Friday, June 24, 2016 — DT 28050

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28050
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, March 1, 2016
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28050]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Gazza
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 28047 through DT 28049 which were published in The Daily Telegraph from Friday, February 26, 2016 to Monday, February 29, 2016.

Introduction

The editor's at the National Post once again show off their athletic prowess by leaping over three puzzles.

Today's puzzle from one of the mystery 'Tuesday' setters should not keep you from getting on with your other plans for the day.

Best wishes to readers from Québec who today celebrate the Fête nationale du Québec — getting into the party mood a week ahead of the rest of us.

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   Sees term out, // academic term (8)

5a   Criminal // gang, Italian (6)

"Italian" = IT (show explanation )

This clueing might be explained in either of the following ways:

• It.^[10] is an abbreviation for Italian or Italy.


• Italian^[10] is another name for Italian vermouth. It^[5] is an informal, dated British term for Italian vermouth ⇒ he poured a gin and it.

hide explanation

9a   Watchful // attendant behind old boy (9)

"old boy" = OB (show explanation )

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.

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

hide explanation

11a   Slightly reduced, modest // object (5)

12a   Page one -- vulgar // infringement of copyright (6)

13a   One feeding ruminants, back // together again following separation (8)

The wordplay — which it took seemingly forever to see — parses as UNIT (one) contained in (feeding) a reversal (back) of DEER (ruminants).

15a   Wild rose experts /in/ train (6,7)

This clue could well be a salute to our friends in Alberta — although I doubt that was the intention of the setter.

The Orient Express^[5] was a train which ran between Paris and Istanbul and other Balkan cities, via Vienna, from 1883 to 1961. Since 1961 the name has been used for various trains running over parts of the old route.

18a   Accept a less important role /and/ shock bench, perhaps (4,1,4,4)

22a   Choice, but no starter // choice (8)

23a   Odd story about eastern // shellfish (6)

26a   Male in band /gets/ break (5)

27a   Absolve // former partner facing single charge (9)

28a   Latin ruler capturing island /brings/ pleasure (6)

29a   Nurse bringing in coffee /for/ slovenly woman (8)

State Registered Nurse^[10] (abbreviation SRN) was was a designation formerly used in Britain for a nurse who had extensive training and passed examinations enabling him or her to perform all nursing services. It would appear that this designation has now been replaced by the term Registered General Nurse^[10] (abbreviation RGN).

Down

1d   Venomous creature /in/ house? Any number (8)

In astrology, Scorpio^[10] (also called the Scorpion) is the eighth sign of the zodiac, symbol ♏, having a fixed water classification and ruled by the planet Mars and the dwarf planet Pluto. The sun is in this sign between about Oct 23 and Nov 21.

The letter n^[10] is used (especially in mathematics) as a symbol to represent an indefinite number (of) ⇒ there are n objects in a box.

2d   Stingy hoarder /may cause/ endless grief (5)

3d   Arab /in/ rush to be admitted to hospital (7)

San^[5] is an informal term for what is known in Britain as a sanatorium^[5] and in the US as a sanitarium^[5]. Although Oxford Dictionaries characterizes the latter term as 'North American', it might more accurately be described as a US term as there are numerous examples of sanatoriums (or sanatoria) in Canada.

4d   Some ordered a mozzarella // cheese (4)

Edam^[5] is a round Dutch cheese, typically pale yellow with a red wax coating.

Scratching the Surface
Mozzarella[5] is a firm white Italian cheese made from buffalo or cow’s milk, used especially in pizzas and salads.

6d   Musical instruction /from/ an eminent Florentine (7)

Dante^[5] (1265–1321), full name Dante Alighieri, was an Italian poet. His reputation rests chiefly on The Divine Comedy (circa 1309–20), an epic poem describing his spiritual journey through Hell and Purgatory and finally to Paradise. His love for Beatrice Portinari is described in Vita nuova (circa 1290-4).

Although Dante was born in Florence, he spent the latter part of his life living in forced exile and is buried in Ravenna. Florence eventually came to regret Dante's exile, and the city made repeated requests for the return of his remains. The custodians of the body in Ravenna refused. Nonetheless, a tomb was built for him in Florence in 1829, in the basilica of Santa Croce. That tomb has been empty ever since, with Dante's body remaining in Ravenna, far from the land he had loved so dearly.^[7]

In music, andante^[5] is an adverb and adjective meaning (especially as a direction) in a moderately slow tempo.

7d   Tea missed abroad? // Small cup of coffee /provided/ (9)

Although it is positioned at the end of the clue, the word "provided" serves essentially the same function as a link word.

8d   Verbal onslaught /from/ one stuck in traffic (6)

10d   He paints eccentric // theatrical type (8)

14d   Much less // left by Greek character, single (3,5)

Eta^[5] is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet (Η, η).

16d   Kind heart unfortunately // uninformed (2,3,4)

17d   Ship's doctor eating last of succulent // fish (8)

Why specifically "a ship's doctor"? Because surgeon^[10] is the term used for a medical officer in the Royal Navy.

What did he say?

In Comment #21 on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Shropshirelad says it wasn’t a bad puzzle except for the 17d answer. I will say no more as ‘that woman’ makes me seethe. Nicola Sturgeon[7] is the fifth and current First Minister of Scotland [a position roughly equivalent to that of the Premier of a Canadian province] and the Leader of the Scottish National Party. She is the first woman to hold either position.

19d   Stewed neck, hit /in/ cookhouse (7)

20d   Important bridge player /leaving/ place in Florida (3,4)

Here "leaving" is not a deletion indicator but a link word. The sense of the clue is "Combine words meaning 'important' and 'bridge player' and you are left with the name of a place in Florida".

21d   Furtive type /in/ frame after end of review (6)

24d   Article secured by the // old clan chief (5)

Historically, in Scotland, a thane^[5] was a man, often the chief of a clan, who held land from a Scottish king and ranked with an earl’s son.

What did he say?

In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Gazza remarks that thane is a word known mainly (at least south of the border [between England and Scotland]) from its use in the Scottish play. Macbeth[7] (full title The Tragedy of Macbeth) is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. Set mainly in Scotland, the play dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those who seek power for its own sake. In the backstage world of theatre, some believe that the play is cursed, and will not mention its title aloud, referring to it instead as "the Scottish play".

25d   Bird, // female bird of prey (4)

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