Tuesday, January 26, 2016 — DT 27890

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27890
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, August 26, 2015
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27890]
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

As is customary, Jay delivers a highly entertaining puzzle.

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   A line /from/ subject welcoming king (6)

"king" = R (show explanation )

Rex^[5] (abbreviation R^[5]) [Latin for king] denotes the reigning king, used following a name (e.g. Georgius Rex, King George) or in the titles of lawsuits (e.g. Rex v. Jones, the Crown versus Jones — often shortened to R. v. Jones).

hide explanation

5a   Fare available in Chinese boat? (4,4)

9a   The best nuts /and/ biscuits (5,8)

The British use the term biscuit^[3,4,11] to refer to a range of foods that include those that would be called either cookies or crackers in North America. A North American biscuit^[5] is similar to a British scone.

Cream cracker^[5] is a British term for a dry unsweetened biscuit [cracker] eaten chiefly with cheese.

10a   Permitted // nieces to play in lido, oddly (8)

Scratching the Surface
Lido[5] is a British term for a public open-air swimming pool or bathing beach.

11a   Remains /of/ empire award kept by Queen with courtiers, ultimately (6)

"empire award" = MBE (show explanation )

MBE^[5] stands for Member of the Order of the British Empire.

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire^[7] is the "order of chivalry of British democracy", rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations and public service outside the Civil Service. It was established in 1917 by King George V, and comprises five classes, in civil and military divisions, the most senior two of which make the recipient either a knight if male, or dame if female. There is also the related British Empire Medal, whose recipients are affiliated with, but not members of, the order.

The classes are: Knight or Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE), Knight or Dame Commander (KBE/DBE), Commander (CBE), Officer (OBE), and Member (MBE).

Appointments to the Order of the British Empire were at first made on the nomination of the self-governing Dominions of the Empire, the Viceroy of India, and the colonial governors, as well as on nominations from within the United Kingdom. As the Empire evolved into the Commonwealth, nominations continued to come from the Commonwealth realms, in which the monarch remained head of state. These overseas nominations have been discontinued in realms which have established their own Orders, such as the Order of Australia, the Order of Canada, and the New Zealand Order of Merit, but members of the Order are still appointed in the British Overseas Territories.

hide explanation

"Queen" = 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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12a   Lass on mountain /in/ part of Asia (6)

Ben^[5] (used especially in place names) is Scottish for a high mountain or mountain peak ⇒ Ben Nevis.

Bengal^[5] is a region in South Asia, containing the Ganges and Brahmaputra River deltas. In 1947 the province was divided into West Bengal, which has remained a state of India, and East Bengal, now Bangladesh.

14a   Sponges // coat covered in trophies (8)

I do not doubt that a cupcake could be made from sponge cake but does it necessarily have to be?

Sponge^[2,5,10] (also sponge cake) is a British term for a light cake made by beating eggs with sugar, flour, and usually butter or other fat ⇒ (i) a chocolate sponge; (ii) the gateau is made with moist sponge.

However, British dictionaries do not agree on the recipe for sponge cake. Collins English Dictionary informs us that sponge cake^[10] is a light porous cake, made of eggs, sugar, flour, and flavourings traditionally without any fat.

16a   Needles // boss like crazy (8)

19a   Dates and lemons originally stocked by fruit // seller (6)

What did they say?

In their review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, the 2Kiwis refer to a type of pipfruit. In "pipfruit", the New Zealand bloggers would appear to have used a local New Zealand term for apples and pears. Every reference to pipfruit that I could find led me to the land of the kiwis. On its website, Pipfruit New Zealand states that the organization "promotes and represents the New Zealand pipfruit industry - growers, packers, and marketers of apples and pears - in domestic and export markets".

21a   A garden structure/'s/ look -- and smell! (6)

23a   Asks for // searches on empty residence (8)

Remember that — in an across clue — A on B conventionally denotes BA. The rationale is that in order to write A on B, B must have already been written and therefore be the first component of the charade.

25a   Bighead lodger's cooked // breakfast? (4-6,3)

The question mark tells us that the solution is an example of the definition.

26a   Fights interrupted by commercial /for/ boring gadgets (8)

A bradawl^[5] is a tool for boring holes, resembling a small, sharpened screwdriver.

27a   Track designed to hold one // vehicle (3-3)

A kit-car^[1] (or kit car^[5,10]) is a car put together from standard components by an amateur builder.

Down

2d   Relax, // seeing right European Community approach (7)

"European Community" = EC (show explanation )

The European Community^[10] (abbreviation EC) was an economic and political association of European States that came into being in 1967, when the legislative and executive bodies of the European Economic Community merged with those of the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Atomic Energy Community. It was subsumed into the European Union in 1993.

The name European Communities^[5] is still used in legal contexts where the three distinct organizations are recognized.

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3d   Bit // tart -- cake with no filling (5)

4d   A solecism, being dressed /in/ such undergarments (9)

A camisole^[5] is a woman’s loose-fitting undergarment for the upper body, typically held up by shoulder straps.

5d   Power mostly keeps clear // of the law (7)

Juridical^[2] (or juridic) is an adjective meaning relating or referring to the law or the administration of justice.

6d   Hospital in French resort // aimed at specialist market (5)

Nice^[5] is a resort city on the French Riviera, near the border with Italy; population 348,721 (2007).

7d   A shipping term /for/ complimentary meals? (9)

Freeboard^[5] denotes the the height of a ship’s side between the waterline and the deck ⇒ (i) his vessels have more freeboard and interior volume than most; (ii) a low freeboard.

8d   Pay close attention to // verbose drunk (7)

13d   Plant // information about aged staff (9)

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

15d   Upstart/'s/ joke's high point, according to Spooner? (9)

A spoonerism^[5] is a verbal error in which a speaker accidentally transposes the initial sounds or letters of two or more words, often to humorous effect, as in the sentence you have hissed the mystery lectures. It is named after the Reverend W. A. Spooner (1844–1930), an English scholar who reputedly made such errors in speaking.

17d   The girl's after some underwear /that's/ more assertive (7)

18d   Makes an effort // to load coach on board ship (7)

For cryptic purposes, "coach" is used in the sense of to teach.

"to load ... on board ship" = 'contained in SS' (show explanation )

In Crosswordland, you will find that a ship is almost invariably a steamship, the abbreviation for which is SS^[10]. Thus phrases such as "aboard ship" or "on board ship" (or sometimes merely "on board") is Crosswordland code for 'contained in SS'.

In today's clue, the setter gets considerably more elaborate, with the containment indication comprising the phrase "to load ... on board ship".

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20d   Drivers must repress dodgy gut /in/ island (7)

The Automobile Association^[7] (The AA) is a British motoring association founded in 1905, which was demutualised in 1999 to become a private limited company which currently provides car insurance, driving lessons, breakdown cover [roadside assistance], loans, motoring advice and other services.

Antigua^[5] is one of the islands that make up the country of Antigua and Barbuda^[5], a country consisting of three islands (Antigua, Barbuda, and Redonda) in the Leeward Islands in the Eastern Caribbean; population 85,600 (est. 2009); languages, English (official), Creole; capital, St John’s (on Antigua). Discovered in 1493 by Columbus and settled by the English in 1632, Antigua became a British colony with Barbuda as its dependency; the islands gained independence within the Commonwealth in 1981.

22d   Kind of lake // unknown in old part of London (2-3)

In mathematics (algebra, in particular), an unknown^[10] is a variable, or the quantity it represents, the value of which is to be discovered by solving an equation ⇒ 3y = 4x + 5 is an equation in two unknowns. [Unknowns are customarily represented symbolically by the letters x, y and z.]

Bow^[7] is a district in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is built-up and mostly residential, and 4.6 miles (7.4 km) east of Charing Cross [considered to mark the centre London].

What did they say?

In their review, the 2Kiwis say the part of London known for its bells. The 2Kiwis (writing from New Zealand) may have (understandably) gotten their bells confused. St Mary's Church stands on the traffic island in Bow Road, called Bow Church but not to be confused with St Mary-le-Bow in the City of London which has the famous Bow bells. It is often said that to be a true Cockney you need to be born within earshot of the sound of Bow Bells which many take to be the bells of Bow Church in the heart of Bow. However, the saying actually refers to St Mary-le-Bow, which is approximately three miles west on Cheapside, in the City of London.

Oxbow^[5] is short for oxbow lake^[5], a curved lake formed from a horseshoe bend in a river where the main stream has cut across the narrow end and no longer flows around the loop of the bend.

24d   Proficient, but with no power // to wield (5)

"power" = P (show explanation )

In physics, P^[10] is a symbol used to represent power [among other things].

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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