Thursday, April 13, 2017 — DT 28351

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28351
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, February 15, 2017
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28351]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By 2Kiwis
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

Although I initially went off the rails at 3d, I did eventually get back on track. Other than that, the puzzle presented no major difficulties.

As the National Post will not publish tomorrow on Good Friday, drop by for a bonus puzzle should you find yourself in need of a crossword fix.

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   Bewildered, /given/ sack for welcoming Australian natives (7)

The emu^[5] is a large flightless fast-running Australian bird resembling the ostrich, with shaggy gray or brown plumage, bare blue skin on the head and neck, and three-toed feet.

5a   Love follows attraction, /and/ this provides a spark (7)

"love" = O (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

A magneto^[5] is a small electric generator containing a permanent magnet and used to provide high-voltage pulses, especially (formerly) in the ignition systems of internal combustion engines.

9a   Professional // defined by wartime dictionary (5)

Here and There

Dictionaries actually seem to have a hard time defining the term medic with the entries being somewhat contradictory. Most dictionaries show medic as being an informal term for a physician, surgeon, intern or medical student. However, some British dictionaries think it is a British term while some American dictionaries consider it to be a US term. One British dictionary also includes medical orderlies within the definition. The dictionaries do appear to agree on one point; namely, it is a US usage to apply the name to a member of a military medical corps. (show more ) Oxford Dictionaries: A medic[5] is: (British) an informal term for a medical practitioner or student (US) a paramedic in the armed forces Collins English Dictionary: Medic[4,10] is an informal term for a doctor, medical orderly, or medical student. The Chambers Dictionary: A medic[1] is: a physician (rare) a medical student (informal) Chambers 21st Century Dictionary: Medic[2] (also medico) is a colloquial term for a doctor or medical student. American Heritage Dictionary: A medic[3] is: a member of a military medical corps a physician or surgeon a medical student or intern Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary: A medic is: a military medical corpsman a doctor or intern Webster’s New World College Dictionary: A medic[12] is: (informal) a physician or surgeon (US) a medical student or intern a medical noncommissioned officer who gives first aid in combat; aidman; corpsman hide explanation

10a   Workers protected by a welcome // understanding (9)

11a   Mental detachment /of/ people after a rest (10)

12a   Area and volume reduced // a smidgen (4)

14a   Bloody-minded // old boy found in front of new superstore (12)

18a   Tougher outside, ought to // stop here by the road? (4,8)

Hard shoulder^[5] is a British term for a hardened strip alongside a motorway for stopping on in an emergency. The equivalent term here in Ontario is paved^* shoulder.

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^* In North America, paving typically denotes the process of covering a surface with asphalt rather than paving stones.

In the photo, motorists are driving on the paved shoulder to get around protesting truck drivers who are clogging the highway with their rigs.

21a   Manufactured returns /for/ Dutch product (4)

Edam^[5] is a round Dutch cheese, typically pale yellow with a red wax coating.

22a   Bug people who choose /to be/ critics (10)

25a   Costing the earth? Absolutely not! (4,5)

Here the setter employs a not uncommon cryptic crossword device in which he states one thing and then appends a phrase like "Absolutely not!" (as in this clue) or "On the contrary" (see 1d) to indicate that the logic of the clue is actually the inverse of what has just been stated.

26a   Religious painting /of/ two Greek characters (5)

Pi^[5] is the sixteenth letter of the Greek alphabet (Π, π).

Eta^[5] is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet (Η, η).

A pietà^[5] is a picture or sculpture of the Virgin Mary holding the dead body of Christ on her lap or in her arms.

27a   A chap coming back wearing father's // hats (7)

A panama^[5] (also panama hat) is a man’s wide-brimmed hat of straw-like material, originally made from the leaves of a particular tropical palm tree.

28a   Postpone // outlay to accommodate American (7)

Down

1d   Regret // doctor taking pulse? On the contrary (6)

Another instance of logic inversion. See discussion at 25a.

"doctor" = MO (show explanation )

A medical officer^[5] (abbreviation MO^[5]) is a doctor in charge of the health services of a civilian or military authority or other organization.

hide explanation

Pulse^[5] is the edible seed of a leguminous plant, for example a chickpea, lentil, or bean ⇒ use pulses such as peas and lentils to eke out meat dishes.

2d   Servant pinching doctor/'s/ capital (6)

Madrid^[5] is the capital of Spain; population 3,213,271 (2008). Situated on a high plateau in the centre of the country, it replaced Valladolid as capital in 1561.

3d   After short time, be someone very good /or/ not quite as good? (6,4)

Going Off the Rails

I was very proud of my initial entry, SECOND RATE, slapping myself on the back for recognizing a seldom-encountered Briticism. However, it turned out to be incorrect — or, perhaps, merely SECOND BEST. I had parsed the wordplay as RATE (be someone very good; be someone others have a high opinion of) following (after) SECOND (short time). Rate[5,10] is an informal [almost certainly British] term meaning to have a high opinion of ⇒ (i) Mike certainly rated her, goodness knows why; (ii) the clients do not rate the new system. I managed to get back on track when I was unable to fit 14a and 18a into the grid.

4d   Right to take part in stupid // sketch (5)

5d   Damage further inside of hall // made from marble (9)

The solution is a word that I do not recall ever having  encountered — but I correctly deduced it from the wordplay.

Marmoreal^[5] is a literary term meaning made of or compared to marble ⇒ the marmoreal skin took on the flush of colour.

6d   Turns /and/ leaves (4)

7d   Vote in right, working /for/ part of 12 (8)

The numeral "12" is a cross reference indicator directing the solver to insert the solution to clue 12a 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

8d   Make best use of // work -- time is flexible (8)

"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

13d   Contracts /for/ viewers (10)

15d   Perhaps watch grandfather /supplying/ traitors (3-6)

Remember, just as punctuation that is present in the clue may not be necessary, punctuation that is absent from the clue may be required. Here watch and grandfather are items in a list of things  that are examples of the second part of the solution.

16d   Preparation for cleaning animal // shipped out across East (5-3)

Sheep dip^[5] (or sheep-dip^[10]) is a liquid preparation used to rid sheep of external parasites.

17d   Hearing score in cricket // test (5,3)

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.

19d   Cancel // river crossing permit (6)

The Dee^[5] is either of at least two rivers in the UK:

• a river in northeastern Scotland, which rises in the Grampian Mountains and flows eastwards past Balmoral Castle to the North Sea at Aberdeen;
• a river that rises in North Wales and flows past Chester and on into the Irish Sea.

20d   Key // one's left with? (6)

A key^[5] is a low-lying island or reef, especially in the Caribbean.

23d   Tubes /or/ fruit seeds full of energy (5)

"energy" = E (show explanation )

In physics, E^[5] is a symbol used to represent energy in mathematical formulae.

hide explanation

24d   Aggregate including cold // film on liquid (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)
^[12] - CollinsDictionary.com (Webster’s New World College Dictionary)
^[13] - MacmillanDictionary.com (Macmillan Dictionary)

Signing off for today — Falcon