Saturday, January 9, 2021 — CD9 Alert

Introduction

I got off at a very fast pace with today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon but about half way through I seemed to run out of 23d and plodded to the finish.

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	Cause for yawning: //state of indebtedness in time of prosperity (7)

BO(RED)OM — RED (state of indebtedness) contained in (in) BOOM (time of prosperity)

5a	Get current // pet dish containing bit of hash (5,2)

CAT|C(H) UP — {CAT (pet) + CUP (dish)} containing (†) H (bit [initial letter] of Hash)

9a	Islands go crazily // sliding (9)

GLISSANDO* — anagram of (crazily) ISLANDS GO

Glissando^[5] is a musical term denoting a continuous slide upwards or downwards between two notes.

10a	Rearranged a test // sample (5)

TASTE* — anagram of (rearranged) A TEST

11a	Part of a crèche containing a // person in a high position (7)

MAN(A)GER — MANGER (part of a crèche) containing (†) A (†)

12a	Foot lever // altered somehow (7)

TREADLE* — anagram of (somehow) ALTERED

13a	Like some quilts // mother from an Asian land joined together (7-5)

MA|CHINE-SE|WED — MA (mother) + CHINESE (from an Asian land) + WED (joined together)

17a	Sadly, // father and the jerk make friends (12)

PA|THE|TIC|ALLY — PA (father) + (and) THE (†) + TIC (jerk) + ALLY (make friends; used as a verb)

22a	In competition, use regressive // approaches (5,2)

COM(ES U<)P — reversal of (regressive) USE contained in (in) COMP ([informal short form of] competition)

24a	Set // bed next to Great Lake (7)

COT|ERIE — COT (bed) + (next to) ERIE (GREAT LAKE)

25a	At some point, keeping one // waiting in the wings (2,3)

ON (I)CE — ONCE (at some point) containing (keeping) I ([Roman numeral] one)

26a	Not dark yet around a time of evening // in the wee hours (4,5)

L(A|TE N)IGHT — LIGHT (not dark yet) containing (around) { A (†) + TEN (time of evening)}

27a	Mother’s new // drink container (7)

THERMOS* — anagram of (new) MOTHERS

28a	Players, shown the way, // protected a king somehow (7)

CAST|LED — CAST (players) + LED (shown the way)

In chess, to castle^[5] (often as a noun castling) means to make a special move (no more than once in a game by each player) in which the king is transferred from its original square two squares along the back rank towards a rook on its corner square which is then transferred to the square passed over by the king.

Down

1d	Criminal act // significant with one of Alcott’s sisters (6)

BIG|AMY — BIG (significant) + (with) AMY (one of Alcott's sisters)

Little Women^[7] is a novel by American author Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888), which was originally published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869. The novel follows the lives of four sisters—Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy March—detailing their passage from childhood to womanhood, and is loosely based on the author and her three sisters.

2d	To the audience, actor Claude // is king (6)

REIGNS~ — sounds like (to the audience) RAINS (actor Claude^*)

^* Claude Rains^[7] (1889–1967) was a British-American film and stage actor whose career spanned almost seven decades. He was a Tony Award winning actor and was a four-time nominee for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

3d	Name // third of pigs “Nathan,” after Lucille’s husband (9)

DESI|G|NATE — G (third [letter] of piGs) + NATE ([diminutive of] Nathan) following (after) DESI (Lucille's husband).

Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III^[7] (1917–1986), better known as Desi Arnaz, was a Cuban-American actor, musician, bandleader, comedian and film, television producer and revolutionary in the creation of modern television. He is best known for his role as the witty Ricky Ricardo on the American television sitcom I Love Lucy, where he co-starred with his then wife Lucille Ball.

4d	King // appearing in parade (7)

M(ON)ARCH — ON (appearing) contained in (in) MARCH (parade)

5d	Prisoner outside licking // garnish (7)

C(ROUT)ON — CON (prisoner) containing (outside) ROUT (licking; severe defeat)

6d	Note the // donation (5)

TI|THE — TI ([musical] note) + THE (†)

7d	Dance party interrupted by salt // spray (4,4)

HO(S)E DOWN — HOEDOWN (dance party) containing (interrupted by) S (salt; marking on a salt shaker)

8d	President, embracing nurse, // puts on an act (8)

PRE(TEND)S — PRES ([short for] president) containing (embracing) TEND (nurse)

14d	Some football players, // on interrupting passes (5,4)

SP(LIT) ENDS — LIT (on; as a light bulb) contained in (interrupting) SPENDS (passes; as time, for instance)

I did pass some time with TIGHT ENDS before realizing I had my team lined up in the wrong formation.

15d	Get stupefied // pilot in jet (5,3)

SP(ACE) OUT — ACE ([fighter] pilot) contained in [in] SPOUT (jet)

16d	Poison // opening of package to New England state (8)

P|TO|MAINE — P (opening [initial letter] of Package) + TO (†) + MAINE (New England state)

18d	Antelopes, // regrettably, following little rascal (7)

IMP|ALAS — ALAS (regrettably) following (†) IMP (little rascal)

19d	Spartan, // like vinegar with a bit of seasoning in it (7)

A(S)CETIC — ACETIC (like vinegar) containing (†) S (a bit [initial letter] of Seasoning)

20d	Economical // hairpiece, one found in Florida (6)

F(RUG|A)L — {RUG (hairpiece) + A (one)} contained in (in) FL ([postal designator for] Florida)

21d	Angry // wariness about a poet’s conclusion (6)

HE(A|T)ED — HEED (wariness) containing (about) {A (†) + T (poeT's conclusion [final letter])

23d	Cook // small side (5)

S|TEAM — S (small; clothing size) + TEAM (side)

Epilogue

The title of today's review is inspired by the appearance of Ma and Pa at 13a and 17a respectively — CD9 (Code 9) being teen texting code for 'parents are around'.

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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