Tuesday, November 22, 2016 — DT 28194

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28194
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, August 16, 2016
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28194]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By ShropshireLad
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 sailed through this puzzle until I encountered a British seaman who sounds like an Indian appetizer.

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   District // hospital to the east of capital (6)

Paris^[5] is the capital of France, on the River Seine; population 2,203,817 (2006).

5a   Primate /could give/ bishop a blessing (6)

"bishop" = B (show explanation )

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

hide explanation

10a   Range fashionable // once more (5)

The AGA cooker^[7] (trademark) is a high-end gas stove popular in medium to large British country houses — not to mention British crosswords. As a heat storage stove, it works on the principle that a heavy frame made from cast iron components can absorb heat from a relatively low-intensity but continuously-burning source, and the accumulated heat can then be used when needed for cooking. Thus it is considered to be a gas burning range^* in Britain.

^* In Britain, the term range has a far more restricted meaning than it does in North America. There, a range^[5] is a large cooking stove with burners or hotplates and one or more ovens, all of which are kept continually hot. This latter characteristic ("kept continually hot") seems to be the determining factor in deciding whether or not an appliance is considered to be a range. Thus stoves heated by solid fuel (wood or coal) and oil would almost certainly be ranges while stoves heated by gas or electricity would generally not be ranges (provided that the burners or elements as well as the ovens could be turned off when not in use). The AGA cooker, although heated by gas, is considered to be a range because it uses a continuously-burning heat source.

11a   Brute, // Scotsman, perhaps behind bars (9)

Ian^[7] (also Iain) is a name of Scottish Gaelic origin, corresponding to English/Hebrew John. It is a common name for a Scotsman — especially in Crosswordland.

Behind the Picture
The illustration in ShropshireLad's review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog depicts Arnold Schwarzenegger as the title character in the 1982 American fantasy film Conan the Barbarian[7].

12a   Doctor's client, // long-suffering (7)

13a   What may help some sporty types to get up? (3,4)

14a   Sailor about to collect special // gunpowder ingredient (9)

Saltpetre^[5] (US saltpeter) is an alternative name for potassium nitrate^[5], a white crystalline salt which is used in preserving meat and as a constituent of gunpowder. Saltpetre was once thought to induce impotence, and is still falsely rumored to be in institutional food (such as military fare) as an anaphrodisiac [a drug that reduces sexual desire]; however, there is no scientific evidence for such properties.^[7]

17a   Outbreak of fighting // heading for cup tie (5)

Scratching the Surface

Cup[5,10] is a British term for a sporting contest in which a cup is awarded to the winner ⇒ playing in the Cup is the best thing ever. In North America, we might play "play for the cup" but likely not "in the cup". Tie[5] is a British term meaning a sports match between two or more players or teams in which the winners proceed to the next round of the competition ⇒ Swindon Town have gained themselves a third round tie against Oldham. The foregoing usage example does not mean — as a North American might presume — that Swindon Town and Oldham played to a draw in the third round. Rather, it means that Swindon Town defeated their opponent in the second round and will move on to face Oldham in the third round.

18a   What shapes beard // worn by preacher, a Zoroastrian (5)

For those reading ShropshireLad's review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, "lurker" is Big Dave speak for a hidden solution clue.

Scratching the Surface
Zoroastrianism[5] is a monotheistic pre-Islamic religion of ancient Persia founded by Zoroaster in the 6th century BC. The religion survives today in isolated areas of Iran and in India, where followers are known as Parsees.

19a   Deteriorate? // Manage to consult foremost of doctors (3,2,4)

The expression run to seed^* (also go to seed) means to become devitalized or worn out; deteriorate, as in I went back to visit my old elementary school, and sadly, it has really run to seed, or The gold medalist quickly went to seed after he left competition. This term alludes to plants that, when allowed to set seed after flowering, either taste bitter, as in the case of lettuce, or do not send out new buds, as is true of annual flowers. Its figurative use dates from the first half of the 1800s.

---

^{* The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms}
 

21a   Caught a programme about Conservative/'s/ dependable way to boost the coffers (4,3)

"caught" = C (show explanation )

In cricket, one way for a batsman to be dismissed is to be caught out^{[5](phrasal verb,2)}, that is for a player on the opposing team to catch a ball that has been hit by the batsman before it touches the ground.

On cricket scorecards, the abbreviation c.^[2,10] or c^[5](1) denotes caught (by).

hide explanation

"Conservative" = C (show explanation )

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

A Tory^[10] is a member or supporter of the Conservative Party in Great Britain or Canada.

Historically, a Tory^[10] was a member of the English political party that opposed the exclusion of James, Duke of York from the royal succession (1679–80). Tory remained the label for subsequent major conservative interests until they gave birth to the Conservative Party in the 1830s.

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

23a   Spend long period of time // crossing (7)

25a   Refusing to bend, // old boy, say, has to be carried around home (9)

"old boy" = OB (show explanation )

In Britain, an old boy^[5] (abbreviation OB^[2])  is:

1. a former male student of a school or college ⇒an old boy of Banbury County School; or
2. a former male member of a sports team or company ⇒ the White Hart Lane old boy squared the ball to present an easy chance from 12 yards.

It is also a chiefly British affectionate form of address to a boy or man ⇒ ‘Look here, old boy,’ he said.

hide explanation

26a   Hunter // in oratorio, Nimrod (5)

Scratching the Surface
Nimrod[5] is a literary term for a skilful hunter ⇒ nimrods take to the field after everything from prairie dogs to grizzly bears. The name comes from Nimrod, the name of the great-grandson of Noah, known for his skill as a hunter (Gen. 10:8-9). How, I wonder, in North American did this word come to be an informal term for an inept person? I guess some nimrod must have misread his Bible.

In Greek mythology, Orion^[5] is a giant and hunter who was changed into a constellation at his death.

In astronomy, Orion^[5] is a conspicuous constellation (the Hunter), said to represent a hunter holding a club and shield. It lies on the celestial equator and contains many bright stars, including Rigel, Betelgeuse, and a line of three that form Orion's Belt.

27a   A stink, ultimately, after article taken from another // jacket (6)

An anorak^[5] is a waterproof jacket, typically with a hood, of a kind originally used in polar regions.

Delving Deeper
The words anorak and parka have been used interchangeably, but they are somewhat different garments. Strictly speaking, an anorak is a waterproof, hooded, pull-over jacket without a front opening, and sometimes drawstrings at the waist and cuffs, and a parka is a knee-length cold-weather coat, typically stuffed with down or very warm synthetic fiber, and with a fur-lined hood.[7]

28a   Cruel person, // notice, is skulking in street (6)

Down

2d   A component // in pieces (5)

3d   Secret involving house /and/ publican (9)

Publican^[5] is a British term for a person who owns or manages a pub.

4d   Hard, somewhat, /in/ outward appearance (5)

"hard" = H (show explanation )

H^[2,5] is an abbreviation for hard, as used in describing grades of pencil lead ⇒ a 2H pencil.

hide explanation

Habit^[5] is used in the sense of general shape or mode of growth, especially of a plant or a mineral ⇒ a shrub of spreading habit.

5d   He conducted /in/ Swiss capital, good man, a German (9)

Bern is an alternate spelling of Berne^[5], the capital of Switzerland since 1848; population 122,658 (2007).

"the German" = EIN (show explanation )

In German, the masculine singular form of the indefinite article is ein^[8].

hide explanation

Leonard Bernstein^[5] (1918–1990) was a US composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a conductor with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra 1945–48 and 1957–69. Notable works: The Age of Anxiety (symphony, 1947–49), West Side Story (musical, 1957), and music for the movie On the Waterfront (1954).

6d   Sounds like one who has a lighter // spicy starter (5)

I was not far from the right track here, having considered that "lighter" might be a boat. However, I had never heard of the Indian dish and I failed to take into account the non-rhotic British pronunciation of the bargeman.

A lighter^[5] is a flat-bottomed barge or other unpowered boat used to transfer goods to and from ships in harbour.

Bargee^[5] is a British term for a person in charge of or working on a barge.

The word "bargee", when pronounced in a non-rhotic (show explanation ) accent typical of many parts of Britain, sounds like "bah-GEE" — similar to the sound of the word "bhaji". However, uudging by the voice samples found at The Free Dictionary website (bargee, bhaji), the British pronunciation of "bargee" sounds closer to the North American pronunciation of "bhaji" than it does to the British pronunciation of "bhaji" which sounds to me like BUH-gee.

Non-rhotic accents omit the sound < r > in certain situations, while rhotic accents generally pronounce < r > in all contexts. Among the several dozen British English accents which exist, many are non-rhotic while American English (US and Canadian) is mainly rhotic. This is, however, a generalisation, as there are areas of Britain that are rhotic, and areas of America that are non-rhotic. For more information, see this guide to pronouncing < r > in British English.

hide explanation

In Indian cuisine, bhaji^[5] is a small flat cake or ball of vegetables, fried in batter or a dish of fried vegetables.

7d   Start // to make a speech having swallowed one drink (9)

8d   French writer keeping quiet /for/ academic grounds? (6)

Albert Camus^[5] (1913–1960) was a French novelist, playwright, and essayist, closely aligned with existentialism whose notable works include The Outsider (novel, 1942), The Plague (novel, 1947), and The Rebel (essay, 1951). He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957.

"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

9d   Grab // lift (6)

In weightlifting, snatch^[5] denotes the the rapid raising of a weight from the floor to above the head in one movement.

Snatch could also mean lift in the sense of to steal, but, as a second definition, that might be considered to be uncomfortably close to the meaning of grab.

15d   Idle girl /makes/ a stand (4,5)

A lazy Susan^[11] is a revolving tray for foods, condiments, etc., placed usually at the center of a dining table.

Delving Deeper

The explanation of the term Lazy Susan[7], and who Susan was, has been lost to history. Folk etymologies claim it as an American invention and trace its name to a product – Ovington's $8.50 mahogany "Revolving Server or Lazy Susan" – advertised in a 1917 issue of Vanity Fair, but its use well predates both the advertisement and (probably) the country. The earliest recorded use of the name "Lazy Susan" appears in a 1903 edition of the Boston Journal which states "'Lazy Susan' is a step toward solving the ever-vexing servant problem. She can be seen, but not heard, nor can she hear, she simply minds her business and carries out your orders in a jiffy."

16d   Perplex with support /for/ reversion to an earlier type (9)

What did he say?

In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, ShropshireLad writes I initially only had ‘an earlier type’ underlined for the definition. What do you think?. A throwback[5] is: a reversion to an earlier ancestral characteristic ⇒ the eyes could be an ancestral throwback; or a person or thing having the characteristics of a former time ⇒ a lot of his work is a throwback to the fifties. Although one might make the case that "an earlier type" could fit the latter definition, one would then be left with having to explain the role played by the words "reversion to" in the clue.

17d   Angry over promise /to provide/ this (9)

"This" referring to the very thing you are attempting to solve as you read the clue.

18d   Page on Rex, // academy's headmaster? (6)

Recto^[5] denotes the right-hand page of an open book, or the front of a loose document.

"Rex" = R (show explanation )

Rex^[5] (abbreviation R^[5]) [Latin for king] denotes the reigning king, used following a name (e.g. Georgius Rex, King George) or in the titles of lawsuits (e.g. Rex v. Jones, the Crown versus Jones — often shortened to R. v. Jones).

hide explanation

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

20d   Governess // expected girl to be upset (6)

A duenna^[5] is an older woman acting as a governess and companion in charge of girls, especially in a Spanish family; a chaperone.

22d   One who proclaims // about state and Queen (5)

In official postal use, the abbreviation for Rhode Island is RI^[5].

"Queen" = ER (show explanation )

The regnal ciphers (monograms) of British monarchs are initials formed from the Latin version of their first name followed by either Rex or Regina (Latin for king or queen, respectively). Thus, the regnal cipher of Queen Elizabeth is ER^[5] — from the Latin Elizabetha Regina.

hide explanation

23d   Quick to forget former partner /in/ a novel manufacturing business? (5)

24d   A young lady /that's/ out of order (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