Saturday, December 5, 2020 — Nothing Fancy

Introduction

There were a few clues in today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon that raised questions in my mind. I was able to resolve most to my satisfaction. However, I still have misgivings concerning 1d.

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	Beast barked, getting upset // stomach (11)

BREADBASKET* — anagram of (getting upset) BEAST BARKED

9a	Chilled dessert // stocked by doctor tonight (7)

_TOR|TONI_ — hidden in (stocked by) docTOR TONIght

Tortoni^[3,4,11] is a rich Italian ice cream, although the recipe varies from one dictionary to another:

• American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: An Italian ice cream made with heavy cream and often containing rum, almonds, and maraschino cherries, typically served in small cups
• Collins English Dictionary: a rich ice cream often flavoured with sherry
• Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary: rich ice cream containing eggs, heavy cream, chopped cherries, etc., and often topped with crushed almonds or macaroons

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Origin: named after Giuseppe Tortoni (c.1775-c.1864), Neapolitan-born owner of a café in Paris famous for its ice cream

10a	Rather chilled // part of a meal after company left (7)

CO|L|DISH — DISH (part of meal) following (after) {CO(mpany) + L(eft)}

11a	Read oddly poor essay, // sonnets, odes and such (5)

P_O_E_S_Y — the odd sequence of letters (read oddly) from PoOr EsSaY

12a	Live, male lepidopterans— // huge ones (9)

BE|HE|MOTHS — BE (live) + HE-MOTHS (male lepidopterans; whimsical extrapolation from 'he-men')

13a	Edwin put in concerning // beverage choice (3,4)

R(ED WIN)E —  EDWIN (†) contained in (put in) RE (concerning)

15a	Medicated candy // box found outside of Buddhist school (7)

LO(ZEN)GE — LOGE ([theatre] box) containing (found outside of) ZEN (Buddhist school)

17a	In part, copy // defensive wall (7)

PAR(APE)T — APE (copy) contained in (in) PART (†)

19a	Low loop // securing a boat (7)

MOO|RING — MOO (low; sound made by cattle) + RING (loop)

21a	Waxed // diner case, strangely (9)

INCREASED* — anagram of (strangely) DINER CASE

23a	Part of a play // observed for audition (5)

SCENE~ — sounds like (for audition) SEEN (observed)

24a	Bell on a // mythical monster (7)

CHIMER|A — CHIMER (bell) + (on) A (†)

In Greek mythology, the Chimera^[5] was a fire-breathing female monster with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail.

25a	Study // piano, circled by gnat or bee (7)

INS(P)ECT — P (piano; musical direction to play softly) contained in (circled by) INSECT (gnat or bee)

26a	Hill right beside terminal in Banff deceives // some travellers by air (11)

BUTTE|R|F|LIES — BUTTE (hill) + R(ight) + (beside) F (terminal [final letter] in BanfF) + LIES (deceives)

Intransitive or not?

British dictionaries show deceive[1,2,4,5,10] as solely a transitive verb (which would equate to 'lie to' rather than 'lie'). However, US dictionaries show deceive[3,11,12] as both a transitive and intransitive verb, the latter form equating to 'lie'. Nevertheless, the British nonacceptance of the word as an intransitive verb does not seem to have deterred Scottish writer Sir Walter Scott in Marmion: A Tale of Flodden Field[7]: Oh, what a tangled web we weave, When first we practise to deceive!

Down

1d	Tavern employee // close in deal (9)

BAR|TENDER — BAR (close in) + TENDER (deal)

Bar^[3] is used in the sense of shut in or confine ⇒ barred themselves in the basement.

BART(END)ER — END (close) contained in (in) + BARTER (deal)

Not convinced ... and no wonder!

Thank you to MG and our new Anonymous for pointing out the error of my ways on 1d. The two of you have hit the nail on the head. For those just joining the discussion, here is an explanation of my original parsing of the clue (that illustrates just how many hoops one can jump through to justify a faulty solution): Somehow, tender as a synonym for deal just did not ring true for me. And even after extensive research, I still haven't fully accepted that they mean the same. I assume the words are used as nouns, in which case a tender[5] is an offer. I think the setters may have used deal[5] in the informal sense of a a bargain, transaction, or agreement — although I would say it might more correctly be characterized as being in the sense of the offer of a bargain, transaction, or agreement, as in Here's the deal: you pay me $500 for the damage and I don't go through my insurance company. The implied meaning here is Here's the deal [that I am offering]: ...  or Here's the offer: ...  .

2d	Last of the very thin // wood (5)

E|BONY — E (last [letter] of thE) + BONY (very thin)

3d	Awfully riled about shot, // bounce up and down (7)

{DRI(BB)LE}* — anagram of (awfully) RILED containing (about) BB (shot; ammunition used in a BB gun)

4d	Booze // entirely engulfing salmon (7)

AL(COHO)L — ALL (entirely) containing (engulfing) COHO (salmon)

5d	Michigan town // priest captivated by musical toy (9)

KA(LAMA)ZOO — LAMA ([Tibetan] priest) contained in (captivated by) KAZOO (musical toy)

6d	’Tisn’t // dirty (5)

TAINT — double definition; the first would be spelled 'tain't^[3] or tain't (it ain't) but, of course, punctuation is ignored.

7d	Proust novel // stunned state (6)

STUPOR* — anagram of (novel) PROUST

Scratching the Surface

Marcel Proust[5] (1871–1922) was a French novelist, essayist, and critic. (show more ) Proust devoted much of his life to writing his novel À la recherche du temps perdu (published in seven sections between 1913 and 1927). Its central theme is the recovery of the lost past and the releasing of its creative energies through the stimulation of unconscious memory [now, there's an ability that would certainly be a boon to cryptic crossword devotees]. hide

8d	Vocal went after // “Like a Virgin” (6)

CHASTE~ — sounds like (vocal) CHASED (went after)

Scratching the Surface
Like a Virgin[7] is the second studio album — as well as the name of a track on the album — by American singer and songwriter Madonna, released in 1984.

14d	Tool // some simple men try (9)

_IMPLE|MEN|T_ — hidden in (some) sIMPLE MEN Try

16d	Silent // lionesses roaming about (9)

NOISELESS* — anagram of (roaming about) LIONESSES

17d	Nobleman // publishes for The Listener (6)

PRINCE~ — sounds like (for the listener) PRINTS (publishes)

In Britain, a prince^[5] is not a nobleman but a royal. However, in France, Germany, and other European countries, a prince is a nobleman, usually ranking next below a duke.

Scratching the Surface
The Listener[7] was a weekly magazine established by the BBC in January 1929 which ceased publication in 1991.

18d	Puccini opera with the French // presented proportionally (2,5)

TO SCA|LE — TOSCA (Puccini opera) + (with) LE (the French; French word meaning 'the')

Tosca^[7] is an opera by Italian composer Giacomo Puccini that premiered in Rome in 1900.

19d	Firm, if confused, about opening of deep // part of a trunk (7)

{MI(D)RIFF}* — anagram of (confused) FIRM IF containing (about) D (opening [letter] of Deep)

20d	Audibly irritates // Hall-of-famers? (6)

GREATS~ — sounds like (audibly) GRATES (irritates)

22d	Scramble up // conifer’s first branch (5)

C|LIMB — C (Conifer's first [letter]) + LIMB (branch)

23d	“Sue,” she said, // “eats in Japan” (5)

SUSHI~ — sounds like (said) SUE SHE

Epilogue

You might call this is a bread and butter^[10] puzzle — solid, reliable, but not fancy.

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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