Thursday, October 29, 2015 — DT 27807

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27807
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, May 21, 2015
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27807]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Falcon
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

This may sound bizarre but I found this puzzle more difficult the second time around than when I solved it for the first time when I reviewed it for Big Dave's Crossword Blog. In May, I wrote "I seemed to be on the setter’s wavelength as I was able to solve this puzzle fairly quickly". I must have drifted off wavelength over the course of the summer.

I also note that some of my illustrations have vanished as well, including one showing a display of tulips in Ottawa. It seems that I had linked to web pages which no longer exist.

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   Elderly relative erring unfortunately not showing good // spirit (5,7)

"good" = G (show explanation )

The abbreviation G^[10] for good likely relates to its use in grading school assignments or tests.

hide explanation

Missing Illustration
The original illustration seems to have done a 404. Here is an equivalent one:

9a   Hormone // in wild lupins lacking source of protein (7)

Scratching the Surface
The lupin[5] (also North American lupine) is any of several species of plant of the pea family with deeply divided leaves and tall colourful tapering spikes of flowers.

10a   Intelligence // reduced by not working (3-4)

11a   Date // juice (7)

12a   Platitude /with/ unusually morbid note (7)

13a   Clear // deliveries ahead of time (5)

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

14a   Meet in Ely perhaps with naive beginner // only just old enough to drive (9)

Ely^[5] is a cathedral city in the fenland of Cambridgeshire, eastern England, on the River Ouse; population 15,600 (est. 2009).

The Diocese of Ely^[7] is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury, headed by the Bishop of Ely, who sits at Ely Cathedral in the city of Ely.

A see^[10] is the diocese of a bishop, or the place within it where his cathedral or procathedral is situated.

In the UK, the minimum driving age^[7] is seventeen.

Missing Illustration
Another missing illustration. As I recall, a young driver doing something incredibly stupid — although, precisely what it was, I do not remember.

16a   Lost // for information about baroque? (9)

Gen^[5] is an informal British term for information ⇒ you’ve got more gen on him than we have.

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.

19a   Barrister /should be/ succinct (5)

Brief^[5] is an informal British term for a solicitor or barrister ⇒ it was only his brief’s eloquence that had saved him from prison.

21a   Sense I'm out /to give you/ punishment? (7)

The word nemesis^[5] (often Nemesis) can mean retributive justice ⇒ Nemesis is notoriously slow.

23a   Examiner/'s/ car rubbish reversing (7)

Audi AG^[7] is a German automobile manufacturer that has been a subsidiary of Volkswagen Group since 1966. The company name is based on the Latin translation of the surname of the founder, August Horch. "Horch", meaning "listen" in German, becomes "audi" in Latin. The four rings of the Audi logo each represent one of four car companies that banded together to create Audi's predecessor company, Auto Union.

24a   Change ten euros, dropping the last // on the road (2,5)

25a   Opening // sign (7)

26a   Eleven others played with seconds, with no duck // yet (12)

"duck" = O (show explanation )

In cricket, a duck^[5] is a batsman’s score of nought [zero] ⇒ he was out for a duck. This is similar to the North American expression goose egg^[5] meaning a zero score in a game.

In British puzzles, "duck" is used to indicate the letter "O" based on the resemblance of the digit "0" to this letter.

hide explanation

Scratching the Surface

The surface reading alludes to cricket, eleven being the number of players on a cricket side [team] and duck being a batsman’s score of nought [zero]. The seconds[5] are the reserve team of a sports club. A reserve[5] is an extra player in a team, serving as a possible substitute ⇒ he was reserve hooker [position on a rugby team] for the World Cup team. The reserves[5] are the the second-choice team ⇒ playing in the first team has been a big step up after the reserves.

Down

1d   With top off beer guts get wobbly // motion (7)

2d   Partially curtail mental // illness (7)

3d   News interrupting unusually dire television // service (6,3)

"news" = NN (show explanation )

The setter uses a whimsical cryptic crossword convention which holds that since N^[5] is the abbreviation for new (actually New, to be precise), NN must be the abbreviation for news.

This may possibly be an extrapolation from abbreviations such as p^[5] (page) which has as its plural pp.^[5] (pages).

hide explanation

4d   Unprepared -- // and all is oddly British (2-3)

5d   Unused to outskirts of Welwyn // Garden City? (3,4)

Garden city^[5] is a British term for a new town designed as a whole with much open space and greenery.

A new town^[5] is a planned urban centre created in an undeveloped or rural area, especially with government sponsorship.

Delving Deeper

New towns in the United Kingdom[7] were created in the 20th century under various New Town Acts. Some earlier towns were developed as garden cities or overspill estates early in the 20th century. The new towns proper were planned under the powers of the New Towns Act 1946 and later acts to relocate population in poor or bombed-out housing following the Second World War. They were not completely new, but developed around historic cores. Later developments included the expanded towns: existing towns which were substantially expanded to accommodate what was called the "overspill" population from densely populated areas of deprivation. The garden city movement[7] is a method of urban planning that was initiated in 1898 by Sir Ebenezer Howard in the United Kingdom. Garden cities were intended to be planned, self-contained communities surrounded by "greenbelts", containing proportionate areas of residences, industry, and agriculture. Howard's idealised garden city would house 32,000 people on a site of 6,000 acres (2,400 ha), planned on a concentric pattern with open spaces, public parks and six radial boulevards, 120 ft (37 m) wide, extending from the centre. The garden city would be self-sufficient and when it reached full population, another garden city would be developed nearby. Howard envisaged a cluster of several garden cities as satellites of a central city of 250,000 people, linked by road and rail.

Scratching the Surface

Welwyn Garden City[7], also known locally as "WGC" or "Welwyn Garden", is a town in Hertfordshire, England. It is located approximately 19 miles (31 km) from Kings Cross. Welwyn Garden City was the second garden city in England (founded 1920) and one of the first new towns (designated 1948). It is unique in being both a garden city and a new town and exemplifies the physical, social and cultural planning ideals of the periods in which it was built.

6d   I have briefly raised volume before /getting/ sensitive (7)

7d   Best volunteer to keep goal /is/ one who hasn't slipped up before (5,8)

8d   Broadcast 'Floral Dance'? No, // that's settled! (4,3,3,3)

15d   Museum the French will claim is // ruin (9)

V & A^[5] [V and A] is the abbreviation for the Victoria and Albert Museum^[5], a national museum of fine and applied art in South Kensington, London, created in 1852 and having collections principally of pictures, textiles, ceramics, and furniture.

"the French" = LE (show explanation )

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

hide explanation

17d   Shame // about TV detective (7)

Inspector Endeavour Morse^[7] is a fictional character in the eponymous series of detective novels by British author Colin Dexter, as well as the 33-episode 1987–2000 television drama Inspector Morse^[7], with the character played by John Thaw. Morse is a senior CID (Criminal Investigation Department [the detective branch of a British police force]) officer with the Thames Valley Police force in Oxford, England.

Endeavour^[7] is a British television detective drama series. It is a prequel to the long-running Inspector Morse and—like that series—is set primarily in Oxford. Shaun Evans portrays a young Endeavour Morse beginning his career as a Detective Constable with the Oxford City Police CID.

Behind the Picture
The illustration in my review at Big Dave's Crossword Blog shows the young Morse (played by Shaun Evans) on the left and the mature Morse (played by John Thaw) on the right. Note: My comment on Big Dave's site alludes to Kath's well-known fondness for John Thaw.

18d   Old boy's remedy /may be/ unfamiliar (7)

In Britain, an old boy^[5] (abbreviation OB^[2])  is:

1. a former male student of a school or college ⇒an old boy of Banbury County School; or
2. a former male member of a sports team or company ⇒ the White Hart Lane old boy squared the ball to present an easy chance from 12 yards.

Old boy is also a chiefly British affectionate form of address to a boy or man ⇒ ‘Look here, old boy,’ he said.

19d   The point of retirement /is/ to live with little money keeping afloat at the end (7)

In my review at Big Dave's Crossword Blog, I should have said "... low value North American coin ...".

20d   Suspects /given/ Tango -- it's consumed by Northerners (7)

Tango^[5] is a code word representing the letter T, used in radio communication.

In my review at Big Dave's Crossword Blog, I alluded that Inuits was an incorrect term when I commented that Inuit is a plural noun, the singular being Inuk. While that is true in the Inuit language, it may not hold in the English language. I have found two dictionaries that list the plural of Inuit as being Inuits.

Delving Deeper

The dictionaries are all over the map on the meaning of Inuit and the spelling of the plural form of this word. Given that the word inuit itself is the plural form of inuk, should it even have a plural? Some dictionaries define Inuit as an individual member of a people while others say that the word refers to the members of the people collectively. The Chambers Dictionary covers all bases by including both options. The Chambers Dictionary does not specify how the plural of Inuit[1] is spelled. However, as it defines the word as an indigenous people ... or a member of this people, it must have a plural (at least in the latter sense). The Chambers 21st Century Dictionary restricts the definition of Inuit[2] to an individual belonging to a group of peoples ... and clearly specifies that the plural is Inuit. Both Chambers dictionaries show Innuit as an alternative spelling of Inuit. The Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary also defines Inuit (or Innuit) as a member of any of the Eskimo groups ... and specifies that the plural is Inuits or Inuit (or alternatively Innuits or Innuit). Oxford Dictionaries defines Inuit[5] as a plural noun denoting the members of an indigenous people ... Similarly, the American Heritage Dictionary defines Inuit[3] as a plural noun denoting the members of various Eskimoan peoples ... Collins English Dictionary defines Inuit[4,10] as any of several Native peoples ... with the plural being Inuit or Inuits. However, the plural here would refer to two or more peoples — not two or more individuals.

22d   We sat around /in/ glow (5)

I recall that searching for images to illustrate this clue on Big Dave's site was far more pleasurable than delving through the various dictionary definitions of Inuit.

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