Tuesday, June 28, 2016 — DT 28053

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28053
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, March 4, 2016
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28053]
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

This puzzle was typical of a Giovanni creation. It took me a while to find a starting point, but once I had located one, I was able to make steady progress by building out from it. As usual, he expands one's vocabulary by including a new word or two and their are the customary religions references.

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   Behind inspirational words note // dangerous women (8)

5a   English female with little energy, confined to bed, // grumbled (6)

9a   See very distraught loner // in need of affection (8)

"look" = LO (show explanation )

Lo^[5] is an archaic exclamation used to draw attention to an interesting or amazing event ⇒ and lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them.

hide explanation

10a   Weeps when son is in // unstable situations (6)

11a   Chief commander soon to be imprisoned // according to the law (7)

CIC^[1] (also C in C^[10] , C-in-C^[2], or C.-in-C.^[5,10]) is the abbreviation for Commander-in-Chief.

Canonic^[5] is another term for canonical^[5] which denotes according to or ordered by canon law ⇒ the canonical rites of the Roman Church.

12a   Giving asymmetrical pattern to // grass round London gardens (7)

Grass is an informal British term meaning:

1. (as a noun) a police informer^[5]; and
2. (as a verb) to inform the police of someone’s criminal activities or plans^[5] ⇒ someone had grassed on the thieves.

This expression may derive from rhyming slang (grasshopper 'copper').

 Kew^[7] is a suburban district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, 7.1 miles (11.4 km) west by south-west of Charing Cross [considered to mark the centre of London]. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is also the home of important historical documents such as Domesday Book, which is on public display at The National Archives.

13a   Show // modern state to be in need of reform (11)

16a   No longer tight-lipped person, a politician /becoming/ emphatic (11)

21a   Attempt to keep one diary /in/ series of books (7)

22a   Sing wildly at back of pub // -- bit of a game (7)

In cricket, innings^[5] (plural same or informally inningses) denotes:

1. each of two or four divisions of a game during which one side has a turn at batting ⇒ the highlight of the Surrey innings; or
2. a player’s turn at batting ⇒ he had played his greatest innings; or
3. the score achieved during a player’s turn at batting ⇒ a solid innings of 78 by Marsh.

In the first sense, the term innings (spelled with an 's') would correspond somewhat to an inning (spelled without an 's') in baseball while the second sense would be roughly equivalent to an at bat in baseball.

23a   Number engaged in interior // design (6)

The abbreviation for interior is int.^[5]

24a   I will get work, I being limited by terrible heat /in/ the country (8)

"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

25a   This person died, country // woman becoming a monster (6)

"this person" = ME (show explanation )

It is a common cryptic crossword convention for the creator of the puzzle to use terms such as (the or this) compiler, (the or this) setter, (this) author, (this) writer, or this person to refer to himself or herself. To solve such a clue, one must generally substitute a first person pronoun (I or me) for whichever of these terms has been used in the clue.

hide explanation

In Greek mythology, Medusa^[5] is the only mortal gorgon^* whom Perseus killed by cutting off her head.

^* The gorgons^[5] were three sisters, Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa, with snakes for hair, who had the power to turn anyone who looked at them to stone.

26a   Ornament /of/ exceptional age incorporating representation of glory (8)

Down

1d   Spite /of/ married woman (6)

2d   Religious devotion /of/ old archdeacon in North America (6)

In the Church of England, an archdeacon^[2] is a member of the clergy who ranks just below a bishop.

Ven.^[5] is the abbreviation for Venerable (as the title of an archdeacon) ⇒ the Ven. William Davies.

In the Roman Catholic Church, a novena^[5] is a form of worship consisting of special prayers or services on nine successive days.

3d   Left-winger keeping course of action // given backing again (7)

4d   Separate // division at the top of firm (4,7)

6d   Eastern riots /becoming/ serious (7)

7d   Fat Elvis performing /in/ pop event? (8)

8d   Row /makes/ little girl flop, always getting upset (8)

Diana (usually appearing in its diminutive form Di) is certainly the leading contender for most popular female name in Crosswordland. Today, the setter has explicitly called for the diminutive form of the name by specifying "little girl".

12d   New nonet is a fit // little musical composition (11)

A sinfonietta^[5] is a short or simple symphony.

14d   Foreign currency is held by troops -- // nothing extreme in that (8)

This "foreign currency" is hardly strange to us.

The Royal Marines^[5] (abbreviation RM)^[5] is a British armed service (part of the Royal Navy) founded in 1664, trained for service at sea, or on land under specific circumstances.

15d   After turmoil, predicts // what a speech may be (8)

17d   Thrives // when spring is coming in (7)

18d   After end of ceremony a new ruler /is/ twitching (7)

Twitch^[3] is used in the sense of to draw, pull, or move suddenly and sharply; in other words, jerk ⇒ I twitched my fishing line.

19d   Leader of society, a bit cold /and/ curt (6)

20d   Heading off with a will /in/ car (6)

In the UK, estate^[5] is short for estate car^[5], the British name for a station wagon^[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