Friday, February 10, 2017 — DT 28279

This review was posted on February 12, 2017 but backdated to maintain sequence.

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28279
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, November 23, 2016
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28279]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By 2Kiwis
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

Introduction

I'm taking advantage of a snowy, Sunday afternoon in an attempt to catch up in the blog — and hopefully a few other areas as well. Personally, I thought this puzzle worthy of more than two stars for difficulty.

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   In bed is not as // fortunate (7)

The pedant in me would rephrase the 2Kiwis' clue ever so slightly to read "A word meaning ‘not as’ or ‘not as much as’ ... ".

5a   Opt out in closed // event (4,3)

9a   Defeat // hearing defect (5)

The word "floor", when pronounced in a non-rhotic (show explanation ) accent typical of many parts of Britain, sounds like "flaw".

Non-rhotic accents omit the sound < r > in certain situations, while rhotic accents generally pronounce < r > in all contexts. Among the several dozen British English accents which exist, many are non-rhotic while American English (US and Canadian) is mainly rhotic. This is, however, a generalisation, as there are areas of Britain that are rhotic, and areas of America that are non-rhotic. For more information, see this guide to pronouncing < r > in British English.

hide explanation

10a   Society member // hears about bishop and valet (9)

"bishop" = B (show explanation )

B^[5] is an abbreviation for bishop that is used in recording moves in chess.

hide explanation

Man^[5] is a dated term for a manservant or valet ⇒ get me a cocktail, my man.

11a   Confirmed // international tariff will include new event (10)

"international" = I (show explanation )

I.^[10] is the abbreviation for International.

hide explanation

12a   Time in charge is // fair (4)

Fete^[5] (also fête) is a British term for a public function, typically held outdoors and organized to raise funds for a charity, including entertainment and the sale of goods and refreshments ⇒ a church fete.

14a   Pants perhaps // turned German off (12)

What's Under Your Pants?

If I were to remove my pants in the UK, I would be far more exposed than if I were to do so in North America! The following explains the difference between British and North American clothing terminology. It is based on an entry from Collins COBUILD English Usage that at one time appeared on the Collins website but now seems to have been removed: In British English, pants are a piece of clothing worn by men, women, or children under their other clothes — in other words, underwear. Men's pants are sometimes referred to as underpants. Women's pants are sometimes referred to as panties or knickers. In American English, a piece of clothing like this for men is usually referred to as shorts or underpants. For women, they are usually called panties. In American English, the word pants is used to refer to men's or women's trousers. In both British and American English, shorts are also trousers with very short legs that people wear in hot weather or for taking part in sports.

18a   Plan to go /and/ get X-ray set -- it needs reordering (4,8)

Of course, the 2Kiwis review should read "An anagram (needs reordering) ...".

21a   Manage temperature /for/ a little one (4)

22a   Out of bed and suffering -- // honest (10)

25a   Powerless, /being/ suspended by radio operator (9)

26a   Silly // relation taken in by hollow invective (5)

27a   Hurried returns deserve // recount (7)

28a   Errs badly about reversing charge /for/ jackets (7)

Reefer^[5] is short for reefer jacket^[5], a thick close-fitting double-breasted jacket (also called reefer coat^[5]).

Down

1d   Research scientist // leaving home after end of job (6)

Boffin^[5] is an informal British term denoting:

• a person engaged in scientific or technical research ⇒ the boffins at the Telecommunications Research Establishment; or
• a person with knowledge or a skill considered to be complex or arcane ⇒ a computer boffin.

2d   Slowly change /and/ pass on responsibility, ignoring leader (6)

3d   Examine // small metal container during voyage at sea (10)

4d   Try to prevent // grazing animals crossing top of track (5)

5d   Second family? Mean with money /and/ very clingy (4-5)

I thought the 2Kiwis passed up a delectable opportunity for an illustration here.

6d   Love women with education /to be/ outstanding (4)

"love" = O (show explanation )

In tennis, squash, and some other sports, love^[5] is a score of zero or nil ⇒ love fifteen. The resemblance of a zero written as a numeral (0) to the letter O leads to the cryptic crossword convention of the word "love" being used to clue this letter.

Although folk etymology has connected the word with French l'oeuf 'egg', from the resemblance in shape between an egg and a zero, the term apparently comes from the phrase play for love (i.e. the love of the game, not for money).

hide explanation

W^[2] is the abbreviation for women or women's (size shown on clothing labels).

7d   Indulged /in/ ridiculous pipe dream, with no source of income (8)

8d   Touching lines /created by/ blokes under effect of the sun (8)

Bloke^[5] is an informal British term for a man ⇒ he’s a nice bloke.

13d   Be providing protection for mobile training // vessel (10)

A brigantine^[5] is a two-masted sailing ship with a square-rigged foremast and a mainmast rigged fore and aft.

15d   EU partner's terrible // entrance (9)

The definition is a verb — not a noun.

16d   Beat one's opponents crossing ground, /but/ become less convincing (4,4)

17d   Unsuitable name, // 'Scrooge', when hoarding no millions (8)

Ebenezer Scrooge^[7] is the focal character of Charles Dickens' 1843 novella, A Christmas Carol. At the beginning of the book, Scrooge is a cold-hearted miser who despises Christmas.

19d   Cover up a case of these /and/ expand (6)

20d   Fliers, // for example, and engineers test regularly (6)

"engineers | soldiers" = RE (show explanation )

The Corps of Royal Engineers^[7], usually just called the Royal Engineers (abbreviation RE), and commonly known as the Sappers^[7], is a corps of the British Army that provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces.

hide explanation

23d   Cat /and/ dog ultimately in row (5)

24d   Mountain // within borders of Vietnam (4)

Mount Etna^[5] is a volcano in eastern Sicily, rising to 3,323 m (10,902 ft). It is the highest and most active volcano in Europe.

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