Wednesday, November 9, 2016 — DT 28183

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28183
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, August 3, 2016
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28183]
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

Although this puzzle originally appeared in the UK in early August, the clue at 5d could not possibly be more timely given the events of yesterday south of the border.


I needed a bit of electronic help in the northeast where the single-word cryptic definition at 9a is a word with which I was not familiar and the solution was equally unknown. Moreover, the crossing clue 6d employs a rather complex device to indicate the inner letters of a word in the fodder.

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   Leather // women must wear wild-haired (7)

9a   Pebble-dasher? (8)

Dash^[5] is used in the sense of to hurl or fling (something) somewhere with great force, especially so as to have a destructive effect.

Catapult^[5] is the British name for a slingshot^[5].

Scratching the Surface
A pebble-dasher is someone who applies pebble-dash[5], a British term for mortar with pebbles in it, used as a coating for external walls.

10a   Return dirty look on holiday, // say, without hesitation (4,3)

11a   Drink // provided after a serving of tripe (8)

12a   Coming from Senegal or Eritrea // in great numbers (6)

Scratching the Surface
Senegal[5] is a country on the coast of West Africa. Eritrea[5] is an independent state in northeastern Africa, on the Red Sea.

13a   Anger following new report about European // collection (10)

15a   The limits of home rule /must be/ present (4)

16a   Brown agrees to change // such a garment (9)

I interpret the definition "such a garment" to denote 'a particular type of garment'.

What to Wear?

While Brits and North Americans share many of the same names for articles of clothing, the meaning of those terms is often quite different on either side of the pond. For instance, in North America, overalls[3,11] are loose-fitting trousers, usually of strong fabric, with a bib front and shoulder straps, often worn over regular clothing as protection from dirt. The British definition of overalls[4] is broader, including not only garments with a bib and shoulder straps but also those having a jacket top. These latter garments are also known as boiler suits[5] in the UK and would be called coveralls[3] in North America. Furthermore, whereas the term dungarees[3,4,11] is used in North America to refer to either trousers or North American style overalls, in the UK it is used solely to mean the latter, i.e., a suit of workman's overalls made of dungaree [denim] consisting of trousers with a bib attached. Note that I have avoided using the North American term "pants" in favour of the more universal term "trousers". In Britain, the term "pants" refers to underwear. Thus when I take my pants off in the UK, I am far more exposed than when I do so in North America! To further complicate matters, overall[4] is a British term for a a protective work garment usually worn over ordinary clothes. It would seem to be a general term that includes not only overalls (both British style dungarees and boiler suits) but also coat and smock type garments (such as lab coats perhaps).

21a   Have a quick look /and/ stay back (4)

22a   Popular vote/'s/ direct outcome united majority at first (10)

I have a minor quibble with the 2Kiwis explanation of the wordplay. Rather than "the first letters of united and majority", I would say that it should be "the abbreviation for united and the first letter of majority". However, both routes get one to the same destination.

"united" = U (show explanation )

In the names of sports clubs, U^[5] is the abbreviation for United^[5] — in Britain, a word commonly used in the names of soccer and other sports teams formed by amalgamation ⇒ Man U [Manchester United].

hide explanation

24a   Makes changes to // notices covering workers (6)

25a   English male, browbeaten, /is/ moulded into shape (8)

27a   Doctor said, caught in racket, /to show/ contempt (7)

28a   Rubbish /from/ supporters drinking a French wine (8)

The French word for wine is vin^[8].

Although the word leavings^[5] is considered to be a synonym for leftovers^[5], the two words do seem to carry a slightly different connotation. Whereas, leavings are worthless and discarded, leftovers might be saved and served at another meal.

29a   Just a little // fly trapped in sink, oddly (7)

Down

2d   Visual aid materials /of/ gallery employed by experts (8)

"gallery" = TATE (show explanation )

The Tate Gallery^[5] (commonly known simply as the Tate) is a national museum of art in London, England founded in 1897 by the sugar manufacturer Sir Henry Tate (1819–1899) to house his collection of modern British paintings, as a nucleus for a permanent national collection of modern art. It was renamed Tate Britain in 2000, when the new Tate Modern gallery opened. [I would surmise that by that time the original collection could no longer be considered "modern".]

hide explanation

3d   Blessed // lobby had to pay (8)

4d   What's left /of/ Diversity? (10)

Scratching the Surface
Diversity[7] are a British street dance troupe formed in 2007 and based in London. They are best known for winning the 3rd series of the British television talent show Britain's Got Talent in 2009, beating 'runner-up' singer Susan Boyle in the live final.

5d   Typical American perhaps // that gets in somehow as president (4)

How appropriate that this clue should show up today of all days! Did the editors at the National Post orchestrate this appearance or is it sheer coincidence? We will likely never know.

This category of person is likely to become even more typical — as most others will soon be thrown over the wall!

Wasp^[5] (also WASP), acronym for White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, is a North American term for an upper- or middle-class American white Protestant, considered to be a member of the most powerful group in society.

6d   Flier/'s/ role to protect from within (6)

From the checking letters, the solution stood out immediately in a list of candidates nominated by my wordfinder. However, the wordplay took a bit of effort to tease out.

7d   Dog brush // cut short (7)

A brush^[5] is the bushy tail of a fox.

8d   Tense up /seeing/ nurse cradling pet (7)

In the UK, a State Enrolled Nurse^[5] (abbreviation SEN) is a nurse enrolled on a state register and having a qualification lower than that of a State Registered Nurse.

Pet^[3] is used in the sense of a fit of bad temper or pique.

11d   Cheered // a dud Apple developed (9)

Scratching the Surface
Apple's first logo, designed by Ron Wayne, the largely-forgotten third member of Apple's founding trio (together with Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak) might be said to have been a bit of dud as logos go. With the launch of the Apple II in 1977, it was replaced with the now familiar apple silhouette with the missing bite.

14d   Their mum's a different // cause of much pain (10)

17d   Very good odds on loan I finally arranged (8)

SP^[5] is the abbreviation for starting price^[5], the final odds at the start of a horse race.

18d   A journalist shouldn't miss this // evidence of phone out of order (8)

19d   Insect found under cheese, // in a word (7)

Brie^[5] is a kind of soft, mild, creamy cheese with a firm white skin.

20d   Quirky // start on round (7)

Off^[5] is an informal British term denoting the start of a race, journey, or experience ⇒ now Ian is ready for the off.

Round^[5] is a chiefly British term meaning a journey along a fixed route delivering goods as part of one’s job or a job involving such journeys ⇒ I did a newspaper round.

23d   Mostly remain after game /gets/ rough (6)

Rugby union^[10] (abbreviation RU^[5]) is a form of rugby football played between teams of 15 players (in contrast to rugby league^[5], which is played in teams of thirteen).

26d   Sharpness /is/ an advantage (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