Saturday, May 15, 2021 — Birthday Celebration

Introduction

I didn't find today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon to be 27a—especially the top half. From the comments, I see I'm not alone but others seem to have bogged down in different areas than where I became mired.

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	Some darn clan set off // fireworks (5,7)

{ROMAN CANDLES}* — anagram of (set off) SOME DARN CLAN

9a	Doing an about-face, informs immortal // Sirius (3,4)

{DOG STAR}< — reversal of (doing an about face) {RATS (informs) + GOD (immortal)}

10a	French explorer // wheels in front of row (7)

CAR|TIER — CAR (wheels) preceding (in front of) TIER (row)

Jacques Cartier^[5] (1491–1557) was a French explorer. The first to establish France's claim to North America, he made three voyages to Canada between 1534 and 1541.

11a	Ready // to nap after exercising (2,3)

{ON TAP}* — anagram of (after exercising) TO NAP

12a	Pretentious Liberal getting into long, // official position (5,4)

P(ARTY| L)INE — {ARTY (pretentious) + L(iberal)} contained in (getting into) PINE (long; yearn)

13a	Harshly review old work // collection (7)

PAN|O|PLY — PAN (harshly review) + O(ld) + PLY (work)

14a	Officer // spoils Henry (7)

MARS|HAL — MARS (spoils) + HAL ([diminutive for] Henry)

16a	Get angry about voltage // cut (7)

SE(V)E|RED — SEE RED (get angry) containing (about) V (voltage)

Strictly speaking, V is the abbreviation for volt(s). However, as voltage^[5] is an electromotive force or potential difference expressed in volts, I suppose we can get to V—albeit a bit indirectly.

19a	Get better // company in worship, for the most part (7)

RE(CO)VER_ — CO(mpany) contained in (in) REVER[E] (worship) with the final letter removed (for the most part)

21a	Cheat // St. Louis ballplayers and complain ad nauseam (4,5)

CARD S|HARP — CARDS (St. Louis ballplayers; St. Louis Cardinals^[7]) + (and) HARP (complain as nauseum)

23a	Risk // in improper illumination (5)

_PER|IL_ — hidden in (in) improPER ILlumination

25a	Returning sailor taking so long // knocking (3-1-3)

RA(T-A-TA)T< — reversal of (returning) TAR (sailor) containing (taking) TA-TA ([British] farewell)

26a	Most important // foreigner in the middle of street (7)

S(ALIEN)T — ALIEN (foreigner) contained in (in the middle of) ST (street)

27a	Answer tart president with trace of contempt in made-up // child’s play (1,5,2,4)

A| PIE|CE O|F (C)AKE — A(nswer) + PIE (tart) + CEO (president) + (with) C (trace [initial letter] of Contempt) contained in (in) FAKE (made-up)

Down

1d	Western show // went on second of tours (5)

RODE|O — RODE (went on) + O (second [letter] of tOurs)

2d	Far from a treasure, brought back // huge amount (7)

{MEG|A|TON}< — reversal of (brought back) {NOT (far from) + A (†) + GEM (treasure)}

3d	Version of Peter Pan including love // letter material (9)

{N(O)TEPAPER}* — anagram of (version of) PETER PAN containing (including) O (love; nil score in tennis)

4d	Wasting // a cup (7)

A|TROPHY — A (†) + TROPHY (cup)

5d	Wearing barrel, Italian author // accepted custom (7)

D(ECO)RUM — ECO (Italian author; Umberto Eco^[7]) contained in (wearing) DRUM (barrel)

6d	Almost shaving the head // too soon (5)

_EARLY — [N]EARLY (almost) with the initial letter removed (shaving the head [letter])

7d	Swimmers embracing in // conclusion (6)

F(IN)ISH — FISH (swimmers) containing (embracing) IN (†)

8d	Not so nice // pastry containing bit of egg (8)

CRU(E)LLER — CRULLER (pastry) containing (†) E (bit [initial letter] of Egg)

13d	Food vendor’s vehicle // stirred up starch (8)

PUSHCART* — anagram of (stirred) UP STARCH

15d	Middle Eastern dish // ruined clip, I fear (4,5)

{RICE PILAF}* — anagram of (ruined) CLIP I FEAR

17d	What’s needed, in actual // truth (6)

VER(IT)Y — IT (what's needed) contained in (in) VERY (actual; that's the very one I saw yesterday)

It^[5] is used in the sense of exactly what is needed or desired ⇒ (i) they thought they were it ; (ii) you've either got it or you haven't.

18d	One made to serve // host falling into Scottish river (7)

D(RAFT)EE — RAFT (host; large amount) contained in (falling into) DEE (Scottish river)

The Dee^[5] is a river in northeastern Scotland, which rises in the Grampian Mountains and flows eastwards past Balmoral Castle to the North Sea at Aberdeen.

19d	Ceremony including positive // comeback (7)

RI(POS)TE — RITE (ceremony) containing (including) POS(itive)

20d	Miles around Scottish peak, // plant with flowers (7)

VER(BEN)A — VERA (Miles; American actress Vera Miles^[7]) containing (around) BEN (Scottish peak; Scottish word for 'mountain')

22d	Exercise // place is back (3-2)

{SIT_UP}< — reversal of (back) {PUT (place) + IS (†)}

24d	Never finished second-mentioned // coffee order (5)

LATTE_ — LATTE[R] (second-mentioned) with the final letter removed (never finished)

Epilogue

I hope you enjoyed the birthday PARTY (12) complete with birthday CARDS (21a), birthday CANDLES (1a) and finishing off with A PIECE OF (birthday) CAKE (27a). And a gift from CARTIER (10a) is certainly nothing to be sneezed at.

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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