Saturday, May 22, 2021 — Hot Brews

Introduction

Today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon is serving up hot beverages, although a cold one might be more welcome given the current heat wave.

Happy Victoria Day to Canadian readers.

I invite you to leave a comment to let us know how you fared with the puzzle.

Note on Thursday's Puzzle

On Thursday, the National Post published DT 29462 (skipping DT 29461 for which my review had been written and scheduled for posting). I usually check prior to the scheduled posting time to verify that the expected puzzle has, in fact, been published. However, Thursday was one of those rare occasions that I neglected to do so. As I was occupied with other matters all day, I didn't realize until late in the day that the puzzle I had reviewed was not the puzzle that was published.

I have now posted a review of DT 29462, in case anyone is still interested.

I have also added the grid and clues to the review of DT 29461 so that those who would like an extra puzzle to solve this long weekend may do so.

And, finally, the shenanigans with the puzzle sequence that we have experienced over the last couple of weeks are nothing compared to what is in store this coming week. Stay tuned.

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	Turned over rent cash for // dark brew (6,5)

{FRENCH ROAST}* — anagram of (turned over) RENT CASH FOR

9a	Elevate // university with laudatory remarks (7)

U|PRAISE — U(niversity) + (with) PRAISE (laudatory remarks)

10a	Tyke keeps near // this evening (7)

TO(NIGH)T — TOT (tyke) containing (keeps) NIGH (near)

11a	Casual eatery // prices jump after company failure (6,4)

CO|F|FEE S|HOP — {FEES (prices) + HOP (jump)} following (after) {CO (company) + F (failure; mark on an assignment or test)}

12a	Dizzy // eccentrics in a turnaround (4)

STUN< — reversal of (in a turnaround) NUTS (eccentrics)

13a	Rendezvous // attempt with saint (5)

TRY|ST — TRY (attempt) + (with) ST (saint)

14a	Give a new look to // back pasture (9)

REAR|RANGE — REAR (back) + RANGE (pasture)

16a	Order a gin, rambling // Mexican border (3,6)

{RIO GRANDE}* — anagram of (rambling) ORDER A GIN

The Rio Grande^[5] is a river which rises in the Rocky Mountains of southwestern Colorado and flows 3,030 km (1,880 miles) generally south-eastwards to the Gulf of Mexico, forming the US-Mexico frontier from El Paso, Texas to the sea.

18a	Some residents of southern Africa // zoo lose hearing? (5)

ZULUS~ — sounds like (hearing) ZOO LOSE

The Zulu^[5] are a South African people traditionally living mainly in KwaZulu-Natal province. The Zulus formed a powerful military empire in southern Africa during the 19th century before being defeated in a series of engagements with Afrikaner and British settlers.

21a	Vocally drill // prominent physicist (4)

BOHR~ — sounds like (vocally) BORE (drill)

Niels Bohr^[5] (1885–1962) was a Danish physicist and pioneer in quantum physics who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1922.

22a	China set // puzzle wrong (3,7)

TEA SER|VICE — TEASER (puzzle) + VICE (wrong)

25a	Fell in with one // Italian director (7)

FELL|IN|I — FELL (†) + IN (†) + I ([Roman numeral] one)

Frederico Fellini^[5] (1920–1993) was an Italian film director. He rose to international fame with La Strada (1954), which won an Oscar for best foreign film. Other major films include La Dolce Vita (1960), a satire on Rome’s high society.

26a	Someone saved // a reminder in anticipatory time (7)

EV(A|CUE)E — {A (†) + CUE (reminder)} contained in (in) EVE (anticipatory time)

27a	Keep goo near mixed // drink (6,5)

{ORANGE PEKOE}* — anagram of (mixed) KEEP GOO NEAR

Orange pekoe^[10] is a superior grade of black tea made from the small leaves at the tips of the plant stems and growing in India and Sri Lanka.

Down

1d	One judge captivated by stylish // little flasher (7)

F(I|REF)LY — {I ([Roman numeral] one + REF (judge)} contained in (captivated by) FLY (stylish)

I see there are already several references to the word "fly" in the comments. According to The Word Detective, "The adjective “fly” first appeared in slang with this sense of “sharp” or “in the know” in the early 19th century; later in the century it also came to mean “dexterous, nimble”. The “in the know” usage, which was originally largely confined to the criminal underworld, percolated out into general slang in the mid-19th century with the meaning of “smart, fashionable” and eventually “excellent, cool, attractive.” This sense took root in African-American slang in the mid-20th century, and was very common in rap and hip-hop culture starting in the 1980s or so."

2d	Big story: record // earthquake area in the US (9)

EPIC|ENTER — EPIC (big story) + ENTER (record; verb)

Epicenter is the US spelling of epicentre.

3d	Speaking out loud, pick // items to gnaw (5)

CHEWS~ — sounds like (speaking out loud) CHOOSE (pick)

4d	Excuse // loan I rate poorly (9)

RATIONALE — anagram of (poorly) LOAN I RATE

5d	Losing the opener, mock // member of the family (4)

_AUNT — [T]AUNT (mock) with the initial letter removed (losing the opener [initial letter])

6d	Audited giant // contract (7)

TIGHTEN~ — sounds like (audited) TITAN (giant)

In Classical Greek mythology, the Titans and Titanesses^[7] were members of the second order of divine beings, descending from the primordial deities and preceding the Olympian deities. Based on Mount Othrys, the Titans most famously included the first twelve children of the primordial Gaia (Mother Earth) and Uranus (Father Heaven). They were giant deities of incredible strength, who ruled during the legendary Golden Age, and also composed the first pantheon of Greek deities.

7d	Requirement covering California // variety of sweet white wine (6)

MUS(CA)T — MUST (requirement) containing (covering) CA (California)

Muscat^[5] is wine made from muscat grapes, especially a sweet or fortified white wine.

8d	Heavy weight gained by hotshot // now (2,4)

A(T ON)CE — TON (heavy weight) contained in (gained by) ACE (hotshot)

14d	Depicting // finisher in arena (9)

R(ENDER)ING — ENDER (finisher) contained in (in) RING (arena)

15d	Display case holds storied Greek // hog (9)

RA(ZORBA)CK — RACK (display case) containing (holds) ZORBA (storied Greek)

Zorba the Greek^[7] is a novel written by the Cretan author Nikos Kazantzakis, first published in 1946. The novel was adapted into the Academy Award-winning 1964 film of the same name.

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The razorback^[5] (also razorback hog) is a pig of a half-wild breed common in the southern US, with the back formed into a high narrow ridge.

16d	Polish again // turn back (6)

REBUFF — RE- (prefix denoting 'again') + BUFF (polish)

17d	Occupational therapist greeting // famous Moor (7)

OT|HELLO — OT (occupational therapist) + HELLO (greeting)

Othello^[7] is the title character in The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice (circa 1601–1604), a tragedy by English playwright William Shakespeare. Othello is a Moorish general in the Venetian army.

19d	Free time // capsule, finally, is included in enticement (7)

L(E|IS)URE — {E (capsule, finally; final letter of capsulE) + IS (†)} contained in (included in) LURE (enticement)

20d	Horse carrying Western // drunk (6)

STE(W)ED — STEED (horse) containing (carrying) W(estern)

23d	Expensive // brew, in a way (5)

STEEP — double definition

24d	Opera star // eager in comeback (4)

DIVA< — reversal of (in comeback) AVID (eager)

Epilogue

A choice of beverages is on offer today; we can either sip 1a at an 11a or enjoy 27a from a fine china 22a.

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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