Friday, March 25, 2016 — DT 27946 (Bonus Puzzle)

Prologue

It being Good Friday, the National Post has not published an edition today. However, as an Easter present to those of you who may need something to occupy your time between nibbling the ears off the kiddies' chocolate bunnies, here is DT 27946 — the puzzle that would have appeared yesterday had the National Post maintained its recent publication pattern.

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27946
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, October 30, 2015
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27946]
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
The National Post skipped this puzzle on Thursday, March 24, 2016.

Introduction

Giovanni is in a most gentle mood today. You will rarely see one this easy from him.

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   Life scientist /has/ come with his bit prepared (10)

6a   Fellow/'s/ skin problem (4)

10a   Male, deceased, recalled /as/ good conductor (5)

11a   Smuggler /could be/ odd fish (3-6)

Rum^[5] is a dated informal British term meaning odd or peculiar ⇒ it’s a rum business, certainly.

The runner^[5] is any of several species of fast-swimming fish of the jack family, occurring in tropical seas.

12a   Manage /to show/ love with poetry and love's ending (7)

"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).

hide explanation

13a   Conceal // son alongside mum (7)

14a   Rebel, no leader // concerned with gradual change (12)

18a   Imprisoned // in vehicle long time, unruly adolescent catches cold (12)

Ted^[2] is short for Teddy boy^[5], a slang term originally applied to a young man belonging to a subculture in 1950s Britain characterized by a style of dress based on Edwardian fashion (typically with drainpipe trousers, bootlace tie, and hair slicked up in a quiff^* and a liking for rock-and-roll music.The name comes from from Teddy, pet form of the given name Edward (with reference to Edward VII's reign). Judging by the entry in the Chambers 21st Century Dictionary, it would appear that the term Teddy boy^[2] is now applied to any unruly or rowdy adolescent male.

^* Quiff^[3,4] is a chiefly British term for a prominent tuft of hair, especially one brushed up above the forehead.

21a   Epistle-writer's // superior communication seen by the old man (7)

"superior" = 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). 

hide explanation

St Paul^[5] (died circa 64) was a missionary of Jewish descent; known as Paul the Apostle, or Saul of Tarsus, or the Apostle of the Gentiles. He first opposed the followers of Jesus, assisting at the martyrdom of St Stephen. On a mission to Damascus he was converted to Christianity after a vision and became one of the first major Christian missionaries and theologians. His epistles form part of the New Testament.

23a   The state /of/ Jones // at home with woman (7)

I think we might possibly consider this to be a double definition plus wordplay although Deep Threat shows it as a single definition plus word play with the definition being "the state of Jones" — a cryptic definition of the movie character, Indiana Jones.

Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr.,^[7] often shortened to "Indy", is the title character of the Indiana Jones franchise. George Lucas created the character in homage to the action heroes of 1930s film serials. The character first appeared in the 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark, to be followed by Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom in 1984, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in 1989, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in 2008 as well as the television series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles from 1992 to 1996. The character is also featured in novels, comics, video games, and other media as well as in attractions at a number of Disney theme parks.

24a   Plain // green site being redeveloped (9)

The Serengeti^[5] is a vast plain in Tanzania, to the west of the Great Rift Valley. In 1951 the Serengeti National Park was created to protect the area’s large numbers of wildebeest, zebra, and Thomson’s gazelle.

25a   Use a brush, // article dipped into an amount of liquid (5)

26a   Woman /in/ station hugging daughter (4)

27a   Supporters // chant and son is going wild (10)

Down

1d   Cute deer one's lost track of circles /in/ the grass (6)

Bambi^[7] is a 1942 American animated drama film produced by Walt Disney and based on the book Bambi, A Life in the Woods by Austrian author Felix Salten.

The main characters are Bambi, a white-tailed deer, his parents (the Great Prince of the forest and his unnamed mother), his friends Thumper (a pink-nosed rabbit), and Flower (a skunk), and his childhood friend and future mate, Faline. For the movie, Disney took the liberty of changing Bambi's species into a white-tailed deer from his original species of roe deer, since roe deer are not native to North America, and the white-tailed deer is more widespread in the United States.

2d   Unfashionable group /making/ a start (6)

3d   Old coins showing William and Mary? (4-10)

William and Mary^[7] were the co-regents over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland, namely the Dutch Prince of Orange King William III (& II) and his spouse (and first cousin) Queen Mary II. Their joint reign began in February 1689 after they were offered the throne by the Convention Parliament irregularly summoned by William after his successful invasion of England in November 1688, the so-called Glorious Revolution. They replaced James II (& VII), Mary's father, who fled the country. Parliament offered William and Mary a co-regency, at the couple's behest. After Mary died in 1694, William ruled alone until his death in 1702. William and Mary were childless and were ultimately succeeded by Mary's younger sister, Anne.

The half sovereign^[7] is an English and British gold coin with a face value half that of a sovereign: equivalent to half a pound sterling, ten shillings, or 120 old pence. Since the end of the gold standard, it has been issued only in limited quantities as a commemorative coin with a sale price and resale value far in excess of its face value.

4d   Spoil view outside poor // French city (9)

Marseilles^[5] (French name Marseille) is a city and port on the Mediterranean coast of southern France, the capital of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur; population 860,363 (2007).

5d   Houses /responsible for/ some noxious emissions (5)

According to both Collins English Dictionary and Oxford Dictionaries, semi^[5,10] is an informal British term for a semi-detached house ⇒ a three-bedroomed semi. However, one frequently sees this usage in Canada, although we would surely say ⇒ a three-bedroom semi.

7d   Sidekick of tennis player outside church (8)

Tim Henman^[7] is an English retired professional tennis player. He was the first male player from the United Kingdom since Roger Taylor in the 1970s to reach the semi-finals of the Wimbledon Men's Singles Championship. He was ranked UK number 1 in 1996 and again from 1999 to 2005, from which point he was succeeded by Andy Murray.. He reached a career high ranking of World No. 4 during three different periods between July 2002 and October 2004.

8d   Describes // harbour with fish (8)

9d   In need of being buoyed up, // unable to cope (3,2,4,5)

15d   Historical practice // makes silly idiot rant (9)

16d   Arrangement that could make loss paid off (8)

Disposal^[5] denotes the sale of shares, property, or other assets ⇒ (i) the disposal of his shares in the company; (ii) disposals of fixed and non-current assets.

17d   Got // free, almost looking embarrassed (8)

19d   Firm includes a wicked thing, // opportunity for gambling (6)

20d   One insect /or/ another is sat upon by maiden (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^[5], is an over in which no runs are scored.

In cricket, 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. On cricket scorecards, the abbreviation O^[5] denotes over(s).

hide explanation

22d   Choose // to miss bits at either end of the lecture (5)

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