon, is a large 18th-century star fort built by the French at a narrows near the south end of Lake Champlain, in northern New York state.

23a	Spray water on // loose shoe (4)

HOSE* — anagram of (loose) SHOE

24a	Wet condition//  is prominent in the Red Planet (10)

MAR(SHINES)S — SHINES (is prominent) contained in (in) MARS (the Red Planet)

25a	Put down Celine’s first // record (4)

DIS|C — DIS (put down) + C (Celine's first [letter])

26a	Hollywood legend // playing a KGB caller (5,5)

{CLARK GABLE}* — anagram of (playing) A KGB CALLER

Clark Gable^[7] (1901–1960) was an American film actor, often referred to as "The King of Hollywood".

Down

1d	French author // on the outskirts of Gironde (4)

GI|DE — outer letters of (on the outskirts of) GI(ron)DE

André Gide^[7] (1869–1951) was a French author and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature (in 1947).

Scratching the Surface
Gironde[7] is a department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of southwest France. The Bordeaux wine region is in the Gironde.

2d	Fog // heard, not seen (4)

MIST~ — sounds like (heard) MISSED (not seen)

3d	Showing signs of erosion // if alert is sounded (11)

WEATHERWORN — sounds like (is sounded) {WHETHER (if) + WARN (alert)}

4d	Hung it up, // like a fixed bicycle? (7)

RETIRED — double definition, the second a cryptic description of a bicycle returned to service (following a severe blowout, for instance)

5d	Part of the day // getting flat (7)

EVENING — double definition

7d	Funny // new hairstyle sported by cult’s leader (10)

HYSTERICAL* — anagram of (new) HAIRSTYLE containing (sported by) C (Cult's leader [initial letter])

8d	Around mid-afternoon, draws // Rasta hairstyles (10)

D(R)EADLOCKS — DEADLOCKS (draws; sporting events where the score is tied) containing (around) R (mid-afternoon; middle letter of afteRnoon)

12d	Vacationers’ arrangement // is nightmare, sadly (4-7)

TIMESHARING* — anagram of (sadly) IS NIGHTMARE

13d	Hard to believe // chef fed rat freely (3-7)

{FAR-FETCHED}* — anagram of (freely) CHEF FED RAT

14d	Audible carbonation helps // scientists (10)

PHYSICISTS~ — sounds like (audible) {FIZZ (carbonation) + ASSISTS (helps)}

18d	Look at // you, wearing recycled label (7)

{E(YE)BALL}* — YE ([archaic or literary form of] you) contained in (wearing) anagram of (recycled) LABEL

19d	More disgusting // food seller audited (7)

GROSSER~ — sounds like (audited) GROCER (food seller)

21d	Seasoning // the lady’s small portion of beef (4)

HER|B — HER (the lady's) + B (small portion [initial letter] of Beef)

22d	A female // tennis great (4)

A|SHE — A (†) + SHE (female)

Arthur Ashe^[7] (1943–1993) was an American professional tennis player who won three Grand Slam singles titles.

Epilogue

The fortress in 20a is exceptionally well camouflaged.

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