Wednesday, July 20, 2016 — DT 28075

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28075
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28075]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Kitty
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 may be a bit on the gentle side for Jay but it is certainly not lacking in terms of its enjoyment factor.

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   Works // programme must anticipate right of light (5)

4a   Awfully bad manners cut short // identification of product (5,4)

9a   Rose, // for example with worker in queue (9)

"worker" = ANT (show explanation )

The word "worker" is commonly used in cryptic crossword puzzles to clue ANT or BEE.

A worker^[5] is a neuter or undeveloped female bee, wasp, ant, or other social insect, large numbers of which do the basic work of the colony.

In crossword puzzles, "worker" will most frequently be used to clue ANT and occasionally BEE but I have yet to see it used to clue WASP. Of course, "worker" is sometimes also used to clue HAND or MAN.

hide explanation

Queue^[5] is a chiefly British term meaning a line or sequence of people or vehicles awaiting their turn to be attended to or to proceed. As Collins English Dictionary states, the usual US and Canadian term is line^[4] — but only in this sense of the word (which, unfortunately, Collins fails to indicate). In North America, the word queue is used for a pigtail or in computer science. It is also interesting to note that while North Americans generally stand in line, they are not averse to jumping the queue.

Delving Deeper

The American Heritage Dictionary has the following to say about the history of this word queue[3]: When the British stand in queues (as they have been doing at least since 1837, when this meaning of the word is first recorded in English), they may not realize they form a tail. The French word queue from which the English word is borrowed is a descendant of Latin co-da, meaning "tail." French queue appeared in 1748 in English, referring to a plait of hair hanging down the back of the neck. By 1802 wearing a queue was a regulation in the British army, but by the mid-19th century queues had disappeared along with cocked hats. Latin co-da is also the source of Italian coda, which was adopted into English as a musical term (like so many other English musical terms that come from Italian). A coda is thus literally the "tail end" of a movement or composition.

10a   Part of drill used by soldiers /to get/ range (5)

"soldiers" = OR (show explanation )

In the British armed forces, the term other ranks^[5] (abbreviation OR^[5]) refers to all those who are not commissioned officers.

hide explanation

Orbit^[5] is used in the sense of an area of activity, interest, or influence ⇒ audiences drawn largely from outside the Party orbit.

11a   A way to travel on the back of a horse perhaps (7)

In this semi-&lit. clue^* (or, as some prefer to call it, semi-all-in-one clue), the entire clue acts as the definition while the portion with the dashed underline provides the wordplay.

^* In a true &lit. clue^[7] (sometimes called an all-in-one clue) the entire clue provides not only the definition (when read one way), but under a different interpretation is also the wordplay.

An alternative way to travel would be side-saddle.

12a   The setter's put in a dodgy term /for/ current device (7)

"the setter" = 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

Today, the 's (a contraction of the word "is") forms part of the containment indicator (is put in) rather than being combined with the word "setter" to produce IM (I am).

An ammeter^[5] is an instrument for measuring electric current in amperes.

13a   Some restaurateurs in Europe // like bears (6)

15a   Political manifesto // that may be one of Victoria's (8)

I would think that this is a double definition where the second definition is phrased in a rather cryptic manner. We must decipher that we are looking for something that may be found in Victoria Station.

London Victoria station^[7], generally known as Victoria, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground [subway] complex named after nearby Victoria Street (the latter being named after Queen Victoria). London Victoria is the second-busiest terminus in London (and the UK) after London Waterloo.

18a   Imposed // objective, packing on behalf of church (8)

"church" = CE (show explanation )

The Church of England^[10] (abbreviation CE^[10]) is the reformed established state Church in England, Catholic in order and basic doctrine, with the Sovereign as its temporal head.

hide explanation

20a   The rest of the day (6)

23a   Overweight guide lost, out of depth /and/ weary (7)

In the cryptic reading, "weary" is used as a verb.

24a   Takes off /and/ wanders around East Mediterranean initially (7)

26a   Purpose applied to accountant/'s/ campaign (5)

"accountant" = CA (show explanation )

The official designation CA^[5] for Chartered Accountant is used in Scotland — and was formerly employed in Canada. However, as of January 2013, Canadian CAs — together with CGAs (Certified General Accounts) and CMAs (Certified Management Accountants) have adopted the CPA (Chartered Professional Accountant) designation.

Outside Scotland, the term "chartered accountant" is used by members of the accounting profession in the UK who belong to certain professional bodies.

In the UK (apart from Scotland) the designatory letters are ACA^[10] (Associate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants) or FCA^[10] (Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants). The designatory letters ACA and FCA are also employed in the Republic of Ireland although there I would presume that they stand for Associate of Chartered Accountants Ireland and Fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland respectively — Chartered Accountants Ireland (CAI) being the Irish counterpart to the Institute of Chartered Accounts in England and Wales (ICAEW) and Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS).^[7]

In addition to the organizations already mentioned there are a plethora of other bodies representing accountants in the UK. In fact, in the UK there are no licence requirements for individuals to describe themselves or to practise as accountants. However, those who use the description "chartered accountant" must be members of one of the organisations mentioned above or a recognised equivalent body in another Commonwealth country.

hide explanation

27a   Play // patience (9)

I almost fell into the trap of searching for a play entitled Tolerance but caught myself just in time. However, while writing the review I couldn't help but check if there might be such a work. It seems not, but Intolerance^[7] is a 1916 silent film directed by D. W. Griffith. This three-and-a-half-hour epic is widely regarded as one of the great masterpieces of the silent era, as well as one of the first art films.

28a   Builders regularly must follow school education // programmes (9)

29a   Left motorway during Italian // restriction (5)

The M1^[7] is a north–south motorway [controlled access, multi-lane divided highway] in England connecting London to Leeds.

"Italian" = IT (show explanation )

This clueing might be explained in a couple of 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

Down

1d   Engineers carpet to have clean covering, /but/ too early (9)

"engineers" = RE (show explanation )

The Corps of Royal Engineers^[7], usually just called the Royal Engineers (abbreviation RE), and commonly known as the Sappers^[7], is a corps of the British Army that provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces.

hide explanation

2d   Designate // to a great extent, protecting first in line (5)

3d   Love in tennis possibly /gives you/ stress (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

4d   Paid off // kid found in part of garden (6)

What did Kitty say?

In her review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Kitty refers to a bed as the part of a garden where you might find flowers In Britain, a garden[10] is an area of land, usually planted with grass, trees, flowerbeds, etc, adjoining a house — what would be known in Canada and the US as a yard. It is interesting to note that, in 2010, the definition of garden found at Oxford Dictionaries closely corresponded to the one above from Collins English Dictionary. At that time, garden was defined by Oxford as "a piece of ground adjoining a house, typically cultivated to provide a lawn and flowerbeds" [note that this definition explicitly indicates that the lawn is included in the garden]. Today, the definition for garden[5] has changed to read "(chiefly British) a piece of ground adjoining a house, used for growing flowers, fruit, or vegetables" [no mention of the lawn]. The new definition certainly sounds more like the North American usage than it does like the British usage. In fact, the definition for garden in the American English version of Oxford Dictionaries is "a piece of ground, often near a house, used for growing flowers, fruit, or vegetables". I wonder — does this indicate that the North American usage of the word is supplanting the former British usage!

5d   Accommodating // different name on source of barley in beer (8)

6d   Welcome here /for/ a downtrodden person? (7)

7d   A dropping outside temperature shown in pub // flier (9)

8d   Consumer // taking top off radiator (5)

14d   Non-alcoholic rival /is/ a pushover (4,5)

Touch^[5] is used in the sense of be comparable to in quality or excellence ⇒ there’s no one who can touch him at lightweight judo.

16d   Financial review /of/ Mensa in a mess over exam (5,4)

Scratching the Surface
Mensa[5] is an international organization founded in England in 1945 whose members must achieve very high scores in IQ tests to be admitted.

17d   Set off sheltered by cycle // stand (8)

19d   Got angry about case of wastage /and/ growth (7)

21d   Wrong // time to be dismissed by any Greek god perhaps (7)

As a noun, immortal^[5] denotes an immortal being, especially a god of ancient Greece or Rome.

22d   Troubles coming after doctor /gives/ exercises (6)

23d   Data /from/ polyunsaturates full of carbon (5)

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

25d   Beam on everybody turning up, /showing/ such hostility (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