Monday, September 19, 2016 — DT 28128

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28128
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28128]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By ShropshireLad
BD Rating
Difficulty - ★★	Enjoyment - ★★ / ★★★
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 █ - unsolved or incorrect prior to visiting Big Dave's Crossword Blog █ - solved with aid of checking letters provided by solutions from Big Dave's Crossword Blog █ - reviewed by Falcon for Big Dave's Crossword Blog █ - yet to be solved
Notes
The National Post has skipped DT 28126 and DT 28127 which were published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, May 28, 2016 and Monday, May 30, 2016.

Introduction

Although today's puzzle did not put up that much of a struggle, it did manage to score a point at my expense on 2d where I resorted to making a call to one of my electronic friends.

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

Notes on Today's Puzzle

This commentary is intended to serve as a supplement to the review of this puzzle found at Big Dave's Crossword Blog, to which a link is provided in the table above.

Primary indications (definitions) are marked with a solid underline in the clue; subsidiary indications (be they wordplay or other) are marked with a dashed underline in all-in-one (&lit.) clues, semi-all-in-one (semi-&lit.) clues and cryptic definitions. Explicit link words and phrases are enclosed in forward slashes (/link/) and implicit links are shown as double forward slashes (//). Definitions presented in blue text are for terms that appear frequently.

Across

1a   Ray // breaking in to burgle, amateurishly (5)

4a   East Anglian river fringing lake -- drink /and/ relax (4,4)

East Anglia^[5] is a region of eastern England consisting of the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, and parts of Essex and Cambridgeshire.

The Cam^[10] is a river in eastern England, in Cambridgeshire, flowing through Cambridge to the Great Ouse^* (river). Length: about 64 km (40 miles).

^*  The Great Ouse (which flows through East Anglia) is not to be confused with the River Ouse in Yorkshire or the River Ouse in Sussex — and certainly not with the Little Ouse, a river of East Anglia, which forms a tributary of the Great Ouse.

8a   Facility /in/ a function held aboard English ship (8)

In mathematics, the term sine^[5] denotes the trigonometric function that is equal to the ratio of the side opposite a given angle (in a right-angled triangle) to the hypotenuse.

Usually we see the phrase "aboard ship" being used to clue 'contained in SS' (show explanation ). However, today's setter adds an extra flourish, employing the phrase "aboard English ship" to clue 'contained in ESS'.

In Crosswordland, you will find that a ship is almost invariably a steamship, the abbreviation for which is SS^[10]. Thus phrases such as "aboard ship" or "on board ship" (or sometimes merely "on board") are Crosswordland code for 'contained in SS'.

hide explanation

9a   Lowly countryman occupied by hard // game (8)

"hard" = H (show explanation )

H^[2,5] is an abbreviation for hard, as used in describing grades of pencil lead ⇒ a 2H pencil.

hide explanation

11a   Evict // number of voters (7)

13a   Poor cafe's wrong /to offer/ view of skyline? (9)

Behind the Picture
The picture used by ShropshireLad to illustrate his clue may be a roofscape, but I would hardly call it a skyline!

15a   Fair game entering a trade // with nothing incriminating (5,2,1,7)

18a   Consider // what volunteers might do at home (9)

"volunteers" = TA (show explanation )

In the UK, Territorial Army^[5] (abbreviation TA^[5]) was, at one time, the name of a volunteer force founded in 1908 to provide a reserve of trained and disciplined military personnel for use in an emergency. Since 2013, this organization has been called the Army Reserve.

hide explanation

While I solved the clue fairly readily, it took a very long time for the wordplay to sink in.

We usually see the word "volunteers" being used as a synonym for TA (Territorial Army). However, today we must look at the word in the context of the phrase "what volunteers might do". Well, volunteers might "ENTER TA" (enrol in the Territorial Army) — or they might join some other voluntary organization.

The wordplay parses as ENTER TA (what volunteers might do) + IN (at home).

21a   Part of castle suitable /for/ exercises? (4,3)

Rather than third person (exercises), surely the definition should have been either first or second person (exercise) to accord with the solution KEEP FIT!

22a   Pay still unsettled /for/ scheduled recordings (8)

24a   Opening // routine with backing taken in by a father in France (8)

The French word for 'father' is père^[8].

25a   Lively // departure with 100 on board (8)

26a   Exotic plant // for all to see among many (5)

"for all to see" = U (show explanation )

Under the British system of film classification^[7] a U (for 'universal') rating indicates that a film is suitable "for all the family" — or, at any rate, for those members over 4 years of age.

hide explanation

Lotus^[10] may refer to either:

1. any of several water lilies of tropical Africa and Asia, especially the white lotus (Nymphaea lotus), which was regarded as sacred in ancient Egypt;
2. a similar plant, Nelumbo nucifera, which is the sacred lotus of India, China, and Tibet and also sacred in Egypt.

Down

1d   A cruel gent that's disturbed // aged relative (5-5)

2d   Preserve // directions on right to wear glitter (8)

My efforts to make the directions be "East, North, and South" and "right" to clue TRUE led me to a dead end failing to get me to the correct solution.

3d   Instrument /produced by/ chap in old woolly (8)

"chap" = MAN (show explanation )

Chap^[3,4,11], an informal term for a man or boy, is a shortened form of chapman^[3,4,11], an archaic term for a trader, especially an itinerant  pedlar [British spelling of peddler].

hide explanation

4d   Son enters competition /to make/ point (4)

Cup^[5,10] is a British term for a sporting contest in which a cup is awarded to the winner ⇒ playing in the Cup is the best thing ever. In North America, we might "play for the cup" but likely not "in the cup".

5d   Soldiers blocking crowd /in/ sticky situation (6)

"soldiers" = OR (show explanation )

In the British armed forces, the term other ranks^[5] (abbreviation OR^[5]) refers to all those who are not commissioned officers.

hide explanation

6d   Too much holidaying cut short /in/ capital (6)

Did anyone fail to solve this clue?

OTT^[5] (short for over the top) is an informal British expression denoting excessive or exaggerated ⇒ presenting him as a goalscoring Superman seems a bit OTT.

7d   First of notes put away // in good order (4)

10d   Cheat // to land grand in support of US locality (8)

Hood^[5] is an informal, US term for a neighbourhood, especially one in an urban area ⇒ I've lived in the hood for 15 years.

12d   Illegally enter // three Italian resorts, heading south (8)

The Italian word for 'three' is tre^[8].

14d   Mention of the first person with ingenuity on headland /as/ observer (10)

Ness^[5] (a term usually found in place names) means a headland or promontory ⇒ Orford Ness.

16d   Altering requires shift // key (8)

17d   Overly // fat lout misbehaving around area (2,1,5)

19d   Tabloid engaged in habitual action /that's/ disastrous (6)

20d   Soften // concerning period of austerity (6)

22d   Long // stop in expensive houses (4)

23d   Smell /from/ tiny creature lifted (4)

Because I usually think of "tang" as being a taste, I have to remind myself that it may also refer to an odor.

Key to Reference Sources: 

^[1]   - The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition
^[2]   - Search Chambers - (Chambers 21st Century Dictionary)
^[3]   - TheFreeDictionary.com (American Heritage Dictionary)
^[4]   - TheFreeDictionary.com (Collins English Dictionary)
^[5]   - Oxford Dictionaries (Oxford Dictionary of English)
^[6]   - Oxford Dictionaries (Oxford 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)

Signing off for today — Falcon