Monday, January 16, 2017 — DT 28254

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28254
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, October 25, 2016
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28254]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By 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
Notes
The National Post has skipped DT 28252 and DT 28253 which were published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, October 22, 2016 and Monday, October 24, 2016.

Introduction

Although it is Monday here, we start the week off with a gentle offering from one of the mystery "Tuesday" setters.

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

8a   Plain glass /in/ American wagon (7,8)

A schooner is a drinking glass on both sides of the pond. However, in Britain a schooner^[5] is a glass for drinking a large measure of sherry, whereas in North American — as well as Australia and New Zealand — the term denotes a tall beer glass.

9a   For every // forward, time must run out (3)

10a   I am no tall fizzy party // drink (11)

Despite being unfamiliar with the tipple, I managed to guess the correct order of the letters in the anagram.

Amontillado^[5] is a medium dry sherry whose name comes from Montilla, the name of a town in southern Spain where the original wine was produced.

11a   Compass /showing/ north in storm (5)

12a   Like small talk, perhaps? // Phoney does, truly (9)

15a   Wise crossing America /in/ a banger? (7)

Banger^[5] is an informal British term for a sausage ⇒ bangers and mash [mashed potatoes].

Scratching the Surface

The surface reading may be an allusion to British comedian Ernie Wise*. * The British comic duo Morecambe and Wise[7] (also known as Eric and Ernie), comprised of Eric Morecambe (1926-1984) and Ernie Wise (1925–1999), were a British comic double act, working in variety, radio, film and most successfully in television. Their partnership lasted from 1941 until Morecambe's death in 1984. They have been described as "the most illustrious, and the best-loved, double-act that Britain has ever produced". Banger[5] is an informal British term for an old car in poor condition ⇒ they’ve only got an old banger.

17a   Dreary broadcast about tail of urban // fox (7)

Reynard^[5,10] is a literary name for a fox, found in medieval tales, fables, etc.

19a   A leading lady in the cinema? (9)

What did he say?
In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Miffypops describes the solution as The lady with the torch who leads you to your seat at the cinema. No, she is not carrying a flaming brand. Torch[10] is the British name for a flashlight.

20a   Singer, for example, // appearing in Pisa (a cappella) (5)

Isaac Merrit Singer^[5] (1811–1875) was an American inventor who, in 1851, designed and built the first commercially successful sewing machine.

21a   Weepy // guys seen parting in latest shot (11)

What did he say?
In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Miffypops equates the word "guys" to chaps, blokes or males. Chap[3,4,11] and bloke[5] are both informal British terms for a man — although ones that should be well within the ken of most North Americans.

24a   Wife English duke // married (3)

What did he say?
In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Miffypops describes the solution as The initial letters of the first three words. Why? I do not know. It just is. This is likely just Miffypops being playful. If not, the answer is that the initial letters of the first three words of the clue are also well-known abbreviations for those words.

"duke" = D (show explanation )

A duke^[5] (abbreviation D.^[10]) is a male holding the highest hereditary title in the British and certain other peerages^*.

---

^* The peerage^[5] is the nobility in Britain or Ireland, comprising the ranks of duke or duchess, marquess or marchioness, earl or countess, viscount or viscountess, and baron or baroness.

hide explanation

25a   Unsurpassed // wit -- foster-father cracks up (2,3,5,5)

The phrase of the first water^[5] (said of a diamond or pearl) denotes of the greatest brilliance and transparency ⇒ a gem of the first water.

The phrase is also used to refer to a person or thing that is unsurpassed of their kind, typically in an undesirable way ⇒ she was a bore of the first water.

Down

1d   Plenty required to support carnival? // I agree (4,6)

What did he say?
In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Miffypops writes of a carnival with merry-go-rounds and helter-skelters. Helter-skelter[5] is a British term for a fairground amusement consisting of a tall spiral slide winding around a tower.

2d   Sophisticated // city, Estonia's capital (6)

What did he say?
In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Miffypops writes This word meaning in relating to or characteristic of a city appeared at 15d in yesterday’s puzzle. He is referring to DT 28253 which is the second of the two puzzles which the National Post skipped today. Having solved that puzzle immediately before tackling this one, I saw the answer to this clue almost instantly.

3d   Back to win against // silver medallist (6,4)

4d   Improvised singing /from/ jazz enthusiast following Shaw's intro? (4)

Cat^[5] is an informal North American term (especially among jazz enthusiasts) for a man ⇒ (i) this West Coast cat had managed him since the early 80s; (ii) the cat went crazy on the horn.

Scat^[5] is improvised jazz singing in which the voice is used in imitation of an instrument.

Scratching the Surface

Artie Shaw[7] (1910–2004), born Arthur Jacob Arshawsky, was an American clarinetist, composer, bandleader, and actor. Also an author, Shaw wrote both fiction and non-fiction. Widely regarded as "one of jazz's finest clarinetists", Shaw led one of the United States' most popular big bands in the late 1930s through the early 1940s. Though he had numerous hit records, he was perhaps best known for his 1938 recording of Cole Porter's "Begin the Beguine" which became one of the era's defining recordings.

5d   Treacherous conduct /in/ revolting dramatic work (4,4)

6d   Woman /appearing in/ upcoming article after article (4)

7d   Religious building /in/ earlier year (6)

A priory^[5] is a small monastery or nunnery that is governed by a prior or prioress.

8d   Pays up for recycling, putting in right // kind of paper (7)

13d   Cover tax // trial in Hollywood? (6,4)

14d   Equal to // duck and Thai prawn mixture? (2,1,3,4)

"duck" = O (show explanation )

In cricket, a duck^[5] is a batsman’s score of nought [zero] ⇒ he was out for a duck. This is similar to the North American expression goose egg^[5] meaning a zero score in a game.

In British puzzles, "duck" is used to indicate the letter "O" based on the resemblance of the digit "0" to this letter.

hide explanation

16d   Rows follow broadcast /showing/ companies with sky-high charges (8)

I take charge^[5] to mean a person or thing entrusted to the care of someone ⇒ the babysitter watched over her charges. Thus the "sky-high charges" are the companies' customers. Of course, one may also choose to read a different meaning into the clue.

18d   Drink after Edward's put over // point that settles things (7)

A decider^[5] is a game, goal, point, etc. that settles a contest or series of contests.

19d   Result /of/ increased dose (6)

The word "of" is used as a link word between the definition and wordplay. (show explanation )

When used in this way, "of" denotes that the solution is formed from the constituent parts derived from the wordplay.

This is based on the word of^[5] being used as a preposition indicating the material or substance constituting something ⇒ (i) the house was built of bricks; (ii) walls of stone.

hide explanation

20d   Relatives // legally separated, initially (2-4)

22d   Pay attention to // short statement (4)

23d   Long story // from chimney-sweep I contacted (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