Friday, April 7, 2017 — DT 28347

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28347
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, February 10, 2017
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28347]
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

Introduction

Deep Threat found this puzzle to be an easy exercise. It may have been a slightly more strenuous test for myself but certainly nothing to work up much of a sweat.

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   Hit // hard, society suffering setback (4)

"hard" = H (show explanation )

H^[2,5] is an abbreviation for hard, as used in describing grades of pencil lead ⇒ a 2H pencil.

hide explanation

Cosh^[5] is an informal British term for:

• (noun) a thick, heavy stick or bar used as a weapon ⇒ the defendants deny having a self-loading pistol and a telescopic cosh
• (verb) to hit (someone) on the head with a cosh ⇒ the other coshed him and he fell unconscious

3a   Lusty // older bod written about by journalist (3-7)

Scratching the Surface
Bod[5] is a British term for a person ⇒ some clever bod wrote a song about them.

9a   See work /as/ something endlessly coming around? (4)

"see" = LO (show explanation )

Lo^[5] is an archaic exclamation used to draw attention to an interesting or amazing event ⇒ and lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them.

hide explanation

"work" = OP (show explanation )

In music, an opus^[5] (plural opuses or opera) is a separate composition or set of compositions.

The abbreviation Op.^[5] (also op.), denoting opus, is used before a number given to each work of a particular composer, usually indicating the order of publication. The plural form of Op. is Opp..

Opus^[5] can also be used in a more general sense to mean an artistic work, especially one on a large scale ⇒ he was writing an opus on Mexico.

hide explanation

10a   Given initial publicity, more than one horrible female // advances (10)

11a   In autumn restaurant won't have cold // Middle Eastern dish (7)

Falafel^[5] (also felafel) is a Middle Eastern dish of spiced mashed chickpeas or other pulses formed into balls or fritters and deep-fried, usually eaten with or in pitta^* bread.

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^* British spelling of pita

Here and There

According to Oxford Dictionaries, fall[5] (also Fall) is the North American term for autumn while Collins English Dictionary characterizes fall[10] as a mainly US term for autumn. The word fall[7] actually came to North America from England. Before the 16th century, harvest was the term usually used to refer to the season, as is common in other West Germanic languages to this day (cf. Dutch herfst and German Herbst). However, as more people gradually moved from working the land to living in towns (especially those who could read and write, the only people whose use of language we now know), the word harvest lost its reference to the time of year and came to refer only to the actual activity of reaping, and autumn, as well as fall, began to replace it as a reference to the season. The term fall came to denote the season in 16th century England. During the 17th century, English emigration to the British colonies in North America was at its peak, and the new settlers took the English language with them. While the term fall gradually became obsolete in Britain, it became the more common term in North America. Notwithstanding the foregoing, I would think that in Canada the terms fall and autumn are used interchangeably and with roughly equal frequency.

13a   Emergency communication system // abused in hotel (3,4)

14a   Agree, // once pupils have been lined up? (3,3,2,3)

The second "definition" — if it can be deemed such — is a literal interpretation of the figure of speech which forms the solution.

18a   Wrong conclusion? // Run question a different way (3,8)

21a   Sneeze being audible /in/ dispute (2,5)

Here and There
Not only do the Brits speak differently than us, they also sneeze with a distinctive accent. Whereas North Americans represent the sound of a sneeze as achoo[13], in Britain* it is atishoo[13]. * Actually, it is likely that both versions are used in Britain, but the latter would seem to be distinctively British.

22a   Path taken by one in British company // aircraft (7)

BP P.L.C.^*[7], also referred to by its former name, British Petroleum, is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. It is one of the world's seven oil and gas "supermajors".

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^* The designation P.L.C. stands for Private Limited Company

23a   Relations // hurried back with food supplies maybe (10)

24a   Villain, // one given a bash (4)

Iago^[7] is a fictional character in Othello (c. 1601–04), a tragedy written by English playwright William Shakespeare (1564–1616). The play's main antagonist, Iago, is the husband of Emilia, who is in turn the attendant of Othello's wife Desdemona. Iago hates Othello (who is also known as "The Moor") and devises a plan to destroy him by making him believe that his wife is having an affair with his lieutenant, Michael Cassio.

25a   Good person with heart picking up speed /as/ planner (10)

26a   It's in another environment? (Yes) /and/ (no)! (4)

This is a tricky clue to mark and I considered several approaches before settling on the above. While I am not extremely satisfied with the above marking, I will let it stand.

The clue is a more concise statement of what could have been written more verbosely as:

• It's in another environment /and/ it's not in another environment (4)

which would have been very easy to mark.

Down

1d   One aloof // army officer meets beauty, female to be hugged (4,4)

2d   Undertake /to get/ some lamb from the butcher? (8)

What did he say?
In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Deep Threat describes the cut of meat as a joint of lamb. Joint[5] is a British* term for a large piece of meat cooked whole or ready for cooking ⇒ a joint of ham. * or perhaps not so British[3,11]

4d   Register // name to participate in learning, having turned up (5)

5d   VIP // that would do for many a mouse? (3,6)

"Do" is used in the sense of "be sufficient to feed". The second part of the clue is a cryptic definition of the solution.

6d   Past the difficulty, // having negotiated traffic controller? (4,3,4)

The second part of the clue is a literal interpretation of the figure of speech that forms the solution.

7d   Name of film actor /with/ evidence of domestic neglect at home? (6)

Dustin Hoffman^[7] is an American actor and a director, with a career in film, television, and theatre since 1960. Hoffman has been known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and vulnerable characters. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1980 for Kramer vs. Kramer, and in 1989 for Rain Man.

8d   Notice erected on building /that's/ wrecked (6)

... wrecked, like one's hopes.

12d   Get to taxi before this // promising beginning? (6,5)

15d   Offering // dinner, get cooking (9)

16d   Chemical // condition limits ability to discern sounds (8)

A stearate^[5] is a salt or ester^* of stearic acid.

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^* an ester^[5] is an organic compound made by replacing the hydrogen of an acid by an alkyl or other organic group. Many naturally occurring fats and essential oils are esters of fatty acids.

17d   Genuine sweetheart // to regret nothing after termination of engagement (4,4)

We usually see the word"love" used to clue O (zero, nil, or nothing). Today, Giovanni turns the tables and uses "nothing" to clue LOVE (show explanation ).

In tennis, squash, and some other sports, love^[5] is a score of zero or nil ⇒ love fifteen. The resemblance of a zero written as a numeral (0) to the letter O leads to the cryptic crossword convention of the word "love" being used to clue this letter.

Although folk etymology has connected the word with French l'oeuf 'egg', from the resemblance in shape between an egg and a zero, the term apparently comes from the phrase play for love (i.e. the love of the game, not for money).

hide explanation

19d   Jack joins members of the family /for/ trips (6)

"jack" = J (show explanation )

J^[5] is an abbreviation for jack that is used in describing play in card games.

hide explanation

20d   One offering reflections /in/ newspaper (6)

The Daily Mirror^[7] (informally The Mirror) is a British national daily tabloid newspaper which was founded in 1903.

22d   Something extra /that's/ good for France and America (5)

The masculine singular form of the French adjective meaning good is bon^[8].

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)
^[13] - MacmillanDictionary.com (Macmillan Dictionary)

Signing off for today — Falcon