Monday, January 8, 2018 — DT 28545 (Published Saturday, January 6, 2018)

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28545
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, September 29, 2017
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28545]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Deep Threat
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
This puzzle appears on the Monday Diversions page in the Saturday, January 6, 2018 edition of the National Post.

Introduction

The string of gentle challenges continues, this one being an especially benign offering from Giovanni.

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 semi-all-in-one (semi-&lit.) clues. All-in-one (&lit.) clues and cryptic definitions are marked with a dotted underline. Explicit link words and phrases are enclosed in forward slashes (/link/) and implicit links are shown as double forward slashes (//).

Across

6a   Authorisation for investigation /coming from/ chaser around with battle cry? (6,7)

8a   Form of cruelty -- // unhappy maiden is being imprisoned (6)

"maiden"  = M (show explanation )

In cricket, a maiden^[5], also known as a maiden over and denoted on cricket scorecards by the abbreviation m.^[10], is an over^* in which no runs are scored.

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^* An over^[5] is a division of play consisting of a sequence of six balls bowled by a bowler from one end of the pitch, after which another bowler takes over from the other end.

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9a   Reasonable // declaration looks phony with December passing (8)

10a   Male or female // head, not English (3)

11a   Fellow looking forward to the match (6)

12a   Severity /of/ mess around road -- I start to protest (8)

14a   Like something a poet's written /or/ the opposite (7)

16a   Advertise // concert with note that has name missing (7)

The term prom^[5] (or Prom) is short for promenade concert^[5], a British term for a concert of classical music at which a part of the audience stands in an area without seating, for which tickets are sold at a reduced price. The most famous series of such concerts is the annual BBC Promenade Concerts (known as the Proms), instituted by Sir Henry Wood in 1895.

20a   Provincial giant has one // belief to fight for -- against wife always! (8)

Ay^[10] is an archaic or poetic term meaning ever or always.

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According to Oxford Dictionaries, Northern Ireland^[5] is the only major division of the United Kingdom to hold the status of province, with England^[5], Scotland^[5] and Wales^*[5] being countries.

The Giant's Causeway^[5] is a geological formation of basalt columns, dating from the Tertiary period, on the north coast of Northern Ireland. It was once believed to be the end of a road made by a legendary giant to Staffa in the Inner Hebrides, where there is a similar formation.

23a   A source of inspiration, daughter // venturing a smile? (6)

A muse^*[5] is a person or personified force who is the source of inspiration for a creative artist.

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^* In Greek and Roman mythology, the Muses^[5] are the nine goddesses, the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, who preside over the arts and sciences.

24a   Theologian embracing a // member of the family (3)

"theologian" = DD (show explanation )

Doctor of Divinity^[7] (abbreviation D.D. or DD, Divinitatis Doctor in Latin) is an advanced academic degree in divinity.

Historically, the degree of Doctor of Divinity identified one who had been licensed by a university to teach Christian theology or related religious subjects. In the United Kingdom, Doctor of Divinity has traditionally been the highest doctorate granted by universities, usually conferred upon a religious scholar of standing and distinction. In the United States, the Doctor of Divinity is usually awarded as an honorary degree.

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25a   Flag /of/ monarch placed by watercourse (8)

"monarch" = ER (show explanation )

The regnal ciphers (monograms) of British monarchs are initials formed from the Latin version of their first name followed by either Rex or Regina (Latin for king or queen, respectively). Thus, the regnal cipher of Queen Elizabeth is ER^[5] — from the Latin Elizabetha Regina.

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26a   It includes humour? // Some miss it completely (6)

In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Deep Threat indicates that he sees this as "an all-in-one clue" — although, technically, it would have to be a semi-all-in-one clue. However, I don't see why the clue should necessarily be considered thus. It seems to me that the first part of the clue provides an adequate definition on its own and I don't see that the second part adds appreciably to that definition. Rather than the entire clue being the definition, I see the surface reading as an observation that often examples of this entertainment genre either do not appeal to everyone's sense of humour or are just plain not very funny.

Of course, on the other hand, perhaps I am missing something completely.

27a   I love routines, indisposed // to change completely (13)

Down

1d   Report of people in A&E? // What they’ll need, waiting! (8)

A & E^[5] (accident and emergency) is the British term for the Emergency Department in a hospital ⇒ (i) a nurse at work told me I should go to A & E; (ii) an A & E department.

2d   Agent set up to probe mean tricks // moves quickly (8)

3d   Why rats could be // dark-looking (7)

4d   Lecturer maybe // in laboratory (6)

5d   Ministers // soon restricted by Civil Service (6)

A canon^[5] is a member of the clergy who is on the staff of a cathedral, especially one who is a member of the chapter^* ⇒ he was appointed canon of Christ Church, Oxford.

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^* The chapter^[5] is the governing body of a religious community or knightly order.

6d   Railway official // resorting to steam trains (13)

As an anagram indicator, "resorting" is used in the somewhat whimsical sense of 'sorting again'.

7d   I ate hot old hen, nasty // dish (4-2-3-4)

Toad-in-the-hole^[5] is a British dish consisting of sausages baked in batter.

13d   Party in which to see upper-class // couple (3)

"upper-class" = U (show explanation )

In Britain, U^[5] is used informally as an adjective (in respect to language or social behaviour) meaning characteristic of or appropriate to the upper social classes ⇒ U manners.

The term, an abbreviation of  upper class, was coined in 1954 by Alan S. C. Ross, professor of linguistics, and popularized by its use in Nancy Mitford's Noblesse Oblige (1956).

In Crosswordland, the letter U is frequently clued by words denoting "characteristic of the upper class" (such as posh or superior) or "appropriate to the upper class" (such as acceptable). 

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15d   Regret // Aussie beast being heard (3)

Roo^[5] is an informal Australian term for a kangaroo.

17d   A moving sort of entertainment? (8)

18d   Horse at home eating a // huge quantity (8)

19d   Slow up, being restricted by explosive // chemical (7)

HE^[5] is the abbreviation for high explosive.

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A hydrate^[5] is a chemical compound, typically a crystalline one, in which water molecules are chemically bound to another compound or an element.

21d   The female wanting love but denied love /is/ put off (6)

"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).

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22d   Tennis tournament Don avoids -- // it can be boring (6)

Wimbledon^[5] is an annual international tennis championship on grass for individual players and pairs, held at the headquarters of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in the London suburb of Wimbledon. Now one of the world’s major tennis championships, it has been played since 1877.

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Wimble^[10] (noun) can denote any of a number of hand tools, such as a brace and bit or a gimlet, used for boring holes.

Scratching the Surface
Don't overlook the fact that this puzzle was set by Don Manley!

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)
^[12] - CollinsDictionary.com (Webster’s New World College Dictionary)
^[13] - MacmillanDictionary.com (Macmillan Dictionary)

Signing off for today — Falcon