Thursday, May 1, 2014 — DT 27375

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27375
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27375]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By scchua
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

Rather than a May Day puzzle, the National Post serves up a New Year's Day puzzle. It shouldn't be difficult to guess on what day it first appeared in The Daily Telegraph!

I did resort to calling in the electronic reinforcements to help with the final couple of clues. However, I think they may have felt annoyed at being disturbed for no good reason — I certainly kicked myself for having failed to solve those two clues on my own.

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.

Across

1a   Greeting today’s settlement of any pay where parking must be included (5,3,4)

Be sure to take into consideration what day this puzzle appeared in the UK!

9a   Confess caution’s given originally for showing affection (9)

Sing^[10] is a mainly US slang term meaning to confess or act as an informer.

10a   Socially acceptable kind of Green custom (5)

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, it is frequently clued by words denoting upper class such as posh or superior — or, as today, socially acceptable.

Sage green^[10] is a greyish green colour similar to that of sage leaves.

11a   Run through gardens in the garden of England — run (6)

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, usually referred to as Kew Gardens^[5], are a major botanical institution located at Kew, in London, England.

Kent^[7] is a county in southeast (SE) England. Because of its abundance of orchards and hop gardens, Kent is traditionally known as "The Garden of England" – a name often applied when marketing the county or its produce, although other regions have tried to lay claim to the title.

On cricket scorecards, the abbreviation R^[5] denotes run(s).

12a   A worker covering small hospital department for a skiver (8)

In my experience, the busiest section, by far, of the Crosswordland Hospital is the ear, nose and throat (ENT^[2]) department.

Skiver^[7] is British slang for a person who avoids work or a duty by staying away or leaving early; in other words, a shirker.

13a   Strange person needing a drop of water before party (6)

A weir^[5] may be either (1) a low dam built across a river to raise the level of water upstream or regulate its flow or (2) an enclosure of stakes set in a stream as a trap for fish. Today, we need the former meaning. Water spilling over the dam constitutes a "drop of water".

15a   What might represent a challenge for the French during thin time (8)

In French, the masculine singular form of the definite article is le^[8].

18a   Montego Bay is played, but not to this devil (8)

Montego Bay^[7] is a tourist resort on the northern coast of Jamaica. The song "Montego Bay"^[7] by Bobby Bloom about this city was a Top 10 hit in September 1970 in the UK (#3), Canada (#5), Australia (#7) and the US (#8).

19a   ‘Second stroke’ in doctor’s writing? (6)

21a   Cash needed for fix before doctor has urge to return (3,5)

23a   Part of wheat surplus went without packaging (6)

26a   Pace of top player absorbing pressure (5)

27a   Article shaping a talent prior to delivery (9)

Antenatal^[5] is a British alternative term for prenatal^[5].

28a   Break from assignment by junior doctor finishing early (12)

Down

1d   Son with a wife supporting poor writer is a tool (7)

2d   Unadulterated English processed food? (5)

3d   Song from not long ago? (9)

Not long ago ... only 49 years!

"Yesterday"^[7] is a song originally recorded by the Beatles for their 1965 album Help!. Although credited to "Lennon–McCartney", the song was written solely by Paul McCartney. It remains popular today with more than 2,200 cover versions, and is one of the most covered songs in the history of recorded music.

4d   Lake in northern Ireland? (4)

In a down clue, the setter uses northern (heading north) as a reversal indicator.

Lake Erie^[5] is one of the five Great Lakes of North America, situated on the border between Canada and the US. It is linked to Lake Huron by the Detroit River and to Lake Ontario by the Welland Ship Canal and the Niagara River, which is its only natural outlet.

Eire^[5] is the Gaelic name for Ireland, the official name of the Republic of Ireland from 1937 to 1949.

5d   Spiritualist on stand from comic character (4,4)

Yogi Bear^[7] is a family cartoon character, created by Hanna-Barbera Productions, who has appeared in numerous comic books, animated television shows and films. He made his debut in 1958 as a supporting character in The Huckleberry Hound Show. In January 1961, he was given his own show, The Yogi Bear Show.

A yogi^[10] is a person who is a master of yoga^[10], a Hindu system of philosophy aiming at the mystical union of the self with the Supreme Being in a state of complete awareness and tranquillity through certain physical and mental exercises.

6d   A form of transport originally expecting vilification (5)

7d   Something worn by chap on helm, reportedly (8)

In Spain, a mantilla^[5] is a lace or silk scarf worn by women over the head and shoulders.

The word "tiller", when pronounced in non-rhotic^[5] dialects [including many British dialects], sounds like "tilla". Non-rhotic accents omit the sound /r/ in certain situations, while rhotic accents generally pronounce /r/ in all contexts.

8d   Echo words by soldiers on exercises and raise volunteers (6)

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.

PE^[5] is the abbreviation for physical education (or Phys Ed, as it would likely be known to most school kids).

In the UK, the Territorial Army (TA)^[5] is a volunteer force locally organized to provide a reserve of trained and disciplined manpower for use in an emergency.

14d   Naive young things in class, full of energy (8)

In biology, a genus^[5] is a principal taxonomic category that ranks above species and below family, and is denoted by a capitalized Latin name, e.g. Leo. In philosophical and general use, the term means a class of things which have common characteristics and which can be divided into subordinate kinds.

16d   Revealing parts of dresses in drink businesses (9)

I'm afraid my gaze was directed in the wrong direction, trying to discern some name for a revealing slit in a skirt.

Neck^[5] is an informal British term meaning to swallow (something, especially a drink) ⇒ after necking some beers, we left the bar.

17d   Tear delicate fabric — tear badly (8)

18d   Avoid an operation (6)

20d   Wool product’s given zero returns after loan goes bad (7)

Lanolin^[5] is a fatty substance found naturally on sheep’s wool. It is extracted as a yellowish viscous mixture of esters and used as a base for ointments.

22d   Past exposed by cool denial (5)

24d   Everybody playing to score? (5)

In music, tutti^[5] is an adjective or adverb which is used as a direction indicating that a passage is to be performed with all voices or instruments together.

25d   Cook without a root (4)

Stem and root are likely not used in a botanical sense, although a stem^[5] is defined as the main body or stalk of a plant or shrub, typically rising above ground but occasionally subterranean.

In grammar, a stem^[5] is the root or main part of a word, to which inflections or formative elements are added.

As an archaic or literary term, stem^[5] denotes the main line of descent of a family or nation ⇒ the Hellenic tribes were derived from the Aryan stem. In biblical use, root signifies a scion or descendant ⇒ the root of David.

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