Saturday, March 13, 2021 — Early Exit

Introduction

Today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon was done and dusted quickly.

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 "wavy underline" - whimsical and inferred definitions
Click here for further explanation and usage examples of the symbols and markup conventions used on this blog.

Across

1a	Leave // snare set in reverse (4)

PART< — reversal of (set in reverse) TRAP (snare)

3a	Eastern European manifesto writer heard // ticks (5,5)

{CHECK MARKS}~ — sounds like (heard) {CZECH (Eastern European) + MARX (manifesto writer; German philosopher Karl Marx^[7], co-author of The Communist Manifesto^[7])}

9a	A pedantic loony // was the boss on board (9)

CAPTAINED* — anagram of (loony) A PEDANTIC

11a	Changed login // terminology (5)

LINGO* — anagram of (changed) LOGIN

12a	Tell me // a drone’s locale, breaking borrower’s promise (1,3,3)

I (A|SK Y)OU — {A (†) + SKY (drone's locale)}contained in (breaking) IOU (borrower's promise)

13a	Opera /in/ contralto’s catalogue (5)

_TO|S|CA_ — hidden in (in) contralTO'S CAtalog

15a	Scottish garb // left in medical bags (5)

KI(L)TS — L(eft) contained in (in) KITS (medical bags)

17a	Kind of lens // fixed to the pole (9)

TELEPHOTO* — anagram of (fixed) TO THE POLE

19a	Clergy members // always in tears (9)

R(EVER)ENDS — EVER (always) contained in (in) RENDS (tears)

21a	Possibly // will power (5)

MIGHT — double definition

22a	Part of a map page, // it includes three directions (5)

I(N|S|E)T — IT () contains (includes) {N(orth) + S(outh) + E(ast)} (three directions)

24a	Apostate // present with jerk (7)

HERE|TIC — HERE (present) + (with) TIC (jerk)

27a	Doctor provided temperature meaning (5)

DR|IF|T — DR (doctor) + IF (provided) + T(emperature)

28a	Stinky stuff // ruined a Fiesta ad (9)

ASAFETIDA* — anagram of (ruined) A FIESTA AD

Asafetida^[5] (British asafoetida) is a fetid resinous gum obtained from the roots of a herbaceous plant, used in herbal medicine and Indian cooking.

29a	Figure with strings attached // wed Bening, we hear (10)

MARIONETTE~ — sounds like (we hear) {MARRY (wed) + ANNETTE (Bening; American actress Annette Bening^[7])}

30a	Sibling acquires $1000 // gear for winter fun (4)

S(K)IS — SIS (sibling) containing (acquires) K ($1000)

Down

1d	Folks eating al fresco // opt for short pants, it’s said (10)

PICNICKERS~ — sounds like (it's said) {PICK (opt for) + KNICKERS (short pants)}

In North America, knickers is short for knickerbockers^[7], baggy trousers of varying length that are gathered at the bottom of the leg (which may come below the knee or to the ankle). Thus knee-length knickers would qualify as short pants (though they are probably longer than most shorts) while ankle-length knickers perhaps would not. On the other hand, British knickers are definitely short pants — being ladies' panties.

2d	Wacky prose // lines (5)

ROPES* — anagram (wacky) of PROSE

4d	Part of Asia // covered with dust taken by Chinese dynasty (9)

H(IN|DUST)AN — {IN (covered with) + DUST (†)} contained in (taken by) HAN^[7] (Chinese dynasty)

Hindustan^[7] is a historical term for the Indian subcontinent in general, more specifically that part of India north of the Deccan, especially the plains of the Ganges and Jumna Rivers.

5d	Military student // acted oddly (5)

CADET* — anagram of (oddly) ACTED

6d	Namby-pamby // types wearing floppy hair (7)

M(ILKS)OP — ILKS (types) contained in (wearing) MOP (floppy hair)

7d	Getting in step, stylist’s place // gets going (4,5)

RUN(S ALON)G — SALON (stylist's place) contained in (getting in) RUNG (step)

8d	Present // broadcast about hospital (4)

S(H)OW — SOW (broadcast [seed]) containing (about) H(ospital)

10d	Donkey goes around next to // deep hole (5)

A(BY)SS — ASS (donkey) containing (goes around) BY (next to)

14d	Undertakers added Italian paintings for oral presentation (10)

MORTICIANS~ — sounds like (for oral presentation) {MORE (added) + TITIANS (Italian paintings; paintings by Italian Renaissance master Tiziano Vecellio, known in English as Titian^[7])}

16d	Oliver is a twisted // French chemist (9)

LAVOISIER* — anagram of (twisted) OLIVER IS A

Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier^[7] (1743–1794) was a French scientist, regarded as the father of modern chemistry. He is most noted for his discovery of the role oxygen plays in combustion. He recognized and named oxygen (1778) and hydrogen (1783).

18d	Despair // altered hero’s tale (4,5)

{LOSE HEART}* — anagram of (altered) HEROS TALE

20d	Italian dish // is flanked by baloney and two slices of tomato (7)

RISOTTO — IS (†) contained in (flanked by) ROT (baloney) + TO (two slices [letters] of TOmato)

21d	Female horse given one // female name (5)

MAR(I)E — MARE (female horse) containing (given) I ([Roman numeral] one)

23d	Harry // breaks for food in the afternoon with English (5)

TEAS|E — TEAS (breaks for food in the afternoon) + (with) E(nglish)

25d	Imagine // gaunt king (5)

THIN|K — THIN (gaunt) + K (king; chess piece or playing card)

26d	Cheese // produced the wrong way (4)

EDAM< — reversal of (the wrong way) MADE (produced)

Epilogue

I scanned the early comments hoping that one of our clever punsters may have left a tidbit that I could latch onto for a title for today's review. However, there was no luck to be had and I was left to my own devices. So the title I settled on is inspired (hardly the right word) by 1a (an early clue meaning exit) and 7d (also means exit(s)) together with the fact that the puzzle was completed quickly (allowing me an early exit).

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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