Thursday, March 2, 2017 — DT 28296

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28296
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, December 13, 2016
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28296]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Mr Kitty
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

It was the horticulturist rather than the cricketer that gave me the most difficulty. The latter I had encountered in a previous puzzle and the wordplay led unambiguously to the solution. The former I had never heard of and the solution was well disguised by the well-known literary reference. This was the last clue to be solved and I guessed the solution from the checking letters.

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

7a   One giving gratuity, swallowing litre /in/ boozer (7)

9a   Fresher/'s/ daily (7)

Daily^[5] is a dated British term for a woman who is employed to clean someone else’s house each day.

10a   Feeling of insecurity // in Penang state (5)

Scratching the Surface
Penang[5] (also Pinang) is a state of Malaysia, consisting of the island of Penang and a coastal strip on the mainland; capital, George Town (on Penang island). The mainland strip was united with the island in 1798 as part of the British colony.

11a   Soldiers in mixed US team /causing/ diversion (9)

12a   Needing exercise, a learner in sport /and/ fitness specialist (8,7)

13a   Happy Mondays, // highly energetic people? (7)

Scratching the Surface

Happy Mondays[7] are an English alternative rock band from Salford, Greater Manchester that was formed in 1980. The group's work bridged the Manchester independent rock music of the 1980s and the emerging UK rave scene, drawing influence from acid house, soul, and psychedelia to pioneer the Madchester* sound. They experienced their commercial peak with the releases Bummed (1988) and Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches (1990), with the latter going platinum in the UK. They disbanded in 1993, and have reformed several times in subsequent decades. * Madchester[7] is a broad genre label popularized by the British music press in the early 1990s, referring to the music scene that developed in the Manchester area towards the late 1980s and into the early 1990s. The music that emerged from the scene mixed alternative rock, psychedelic rock and electronic dance music. At that time, the Haçienda nightclub was a major catalyst for the distinctive musical ethos in the city that was called the Second Summer of Love. The scene is widely seen as heavily influenced by drugs, especially ecstasy (MDMA).

16a   Embarrassed female, girl that's rejected // political symbol (3,4)

In politics, a red flag^[7] is a symbol of socialism, communism, and left-wing politics; it has been associated with left-wing politics since the French Revolution (1789–99). Socialists adopted the symbol during the Revolutions of 1848 and it became a symbol of communism as a result of its use by the Paris Commune of 1871. The flags of several communist states, including China, Vietnam and the Soviet Union, are explicitly based on the original red flag. The red flag is also used as a symbol by some democratic socialists and social democrats, for example the League of Social Democrats of Hong Kong, French Socialist Party and the Social Democratic Party of Germany. The Labour Party in Britain used it until the late 1980s. It was the inspiration for the socialist anthem, The Red Flag.

Behind the Picture

The illustration gracing Mr Kitty's review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog is "Lamartine, before the Hôtel de Ville, Paris, rejects the Red Flag," February 25, 1848, a painting by French artist Henri Felix Emmanuel Philippoteaux (1815–1884). During the 1848 Revolution in France, Socialists and radical republicans demanded that the red flag[7] be adopted as France's national flag. Led by poet-politician Alphonse de Lamartine, the government rejected the crowd's demand: "[T]he red flag that you have brought back here has done nothing but being trailed around the Champ-de-Mars in the people's blood in [17]91 and [17]93, whereas the Tricolore flag went round the world along with the name, the glory and the liberty of the homeland!"

19a   Itinerant actor /in/ street with extremely rich musician (9,6)

Strolling players^[5] is a historical term for a troupe of itinerant actors.

Behind the Picture
Mr Kitty illustrates his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog with The Strolling Players, a 1793 painting by Spanish artist Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes).

23a   Instrument /that's/ captured the spirit of Jamaica? (5,4)

24a   Good run /for/ famous cricketer (5)

"good" = G (show explanation )

The abbreviation G^[10] for good likely relates to its use in grading school assignments or tests.

hide explanation

William Gilbert "W. G." Grace^[7] (1848–1915) was an English amateur cricketer who was important in the development of the sport and is widely considered one of its greatest-ever players. Universally known as "W. G.", he played first-class cricket for a record-equalling 44 seasons, from 1865 to 1908, during which he captained England [national team of England] as well as several other teams.

Grace came from a cricketing family.  In 1880, he and his brothers E. M. Grace and Fred Grace were members of the same England team, the first time three brothers played together in Test cricket^*.

---

^* Test^[5] (short for Test match)^[5] denotes an international cricket or rugby match, typically one of a series, played between teams representing two different countries ⇒ the Test match between Pakistan and the West Indies.

25a   A lot'll back daughter, // taking everything into account (3,4)

More than meets the eye?

The expression "all told" means 'everything having been counted', tell[5] — according to Oxford Dictionaries — being an archaic term meaning to count (the members of a group) ⇒ the shepherd had told all his sheep. Collins English Dictionary reveals that tell[10] can mean to count (votes). From The American Heritage Dictionary and the Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, we learn that tell[3,11] can mean to enumerate or count ⇒ (i) telling one's blessings; (ii) 16 windows, all told. However, literally, "all told" could also denote not leaving out any details when relating a story or, in other words, including or taking everything into one's account.

26a   Home wound up // burning (7)

Down

1d   Son caught // badly in need of money (8)

2d   Campaign promises /from/ rostrum? (8)

3d   Naval force // heading for Algiers -- not all there captured by artist (6)

"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

Scratching the Surface
Algiers[5] is the capital of Algeria and one of the leading Mediterranean ports of North Africa; population 2,203,700 (est. 2009).

4d   Info on short road up /in/ lakeside city (6)

Gen^[5] is an informal British term for information ⇒ you’ve got more gen on him than we have.

Geneva^[5] is a city in southwestern Switzerland, on Lake Geneva; population 179,971 (2007). It is the headquarters of international bodies such as the Red Cross, various organizations of the United Nations, and the World Health Organization.

5d   Reason North American lake /must be/ blasted (8)

6d   Speaker /in/ second of Houses runs over list put up (6)

"runs" = R (show explanation )

On cricket scorecards [not to mention baseball scoreboards], the abbreviation R^[5] denotes run(s).

In cricket, a run^[5] is a unit of scoring achieved by hitting the ball so that both batsmen are able to run between the wickets, or awarded in some other circumstances.

hide explanation

Rota^[5] is a British term for a list showing when each of a number of people has to do a particular job ⇒ a cleaning rota.

8d   A nurse may carry this // on break coming up (5)

9d   Bar // opposite (7)

What did he say?
In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Mr Kitty describes a "bar" as something that Miffypops might be found behind. Miffypops, my fellow reviewer on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, who covers the puzzles which appear in The Daily Telegraph on Mondays, is the proprietor of The Green Man, a pub in Long Itchington, Warwickshire, England.

14d   Mean, partner? // As a rule (8)

15d   Agitated /in/ prison, revolutionary (7)

Stir^[5] is an informal term for prison [on both sides of the Atlantic] ⇒ I’ve spent twenty-eight years in stir.

17d   Representative /from/ East on stage during meeting (8)

18d   Perhaps Jekyll /and/ Hyde -- only one half seen in store (8)

Gertrude Jekyll^[7] (1843–1932) was an influential British horticulturist, garden designer, artist and writer. She created over 400 gardens in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States, and wrote over 1,000 articles for magazines such as Country Life and The Garden. Jekyll has been described as "a premier influence in garden design" by English and American gardening enthusiasts.

Garner^[5] is an archaic term meaning to store or deposit ⇒ the crop was ready to be reaped and garnered.

Scratching the Surface

Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde[7] is a novella by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894) first published in 1886. The work is also known as The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, or simply Jekyll & Hyde. It is about a London lawyer named Gabriel John Utterson who investigates strange occurrences between his old friend, Dr Henry Jekyll, and the evil Edward Hyde. The novella's impact is such that it has become a part of the language, with the very phrase "Jekyll and Hyde" coming to mean a person who is vastly different in moral character from one situation to the next. The name Jekyll was borrowed from Reverend Walter Jekyll, a friend of Stevenson and younger brother of horticulturalist and landscape designer Gertrude Jekyll.

19d   Flounce gracefully, // say, round wood (6)

20d   Fabricate beastly sound /and/ try to avoid notice (3,3)

21d   Opening // carriage containing doctor (6)

"doctor" = MB (show explanation )

In Britain, the degree required to practice medicine is a Bachelor of Medicine^[7] (MB, from Latin Medicinae Baccalaureus), which is equivalent to a North American Doctor of Medicine (MD, from Latin Medicinae Doctor). The degree of Doctor of Medicine also exists in Britain, but it is an advanced degree pursued by those who wish to go into medical research. Physicians in Britain are still addressed as Dr. despite not having a doctoral degree. 

hide explanation

In chess, a gambit^[5] is an opening move in which a player makes a sacrifice, typically of a pawn, for the sake of a compensating advantage ⇒ he tried the dubious Budapest gambit.

Tautological Repetition
The commonly-encountered expression "opening gambit"[5] — which even appears in dictionaries — is surely useless repetition. What other kind of gambit can there be?

22d   Long // story about ending of marriage (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