Wednesday, September 7, 2016 — DT 28118

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28118
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, May 19, 2016
Setter Shamus (Philip Marlow)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28118]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Kath
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

I am slowly progressing through the backlog. This puzzle is a fairly gentle offering from the mystery Thursday setter.

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   Drinks outlet // belonging to criminal left in charge inside (3-7)

"in charge" = IC (show explanation )

The abbreviation i/c^[5] can be short for either

1. (especially in military contexts) in charge of ⇒ the Quartermaster General is i/c rations; or
2. in command ⇒ 2 i/c = second in command.

hide explanation

Off-licence^[5] is a British term for a shop selling alcoholic drink for consumption elsewhere.

6a   Report of star // not working (4)

9a   Cases in which time is lost /in/ game (5)

10a   Carry off bit of a brightly-coloured suit /in/ rally (4,5)

To be precise, you don't need one of the suits in a pack of cards that’s red but rather any individual card from that suit.

12a   Noble ordered handy MG? It /is seen as/ arrogant (4,3,6)

Scratching the Surface

MG[7] is a British automotive marque registered by the now defunct MG Car Company Limited, a British sports car manufacturer begun in the 1920s. Best known for its two-seat open sports cars, MG also produced saloons and coupés. The MG business was owned personally by British motor manufacturer William Morris until 1935 when he sold MG to his holding company, Morris Motors Limited [MG are the initials for Morris Garages]. MG underwent many changes in ownership starting with Morris merging with Austin in The British Motor Corporation Limited (BMC) in 1952. MG became the MG Division of BMC in 1967 and so a component of the 1968 merger that created British Leyland Motor Corporation. By the start of 2000 MG was part of the MG Rover Group — on the way having passed through the hands of British Aerospace and BMW. MG Rover Group entered receivership in 2005 and the assets and the MG brand were purchased by Nanjing Automobile Group (which merged into Shanghai-based SAIC Motor in 2008). Production restarted in 2007 in China, and later at the Longbridge plant in the UK under the current manufacturer MG Motor (a subsidiary of SAIC). The first all-new model from MG in the UK for 16 years, the MG 6, was officially launched on 26 June 2011.

14a   In East End, judge calls /to get/ ornamental accessories (8)

The East End^[5] is the part of London, England east of the City as far as the River Lea, including the Docklands, an area whose residents are known as cockneys.

A cockney^[5,10] is a native of East London [specifically that part of East London known as the East End^[5]], traditionally one born within hearing of Bow Bells (the bells of St Mary-le-Bow^[7] church). Cockney is also the name of the dialect or accent typical of cockneys, which is characterised by dropping the H from the beginning of words and the use of rhyming slang^[5].

The wordplay parses as EAR {the way someone from the East End would pronounce the word HEAR (judge; try a case in court)} + RINGS (calls; on a telephone)

15a   Duck /coming from/ headland following two directions (6)

17a   Tacit // support derived from a global body? (6)

"global body" = UN (show explanation )

The United Nations^[5] (abbreviation UN) is an international organization of countries set up in 1945, in succession to the League of Nations, to promote international peace, security, and cooperation.

The UN Security Council bears the primary responsibility for the maintenance of peace and security, and may call on members to take action, chiefly peacekeeping action, to enforce its decisions.

hide explanation

19a   Firm with large mistake /in/ ruin (8)

21a   Porters active at work /in/ entrepreneurial area (7,6)

24a   Rash // unionist, one originally taking part in drive (9)

A Unionist^[5] (abbreviation U^[10]) is:

1. A person, especially a member of a Northern Ireland political party, who is in favour of the union of Northern Ireland with Great Britain; or
2. Historically, a member of a British political party formed in 1886 which supported maintenance of the parliamentary union between Great Britain and Ireland.

25a   Measure of intelligence about artist, one // ME national (5)

"artist" = RA (show explanation )

A Royal Academician (abbreviation RA^[5]) is a member of the Royal Academy of Arts^[5] (also Royal Academy; abbreviation also RA^[5]), an institution established in London in 1768, whose purpose is to cultivate painting, sculpture, and architecture in Britain. 

hide explanation

ME^[1] is the abbreviation for Middle East.

26a   Standard // kept by man or machine? (4)

27a   Liable to be shot? (10)

Down

1d   Head ignoring bishop // previously (4)

Bonce^[5] is an informal British term for a person’s head ⇒ he will be wearing a hat to stop his bonce from burning.

"bishop" = B (show explanation )

B^[5] is an abbreviation for bishop that is used in recording moves in chess.

hide explanation

2d   College student, // one that was bound over, supported by that woman (7)

Fresher^[5] is an informal British term for freshman.

3d   Financing IT is reviewed /as/ very minor (13)

Scratching the Surface
IT[5] is the abbreviation for information technology.

4d   Trio in establishment going to shooting venue // drive apart (8)

5d   Making use of a deck, /get/ plastered (5)

7d   Companion in action on stage /getting/ old money (7)

A Companion of Honour (abbreviation CH) is a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour^[7], an order of the Commonwealth realms^[7] founded by King George V in June 1917 as a reward for outstanding achievements in the arts, literature, music, science, politics, industry or religion.

The drachma^[5] was a a silver coin of ancient Greece. It is also the name of the former monetary unit of modern Greece, notionally equal to 100 lepta, replaced in 2002 by the euro.

8d   Field uniform // designed for the inexperienced? (5-5)

I bunged in the answer supposing that entry-level must be some British terminology for a "field uniform" of some sort.

Field^[5] (usually the field) denotes all the participants in a contest or sport ⇒ he destroyed the rest of the field with a devastating injection of speed.

Entry^[5] denotes the number of competitors in a particular race or competition ⇒ another large international entry is anticipated for this year’s event.

11d   Shock line to interrupt antisocial behaviour? // It characterises fusspots (4-9)

13d   Umpires not prepared /for/ fresh start (10)

16d   A number arranged to tour river /in/ county (8)

Somerset^[5] is a county of southwestern England, on the Bristol Channel; county town, Taunton.

18d   One tending to avoid // team leader (7)

20d   Relate // French marshal's ringing resistance (7)

Philippe Pétain^[10] (1856–1951) was a French marshal^*, noted for his victory at Verdun (1916) in World War I and his leadership of the pro-Nazi government of unoccupied France at Vichy (1940–44); imprisoned for treason (1945).

^* In some armies and air forces, a marshal^[10] is an officer of the highest rank.

"resistance" = R (show explanation )

In physics, R^[5] is a symbol used to represent electrical resistance in mathematical formulae.

hide explanation

Scratching the Surface
Pétain, a Nazi collaborator, would seemingly be the antithesis of "resistance".

22d   Record set by old church /for/ long period (5)

"record" = EP (show explanation )

EP^[10] (abbreviation for extended-play) is one of the formats in which music is sold, usually comprising four or five tracks.

hide explanation

23d   Element // of fizz in Coke (4)

Zinc^[5] (symbol Zn) is the chemical element of atomic number 30, a silvery-white metal which is a constituent of brass and is used for coating (galvanizing) iron and steel to protect against corrosion.

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