Saturday, May 1, 2021 — The Right Stuff

Introduction

For me, today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon was no write-in and I failed to spot the theme while solving. I only noticed it later while composing the review.

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	Cast go rest with // author behind the scenes (5,5)

{GHOST WRITE}* — anagram of (cast) GO REST WITH

In the definition, "author" is a verb.

6a	Czar, // the fourth one (4)

IV|AN — IV (the fourth; e.g., Ivan IV is pronounced "Ivan the fourth") + AN (one)

Ivan IV^[7] (1530–1584), commonly known in English as Ivan the Terrible, was the grand prince of Moscow from 1533 to 1547 and the first tsar of Russia from 1547 to 1584.

10a	Anti-art // platform adopted by mother (7)

DA(DAIS)M — DAIS (platform) contained in (adopted by) DAM (mother [horse or other animal])

Dadaism^[5] was an early 20th-century movement in art, literature, music, and film, repudiating and mocking artistic and social conventions and emphasizing the illogical and absurd.

11a	After a while, // Liberal dined with Howard in Hollywood (5,2)

L|ATE|R ON — L(iberal) + ATE (dined) + (with) RON (Howard in Hollywood; American film director, producer and actor Ron Howard^[7])

12a	Morsel of food // ruined divan (5)

VIAND* — anagram of (ruined) DIVAN

Viand^[5] (usually viands) is an archaic term for an item of food

13a	Part of the Catholic church // in Rhode Island splitting coffee order (5,4)

LAT(IN| RI)TE — {IN (†) + RI (Rhode Island)} contained in (splitting) LATTE (coffee order)

Latin Rite^[12], Western Church and Latin Church^[7] are other names for the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic Church is the largest of the 24 Churches constituting the Catholic Church, the 23 others being referred to as a group as the Eastern Catholic Churches.

14a	Maroon // thread (6)

STRAND — double definition

16a	Tore around lake // with little waves (7)

RIPP(L)ED — RIPPED (tore) containing (around) L(ake)

The definition is a past participle acting as an adjective.

19a	Large vessel // I had on the back of wagon carrying oxygen (7)

CAR(O)T|ID — ID (I had; contracted as I'd) following (on the back of) CART (wagon) containing (carrying) O ([chemical symbol for] oxygen)

The carotids^[5] are the two main arteries which carry blood to the head and neck.

21a	Mat // so long, I’m taken aback (6)

TATA|MI< — TATA (so long) + reversal of (taken aback) IM

Ta-ta^[3,4] is an informal British expression meaning goodbye or farewell.

Hyphens can make a difference
In cryptic crosswords, it is often said that one should ignore punctuation except where it cannot be ignored. Here's a case where a hyphen makes a difference. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, tata[3] is vulgar slang for a woman's breast.

A tatami^[5] (also tatami mat) is a rush-covered straw mat forming a traditional Japanese floor covering.

23a	Utter // “thing” word when upset (9)

DOWNRIGHT* — anagram of (when upset) THING WORD

25a	Dog ingests stylish // calendar picture (3-2)

P(IN)-UP — PUP (dog) containing (ingests) IN (stylish)

26a	End Tim’s bad // attitude (7)

MINDSET* — anagram of (bad) END TIMS

27a	Running out, // drink like a dog and croon (7)

LAP|SING — LAP (drink like a dog) + (and) SING (croon)

28a	Found among tribal societies, // too (4)

_AL|SO_ — hidden in (found among) tribAL SOcieties

29a	In predicament, troubled wary // dramatist (10)

PL(AYWR*)IGHT — anagram of ( troubled) WARY contained in (in) PLIGHT (predicament)

Down

1d	Travel with prima donna, // legendary lady (6)

GO|DIVA — GO (travel) + (with) DIVA (prima donna)

According to legend, Lady Godiva^[7] rode naked – covered only in her long hair – through the streets of Coventry to gain a remission of the oppressive taxation that her husband imposed on his tenants. By the way, the name "Peeping Tom" for a voyeur originates from later versions of this legend, in which a man named Thomas watched her ride (disobeying orders to stay inside with shutters closed) and was struck blind or dead.

2d	Celebrated painter // repositioned art models (3,6)

{OLD MASTER}* — anagram of (repositioned) ART MODELS

3d	Ego involved in traditional // small group (5)

TR(I)AD — I (ego) contained in (involved in) TRAD (traditional [genre of jazz or folk music])

4d	Sheep, milked, // meandered (7)

RAM|BLED — RAM ([male] sheep) + BLED (milked; exploited or defrauded by taking small amounts of money over a period of time)

5d	Satellite // reflected informant’s permit (7)

{TEL|S|TAR}< — reversal of (reflected) {RAT (informant) + S ('s) + LET (permit)}

Telstar^[5] was the first of the active communications satellites (i.e. both receiving and retransmitting signals, not merely reflecting signals from the earth). It was launched by the US in 1962 and used in the transmission of television broadcasting and telephone communication.

It also gave The Tornados a number one hit in 1962.

7d	In Denver, direct // big name in opera (5)

_VER|DI_ — hidden in (in) DenVER DIrect

Giuseppe Verdi^[5] (1813–1901) was an Italian composer of many operas, such as La Traviata (1853), Aida (1871), and Otello (1887). Verdi is also famous for his Requiem (1874).

8d	Game giant // mean in denial (8)

N(INTEND)O — INTEND (mean) contained in (in) NO (denial)

9d	Do nothing // in addition to occupying Irish hero, briefly (5,3)

ST(AND) PAT — AND (in addition to) contained in (occupying) ST PAT (Irish hero, briefly; St. Patrick)

15d	Star // Garr’s included in query (8)

AS(TERI|S)K — {TERI (Garr; American actress Teri Garr^[7]) + S ('s)} contained in (in) ASK (query)

17d	Bewailing // shifted alignment (9)

LAMENTING* — anagram of (shifting) ALIGNMENT

18d	Scholastic life // Dorothy’s aunt introduced to French colony (8)

ACAD(EM)IA — EM (Dorothy's aunt) contained in (introduced to) ACADIA (French colony)

Dorothy Gale^[7] is the fictional protagonist of the classic children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz as well as most of its sequels by American author L. Frank Baum (1856–1919). In the Oz books, Dorothy is an orphan raised by her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry in the bleak landscape of a Kansas farm.

Acadia^[5] is a former French colony established in 1604 in the territory that now includes Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island in Canada. Contested by France and Britain, it was ceded to Britain in 1763, and many French Acadians were deported to other parts of North America. Many later settled in Louisiana.

20d	Sort of watch // bore talk endlessly about self (7)

DIG(I)TAL_ — {DIG (bore) + TAL[K] with the final letter removed (endlessly)} containing (about) I (self)

21d	Add friend // without reservation (7)

TOT|ALLY — TOT (add) + ALLY (friend)

22d	Southern private eye acquired // tap (6)

S|PI|GOT — S(outhern) + PI (private eye) + GOT (acquired)

24d	Orchestra section // meanders (5)

WINDS — double definition

25d	Irrational number for each // musician (5)

PI|PER — PI (irrational number) + PER (for each)

In mathematics, an irrational number^[5] is a number that is not expressible as a ratio of two integers, and having an infinite and non-recurring expansion when expressed as a decimal. Examples of irrational numbers are the number π (pi) and the square root of 2.

Epilogue

The setters throw four different spellings of the theme word at us today. Thank you to Richard for the title for today's review.

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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