Tuesday, July 12, 2016 — DT 28066

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28066
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Saturday, March 19, 2016
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28066 – Hints] Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28066 – Review]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Kath (Hints) gnomethang (Review)
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 28065 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Friday, March 18, 2016. As this was a Saturday "Prize Puzzle" in Britain, there are two entries related to it on Big Dave's Crossword Blog — the first, posted on the date of publication, contains hints for selected clues while the second is a full review issued following the entry deadline for the contest. The vast majority of reader comments will generally be found attached to the "hints" posting with a minimal number — if any — accompanying the full review.

Introduction

This puzzle should not raise much of a sweat — a good thing on this sweltering day. However, I did stumble over one clue — embarrassingly failing to get "it".

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

3a   Stronghold I'm in is very // very noisy (10)

While gnomethang gets all the lego blocks in the right places, he does not quite follow the order of assembly given in the clue. He has IS followed by IM in SO whereas the instructions say to put IM in IS plus SO. Nevertheless, both approaches produce the same result.

Fortissimo^[5] is a direction used in music meaning either (as an adjective) very loud  or (as an adverb) very loudly.

8a   Wasted // opening in ball game (6)

Lotto^[5] can mean either:

1. [as Kath describes it] a children’s game similar to bingo, in which numbered or illustrated counters or cards are drawn by the players; or
2. [as gnomethang describes it] a lottery.

What did he say?

In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, gnomethang refers to the LOTTO game from Camelot, say. Camelot Group[7], a private limited company, is the operator of the UK National Lottery. Camelot has held the franchise since the inception of the National Lottery in 1994. The current franchise period started in 2009 and runs until 2019, with a possible extension of up to five years. The Government body the National Lottery Commission is responsible for deciding who is awarded the franchise. In March 2010, Toronto-based Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan announced that it was buying Camelot for £389m. The Camelot name is reflected in the actual lottery machines used in the National Lottery draw, which are named for characters, places, and objects in Arthurian Legend (Guinevere, Lancelot, Excalibur, Arthur, etc.).

9a   Model drunk? // Take no action (3,5)

What did she say?

In her hints on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Kath observes From this clue and answer and the previous one I’m beginning to spot a bit of a theme here – must be  something to do with the weekend goings-on in Macclesfield!. Macclesfield[7] is a town in Cheshire, England. On the day that this puzzle appeared in The Daily Telegraph, it was the site of a Sloggers and Betters gathering. Sloggers and Betters (a spoonerism for Bloggers and Setters) is an occasional get-together over a few pints for the British cruciverbalist community.

10a   Excessive devotion // adroitly put in a new light (8)

11a   Figure /that's/ less sensitive (6)

12a   Planner, // furious about wrong name put inside (10)

This is a "babushka" (Russian nesting doll) clue. However, I discover that the correct name for these dolls is actually matryoshka doll^[7].

14a   Quiet trip before marriage /causes/ loud quarrel (8,5)

20a   In my opinion, // after gym, boy must go into assembly (10)

"gym" = PE (show explanation )

PE^[5] is the abbreviation for physical education [or Phys Ed, as it was known in my school days]. 

hide explanation

22a   Spite /shown by/ male meeting Christopher Robin's nurse (6)

Alice is the name of Christopher Robin's nurse in "Buckingham Palace", a poem which appears in When We Were Very Young^[7]. a best-selling book of poetry by English author A. A. Milne (1882–1956).

23a   Reported diarist who ordered // erotic entertainment (8)

To identify this diarist, one solving the puzzle printed in the National Post merely needs to divert their eyes to the bottom of the page.

Samuel Pepys^[5] [pronounced 'peeps'] (1633–1703) was an English diarist and naval administrator. He is particularly remembered for his Diary (1660-9), which describes events such as the Great Plague and the Fire of London.

24a   Count, after support, /is/ on the wagon (8)

The term teetotal^[5] is an emphatic extension of total, apparently first used by Richard Turner, a worker from Preston [England], in a speech (1833) urging total abstinence from all alcohol, rather than mere abstinence from spirits, as advocated by some early temperance reformers.

25a   Educational institution -- it/'s/ for both men and women (6)

I mistakenly came up with UNITED thinking that the clue was referring to the United College of St Salvator and St Leonard^[7] (commonly referred to as United College), one of the two statutory colleges of the University of St Andrews in St Andrews, Scotland — and the alma mater of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Uni^[5] is an informal (originally Australian) term for university ⇒ he planned to go to uni.

It^[5] (usually written in quotation marks, "it") is an informal term for sexual intercourse or sex appeal ⇒ (i) the only thing I knew nothing about was ‘it’; (ii) they were caught doing ‘it’ in the back seat of his car.

What did he say?
In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, gnomethang refers to "it" as the Old Wehey!. Well, I couldn't find the exact expression in the dictionary but there is little doubt what it means. It may actually be spelled "wahey" rather than "wehey". Wahey[5] is an exclamation used to express delight, pleasure, or exhilaration ⇒ I knew you’d say yes! Wahey!.

26a   Drink on break, /and/ a biscuit (6,4)

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.

Brandy snap^[5] is a British term for a crisp rolled gingerbread wafer, usually filled with cream.

Down

1d   Special clothes // pleased some newspapers (4,4)

What did he say?
In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, gnomethang refers to these red topnewspapers as usually the Red Tops disparagingly. In Britain, a tabloid newspaper is known as a red top[5] [from the red background on which the titles of certain British newspapers are printed].

2d   Fired up in fight /for/ knife (8)

3d   Promote // nurse (6)

4d   Man holding spades /is/ hopeful (4)

"spades" = S (show explanation )

Spades^[2]) (abbreviation S^[1]) is one of the four suits of playing-cards.

hide explanation

5d   Manned it at sea, // together (2,6)

6d   Special mark /obtained by/ Greek character? About time! (6)

Sigma^[5] is the eighteenth letter of the Greek alphabet (Σ, σ).

7d   Austrian composer /and/ US author heading firstly for island (6)

Norman Mailer^[5] (1923–2007) was an American novelist and essayist. Notable novels: The Naked and the Dead (1948) and The Presidential Papers (1963).

Gustav Mahler^[5] (1860–1911) was an Austrian composer, conductor, and pianist. Forming a link between romanticism and the experimentalism of Schoenberg, his works include nine complete symphonies (1888–1910) and the symphonic song cycle Das Lied von der Erde (1908).

13d   Intimate // meal date overlooked (5)

15d   Embroidered cloth -- // videos sample (8)

16d   Send // maiden over in carriage (8)

"maiden over"  = 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

17d   Revered // husband acknowledged (8)

18d   One looking after another round Aintree's far end /in/ gallop (6)

Scratching the Surface
Aintree Racecourse[7] is a racecourse in Aintree, Merseyside, England [near Liverpool]. The racecourse is best known for annually holding the world-famous Grand National steeplechase.

19d   Cub reporter // from broadsheet in Tinseltown (6)

Tintin^[7] is a fictional character in The Adventures of Tintin, the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé, pen name of Georges Remi (1907–1983).  Tintin is a reporter and adventurer who travels around the world with his dog Snowy. He is customarily referred to as a "cub reporter" — as in this article from Britain's Independent newspaper.

Scratching the Surface
Hollywood[7], (informally Tinseltown) is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. The neighborhood is notable for its place as the home of the U.S. film industry, including several of its historic studios. Its name has come to be a metonym for the motion picture industry of the United States.

21d   Accelerate // round marker ahead (4,2)

This clue would not work if translated into North American argot. The Brits use the word "round" where we would be more likely to say "around".

23d   Spy briefly /in/ plot (4)

In the cryptic reading, "spy" becomes a noun rather than a verb.

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