Saturday, September 11, 2021 — "F" is for Forest

Introduction

Today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon features a writer known for her "alphabet series" of detective novels. Although the thought hadn't struck me while solving the puzzle, as I began composing the review, the clues began to take the shape of elements of a murder mystery.

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	Bird // is wrapped in long fleece (4,6)

PINE| S(IS)KIN — IS (†) contained in (wrapped in) {PINE (long; yearn) + SKIN (fleece}

Fleece means skin in the figurative sense of swindle.

6a	Small camera // trick (4)

S|CAM — S(mall) + CAM (camera; as in webcam)

First skin, then scam. Is a theme developing here?

9a	Funny // company doc (7)

CO|MEDIC — CO (company) + MEDIC (doc)

Might the funny company be involved in " funny business" ?

10a	Transient // dads confess (7)

PAS|SING — PAS (dads) + SING (confess)

After the actions witnessed in the first three clues, a confession is in order.

12a	Altered ID of // Rex’s kin? (4)

FIDO — anagram of (altered) ID OF

Fake ID?

13a	Box // catches red fluid (5,5)

{CEDAR CHEST}* — anagram of (fluid) CATCHES RED

Bloodshed?

15a	Modified since I’d // marked with cuts (7)

INCISED* — anagram of (modified) SINCE ID

This might explain 13a.

16a	Apprentice // driver’s helper taking shower (7)

T(RAIN)EE — TEE (driver's helper) containing (taking) RAIN (shower)

To wash off the blood after disposing of the body?

18a	Surgical procedure on // mystery writer (7)

GRAFT|ON — GRAFT (surgical procedure) + ON (†)

Sue Grafton^[7] (1940–2017) was an American author of detective novels. She is best known as the author of the "alphabet series" ("A" Is for Alibi, etc.) featuring private investigator Kinsey Millhone in the fictional city of Santa Teresa, California.

Has the author herself fallen victim to these meticulous knife-wielding perpetrators?

21a	Weaker // bee caught by tentacle (7)

FEE(B)LER — B (bee) contained in (caught by) FEELER (tentacle)

23a	Fortune teller // alarmed rep badly (4,6)

{PALM READER}* — anagram of (badly) ALARMED REP

24a	Clever // curve (4)

ARCH — double defnition

26a	Face expert with a // cure-all (7)

PAN|ACE|A — PAN (face) + ACE (expert) + (with) A (†)

Pan^[12] is US slang for a person's face.

27a	Level // floor by mid-morning (7)

FL|AT|TEN — FL (floor) + AT (by; a picnic at the lake) + TEN (mid-morning)

28a	Fish // grow in the sound (4)

RAYS~  — sounds like (in the sound) RAISE (grow; raise vegetables)

29a	Female pals reformed // team (5,5)

{MAPLE LEAFS}* — anagram of (reformed) FEMALE PALS

A team with the dubious distinction of holding the NHL record for longest Stanley Cup Finals drought^[7] at 53 seasons. The Toronto Maple Leafs last appeared in the Stanley Cup Finals in1967. (Sorry to rub it in GTA).

Down

1d	Calming down, // for your information, in walking back and forth (9)

PACI(FYI)NG — FYI (for your information) contained in (in) PACING (walking back and forth)

2d	Going through Sonoma, Dick/’s/ wandering (7)

_NOMA|DIC_ — hidden in (going through) SoNOMA DICk

3d	Team // lamented out loud (4)

SIDE~  — sounds like (out loud) SIGHED (lamented)

4d	Follow // first of cards in deuces wild (7)

{SUC(C)EED}* — C (first [letter] of Cards) contained in (in) anagram of (wild) DEUCES

5d	Introduce // pest at a picnic after rascal left (7)

IMP|L|ANT — ANT (pest at a picnic) following (after) {IMP (rascal) + L(eft)}

7d	Evil article /from/ a European peninsula (7)

CRIME|AN — CRIME (evil) + AN ([indefinite] article)

Crimea^[7] is a peninsula (the Crimean Peninsula) along the northern coast of the Black Sea in Eastern Europe. Claimed by Ukraine and recognized as Ukrainian by the United Nations and most countries, it was invaded and annexed by Russia in 2014.

8d	Power // has a chance? (5)

MIGHT — double definition

11d	Old Greek // consequently boxes (8)

SO|CRATES — SO (consequently) + CRATES (boxes)

Socrates^[5] (469–399 BC) was a Greek philosopher.

14d	Arcane, // cryptic coteries (8)

ESOTERIC* — anagram of (cryptic) COTERIES

17d	Western lawman perfects // hearing aids (9)

EARP|HONES — EARP (Western lawman; Wyatt Earp^[7]) + HONES (perfects)

19d	Foolishly play ten // in Spades (7)

APLENTY* — anagram of (foolishly) PLAY TEN

20d	River once more receding before a // deluge (7)

{NIAGA|R}<A — reversal of (receding) {R(iver) + AGAIN (once more)} preceding (before) A (†)

21d	Inclined to gnaw // cooked truffle (7)

FRETFUL* — anagram of (cooked) TRUFFLE

22d	Wrong to alter a // first name in country music (7)

LORETTA* — anagram of (wrong) TO ALTER A

Loretta Lynn^[7] is an American singer-songwriter whose career spans six decades in country music.

23d	Public address system for every // media outlet (5)

PA|PER — PA (public address system) + PER (for every)

25d	Greet // some inclement weather (4)

HAIL — double definition

Epilogue

I decided to have a little fun with this review. Hope you enjoyed it. The title is a tip of the hat to the mystery writer at 18a as well as an allusion to the four trees appearing in the solution.

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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