Thursday, December 1, 2016 — DT 28202

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28202
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, August 25, 2016
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28202]
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

This puzzle provided me with a pretty stiff mental workout so I would place it solidly in three star territory for difficulty. My hat is off to Kath who seems to have polished it off with far less effort.

I invite you to leave a comment to let us know how you fared with the puzzle.

Error in Today's Puzzle

There is an error in the first clue in today's puzzle. The clue which appears in the paper as:

• 1a   A chirpy host excited fund?
        raising outlet (7,4)

should read:

• 1a   A chirpy host excited fund-raising outlet (7,4)

That is, the question mark which appears in the clue should actually be a hyphen.

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   A chirpy host excited // fund-raising outlet (7,4)

Charity shop^[5] is a British term for a shop where second-hand goods are sold to raise money for a charity. The North American equivalent would be thrift shop^[5] (also thrift store).

10a   Daughter during dinner maybe /will get/ award (5)

11a   Dubious // English queen with one noisy following (9)

"queen" = QU (show explanation )

Queen may be abbreviated as Q, Qu. or R.

Q^[5] is an abbreviation for queen that is used especially in describing play in card games and recording moves in chess.

Qu.^[2] is another common abbreviation for Queen.

Regina^[5] (abbreviation R^[5]) [Latin for queen] denotes the reigning queen, used following a name (e.g. Elizabetha Regina, Queen Elizabeth) or in the titles of lawsuits (e.g. Regina v. Jones, the Crown versus Jones — often shortened to R. v. Jones).

Thus Queen Elizabeth signs her name as 'Elizabeth R' as seen here on Canada's paint-stained constitution.

hide explanation

12a   Joy about origins of excellent victory -- /and/ exalted feeling (9)

13a   A period recalled /in/ stadium (5)

You have to treat "a period" as a phrase and replace it with an equivalent phrase in which the indefinite article changes in order to accord with the noun it modifies.

14a   Interfere /in/ Florida city broadcast (6)

Despite the positioning of the word "broadcast" in the clue, I think it is actually the pronunciation of the word "tamper" that we are supposed to focus on rather than that of the name of the Florida city.

The word "tamper", when pronounced in a non-rhotic (show explanation ) accent typical of many parts of Britain, sounds like "TAM-puh" — similar to the sound of the word "Tampa".

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

Now in Boston, the situation would be reversed, with an R being appended to Tampa to make it sound like "TAM-per".

16a   Abandoned // ride with Celt insurgent (8)

As an anagram indicator, insurgent is used as an adjective denoting upsetting the established order.

Scratching the Surface

A Celt[5] is: a member of a group of peoples inhabiting much of Europe and Asia Minor in pre-Roman times. Their culture developed in the late Bronze Age around the upper Danube, and reached its height in the La Tène culture (5th to 1st centuries BC) before being overrun by the Romans and various Germanic peoples; or a native of any of the modern nations or regions in which Celtic languages are (or were until recently) spoken; a person of Irish, Highland Scottish, Manx, Welsh, or Cornish descent.

18a   Police on island about to probe law /getting/ mockery (8)

"police" = CID (show explanation )

The Criminal Investigation Department (seemingly better known by its abbreviation CID^[2]) is the detective branch of a British police force.

hide explanation

20a   Poor // sort of game discontented rabble (6)

23a   A cricket club shown by artist /in/ capital (5)

CC^[5] is the abbreviation for Cricket Club.

"artist" = RA (show explanation )

A Royal Academician (abbreviation RA^[10]) is a member of the Royal Academy of Arts^[5] (also Royal Academy; abbreviation also RA^[10]), an institution established in London in 1768, whose purpose is to cultivate painting, sculpture, and architecture in Britain. 

hide explanation

Accra^[5] is the capital of Ghana, a port on the Gulf of Guinea; population 1,970,400 (est. 2005).

24a   Undertaking // to play a great timeless tune (9)

26a   Overwhelming result scored via a lot of crosses? (9)

A cryptic definition.

27a   Packed // hotel welcomes credit? On the contrary (5)

Hotel^[5] is a code word representing the letter H, used in radio communication.

Tick^[5] (used in the phrase on tick) is an informal British term meaning credit ⇒ the printer agreed to send the brochures out on tick. The term apparently originates as a short form for ticket in the phrase on the ticket, referring to an IOU or promise to pay.

28a   Popular account in document /proving/ appropriate (2,9)

Down

2d   Be shifty /in/ countryside row (5)

3d   Free // film for distribution? (7)

What did she say?
In her review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Kath writes I’m not sure if this one is another double definition or an all in one clue. To my mind, it is clearly a double definition with the second definition referring to a cinematic project that has reached the stage of being exhibited in movie theatres.

4d   Article is encapsulating second // academic work (6)

5d   Waste /in/ much of piazza bordering messy den (8)

A piazza^[5] is a public square or marketplace, especially in an Italian town.

6d   Forestall // old boy through note (7)

"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

"note" = TE (show explanation )

In music, te^[5] (also ti^[2]) is the seventh note of the major scale in tonic sol-fa. Judging by a perusal of entries in American and British dictionaries, the only recognized spelling in the US would seem to be ti^[3,4,11] whereas, in the UK, the principal — or only — spelling would appear to be te^[2,3,4,11], with ti given as an alternative spelling in some dictionaries. Oxford Dictionaries is more emphatic, giving the spelling as te^[5] with ti shown as the North American spelling.

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7d   Unusual pub item, barrel, // not to be disturbed (13)

8d   Southern church perhaps involves ministry // full of intrigue (8)

Min.^[5] is the abbreviation for Minister or Ministry.

9d   Prepare for action // keel scratched at sea (5,3,5)

15d   Practice for a GP? (8)

She said /he said ...

In her review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Kath writes ... I’ve really been scratching my head about this one – I keep thinking that I must have missed something but, if I have, I’m still missing it. To which Gazza responds at Comment #3, I think that in 15d you’re meant to think that GP means Grand Prix but, since 95% of solvers will think of GP meaning a doctor rather than cars going round in procession, I thought it was a poor clue.

17d   Far from speeding // like a bullet, possibly? (8)

A double definition, the second cryptic.

19d   Clubs with reason to struggle // become rough (7)

"clubs" = C (show explanation )

Clubs^[2]) (abbreviation C^[1]) is one of the four suits of playing-cards.

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21d   Flexible // direction keeps Liberal in charge (7)

"Liberal" = L (show explanation )

The Liberal Party^[5] (abbreviation Lib.^[5] or L^[2])^* in Britain emerged in the 1860s from the old Whig Party and until the First World War was one of the two major parties in Britain. In 1988 the party regrouped with elements of the Social Democratic Party to form the Social and Liberal Democrats, now known as the Liberal Democrats. However, a small Liberal Party still exists although it has no representation in the UK Parliament, no Members of the European Parliament (MEP), no members of the Scottish Parliament, nor any members of the National Assembly for Wales.^[7]

Although Lib.^[5] may be the more common abbreviation for the Liberal Party in Britain—likely to distinguish it from the the Labour Party^[5] (abbreviation Lab.^[5])—Chambers 21st Century Dictionary indicates that L^[2] may also be used.

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"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.

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22d   Rush /in/ professional life (6)

While the more obvious explanation involves the word career^[3] used as a verb, I was intrigued to see that it might also be used as a noun denoting speed ⇒ My hasting days fly on with full career (John Milton).

25d   Journey close to home /for/ meat dish (5)

Tripe^[5] is the first or second stomach of a cow or other ruminant used as food.

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