Monday, May 2, 2016 — DT 27987

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27987
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, December 17, 2015
Setter RayT (Ray Terrell)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27987]
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
Notes
The National Post has skipped DT 27986 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Wednesday, December 16, 2015.

Introduction

I am afraid this puzzle must not have made much of an impression on me back in December, for I solved it a second time without realizing that I had seen it before. It was only when I checked Big Dave's Crossword Blog to see who had blogged it and what they thought of it that I discovered the reviewer had, in fact, been yours truly.

I must have been a bit out of it on the evening that I composed the review, as I see that I picked one clue as my favourite and then proceeded to also award it an honourable mention.

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   Memory /of/ crime scene in bombing (12)

8a   Authorities // vocal about carbon emissions discharged (7)

"carbon" = C (show explanation )

The symbol for the chemical element carbon is C^[5].

hide explanation

9a   Proposition // regularly spurned by girl (7)

Premiss is an alternative British spelling of premise^[5].

11a   Part of Beaverbrook in a war/'s/ campaign (7)

Okinawa^[5] is a region in southern Japan, in the southern Ryukyu Islands; capital, Naha.

The Battle of Okinawa^[7], codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a series of battles fought in the Ryukyu Islands, centered on the island of Okinawa, and included the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War during World War II, the 1 April 1945 invasion of the island of Okinawa itself. The 82-day-long battle lasted from 1 April until 22 June 1945.

Scratching the Surface
Baron Beaverbrook[7] of Beaverbrook in the Province of New Brunswick in the Dominion of Canada and of Cherkley in the County of Surrey, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1917 for the prominent Canadian-born British media owner and politician Sir Max Aitken, 1st Baronet.

12a   Rubbish // resistance by centre turned supporter (7)

"resistance" = R (show explanation )

In physics, the symbol R^[5] is used to represent electrical resistance.

hide explanation

Rubbish^[3,4,11] is used in the sense of foolish words or speech; in other words, nonsense. I note that Oxford Dictionaries considers the word rubbish^[5] (in all senses) to be chiefly British — despite it not being characterized as such by American dictionaries.

Rhubarb^[5] is an informal British term meaning either:

1. the noise made by a group of actors to give the impression of indistinct background conversation, especially by the random repetition of the word ‘rhubarb’; or
2. nonsense ⇒ it was all rhubarb, about me, about her daughter, about art.

13a   Abandon // maidenly fluttering ditching man (5)

14a   Good chaps with sound // Prime Minister (9)

"good" = G (show explanation )

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

hide explanation

William Ewart Gladstone^[5] (1809–1898) was a British Liberal statesman, prime minister 1868–74, 1880-5, 1886, and 1892-4. At first a Conservative minister, he later joined the Liberal Party, becoming its leader in 1867. His ministries saw the introduction of elementary education, the passing of the Irish Land Acts and the third Reform Act, and his campaign in favour of Home Rule for Ireland.

What did I say?

In my review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, I alluded to "blokes" being a synonym of "chaps". Bloke[5] is an informal British term for a man ⇒ he’s a nice bloke. By the way, Oxford Dictionaries characterizes chap[5] as an informal British term for a man or a boy ⇒ he sounded like a nice, caring sort of chap. However, of the  several dictionaries — both British and American — that I consulted, it is the only one to characterize the term as British.

16a   Get allies to restore // order (9)

19a   One gives // name in entrance (5)

21a   Capital /is/ firm following endless alarm (7)

Belfast^[5] is the capital and chief port of Northern Ireland; population 260,700 (est. 2009). The city suffered damage and population decline from the early 1970s as a result of sectarian violence by the IRA and Loyalist paramilitary groups.

23a   Target centre, one touching // gold perhaps (7)

Bull^[5] is a chiefly British short form for bull's-eye.

24a   Opening to escape canopy top in plane, alternatively (7)

Ejector seat^[5,10], another term for ejection seat^[5,10], is a seat, especially as fitted to military aircraft, that is fired by a cartridge or rocket to eject the occupant from the aircraft in an emergency. The cited entries from Oxford Dictionaries and Collins English Dictionary led me to believe that ejection seat must be the more commonly used term in the UK with ejector seat being an alternative version. However, British readers pointed out that this is not the case. They concurred with Chambers 21st Century Dictionary that the term used in Britain is ejector seat^[2] with ejection seat being a US term.

However, this view was far from unanimous, with some British writers supporting "ejection seat" and some American writers on the side of "ejector seat". This is all recorded in the thread started by Kitty at Comment #10. The final word appeared to have gone to Doug who in the final entry in the thread attached to Comment #10 points out that the Martin-Baker Aircraft Co. (the British inventor of the device) calls it an ejection seat.

But hold on, Kitty offers a well-researched rebuttal at Comment #36.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, the wording of the clue does seem to be premised on the notion that ejector seat is an alternative term for ejection seat.

25a   Vault over line facing a // fair game (7)

"over" = O (show explanation )

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

hide explanation

Tombola^[5] is a British term for a game in which people pick tickets out of a revolving drum and certain tickets win immediate prizes, typically played at a fete^* or fair ⇒ (i) entrance includes a tombola and raffle; (ii) traditional games such as tombola or bingo.

^* Fete^[5] (also fête) is a British term for a public function, typically held outdoors and organized to raise funds for a charity, including entertainment and the sale of goods and refreshments ⇒ a church fete.

26a   Mean // time retained in stir (12)

Down

1d   Learn // about answer and stupid lies (7)

2d   Bird/'s/ fat under rising batter (7)

3d   Regrets // again with lots to turn over (9)

4d   Smashing // beer, half cut after drink (5)

As a verb, sup^[5] is a dated or Northern English term meaning to take (drink or liquid food) by sips or spoonfuls ⇒ (i) she supped up her soup delightedly; (ii) he was supping straight from the bottle. As a noun, sup^[5] means (1) a sip of liquid ⇒ he took another sup of wine or (2) in Northern England or Ireland, an alcoholic drink ⇒ the latest sup from those blokes at the brewery.

5d   Sights // French tower say, by Seine's left bank (7)

The Eiffel Tower^[5] is a wrought-iron structure erected in Paris for the World Exhibition of 1889. With a height of 300 metres (984 ft), it was the tallest man-made structure for many years.

Scratching the Surface
The Seine[5] is a river of northern France. Rising north of Dijon, it flows north-westwards for 761 km (473 miles), through the cities of Troyes and Paris to the English Channel near Le Havre.

6d   City/'s/ elegance gone (7)

Some yearn for a time long gone.

Where have all the flowers gone, long time passing?
Where have all the flowers gone, long time ago?

— Pete Seeger

7d   'Word' for Mac but not Linux? (12)

Scratching the Surface

Microsoft Word[7] is a word processor developed by Microsoft. It was first released on October 25, 1983 under the name Multi-Tool Word for Xenix* systems. Subsequent versions were later written for several other platforms including IBM PCs running DOS (1983), Apple Macintosh running Mac OS (1985), AT&T Unix PC (1985), Atari ST (1988), OS/2 (1989), Microsoft Windows (1989) and SCO Unix (1994). * Xenix[7] is a discontinued version of the Unix operating system for various microcomputer platforms, licensed by Microsoft from AT&T Corporation in the late 1970s. The Santa Cruz Operation (SCO) later acquired exclusive rights to the software, and eventually replaced it with SCO UNIX (now known as SCO OpenServer). In the mid-to-late 1980s, Xenix was the most common Unix variant, measured according to the number of machines on which it was installed. Mac OS[7] is a series of graphical user interface–based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. Linux[7] is a Unix-like and mostly POSIX-compliant computer operating system (OS) assembled under the model of free and open-source software development and distribution.

10d   Underground /taken from/ nearest urban settlement (12)

15d   Made bitter // perfect, judged imbibing beer's head (9)

Scratching the Surface
Bitter[5] is a British name for beer that is strongly flavoured with hops and has a bitter taste ⇒ (i) a pint of bitter; (ii) the company brews a range of bitters.

17d   Ship/'s/ grand age with everybody on board (7)

"grand" = G (show explanation )

Grand^[5] is an informal term for a thousand dollars or pounds ⇒ he gets thirty-five grand a year. While the term "grand" itself would seem to be commonly used in the UK, the informal abbreviation G^[5] meaning grand appears to be regarded as a North American usage ⇒ I was up nine Gs on the blackjack tables.

G is defined in various British dictionaries as follows:

1. Oxford Dictionaries: (North American informal) abbreviation for grand, a thousand dollars)^[5];
2. Chambers 21st Century Dictionary: (North American slang) abbreviation for a grand, 1000 dollars^[2];
   
3. Collins English Dictionary: (mainly US slang) a symbol for grand (a thousand dollars or pounds)^[10] .

hide explanation

18d   Shock // found the French being supportive (7)

"the French" = LE (show explanation )

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

hide explanation

19d   Top lifted on girl /creates/ embarrassment (7)

20d   Report receiving medal /in/ offensive (7)

The Order of Merit^[7] (abbreviation OM^[5]) is a dynastic order recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by King Edward VII, admission into the order remains the personal gift of its Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, and is limited to 24 living recipients at one time from these countries plus a limited number of honorary members. The current membership includes one Canadian (former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien).

22d   Mostly the drink /producing/ monotonous drone (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