Friday, August 19, 2016 — DT 28101

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28101
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, April 29, 2016
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28101]
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

One can always count on Giovanni to throw a few terms at us that we have never before encountered.

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   Maiden possibly facing accusation /as/ cheat (10)

In cricket, a maiden^[5] (also maiden over) is an over in which no runs are scored.

6a   Drink nothing, coming back /for/ work (4)

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.

In music, an opus^[5] (Latin for 'work') is a separate composition or set of compositions.

9a   Officer returning with hesitation /as/ one to fill a gap? (5)

In his hint, Deep Threat neglects to mention that the "abbreviation for a senior regimental officer" must be reversed (returning).

Locum^[5] (short for locum tenens) is a British term for a person who stands in temporarily for someone else of the same profession, especially a cleric or doctor.

10a   Optical instrument /must be/ awfully precise when surgery's involved (9)

Op^[5] is an informal term for a surgical operation ⇒ a minor op.

12a   Soldiers calm when guarding hospital /or/ academic institution (7,6)

14a   Quickest // run by runner in Hants (8)

Hants^[5] is the abbreviation for Hampshire^[5], a county on the coast of southern England; county town, Winchester.

The setter uses the word "runner" in the whimsical sense of something that runs or flows — in other words, a river.

The River Test^[7] is a river in Hampshire, England. It has a total length of 40 miles (64 km) and it flows through downland from its source near Ashe to the sea at the head of Southampton Water. In its upper reaches it is a chalk stream, and is used for fly fishing for trout. The river plays a significant part in Richard Adams' novel Watership Down.

15a   Dissolute editor // stopped indulging completely (6)

17a   Government department has uncertainty with unknown // change (6)

In the UK, the abbreviation MOD^[5] stands for Ministry of Defence.

"unknown" = Y (show explanation )

In mathematics (algebra, in particular), an unknown^[10] is a variable, or the quantity it represents, the value of which is to be discovered by solving an equation ⇒ 3y = 4x + 5 is an equation in two unknowns. [Unknowns are customarily represented symbolically by the letters x, y and z.]

hide explanation

19a   Steward in club at Etihad Stadium with one short request (8)

The City of Manchester Stadium^[5] in Manchester, England, also known as the Etihad^* Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is the home ground of Manchester City Football Club.

^* Etihad Airways is a flag carrier and the second-largest airline of the United Arab Emirates (after Emirates).

Manchester City Football Club^[7] (often referred to simply as City) is an English professional football [soccer] club, based in Manchester, England, that plays in the Premier League (the top level in the English football league system).

Manchester United Football Club^[7] (often referred to simply as United — and often as Man Utd or Man U) is an English professional football [soccer] club, based at Old Trafford [football stadium] in Old Trafford [district of Manchester], Greater Manchester, that also plays in the Premier League.

Apparently, in a manner similar to Manchester United being popularly known as Man U, Manchester City may commonly be referred to as Man C — although I was unable to find evidence of this.

Manciple^[5] is a chiefly archaic term for a person in charge of buying provisions for a college, an Inn of Court, or a monastery.

21a   One with exaggerated respect for priests could become so strait-laced (13)

Even with all the checking letters in place, no arrangement of the remaining letters was readily apparent, although I did get most of them in the right order.

A sacerdotalist^[5] is is someone who believes in a theological doctrine which ascribes sacrificial functions and spiritual or supernatural powers to ordained priests.

24a   Gross rage may come from // this belligerent person (9)

25a   Bosses of firm // lacking enthusiasm, we hear (5)

26a   Long periods // of leisure on sabbatical (4)

27a   Tense // learner at university, outwardly faultless (10)

"learner" = L (show explanation )

The cryptic crossword convention of L meaning learner or student arises from the L-plate^[7], a square plate bearing a sans-serif letter L, for learner, which must be affixed to the front and back of a vehicle in various jurisdictions (including the UK) if its driver is a learner under instruction.

hide explanation

In Britain, up^[5] means at or to a university, especially Oxford or Cambridge ⇒ they were up at Cambridge about the same time.

In grammar, the pluperfect^[5] (also pluperfect tense) denotes an action completed prior to some past point of time specified or implied, formed in English by had and the past participle, as in he had gone by then.

Down

1d   Look after seaman /in/ capital city (4)

"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

Ordinary seaman^[5] (abbreviation OS^[5]) is the lowest rank of sailor in the Royal Navy, below able seaman.


Oslo^[5] is the capital and chief port of Norway, on the south coast at the head of Oslofjord; population 839,423 (2007). Founded in the 11th century, it was known as Christiania (or Kristiania) from 1624 until 1924 in honour of Christian IV of Norway and Denmark (1577–1648).

2d   English witness wants capture of top // person who's got away (7)

3d   Join branch of police /and/ achieve legal recognition (4,4,5)

4d   A quiet break interrupted by onset of loud // cheers? (8)

"quiet" = P (show explanation )

Piano^[3,5] (abbreviation p^[5]), is a musical direction meaning either (as an adjective) soft or quiet or (as an adverb) softly or quietly.

hide explanation

5d   Shrub /getting/ good 'ack? (5)

"good" = G (show explanation )

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

hide explanation

To a cockney, this quadruped could be either an 'ack or an 'orse.

7d   IRA member on street /becomes/ a dignitary (7)

Provo^[5] is an informal term for Provisional^[5], a member of the Provisional wings of the IRA (Irish Republican Army, the military arm of Sinn Fein) or Sinn Fein itself (an Irish political movement and party seeking a united republican Ireland).

Provost^[5] could mean dignitary in any of several senses:

1. British term for the head of certain university colleges, especially at Oxford or Cambridge, and public schools;
2. Scottish term for mayor;
3. the head of a chapter in a cathedral;
4. historically, the head of a Christian community.

8d   Something in tool shed maybe // has left little darlings upset -- snake (10)

The adder^[5] (also called viper) is a small venomous Eurasian snake (Vipera berus) which has a dark zigzag pattern on its back and bears live young. It is the only poisonous snake in Britain.

11d   Conservative in party flexible -- // one out to impress superiors (6,7)

"Conservative" = C (show explanation )

The abbreviation for Conservative may be either C.^[10] or Con.^[10].

The Conservative Party^[5] is a a major British political party that emerged from the old Tory Party under Sir Robert Peel in the 1830s and 1840s. Since the Second World War, it has been in power 1951–64, 1970-74, and 1979–97. It governed in a coalition with the Liberal Democrats from 2010 until the general election of May 2015, in which it was returned with a majority.

hide explanation

13d   Not following official line, // could make some gaffes (3-7)

Might this clue be directed at a certain unnamed politician south of the border.

16d   Male in the manner of rugby player // who couldn't find the right words? (8)

Mrs. Malaprop^[10] is a character in Irish playwright Richard Sheridan's play The Rivals (1775), who makes ludicrous blunders in her use of words.

The character has given her name to the term malapropism^[5], the mistaken use of a word in place of a similar-sounding one, often with an amusing effect (e.g. ‘dance a flamingo’ instead of flamenco).

18d   Figure /in/ endless pain after a month (7)

20d   Servant eating too much // stew (7)

Historically, a page^[5] is:

1. a boy in training for knighthood, ranking next below a squire in the personal service of a knight; or
2. a man or boy employed as the personal attendant of a person of rank.

OTT^[5] (short for over the top) is an informal British expression denoting excessive or exaggerated ⇒ presenting him as a goalscoring Superman seems a bit OTT.

22d   Bird /in/ roofless building overlooking lake (5)

Ousel is an alternative spelling of ouzel^[5], a bird that resembles the blackbird, especially the ring ouzel.

23d   Revolutionary movement /bringing/ change (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