Saturday, August 22, 2020 — Mutually Evocative

Introduction

I found today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon rather more challenging than usual. Perhaps too much time spent in the sun at the lake. At least, I was able to post the puzzle on Saturday this week. I discovered that my difficulties last week were due to a Windows 10 update that crippled one of my key programs. Thank you, Microsoft!

I just noticed that the blog has recently hit the 50 follower mark! It only took about ten years. I wonder how long the next 50 will take?

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	Crime // gang I put to a test (8)

BAND|I|TRY — BAND (gang) + I (†) + TRY (put to a test)

This simple clue put me to the test. It was my last one in and it took me forever to twig to the solution.

5a	Two cats // drum in a jazz ensemble (3-3)

TOM|-TOM — two instances of TOM ([male] cat)

9a	Disbelievers // present odd mannerisms (8)

HERE|TICS — HERE (present) + TICS (odd mannerisms)

10a	Lauren who acted // bad, forgetting the last name (6)

BA_|CALL — BA[D] with the final letter removed (forgetting the last) + CALL (name)

Lauren Bacall^[7] (1924–2014), born Betty Joan Perske, was an American actress known for her distinctive voice and sultry looks.

11a	Knife a // figure important to Hindus (5)

SHIV|A —SHIV (knife) + A (†)

Shiva^[7] is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Shaivism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism.

12a	Physicist’s primary items? (9)

P|ARTICLES — P (Physicist's primary [initial letter]) + ARTICLES (items)

In this &lit. clue^[7], the entire clue is both wordplay and definition.

14a	Motel chain’s novel // casino fixture (4,7)

{SLOT MACHINE}* — anagram of (novel) MOTEL CHAINS

18a	Kitchen tool // coach keeps pointing in the right direction? (3,8)

T(EA ST)RAINER — TRAINER (coach) containing (keeps) EAST (pointing in the right direction)

21a	Simple // resins lab reconstituted (9)

BRAINLESS* — anagram of (reconstituted) RESINS LAB

23a	Sort of green // oxygen capable of exploding (5)

O|LIVE — O ([chemical symbol for] oxygen) + LIVE (capable of exploding)

24a	Provide bearings for // tire on convertible (6)

ORIENT* — anagram of (convertible) TIRE ON

25a	Ruby pens poetry // reading from right to left (8)

RE(VERSE)D — RED (ruby) containing (pens) VERSE (poetry)

26a	“Dark Times // on the Horizon,” by Eliot (6)

NIGH|TS — NIGH (on the horizon) + (by) TS (Eliot; American born British poet T. S. Eliot^[7] (1888–1965))

27a	Delay a single // star of action pictures (8)

STALL|ONE — STALL (delay) + ONE (a single)

Sylvester Stallone^[7] is an American actor best known for his portrayals of boxer Rocky Balboa and PTSD-plagued soldier John Rambo.

Down

1d	The man in top // command (6)

BE(HE)ST — HE (the man) contained in  (in) BEST (top)

2d	Land of fantasy // back amid mountain ranges (6)

_NARNIA_< — reversed (back) and hidden (amid) in mountAIN RANges

Narnia^[7] is a fantasy world created by British writer C. S. Lewis (1898–1963) as the primary location for his series of seven fantasy novels for children, The Chronicles of Narnia.

3d	Broken train isn’t // on the way (2,7)

{IN TRANSIT}* — anagram of (broken) TRAIN ISNT

4d	Give back // deformed carrot piece (11)

RECIPROCATE* — anagram of (deformed) CARROT PIECE

6d	Gulf resident // returned in a month (5)

OM|A|NI< — reversal of (returned) IN (†) + A (†) + MO (month)

7d	Fruit and nuts // I left in disorganized matrix (5,3)

{TRA(IL) MIX}* — {I (†) + L(eft)} contained in (in) anagram of (disorganized) MATRIX

8d	Maureen misses // something sweet (8)

MO|LASSES — MO ([diminutive of] Maureen) + LASSES (misses; young ladies)

13d	Suggestive, // short skirts coming in late (11)

RE(MINIS)CENT — MINIS (short skirts) contained in (coming in) RECENT (late)

15d	Pinkish around hole in the skin // of a body (9)

COR(PORE)AL — CORAL (pinkish) containing (around) PORE (hole in the skin)

16d	Inflexible // remnant delivered (8)

STUB|BORN — STUB (remnant) + BORN (delivered)

17d	Shaggy ox flipped a monarch // going for a paddle (8)

KAY<|A|KING — reversal of (flipped) YAK (shaggy ox) + A (†) + KING (monarch)

19d	Disaster as coif processed (6)

FIASCO* — anagram of (processed) AS COIF

20d	An audience’s prize // fool (6)

MEDDLE~ — sounds like (an audience's; for the audience) MEDAL (prize)

22d	Group of nine // performing in clear (5)

N(ON)ET — ON (performing) contained in (in) NET (clear; make as a profit)

Epilogue

The title of today's review is inspired by 4d and 13d.

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Key to Reference Sources: 

  ^[1]   - The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition

  ^[2]   - Search Chambers - (Chambers 21st Century Dictionary)

  ^[3]   - TheFreeDictionary.com (American Heritage Dictionary)

  ^[4]   - TheFreeDictionarycom (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)

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Signing off for today — Falcon