Saturday, September 4, 2020 — Childhood Memories

Introduction

Today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon is, for the most part, pretty straightforward. In my case, as it seems to have been for many solvers, 28a was the last to fall.

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	Summer fare: // memories of boyhood? (5,5)

PAST|A S|A|LAD — split the solution (4,2,1,3) to get a phrase that could be construed to mean "memories of boyhood"

6a	Stinging insect // was passing (4)

WAS|P — WAS (†) + P (passing; result on a pass/fail exam)

9a	Size // right after adjustment (5)

GIRTH* — anagram of (after adjustment) RIGHT

10a	Endlessly try charm, // biting (9)

TR||ENCHANT — TR[Y] with the final letter removed (endlessly) + ENCHANT (charm)

12a	Colossal // jerk receiving one bronze (7)

T(I|TAN)IC — TIC (jerk) containing (receiving) {I ([Roman numeral] one) + TAN (bronze)}

13a	Spoil container with island // drink (7)

MAR|TIN|I — MAR (spoil) + TIN (container) + (with) I(sland)

14a	Horse carrying humble // English dramatist (7)

MAR(LOW)E — MARE (horse) containing (carrying) LOW (humble)

Christopher Marlowe^[5] (1564–1593) was an English playwright and poet. As a playwright he brought a new strength and vitality to blank verse; his work influenced Shakespeare's early historical plays. Notable plays: Doctor Faustus (c.1590) and The Jew of Malta (1592).

17a	Dodge // right inside a screen (5)

A|VE(R)T — R(ight) contained in (inside) {A (†) + VET (screen; scrutinize)}

19a	Glance // through Rebecca romance (5)

_CA\ROM_ — hidden in (through) RebecCA ROMance

21a	Woman of myth // stirred treacle (7)

ELECTRA* — anagram of (stirred) TREACLE

In Greek mythology, Electra^[5] is the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. She persuaded her brother Orestes to kill Clytemnestra and Aegisthus (their mother’s lover) in revenge for the murder of Agamemnon.

24a	Rascal for every // call in question (7)

IMP|EACH — IMP (rascal) + EACH (for every)

26a	Biopic // produced in Austria (7)

A(MADE)US — MADE (produced) contained in (in) AUS (Austria)

Aus.^[3] is an abbreviation for Austria (or Austrian)—as well as Australia (or Australian).

Amadeus^[7] is a 1984 American period biographical drama film directed by Miloš Forman and adapted by Peter Shaffer from his 1979 Tony award-winning stage play of the same name. The story, set in Vienna, Austria, during the latter half of the 18th century, is a the story of a fictional rivalry between Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Italian composer Antonio Salieri at the court of Emperor Joseph II. Considered one of the greatest films of all time, Amadeus was the recipient of eight Academy Awards (including the Academy Award for Best Picture).

28a	Fasten tip // drawer? (9)

PASTE|LIST — PASTE (fasten) + LIST (tip; tilt or lean)

A pastel^[5] is a crayon made of powdered pigments bound with gum or resin or a work of art created using pastels—naturally by the artist who is the solution to the clue.

29a	I struggled // with some overgrowth (5)

I|VIED — I (†) + VIED (struggled)

30a	Queen of Carthage // accomplished nothing (4)

DID|O — DID (accomplished) + O ([letter that looks like a zero, the symbol for] nothing; )

In the Aeneid^*, Dido^[5] is the queen and founder of Carthage, who fell in love with the shipwrecked Aeneas and killed herself when he deserted her.

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^* The Aeneid^[5] is a Latin epic poem in twelve books by the Roman poet Virgil which relates the travels and experiences of Aeneas after the fall of Troy.

31a	Lie about good girl // insulating stuff? (10)

FIB|RE|GLASS — FIB (lie) + RE (about) + G (good; mark on a school assignment) + LASS (girl)

Down

1d	Too bad about general’s // pen (6)

PI(G|S)TY — PITY (too bad) + containing (about) {G (general; film rating) + S ('s)}

2d	Play guitar, taking a teacher’s first // class (7)

STR(A|T)UM — STRUM (play guitar) containing (taking) { A (†) + T (Teacher's first [letter])

3d	Like chicken // of a whitish hue (5)

AS|HEN — AS (like) + HEN (chicken)

4d	I gag after painting // vegetable (9)

ART|I|CHOKE — {I (†) + CHOKE (gag)} following (after) ART (painting)

5d	Running across // Lincoln in the morning (5)

ABE|AM — ABE (Lincoln; Abraham Lincoln^[5], 16th president of the United States) + AM (in the morning)

7d	A sin involving a bit of rapacity? (7)

A|V(A|R)ICE — A (†) + VICE (sin) containing (involving) {A (†) + R (bit [initial letter] of Rapacity)}

This is an &lit. clue^[7], a clue in which the entire clue is both wordplay (according to one reading) and definition (under a different reading).

8d	New England football team // completely disturbs the peace (8)

PAT|RIOTS — PAT (completely; as in I  have it down pat) + RIOTS (disturbs the peace)

The New England Patriots^[7] are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division.

11d	Fruit /that’s/ in season, you might say? (7)

CURRANT~ — sounds like (you might say) CURRENT (in season)

15d	Storm // hit site on the Web (7)

RAM|PAGE — RAM (hit) + PAGE (site on the Web)

16d	The first female river runner // for good (4,5)

EVE|R AFTER — EVE (the first female; Adam's partner in the Garden of Eden) + RAFTER (river runner)

18d	Changing price, MDs // saved money (8)

SCRIMPED* — anagram of (changing) PRICE MDS

20d	Lay // purchase orders in grass (7)

RE(POS)ED — POS (purchase orders) contained in (in) REED (grass)

22d	A terrible crime by a // Canadian neighbour (7)

AMERICA* — A (†) + CRIME+ (by) A (†)

23d	Second among assistant’s // offhand remarks (6)

A(S)IDE|S — S(econd) contained in (among) {AIDE (assistant) + S ('s)}

25d	Fictional girl // in The Idiot (5)

_HE|IDI_ — hidden in (in) THE IDIot

Heidi^[7] is a work of children's fiction published in 1881 by Swiss author Johanna Spyri. It is one of the best-selling books ever written and is among the best-known works of Swiss literature.

Scratching the Surface

The Idiot[7] is a novel by the 19th-century Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. It was first published serially in 1868–69. The title is an ironic reference to the central character of the novel, Prince Lev Nikolayevich Myshkin, a young man whose goodness, open-hearted simplicity and guilelessness lead many of the more worldly characters he encounters to mistakenly assume that he lacks intelligence and insight.

27d	A feature of an airplane— // amazing (5)

A|WING — A (†) + WING (feature of an airplane)

Epilogue

As several readers have commented, the theme—if one exists—is well hidden. We do have "memories of boyhood" in 1a, the "past" reappears in 28a and, in 25d, a well-remembered story from my childhood about a young girl's life in the Swiss Alps.

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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