Spiced cranberry and zinfandfel sauce (Solution No. 3,304)

The solution to The Nation puzzle No. 3,304 is below the recipe and the fold.

This recipe was from Cooking Light about a decade ago, and given how much I like zin, this quickly became an obligatory part of the Mitchell Thanksgiving table.  This is best made two or three days ahead.  The best wine for this is an inexpensive one from one of the wineries that’s known for good zinfandels, like Cline or Ravenswood or Rosenblum (I’ve met the winemakers of all three).  You need the brambly, peppery character of a good quality zinfandel, but the nuances of a more expensive wine are going to get lost among the other flavors.

2 cups zinfandel wine

3⁄4 cup sugar

5 (2-inch) orange rind strips

1⁄2 cup fresh orange juice

6 whole cloves

4 slices peeled fresh ginger

2 cinnamon sticks

12-ounce package fresh cranberries

Combine the first 7 ingredients in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium, and cook 15 minutes or until mixture begins to thicken and sugar dissolves, stirring occasionally. Strain the mixture through a sieve into a bowl, and discard the solids.  Return mixture to pan.  Add cranberries to pan; cook over high heat 10 minutes or until berries pop. Reduce heat to low and simmer 30 minutes or until mixture is slightly thick. Pour into a bowl and let cool.

Solution and annotation to The Nation Cryptic Crossword No. 3,304

Legend: "*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed; "( )" letters inserted; "_" or lower case: letters deleted; "†" explicit in the clue, “^” first or last letter or letters, “{“ relocated letter or letters; “§” heteronym, “¶“ letter bank

5a	PER(<SU<AS | I)ON	<US< (†, reversal indicated by “back”) + AS I (†) contained in (“invested in”) PERON (“Evita”)
7a	P | ARK	^P^addle (first letter indicated by “front of”) + ARK (“boat”)
10a	~PRIDE	~PRYED (“meddled,” homophone indicated by “loudly”)
11a	MANSFIELD	§MAN’S FIELD (“male domain”) Katherine Mansfield (1888-1923) was a novelist from New Zealand.
12a	NE(*CKLI)NE	NENE (“Hawaiian goose”) containing (“takes”) *LICK (anagram indicated by “flying around”)
14a	R | ANKLE	R (“radius”) + ANKLE (“joint”)
17a	SEN(SIB)ILITY	SIB (“family member”) contained in (“in the grip of”) SENILITY (“second childhood”)
20a	*EASELS	*E-SALES (anagram indicated by “illegitimate”)
21a	_LAUGHTER	_s_LAUGHTER (“kill,” omission of S indicated by “without ^S^cruples at the opening”)
22a	*PRE | JU(D)ICE	*REP (anagram indicated by “corrupt”) + JUICE (“power”) containing (“to conceal”) D (“Democratic”)
25a	SENSE_	SENSE_i_ (“martial arts instructor,” omission of I indicated by “I fled”) A sensei (Japanese word) teaches judo or karate
26a	<EM | MA<	<AM (“in the morning”) + ME (†)<, reversal of the whole thing indicated by “returned”) Emma Lazarus (1849-1887) was a poetess from New York.  Neither she nor Mansfield appear to have any significant connections to Jane Austen.
27a	*JANE AUSTEN	*A JUNTA SEEN (anagram indicated by “in disarray”)

1d	*BRA(INCAS)ES	INCAS (“South Americans”) contained in (“sporting”) *SABER (anagram indicated by “smashed”)
2d	R | USE	^R^ed (first letter indicated by “head”) + USE (“to deploy”)
3d	DOWN	Double definition, with reference to the Down clues of this puzzle
4d	Y A L E	^Y^outh ^A^re ^L^ikely ^E^nrolled (initials indicated by “leaders of”
5d	PI | PING	PI (“detective”) preceding (“overlooks”) PING (“a knocking sound”)
6d	SEM_ | ANTIC	SEM_i_ (“halfway,” omission of last letter indicated by “almost”) + ANTIC (“frisky”)
8d	K(*IDN)EY	KEY (“part of organ”) containing (“obscuring”) *DIN (anagram indicated by “terrible”) A bit of a mixed metaphor here with a visual reference in the indicator and an aural reference in the anagram fodder.
9d	EFF | ACING	EFF (the letter F, for failing) + ACING (getting a perfect score on)
13d	*LINO(LE)UM	*MOULIN (anagram indicated by “racous”) containing (“includes”) LE (“the French”)
15d	*KRYPTONITE	*POTTER [with] INKY (anagram indicated by “harry”)
16d	*MI(LANE)SE	LINE (“road”) contained in (“involved in”) *SEMI (anagram indicated by “crash”)
18d	P | *EOPLE	P (“quietly”) + *ELOPE (anagram indicated by “in a flurry”)
19d	_URGE ON	_st_URGEON (“fish,” omission of ST indicated by “holy man briefly leaving”)
23d	_EL MO_	micha_EL MO_ore (hidden word indicated by “describes”)
24d	I(M)AX	I (†) + AX (“can”) containing (“take in”) ^M^oonraker (first letter indicated by “premiere of”)
25d	<STUB<	<BUTS< (“objections,” reversal indicated by “raised”)