Wednesday, August 16, 2016 — DT 28099

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28099
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, April 27, 2016
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28099]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By 2Kiwis
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

As Kiwi Colin writes in the introduction to his review, Jay has been gentle with us today.

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   Lodging with club -- perhaps // this gets you through gate (8,4)

... at the airport.

9a   Lost again, lost /in/ dreams of times past (9)

10a   Piece about lower socio-economic groups /in/ suit (5)

Either Jay knows of a system of socio-economic classification of which I can find no evidence or he has added a new socio-economic group at the bottom of the social ladder.

I assumed that this clue must be referring to the NRS social grades^[7], a system of demographic classification used in the United Kingdom. The categories were originally developed by the National Readership Survey to classify readers, but are now used by many other organisations for wider applications and have become a standard for market research. They were developed over 50 years ago and achieved widespread usage in 20th Century Britain. The classifications, which are based on the occupation of the head of the household, are shown in the following table.

Grade	Social class	Chief income earner's occupation
A	upper middle class	Higher managerial, administrative or professional
B	middle class	Intermediate managerial, administrative or professional
C1	lower middle class	Supervisory or clerical and junior managerial, administrative or professional
C2	skilled working class	Skilled manual workers
D	working class	Semi and unskilled manual workers
E	Those at the lowest levels of subsistence	Casual or lowest grade workers, pensioners and others who depend on the welfare state for their income

As you can see, the bottom two groups are D and E (not E and F). This led me to parse the wordplay as BIT (piece) containing (about) DE (lower socio-economic groups) leading to BIDET — which certainly puzzled me.

11a   A canvas by Lowry originally // undeveloped (6)

Scratching the Surface

L. S. Lowry[7] (1887–1976) was an English artist famous for painting scenes of life in the industrial districts of North West England in the mid-20th century. He developed a distinctive style of painting and is best known for urban landscapes peopled with human figures often referred to as "matchstick men". A large collection of Lowry's work is on permanent public display in a purpose-built art gallery on Salford Quays (a part of Greater Manchester), appropriately named the Lowry. Lowry rejected five honours during his life – including a knighthood in 1968 and consequently holds the record for the most rejected British honours.

12a   Heart-throb /may be/ strangely isolated (8)

Diastole^[5] is the phase of the heartbeat when the heart muscle relaxes and allows the chambers to fill with blood.

13a   Counter // is covered by others (6)

15a   Spoilt // broadcast by one elected member (8)

18a   Manages // abroad, according to reports (8)

19a   Flow /of/ runs in second eleven, perhaps (6)

"runs" = R (show explanation )

On cricket scorecards [not to mention baseball scoreboards], the abbreviation R^[5] denotes run(s).

In cricket, a run^[5] is a unit of scoring achieved by hitting the ball so that both batsmen are able to run between the wickets, or awarded in some other circumstances.

hide explanation

Eleven^[5] is the number of players on a cricket^[7] side or an Association football^[7] [soccer] team — and is often used as a metonym for such a team ⇒ at cricket I played in the first eleven.

Scratching the Surface

Second eleven is another term for the reserve team[7], a team composed of players under contract to a specific team but who do not normally appear on the team's roster during matches. Reserve teams are usually composed of young players who need playing time in order to improve their skills, as well as members of the first team recovering from injury. [A reserve team would be known as a farm team in most North American sports.] In England reserve teams of league clubs play in completely separate leagues and competitions from their parent club. However, in other countries, reserve teams sometimes play in the same league as their senior team. Note: I have linked to an old revision of the Wikipedia article as the current revision is utter garbage.

21a   Replace // drink works (8)

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.

23a   Taken into custody, // managed to grab pie that is being dropped (6)

Cop^[5] is used in the sense of to catch or arrest (an offender) ⇒ he was copped for speeding.

26a   Joins // golf club? (5)

A links^[5] (also golf links) is a golf course, especially one on grass-covered sandy ground near the sea.

27a   Break down into small pieces, // making aunt glare (9)

28a   Female first possibly to welcome Universal/'s/ pictures (7,5)

"universal" = U (show explanation )

Under the British system of film classification^[7] a U (for 'universal') rating indicates that a film is suitable "for all the family" — or, at any rate, for those members over 4 years of age.

hide explanation

Scratching the Surface
Universal Studios Inc.[7] (also known as Universal Pictures, or simply Universal, stylized as UNIVERSAL since 1963) is an American film studio, owned by Comcast through its wholly owned subsidiary NBCUniversal, and is one of Hollywood's "Big Six" film studios.

Down

1d   Bribe the French right? He'll make a mess of it! (7)

Bung^[10] is British slang for a bribe.

"the French" = LE (show explanation )

In French, the masculine singular form of the definite article is le^[8].

hide explanation

2d   Valuable resource /of/ state with no end of power (5)

3d   Identifies problem /of/ San Diego's poor (9)

4d   Hacks /in/ difficulty -- leader appears finally (4)

Hack^[5] can mean:

1. a horse for ordinary riding;
2. a good-quality lightweight riding horse, especially one used in the show ring;
3. a horse let out for hire; or
4. an inferior or worn-out horse.

5d   Cleaner aims to develop // personal quality (8)

Char^[5] is an informal British term for charwoman^[5], a dated British name for a woman employed as a cleaner in a house or office.

6d   Puzzle /of/ president mainly supporting soldiers (5)

The clue could be referring to either of two US presidents:

1. George Bush^[5], American Republican statesman and 41st President of the US 1989–93; full name George Herbert Walker Bush.
2.  George W. Bush^[5], American Republican statesman and 43rd President of the US 2001–2009; full name George Walker Bush. He is the son of George Bush. 

"soldiers" = 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

What did they say?
In the comments section of Big Dave's Crossword Blog, a number of contributors make reference to Inspector Rebus (although the clue itself does not make reference to him). The Inspector Rebus[7] books are a series of detective novels by Scottish author Ian Rankin. The novels, centred on Detective Inspector John Rebus, are mostly based in and around Edinburgh, Scotland.

7d   Naturally // connected with part of university curriculum (2,6)

8d   Wait on // minister after a time (6)

14d   Draw on gin distributed // wholesale (8)

Sweep^[5] is an informal shortened form for sweepstake^[5] (also sweepstakes [the more common spelling in North America, I would say]), a race or gambling game in which the winnings comprise all the money that has been staked.

16d   Four start going off // such a surface (9)

AstroTurf^[5] is a trademark for an artificial grass surface used for sports fields. The name comes from from astrodome^* (where it was first used) + turf.

^* The NRG Astrodome^[7], also known as the Houston Astrodome, was the world's first multi-purpose, domed sports stadium, located in Houston, Texas.

Delving Deeper

When opened, The Astrodome was known as the Harris County Domed Stadium and was nicknamed the "Eighth Wonder of the World". The Astrodome's primary tenants have since moved to other, newly constructed venues; the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball moved to Minute Maid Park, while the Houston Texans—the successor to the Houston Oilers—of the National Football League (NFL) play next door at the NRG Stadium. In 2005, the Astrodome was used as a shelter for residents of New Orleans affected by Hurricane Katrina. The venue regularly hosted events until it was declared non-compliant with fire code by the Houston Fire Department in 2008. Parts of it were demolished in 2013, after several years of disuse. In 2014, the Astrodome was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

17d   Pre-match do // top boxing news (3,5)

Hen night^[5] is an informal British term for a celebration held for a woman who is about to get married, attended only by women.

18d   Airport luggage belts lacking vehicle /for/ fliers (6)

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

20d   Damned wayward son // is infuriating (7)

22d   Thread /of/ story about school being evacuated (5)

Lisle^[5] (also lisle thread) is a fine, smooth cotton thread used especially for stockings.

24d   This girl // exercises with a heartless rival (5)

"exercises" = PE (show explanation ) false;"]

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

hide explanation

25d   Shock // hospital broadcast (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