Saturday, November 27, 2021 — Telling Its Own Tale

Introduction

Today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon, like the legendary Swiss hero at its core, hits the mark. I found it difficult to gain an entry point but once I had established a foothold, the solve progressed steadily. However, I did ponder a long time over 7d, my last one in.

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	At home, youngster consumed // warm eggs (8)

IN|CUB|ATE — IN (at home) + CUB (youngster) + ATE (consumed)

5a	Backing a power unit with zero // capital (6)

{O|TTAW|A}< — reversal of (backing) A (†) + WATT (power unit) + O ([letter that looks like] zero)

Although contestants on Jeopardy! recently failed to identify Ottawa, I hope American readers here will recognize it as the capital of Canada.

By the way, the Ottawa Tourism Bureau has invited the two contestants to visit Ottawa, all expenses paid, to "show them what they may have missed".

9a	Spanish data display // opened for viewing (6,3)

SP|READ OUT — SP (Spanish; indication of language in dictionary entries) + READ OUT (data display)

11a	Different // trouble after the debut (5)

_OTHER — [B]OTHER (trouble) with the initial letter removed (after the debut)

12a	Shoemaker hurt returning // baking dish (7)

{RAM|EKIN}< — reversal of (returning) {NIKE (shoemaker) + MAR (hurt)}

13a	Entertained // lass in straw (7)

RE(GAL)ED — GAL (lass) contained in (in) REED (straw)

14a	Around one in the morning, intend to notify // marksman (7,4)

WILL(I|AM) TELL — {WILL (intend to) + TELL (notify)} containing (around) {I ([Roman numeral] one + AM (in the morning)}

19a	Bum temporarily holding wizard’s aid, a // weapon (3,3,5)

BOW AND ARROW — BORROW (bum) containing (holding) {WAND (wizard's aid) + A (†)}

22a	Reindeer // hold up roaming after mid-march (7)

RUDOLPH* — anagram of (roaming) HOLD UP following (after) R (mid-March; middle letter of MaRch)

24a	Cut that woman/’s/ slip stealthily (7)

SLIT|HER — SLIT (cut) + HER (that woman)

25a	Book of maps // finally abridged (5)

AT|LAS_ — AT LAS[T] (finally) with the final letter removed (abridged)

26a	Dangerous, imbibing doctored whey // drink (3,6)

R(YE WH)*ISKY — RISKY (dangerous) containing (imbibing) anagram of (doctored) WHEY

27a	Carry around five hundred and one, // so far (2,4)

TO (D|A)TE — TOTE (carry) containing (around) {D ([Roman numeral] five hundred) + (and) A (one)}

28a	Changed so, and yet // stuck around (6,2)

(STAYED ON)* — anagram of (changed) SO AND YET

Down

1d	Tuck // still eating piece of steak (6)

IN(S)ERT —INERT (still) containing (eating) S (piece [initial letter] of Steak)

2d	Shiny metal coating // church next to Vatican site (6)

CH|ROME — CH (church) + (next to) ROME (Vatican site)

3d	Bishop is missing pale // bird with a long neck (5,4)

B|LACK S|WAN — B (bishop; bishop) +LACKS (is missing) + WAN (pale)

4d	Something sharp: // tenor brass instrument (5)

T|HORN — T (tenor; singing voice) + HORN (brass instrument)

6d	Skimpy garment // among marathon gear (5)

_THON|G_ — hidden in (among) maraTHON Gear

7d	Hero // is sore, getting sick (8)

ACH(ILL)ES — ACHES (is sore) containing (getting) ILL (sick)

In Greek mythology, Achilles^[5] was a hero of the Trojan War, son of Peleus and Thetis. During his infancy his mother plunged him in the Styx, thus making his body invulnerable except for the heel by which she held him. During the Trojan War Achilles killed Hector but was later wounded in the heel by an arrow shot by Paris and died.

8d	Dog // was shown beer (8)

AIRED|ALE — AIRED (was shown) ALE (beer)

10d	Drop the ball that is right behind last bit of hot // dog (7)

T|ERR|IE|R — {ERR (drop the ball) + IE (that is) + R(ight)} following (behind) T (last bit [letter] of hoT)

15d	Hide // article received by Shakespearean king (7)

LEA(THE)R — THE ([definite] article) contained in (received by) LEAR (Shakespearean king)

16d	Turned wash milky, // in a soapy way (9)

MAWKISHLY* — anagram of (turned) WASH MILKY

17d	Perverse // insect circling Yogi (8)

A(BERRA)NT — ANT (insect) containing (circling) BERRA (Yogi; baseball catcher Yogi Berra^[7])

18d	Blanketed // son walked like a duck (8)

S|WADDLED — S(on) + WADDLED (walked like a duck)

20d	Went after // virgin in audition (6)

CHASED~ — sounds like (in audition) CHASTE (virgin)

21d	Weep continuously about a // colouring agent (6)

CR(A)Y|ON — CRY ON (weep continuously) containing (about) A (†)

23d	Catalogue including Greek film // composer (5)

LIS(Z)T — LIST (catalogue) containing (including) Z (Greek film)

Z^[7] is a 1969 Algerian-French political thriller film that presents a thinly fictionalized account of the events surrounding the assassination of democratic Greek politician Grigoris Lambrakis in 1963.

24d	Extract metal /from/ fish (5)

SMELT — double definition

Epilogue

It's certainly not difficult to discern a theme today; in fact, one could say the puzzle "tells its own tale". As Peter puts it in his comment below "The Swiss hero and his arms take centre stage.".

Those of us of a certain age will be familiar with the William Tell Overture as the theme song of the 1950s television program The Lone Ranger.

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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