Saturday, December 26, 2020 — Time Inversion

Introduction

I breezed through most of today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon but the southwest quadrant put up some resistance and took as long to complete as the other three quadrants combined.

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	Fool is handed mixed // drink (3-9)

{OLD-FASHIONED}* — anagram of (mixed) FOOL IS HANDED

10a	Bridge, in whatever // state of disorder (7)

AN(ARCH)Y — ARCH (bridge) contained in (in) ANY (whatever)

11a	Actress // rambling around Germany (3,4)

{MEG RYAN}* — anagram of (rambling around) GERMANY

12a	Condition in pioneering // playoff game (9)

SEM(IF)INAL — IF (condition) contained in (in) SEMINAL (pioneering)

13a	Derby town // going through julep, somehow (5)

_EP|SOM_ — hidden in (going through) julEP SOMehow

Epsom Downs^*[7] is a Grade 1 racecourse near Epsom, Surrey, England. The course is best known for hosting the Derby Stakes (popularly known as the Epsom Derby), the United Kingdom's premier thoroughbred horse race.

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^* The "downs" referred to in the name are part of the North Downs, a ridge of chalk hills in south east England.

14a	Dads sample // baked goods (6)

PAS|TRY — PAS (dads) + TRY (sample)

15a	In British Columbia, processed salami // like some vinegar (8)

B(ALSAMI*)C — anagram of (processed) SALAMI contained in (in) BC (British Columbia)

18a	Launch // extremist group, holding a strike (8)

C(A|TAP)ULT — CULT (extremist group) containing (holding) {A (†) + TAP (strike)}

20a	Greek city // resort filled with paintings (6)

SP(ART)A — SPA (resort) containing (filled with) ART (paintings)

24a	Warning // one left with weapon (5)

A|L|ARM — A (one) + L (left) + (with) ARM (weapon)

26a	Hiding // article about eruption (9)

TH(RASH)ING — THING (article) containing (about) RASH (eruption)

27a	Turning right, catch // mate (7)

{PARTNE|R}< — reversal of (turning) {R(ight) + ENTRAP (catch)}

28a	Raiders/’/ six sovereigns (7)

VI|KINGS — VI ([Roman numeral] six) + KINGS (sovereigns)

29a	Dog // and nun wolfed rum (12)

NEWFOUNDLAND* — anagram of (rum) AND NUN WOLFED

As an anagram indicator, rum^[5] is used in a dated informal British^* sense meaning odd or peculiar ⇒ it’s a rum business, certainly.

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^* Although one often sees this indicator in British puzzles, it does seem a rather rum usage to find it in a North American puzzle. Nevertheless, I have encountered it several times in C & R puzzles.

Down

2d	Evil character, // cruel if riled (7)

LUCIFER* — anagram of (riled) CRUEL IF

3d	Start to fall, being situated // up in the air (6)

F|LYING — F (start [initial letter] to Fail) + LYING (being situated)

4d	African // version of “Mona Lisa” (8)

SOMALIAN* — anagram of (version of) MONA LISA

5d	French painter’s // entry (7)

INGRES|S — INGRES (French painter) + S ('s)

La Grande Baigneuse (1808)

Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres^[5] (1780–1867) was a French painter. A pupil of Jacques-Louis David, he vigorously upheld neoclassicism in opposition to Delacroix’s romanticism. Notable works: Ambassadors of Agamemnon (1801) and La Grande Baigneuse (The Bather) (1808).

6d	Poet // replies with opposite meanings (5)

NO|YES — {NO + YES} (replies with opposite meanings)

Alfred Noyes^[7] (1880–1958) was an English poet, short-story writer and playwright.

Delving Deeper

Sometime during my schooldays many decades ago, we studied this poem and for some unknown reason both the poem (and the author's name) remain embedded in my memory — one of the very few works to make such a lasting impression. The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees.    The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas.    The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,    And the highwayman came riding—          Riding—riding— The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door. . . .

7d	After chewing candy, I’m // full of energy (7)

DYNAMIC* — anagram of (after chewing) CANDY IM

8d	Young dog eating turkey // refuse (4,2)

P(ASS) UP — PUP (young dog) containing (eating) ASS (turkey; stupid or inept person)

9d	Woodchuck circling southeastern // monkey (8)

MARMO(SE)T — MARMOT (woodchuck) containing (circling) SE (southeastern)

Marmots^[5] are heavily built, gregarious burrowing rodents of the genus Marmota of mountainous country in both Eurasia and North America.

The woodchuck^[5] is a North American marmot (Marmota monax) with a heavy body and short legs.

16d	Aliens // damage containers around central Ontario (8)

MAR|TI(A)NS — MAR (damage) + TINS (containers) containing (around) A (central [middle letter of] OntArio)

17d	Talent taking time over // something pressing? (8)

FLA(T)IR|ON — FLAIR (talent) containing (taking) T(ime) + ON (over)

18d	Slope gripped by trick // alpine footwear (7)

C(RAMP)ON — RAMP (slope) contained in (gripped by) CON (trick)

19d	Pepper spotted around me (7)

PI(ME)NTO — PINTO (spotted; as in a pinto horse) containing (around) ME (†)

21d	Writer in Russian // press relations (7)

PUSH|KIN — PUSH (press) + KIN (relations)

Aleksandr Pushkin^[5] (1799–1837) was a Russian poet, novelist, and playwright.  (show more )

He wrote prolifically in many genres; his first success was the romantic narrative poem Ruslan and Ludmilla (1820). Other notable works include the verse novel Eugene Onegin (1833) and the blank-verse historical drama Boris Godunov (1831).

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22d	Impressive // gold rush (6)

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

23d	Steer large // bull (6)

DRIVE|L — DRIVE (steer) + L (large; clothing size)

25d	Something that indicates // a red line (5)

A|R|ROW — A (†) + R(ed) + ROW (line)

Epilogue

In today's puzzle, we experience a time inversion — in with the OLD (1a) and out with the NEW (29a).

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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]   - Lexico (formerly Oxford Dictionaries Online) (Oxford Dictionary of English)

  ^[6]   - Lexico (formerly Oxford Dictionaries Online) (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