Thursday, January 28, 2016 — DT 27892

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27892
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, August 28, 2015
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27892]
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

Introduction

After yesterday's severe test, today's puzzle should prove to be a bit of a respite.

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   Two men of the match these days maybe (7,6)

9a   Puff-puff I missed going to game -- /get/ bus maybe? (9)

Puff-puff^[10] is a name used by British children for a steam locomotive or railway train.

10a   Bit of willow // to dry up almost entirely (5)

Withe is an alternate spelling of withy^[5], a tough, flexible branch of an osier or other willow, used for tying, binding, or basketry ⇒ (i) it is fixed with withies tied to the common rafters; (ii) [as modifier] a withy basket.

11a   Country // type agitated about end of hunting (5)

12a   Waste away /in/ northern river (4)

The River Wear^[7] (pronounced WEER) in North East England rises in the Pennines and flows eastwards, mostly through County Durham to the North Sea in the City of Sunderland. At 60 mi (97 km) long, it is one of the region's longest rivers.

13a   Receiving no sound // ideas, is put off female (4)

15a   Brief? // That sounds like our warm season (7)

What did he say?
In his review at Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Deep Threat mentionsthe current season. Remember, this puzzle appeared in the UK on August 28 past.

17a   Part one got is making /for/ self-regard (7)

18a   Nasty little creature was first /to be found in/ ground (7)

20a   Like a sort of road // test with piece inserted (7)

Orbital^[5] is short orbital road^[5], a British term for a road passing round the outside of a town.

21a   Very bright person avoids having head /in/ shower (4)

22a   Some behaved abominably /in/ holy book (4)

Veda^[5] denotes any of the four collections forming the earliest body of Indian scripture, consisting of the Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda, and Atharva Veda, which codified the ideas and practices of Vedic religion and laid down the basis of classical Hinduism. They were probably composed between 1500 and 700 BC, and contain hymns, philosophy, and guidance on ritual.

23a   Secret agent admits nothing having earlier captured English // soldier (5)

Historically, a sepoy^[5] was an Indian soldier serving under British or other European orders ⇒ [as modifier] he could see the sepoy infantry advancing.

26a   Oz // no longer welcoming for people of taste? (5)

The wordplay is ONCE (no longer) containing (welcoming) U (for people of taste).

Oz^[5] is the abbreviation for ounce(s).

Scratching the Surface
In the surface reading, Oz[5] is an informal Australian and New Zealand term for Australia ⇒ he spent the last few years in Oz.

27a   Encourage // one getting cross no end to go into country (9)

A mule^[5] is the offspring of a donkey and a horse (strictly, a male donkey and a female horse), typically sterile and used as a beast of burden.

28a   Any barters etc to be arranged /in/ London thoroughfare (7,6)

Carnaby Street^[5] is a street in the West End of London. It became famous in the 1960s as a centre of the popular fashion industry.

Down

1d   True, prior's home is wrong /for/ a leading nun (6,8)

A superior^[5] is the head of a monastery or other religious institution. A Mother Superior^[5] is the head of a female religious community.

Scratching the Surface
A prior[5] is the male head of a house or group of houses of certain religious orders, in particular the man next in rank below an abbot or the head of a house of friars.

2d   Willing // to study and study ultimately (5)

In Britain, to read^[5] means to study (an academic subject) at a university ⇒ (i) I’m reading English at Cambridge; (ii) he went to Manchester to read for a BA in Economics.

3d   Silly banalities // that could describe monstrous appetite (10)

4d   Party with old man engaging women /in/ entrance (7)

5d   Great anger /brought by/ ending of power in electricity failure (7)

6d   Dad achieved victory after losing middle // piece on board (4)

A pawn^[5] is a chess piece of the smallest size and value, that moves one square forwards along its file if unobstructed (or two on the first move), or one square diagonally forwards when making a capture. Each player begins with eight pawns on the second rank, and can promote a pawn to become any other piece (typically a queen) if it reaches the opponent’s end of the board.

7d   Fanatic // no longer, mister having reformed over time (9)

8d   Let pen fly with memos here and there, // working with no concern for boss? (4-10)

14d   A snack for your setter? (3,7)

The setter in question is not the person who compiled the puzzle.

16d   Muddle with man in charge // aiming to rescue the situation? (9)

19d   Like some divers // stuck initially in river plant (4-3)

The Dee^[5] is a river in northeastern Scotland, which rises in the Grampian Mountains and flows eastwards past Balmoral Castle to the North Sea at Aberdeen. Another river of the same name rises in North Wales and flows past Chester and on into the Irish Sea.

20d   Lack of transparency /in/ a business community undermining work (7)

"business community" = CITY (show explanation )

The City^[5] [or here, simply City] is short for the City of London^[5] (not to be confused with the city of London).

The City of London^[7] is a city and ceremonial county within London. It constituted most of London from its settlement by the Romans in the 1st century AD to the Middle Ages, but the conurbation has since grown far beyond the City's borders. The City is now only a tiny part of the metropolis of London, though it remains a notable part of central London. It is one of two districts of London to hold city status, the other being the adjacent City of Westminster.

It is widely referred to simply as the City (often written as just "City" and differentiated from the phrase "the city of London" by capitalising "City") and is also colloquially known as the Square Mile, as it is 1.12 sq mi (2.90 km²), in area. Both of these terms are also often used as metonyms for the United Kingdom's trading and financial services industries, which continue a notable history of being largely based in the City. This is analogous to the use of the terms Wall Street and Bay Street to refer to the financial institutions located in New York and Toronto respectively.

hide explanation

"work" = OP (show explanation )

In music, an opus^[5] (plural opuses or opera) is a separate composition or set of compositions.

The abbreviation Op.^[5] (also op.), denoting opus, is used before a number given to each work of a particular composer, usually indicating the order of publication. The plural form of Op. is Opp..

Opus^[5] can also be used in a more general sense to mean an artistic work, especially one on a large scale ⇒ he was writing an opus on Mexico.

hide explanation

24d   Identify // fish, one getting away (5)

The plaice^[5] is either of two species of North Atlantic flatfish which are commercially important food fish. The European Pleuronectes platessa is often found in very shallow water while the American Hippoglossoides platessoides is found in deeper waters.

What did he say?
In his review, Deep Threat identifies the fish as one you might find in your local chippy. Chippy[5] (also chippie) is an informal  British term for a fish-and-chip shop ⇒ there used to be a good chippy down the back of Albert Street.

25d   Loud organ /to convey/ terror (4)

"loud" = F (show explanation )

Forte^[5] (abbreviation f^[5]) is a musical direction meaning (as an adjective) loud or (as an adverb) loudly.

hide explanation

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