Saturday, February 20, 2021 — Night and Day

Introduction

Today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon shouldn't leave you in the dark.

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	Swims by one in Nice, keeping flesh // tan? (4,2,3,3)

BA(SK IN) THE S|UN — {BATHES (swims) + (by) UN (one in Nice; French word for 'one', Nice being a resort on the French Riviera)} containing (keeping) SKIN (flesh)

10a	Tightening device // modified the cart (7)

RATCHET* — anagram of (modified) THE CART

11a	Heroic // gumption with picnic pest (7)

GALL|ANT — GALL (gumption) + (with) ANT (picnic pest)

12a	In film, a cart hurt Allied general (9)

_M|A|CART|HUR_ — hidden in (in) filM A CART HURt

General of the Army Douglas MacArthur^[7] (1880–1964) was an American five-star general and Field Marshal of the Philippine Army. He was Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II.

13a	Bush // returned call around one (5)

L(I)LAC< — reversal of (returned) CALL containing (around) I ([Roman numeral] one)

14a	Some English // backing swigs of liquor and weed (7)

{TOP|SPIN}< — reversal of (backing) {NIPS (swigs of liquor) + (and) POT (weed; marijuana)}

16a	Chicago actor, inside and // incensed (7)

AN(GERE)D — GERE (Chicago actor [Richard Gere^[7]]) contained in (inside) AND (†)

American actor Richard Gere^[7] stars with Catherine Zeta-Jones and Renée Zellweger in Chicago^[7], a 2002 American musical black comedy crime film based on the 1975 stage musical of the same name which explores the themes of celebrity, scandal, and corruption in Chicago during the Jazz Age.

18a	Opposite // large amount, in whatever medium (7)

AN(TON)Y|M — TON (large amount) contained in (in) ANY (whatever) + M (medium; clothing size)

20a	Pronouncedly dull, love // performer in an arena (7)

{MAT|ADOR}~ — sounds like (pronouncedly) {MATTE (dull) + ADORE (love)}

22a	True male // domain (5)

REAL|M — REAL (true) + M(ale)

24a	Miscued on radical // New Testament man (9)

NICODEMUS* — anagram of (radical) MISCUED ON

In the New Testament, Nicodemus^[10] is a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin, who supported Jesus against the other Pharisees (John 7:45–52).

26a	One who tosses // jug (7)

PITCHER — double definition

27a	Ruby taking shelter, // cooling off (7)

DE(TENT)E — DEE (Ruby; American actress Ruby Dee^[7]) containing (taking) TENT (shelter)

28a	Presently containing riot, those guys // go for broke (5,3,4)

S(HOOT| THE M)OON — SOON (presently) containing (†) {HOOT (riot; amusing situation or person) + THEM (those guys)}

Down

2d	Some Arab horses // can’t stand (5)

_AB|HOR_ — hidden in (some) ArAB HORses

3d	Barbie’s boyfriend lies about craving // room (7)

K(ITCH)EN — KEN (Barbie's boyfriend) containing (lies about) ITCH (craving)

Barbie^[7] (full name Barbara Millicent Roberts) is a fashion doll manufactured by the American toy company Mattel, Inc. and launched in March 1959. Her boyfriend, Ken^[7] (full name Kenneth Sean Carson), is two years her younger having been introduced in 1961.

4d	In rage, I destroyed // country (7)

NIGERIA* — anagram of (destroyed) IN RAGE I

5d	Dawn or dusk // getaway led by Henry (4-5)

HAL|F-LIGHT — FLIGHT (getaway) preceded by (led by) HAL ([diminutive of] Henry)

6d	Second high // kiosk (5)

S|TALL — S(econd) + TALL (high)

7d	Marked // without rocks? (7)

NOT|ICED — {NOT ICED} (without rocks; with no ice)

8d	Swift // dance part (6)

PROM|PT — PROM (dance) + PT (part; abbrev.)

9d	Check into station next to Old Testament // vessel (8)

STO(CK)P|OT — CH (check; chess notation) contained in (into) STOP (station) + (next to) OT (Old Testament)

STO(CK)P|OT — CK (check; context unknown) contained in (into) STOP (station) + (next to) OT (Old Testament)

Thank you to Henry for alerting me to the error in the parsing of this clue. The abbreviation for check used by the setters would appear to be an American usage.

• Four US dictionaries^[3,11,12,15] show ck (or ck.) as an abbreviation for check without providing context. I did not find this abbreviation in any of my British dictionaries.
• On the other hand, the abbreviation ch (alternatively ch. or Ch.) for check as chess notation is found in US^[3,15,15] as well as British^[1,2,4,10] dictionaries. One US dictionary^[3] lists ch. as the abbreviation for check^* (bank order).

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^* US spelling of cheque

15d	A fellow ace returned decked in rad // headwear (6,3)

P(A|NAM|A) HAT — reversal of (returned) {A (†) + MAN (fellow) + A(ce)} contained in (in) PHAT (rad; excellent)

17d	Basic // coin picked up by peewee (8)

RU(DIME)NT — DIME (coin) contained in (picked up by) RUNT (peewee)

18d	Concerned with // a bagel stuck in braces (7)

A|PROP(O)S — A (†) + {O ([letter that looks like a] bagel) contained in (stuck in) PROPS (braces)}

19d	Ruler // performing in parade (7)

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

20d	Lady packing a cold // material for the road? (7)

M(A|C)ADAM — MADAM (lady) containing (packing) {A (†) + C(old)}

21d	Some ham // acting with less forethought (6)

RASHER — double definition

23d	Houston athlete // adjusted or sat (5)

ASTRO* — anagram of (adjusted) OR SAT

25d	The same // one, two times, getting into party (5)

DITTO — {I ([Roman numeral] one) + T(ime) + T(ime)} contained in (getting into) DO (party)

Epilogue

As I was sitting here pondering over a title for today's review, a piece of music began playing. "Perfect", I exclaimed to myself.

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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)

^[15]   - CollinsDictionary.com (Penguin Random House LLC/HarperCollins Publishers Ltd )

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Signing off for today — Falcon