Saturday, October 16, 2021 — Master of Supense

Introduction

Today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon pays tribute to a director whose films kept us on the edge of our seats.

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

Note to Readers

The review for this puzzle is appearing late due to the confluence of a number of factors—catching up with a backlog of tasks that were neglected over the summer while I spent a lot of time camping at the lake as well as more that were added to the pile while I was away on my recent trip, taking advantage of a few bonus days of especially good weather to deal with the usual litany of autumn yard chores, the start of the NHL season (I work as a volunteer at games here in Ottawa), and stupidly deleting a half-finished draft which necessitated restarting from the beginning.

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	Assumed // location within group of whales (7)

PO(SITE)D — SITE (location) contained in (within) POD (group of whales)

5a	Royal family // meanders, otherwise (7)

WINDS|OR — WINDS (meanders) + OR (otherwise)

The House of Windsor^[7] is the royal house of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms. It was founded by King George V by royal proclamation on 17 July 1917, when he changed the name of the British Royal Family from the German Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (a branch of the House of Wettin) to the English Windsor, due to the anti-German sentiment in the British Empire during World War I. The most prominent member of the House of Windsor is its head, Queen Elizabeth II.

9a	One hundred and twenty quires of paper, // off-white (5)

C|REAM — C (one hundred; Roman numeral) + (and) REAM (twenty quires of paper)

10a	Well known // moon of Jupiter surrounded by no ring (9)

NO|TOR(IO)US — IO (moon of Jupiter) contained in (surrounded by) {NO (†) + TORUS (ring)}

Notorious^[7] is a 1946 American spy thriller film directed and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman and Claude Rains as three people whose lives become intimately entangled during an espionage operation.

11a	Bygone TV show host // put on a shade (7)

DON|A|HUE — DON (put on) + A (†) + HUE (shade)

Phil Donahue^[7] (known as the "king of daytime talk") is the creator and host of The Phil Donahue Show (later known simply as Donahue). The show had a 29-year run on national television in America from 1967 to 1996.

12a	Presented with puzzles // full of holes (7)

RIDDLED — double definition

In the first definition, riddle^[5] is used in the archaic sense of to speak in or pose riddles.

13a	Warn weirdo all about // glass in back (4,6)

REAR WINDOW — anagram of (all about) WARN WEIRDO

Rear Window^[7] is a 1954 American mystery thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring James Stewart and Grace Kelly. Stewart plays a professional photographer confined to a wheelchair in his apartment while recuperating from a broken leg. His rear window looks out onto a courtyard and other apartments. During an intense heat wave, he watches his neighbours, who keep their windows open to stay cool and becomes convinced that one neighbour has murdered his wife (although he is unable to convince the police of that).

15a	Deer // situated toward the rear (4)

HIND — double definition

18a	False promise to be true, // faithful companion (4)

F|I|DO — F(alse) + I DO (promise to be true; marriage vow)

19a	Entranced, // give the letters in spring (10)

SPELL|BOUND — SPELL (give the letters in) + BOUND (spring)

Spellbound^[7] is a 1945 American psychological mystery thriller film noir directed by Alfred Hitchcock which stars Ingrid Bergman and Gregory Peck.

22a	Have problems with Irma interrupting // postal service (7)

A(IRMA)IL — AIL (have problems) containing (with ... interrupting) IRMA (†)

24a	Song finale brought back // Cretan princess of myth (7)

ARIA|DNE< — ARIA (song) + reversal of (brought back) END (finale)

In Greek mythology, Ariadne^[5] is the daughter of King Minos of Crete and Pasiphaë. She helped Theseus to escape from the Minotaur's labyrinth by giving him a ball of thread, which he unravelled as he went in and used to trace his way out again after killing the Minotaur.

25a	Director // attacked wedge, eating piece of cheese (9)

HIT|CH(C)OCK — {HIT (attacked) + CHOCK (wedge)} containing (eating) C (piece [initial letter] of Cheese)

Alfred Hitchcock^[7] (1899–1980) was an English^* film director, producer, and screenwriter who has been called the "Master of Suspense". He is well known for his cameo roles in most of his films.

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^* A British citizen by birth, Hitchcock became an American citizen in 1955.

26a	Pointing at Edmonton houses // with controlled access (5)

_G|AT|ED_ — hidden in (houses) pointinG AT EDmonton

27a	Right except when // not scoring (7)

R|UNLESS — R(ight) + UNLESS (except when)

28a	Got involved // with commercial energy racket (5,2)

W|AD|E|D IN — W(ith) + AD (commercial) + E(nergy) + DIN (racket)

Down

1d	Choose a way in to hear // performer in a ring (7)

PICADOR~ — sounds like (to hear) {PICK (choose) + A (†) + DOOR (way in)}

In bullfighting, a picador^[5] is a person on horseback who goads the bull with a lance.

2d	Cruise attendant taking nurse // to the back of the ship (9)

STE(RN)WARD — STEWARD (cruise attendant) containing (taking) RN (nurse; Registered Nurse)

3d	Male warmonger carrying a // weapon (8)

TOM(A)HAWK — {TOM (male [cat]) + HAWK (warmonger)} containing (carrying) A (†)

4d	Time invested in Hamlet, for one // old poet (5)

DAN(T)E — T(ime) contained in (invested in) DANE (Hamlet, for one)

Hamlet is the protagonist in Hamlet^[7] (in full The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark), a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1602. Set in Denmark, the play dramatises the revenge Prince Hamlet is called to wreak upon his uncle, Claudius, by the ghost of Hamlet's father, King Hamlet. Claudius had murdered his own brother and seized the throne, also marrying his deceased brother's widow.

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Dante^[5] (1265–1321), full name Dante Alighieri, was an Italian poet. (show more )

His reputation rests chiefly on The Divine Comedy (c.1309–20), an epic poem describing his spiritual journey through Hell and Purgatory and finally to Paradise. His love for Beatrice Portinari is described in Vita nuova (c.1290–4).

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5d	Some birds // mistakenly flew to war (9)

WATERFOWL* — anagram of (mistakenly) FLEW TO WAR

6d	Deconstructed unread // poet (6)

NERUDA* — anagram of (deconstructed) UNREAD

Pablo Neruda^[5] (1904–1973) was a Chilean poet and diplomat; born Ricardo Eliezer Neftalí Reyes. He took his pseudonym from the Czech poet Jan Neruda. His Canto General (completed 1950) is an epic covering the history of the Americas.

7d	Utensil behind small // seat at a bar (5)

S|TOOL — TOOL (utensil) following (behind) S(mall)

8d	Had a home // given a new facade (7)

RESIDED — a quasi-double definition

There is a divergence of opinion in the comments below as to the spelling of the solution to the second definition. I would spell the solutions to both definitions the same. In the spelling of the solution to the second definition, I see resided as following the same pattern as refaced, refinished, resoled, etc.

In the comments below, HeatherZ convincingly argues that the answer to the second part of the clue would be hyphenated (RE-SIDE) and thus numerated (2-5) which does not match the numeration given. As I'm not quite sure how one describes such a clue, I've called it a "quasi-double definition".

However, I do pronounce the two words slightly differently, with the S in the first having more of a Z sound.

14d	Shifting pan, loosen // pastries (9)

NAPOLEONS* — anagram of (shifting) PAN LOOSEN

Napoleon^[15] is the North American term* for a a pastry consisting of thin layers of puff paste** interlaid with a cream or custard filling.

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^* British term: millefeuille^[10] (Origin: French, literally 'thousand leaves')
^** paste^[15] is dough, especially when prepared with shortening, as for making pie crust and other pastry

16d	Totally filled // in missing information regarding provenance (9)

IN|UNDATED — IN (†) + UNDATED (missing information regarding provenance

17d	Cut short // a card game with Dee (8)

A|BRIDGE|D — A (†) + BRIDGE (card game) + (with) D (dee; letter of the alphabet)

18d	Be anxious about the // plume (7)

FEA(THE)R — FEAR (be anxious) containing (about) THE (†)

20d	Doctor’s study covering East // German city (7)

DR(E)S|DEN — {DR (doctor) + S ('s) + DEN (study)} containing (covering) E(ast)

Dresden^[5] is a city in eastern Germany, the capital of Saxony, on the River Elbe. Famous for its baroque architecture, it was almost totally destroyed by Allied bombing in 1945.

21d	Bush // had pen modified (6)

DAPHNE* — anagram of (modified) HAD PEN

Daphne^[5] is a small, typically evergreen Eurasian shrub with sweet-scented flowers.

23d	Betray // nothing in wild rant (3,2)

{RAT (O)N}* — O (nothing; letter that looks like a zero) contained in (in) anagram of (wild) RANT

24d	Question we backed // off (5)

ASK|EW< — ASK (question) + reversal of (backed) WE

Epilogue

The puzzle features three films from director Alfred Hitchcock as well as the customary cameo appearance by the director himself. As Peter points out in the Comments below, an additional film gets a mention in the clues.

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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