Friday, March 24, 2017 — DT 28317

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28317
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, January 6, 2017
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28317]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Deep Threat
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 28313 through DT 28316 which were published in The Daily Telegraph from Monday, January 2, 2017 to Thursday, January 5, 2016.

Introduction

The editors at the National Post are in a frisky mood today, leaping over nearly an entire week's worth of puzzles to land of this one from Giovanni.

As I solve puzzles, I often come across words used in senses that don't come readily to mind causing me to ask "Does that word really mean that". Experience has taught me that they usually do — if one can only discover the correct nuance of meaning that the setter has in mind.

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   Party given by general /in/ the field (6)

Nuances of Meaning
Here, general[10] means of, including, applying to, or participated in by all or most of the members of a group, category, or community.

4a   Hunter /taking/ part rode excitedly (8)

10a   Hesitant // female becoming different (9)

11a   A king in haunt of vice going about // undisguised (5)

"king" = K (show explanation )

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

hide explanation

12a   Race around river after short time // training (7)

The River Ure^[7] is a stream in North Yorkshire, England, approximately 74 miles (119 km) long from its source to the point where it changes name to the River Ouse.

Nuances of Meaning
Nurture[5] is defined as upbringing, education, and environment, contrasted with inborn characteristics as an influence on or determinant of personality. Often contrasted with nature.

13a   Bizarre // row initiated by holy person (7)

14a   Road // blocked by black car that's rolled over (5)

15a   Quite inferior // old car is seen in Switzerland (8)

The International Vehicle Registration (IVR) code for Switzerland is CH^[5] [from French Confédération Helvétique 'Swiss Confederation'].

18a   Boring group of people // that may be seen at Ascot (4,4)

Ascot Racecourse^[7] is a British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England, which is used for thoroughbred horse racing (both flat racing^*  and National Hunt racing^**). It is one of the leading racecourses in the United Kingdom, hosting nine of Britain's 32^*** annual Group 1 horse races. The course enjoys close associations with the British Royal Family, being approximately six miles from Windsor Castle.

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^* A flat race^[5] is a horse race over a course with no jumps, as opposed to a steeplechase or hurdles.
^** National Hunt racing^[7] is the official name given to that form of the sport of horse racing in the United Kingdom, France and Ireland in which the horses are required to jump fences and ditches. National Hunt racing in the UK is divided into two major distinct branches: hurdles and steeplechases. Alongside these there are "bumpers", which are National Hunt flat races. In a hurdles race, the horses jump over obstacles called hurdles; in a steeplechase the horses jump over a variety of obstacles that can include plain fences, water jump or an open ditch.
^***  In another article, Wikipedia now lists 36 Group 1 races in Great Britain^[7] — up from the 35 listed on my previous perusal of the article.

20a   Dance // round on one leg, say (5)

The limbo^[5] is a West Indian dance in which the dancer bends backward to pass under a horizontal bar that is progressively lowered to a position just above the ground.

23a   International organisation's restricted, // exhausted? No (7)

"international organisation" = 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.

hide explanation

25a   Dad collects the thing beside street –- // quick pause in journey (3,4)

26a   Smell // nothing? Grim (5)

27a   Perhaps a Maine inhabitant // always keeping behind (9)

28a   Worries with the woman getting stuck in // floods (8)

29a   Saw // the fellow left between the sheets? (6)

Down

1d   Like a particular article /for/ sure (8)

2d   Disease /brings/ false alarm to borders of India (7)

3d   6 may want this cooler (3,6)

The numeral "6" is a cross reference indicator directing the solver to insert the solution to clue 6d in its place to complete the clue. The directional indicator is customarily omitted in situations such as this where only a single clue starts in the light^* that is being referenced.

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^* light-coloured cell in the grid

5d   Regrets depot is needing to reform // mail service (10,4)

Registered post^[5] is the British term for registered mail. Ironically, registered post is a service of the Royal Mail and registered mail is a service of Canada Post.

6d   One who eats // his meal half-heartedly? (5)

7d   Proceeds /from/ army college (7)

"army" = TA (show explanation )

In the UK, Territorial Army^[5] (abbreviation TA^[5]) was, at one time, the name of a volunteer force founded in 1908 to provide a reserve of trained and disciplined military personnel for use in an emergency. Since 2013, this organization has been called the Army Reserve.

hide explanation

King's College^[7] is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge. King's was founded in 1441 by Henry VI, soon after he had founded its sister college in Eton.

King's College London^[7] (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom, and a founding constituent college of the federal University of London. King's was established in 1829 by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington and received its royal charter in the same year. In 1836, King's became one of the two founding colleges of the University of London.

Takings^[10] is a [most assuredly British] term for the income earned, taken or received by a shop, business, etc. ⇒ The pub said that their takings were fifteen to twenty thousand pounds a week.

8d   Showing more embarrassment, looking up and down (6)

9d   Detect man in NHS wanting reform, // being fed up (14)

16d   They open parcel finally -- awkward // wrapping? (9)

Polythene^[5] (contraction of polyethylene) is a British term for a tough, light flexible synthetic resin made by polymerizing ethylene, chiefly used for plastic bags, food containers, and other packaging.

Where have I heard that?
North Americans may be familiar with the term polythene from "Polythene Pam"[7], a song written by John Lennon, credited to Lennon–McCartney, and performed by the Beatles on their album Abbey Road. The song is part of the B-side medley.

17d   Worried about nothing, politician /gets/ weighed up (8)

"politician" = MP (show explanation )

In Britain (as in Canada), a politician elected to the House of Commons is known as a Member of Parliament^[10] (abbreviation MP^[5]) or, informally, as a member^[5].

hide explanation

19d   Lithe, // upwardly-mobile model featured in story (7)

Kate Moss^[7] is an English model. Arriving at the end of the "supermodel era", Moss rose to fame in the early 1990s as part of the heroin chic fashion trend. Her collaborations with Calvin Klein brought her to fashion icon status. She is known for her waifish figure, and role in size zero fashion (see box).

Born in Croydon, Surrey, she was discovered in 1988 at age 14 by Sarah Doukas, founder of Storm Model Management, at JFK Airport in New York City. She received an award at the 2013 British Fashion Awards to acknowledge her contribution to fashion over 25 years. Moss is also a contributing fashion editor for British Vogue. Moss has had her own clothing range and has been involved in musical projects.

In 2007, TIME named her one of the world's 100 most influential people. She has inspired cultural depictions including a £1.5m ($2.8m) 18 carat gold statue of her, sculpted in 2008 for a British Museum exhibition.

Delving Deeper

Size zero[7] (or size 0) is a women's clothing size in the US catalog sizes system. Size 0 and 00 were invented due to the changing of clothing sizes over time (referred to as vanity sizing or size inflation), which has caused the adoption of lower numbers. For example, a 2011 size 0 is equivalent to a 2001 size 2, and is larger than a 1970 size 6 or 1958 size 8. Modern size 0 clothing, depending on brand and style, fits measurements of chest-stomach-hips from 30-22-32 inches (76-56-81 cm) to 33-25-35 inches (84-64-89 cm). Size 00 can be anywhere from 0.5 to 2 inches (1 to 5 cm) smaller than size 0. Size zero often refers to extremely thin individuals (especially women and adolescent girls), or trends associated with them.

21d   Performance, // dull one, needs to be cut by 40 per cent (7)

According to Oxford Dictionaries, mat^[5] is the US spelling of matt^[5] (or matte), an adjective used to describe a surface or colour which is dull and flat or without a shine ⇒ (i) prints are available on matt or glossy paper; (ii) a matt black. I am only familiar with the spelling matte.

22d   Discourage // delay (3,3)

24d   One may ward off the effects of a strike (5)

In Britain, earth is used as a noun^[5] to mean an electrical connection to the ground, regarded as having zero electrical potential ⇒ ensure metal fittings are electrically bonded to earth and as a verb^[5] to mean to connect (an electrical device) with the ground ⇒ the front metal panels must be soundly earthed. The equivalent term in North American is ground (both as a noun^[5] and a verb^[5]).

I can't help but note the irony — not unlike the situation with post and mail discussed at 5d — that Oxford Dictionaries displays in defining earth as a British term meaning an "electrical connection to the ground" and ground as a North American term meaning an "electrical connection to the earth".

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)
^[12] - CollinsDictionary.com (Webster’s New World College Dictionary)

Signing off for today — Falcon