Monday, September 12, 2016 — DT 28121

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28121
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, May 23, 2016
Setter Rufus (Roger Squires)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28121]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Hanni and Miffypops
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

Today, the National Post resumes publication on Mondays after its annual summer hiatus and, moreover, marks the occasion by giving us a rare treat — a 'Monday' puzzle from Rufus. This puzzle is definitely more challenging than his usual fare.

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   Where one's likely to drive after the service (6,5)

Misspelling the entry at 3d seriously affected my game today.

9a   Too greatly tempted, /resulting in/ being in the red (9)

10a   Get in a tangle /and/ express displeasure (5)

11a   Moves /that may result in/ unsound mate on board (6)

In Crosswordland, you will find that a ship is almost invariably a steamship, the abbreviation for which is SS^[10]. Thus phrases such as "aboard ship" or "on board ship" (or — as today — merely "on board") are Crosswordland code for 'contained in SS'.

"Moves" is a verb denoting how such a ship propels itself.

12a   Stopped /and/ taken into custody (8)

13a   A binding // affair is arranged (6)

15a   All women do (3,5)

Hen party^[5] is a [likely chiefly British] term for a social gathering of women, especially a hen night^*.

^* 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.

18a   Do // remove from sit-in? (5,3)

U.S. Marshals dragging away a Vietnam War protester in Washington, D.C., 1967

19a   An infant rock-and-roller (6)

21a   Two things a swindler may do /and/ court offence (8)

23a   Burning /with/ an old love (6)

26a   Number one's direction /is/ sound (5)

27a   Record membership for start of the student year (9)

No matter how I look at this clue, something seems a bit odd.

The surface reading leads us to think of the largest intake of students in the history of an educational institution.

In her review at Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Hanni labels this as an "all in one" clue. However, I would say that is definitely not the case.

A case can be made for it being a double definition. "Start of the student year" could denote 'enrolment' as that is the first activity that students must complete each year before they can begin classes.

Enrolment^[10] is a list of people enrolled. Thus if we can stretch "record membership" to mean "record [of] membership", this could mean enrolment.

At Comment #3 on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Dutch describes the clue as "not a double definition but a cryptic definition with a pun on record". However, if that were the case, I would expect the solution to be "enrol" rather than "enrolment".

Nevertheless, I have learned that it is futile to over-analyze Rufus' clues. Often what appears to make eminent sense on first reading can break down under careful parsing.

28a   Tradesman /may be/ a theatre-goer (11)

The tradesman^[10] here is a man engaged in trade, especially a retail dealer, rather than a skilled worker.

Stallholder^[5] is a British term for a person owning or running a stall at a market.

Stall^[10] is a British term for a seat in a theatre or cinema that resembles a chair, usually fixed to the floor.

Oh dear! Where to sit?

While the dictionaries can't get together on the precise definition of a stall, they do at least agree that the term is British. The American Heritage Dictionary says that a stall[3,4,11] is a seat in the front part of a theater, the Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary has it as a chairlike seat in a theater, especially one in the front section of the parquet*, and Collins English Dictionary defines it as a seat in a theatre or cinema that resembles a chair, usually fixed to the floor. In the plural, stalls is variously defined as the seats on the ground floor in a theatre[5] (Oxford Dictionaries), the seats on the ground floor of a theatre or cinema[2] (Chambers 21st Century Dictionary), or the area of seats on the ground floor of a theatre or cinema nearest to the stage or screen[4] (Collins English Dictionary). * the Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary has the parquet[11] as the front part of the main floor of a theater, opera house, etc., between the musicians' area and the parterre** or, especially in the U.S., the entire main-floor space for spectators; Collins English Dictionary defines parquet[4] as the US term for the stalls of a theatre. ** in the US, the parterre[11], also called the parquet circle, is the rear section of seats on the main floor of a theater, opera house, etc., under the balcony; in Britain, the parterre[4] is the pit in a theatre (i.e., the ground floor of the auditorium of a theatre).

Down

1d   Epithet applied to press /when/ our rest is disturbed (7)

An epithet^[5] is an adjective or phrase expressing a quality or attribute regarded as characteristic of the person or thing mentioned.

Trouser press^[10] is an especially British term for an electrical appliance that is used for taking the creases out of trousers.

2d   Relative // drop in energy in French resort (5)

"energy" = E (show explanation )

In physics, E^[5] is a symbol used to represent energy in mathematical formulae.

hide explanation

Nice^[5] is a resort city on the French Riviera, near the border with Italy; population 348,721 (2007).

3d   Guarantee // compensation (9)

4d   Flatter // area fenced in by stern fellow (4)

5d   Worries /make/ seven run wild (8)

6d   Drop // oral test (5)

Although Miffypops does not identify it as such, I would say that this is a double definition. The first definition denotes a small quantity of drink.

7d   Time off /with/ girl in divine setting (7)

The British use the word holiday(s) where North Americans would say vacation^[5]. Holiday^[5,10] (often holidays) is a chiefly British term for a period in which a break is taken from work or studies for rest, travel, or recreation ⇒ (i) I spent my summer holidays on a farm; (ii) Fred was on holiday in Spain. According to the British dictionaries, the usual US and Canadian term is vacation. However, I am accustomed to hearing the two terms used almost interchangeably.

In Britain, the word vacation^[5] has a very specific meaning, a fixed holiday period between terms in universities and law courts ⇒ the Easter vacation. In North America, such a period might be called a break^[7].

8d   Female getting changed // hesitated (8)

14d   Forces in bust-up // prepared for court action (8)

The solution is an adjective, so the definition must be "prepared for court action" and not merely "court action" (as shown by Miffypops in his review).

Forensic^[10] means relating to, used in, or connected with a court of law ⇒ forensic science.

16d   Opt for oil processing /as/ a minister's responsibility (9)

17d   Exotic bean soup // that may be served legally (8)

The solution is a noun, so the definition must be "that may be served legally" and not merely "seved legally" (as shown by Miffypops in his review).

18d   The objective of the shy (7)

Shy^[5] is a dated term meaning, as a noun, an act of flinging or throwing something at a target and, as a verb, to fling or throw (something) at a target ⇒ he tore the spectacles off and shied them at her.

Coconut shy^[5] is a British term for a fairground sideshow where balls are thrown at coconuts in an attempt to knock them off stands.

20d   Point to head of college /as/ one responsible for a put-up job (7)

A rector^[5] is the head of certain universities, colleges, and schools.

22d   Still beginning to shout // the odds? (5)

Evens^[5] is a British term meaning even money^[5], viz. odds offering an equal chance of winning or losing, with the amount won being the same as the stake ⇒ the colt was 4-6 favourite after opening at evens.

24d   A principal // in a winning position (5)

In Britain, head^[5] is short for headmaster^[5] (a man who is the head teacher in a school), headmistress^[5] (a woman who is the head teacher in a school), or head teacher^[5] (the teacher in charge of a school).

25d   A test said to be passed (4)

This clue is a cryptic definition comprising a straight definition coupled with cryptic elaboration.

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