Monday, May 1, 2017 — DT 28363

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28363
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, March 1, 2017
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28363]
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

While it would appear that this puzzle was slightly more of a workout for me than it was for the 2Kiwis, it certainly was not overly strenuous.

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   Expensive car dumped in dock /is/ object of pursuit (6)

Rolls-Royce^[10] is a make of very high-quality, luxurious, and prestigious British^* car.

---

^* Although the Rolls-Royce company is no longer British-owned.

The monogram RR appears on the grill of a Rolls Royce automobile.

4a   Stand /and/ train to use this pull-up? (8)

I would call this clue a double definition, one in which the latter part is a somewhat cryptic expression of the idea "a place where a train pulls up".

9a   Sets in wood perhaps, // popular with amateur bowlers, ultimately (6)

Scratching the Surface
A tip of the hat to the 2Kiwis for pointing out that wood[5] is another term for bowl[5] (noun), a wooden or hard rubber ball, slightly asymmetrical so that it runs on a curved course, used in the game of bowls[5] (known in North America as lawn bowling[5]).

10a   Group chased by big cat /becoming/ a bundle of nerves (8)

12a   Reckless // potholer grabbing hold of boxer (8)

A pothole^[5] is a deep natural underground cave formed by the erosion of rock, especially by the action of water. Naturally, a potholer is someone who explores such formations.

Muhammad Ali^[5] is an American boxer; born Cassius Marcellus Clay. He won the world heavyweight title in 1964, 1974, and 1978, becoming the only boxer to be world champion three times.

13a   One short story plus one about // type of script (6)

15a   Diner's demand for pudding /in/ perfect condition? (5-3,5)

The first part of the clue (marked with a dotted underline) is a literal interpretation of the figurative expression which constitutes the solution to the clue.

The terms dessert and pudding are synonymous in Britain and, as I have noted many times in previous reviews,  the response to What’s for pudding? could well be Apple pie — and today it is!

Apple-pie order^[5] denotes perfect order or neatness ⇒ everything was in apple-pie order.

Delving Deeper

This would appear to be a phrase that originated in North America. As Steven D. Price writes in Endangered Phrases: Although the exact derivation [of the expression apple pie order] is unknown, folk etymology (which word detectives fall back on when there's nothing more authoritative) suggests the following: New England housewives were so organized at slicing apples for their pies, laying out the slices inside the crust, and then making sure that the top and bottom crusts were evenly pinched together that their meticulousness gave rise to the phrase.

18a   People who go for the best // cranes (6,7)

Cherry picker^[5] is an informal term for a hydraulic crane with a railed platform at the end for raising and lowering people, for instance to work on overhead cables ⇒ we had to use cherry pickers to get the appropriate camera angles.

20a   Brexit starts with Conservatives /getting/ optimistic (6)

Scratching the Surface

Brexit[5] is a term for the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union. This term was coined in 2012 (originally as Brixit), a blend of British (or Britain) and exit, probably on the pattern of Grexit (coined earlier in the same year). Grexit[5] is a term for the potential withdrawal of Greece from the eurozone (the economic region formed by those countries in the European Union that use the euro as their national currency) ⇒ renewed fears of a Grexit have been shaking the financial markets. The term was coined in 2012 as a blend of Greek (or Greece) and exit.

22a   Falls back, /seeing/ mistakes by engineers (8)

"engineers" = RE (show explanation )

The Corps of Royal Engineers^[7], usually just called the Royal Engineers (abbreviation RE), and commonly known as the Sappers^[7], is a corps of the British Army that provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces.

hide explanation

24a   A meeting covering European question /is/ enough (8)

25a   Stretch // middle of weekend away (3,3)

26a   Swells up, /being/ first after daughter finishes (8)

27a   My // spirit is invested in American broadcaster (6)

CBS^[7] (an initialism of the network's former name, the Columbia Broadcasting System) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network.

Crumbs^[5] (a euphemism for Christ) is an informal British term used used to express dismay or surprise ⇒ ‘Crumbs,’ said Emily, ‘how embarrassing.’.

Down

1d   Fruit, // one of five iced at the core (6)

Here and There
Quin[5] is an informal British short form for quintuplet. From a British perspective, quint[5] is a North American short form for quintuplet.

2d   Leave it out -- supporting a student/'s/ ease? (9)

"student" = L (show explanation )

The cryptic crossword convention of L meaning learner or student arises from the L-plate^[7], a square plate bearing a sans-serif letter L, for learner, which must be affixed to the front and back of a vehicle in various jurisdictions (including the UK) if its driver is a learner under instruction.

hide explanation

3d   Imperial Europe has changed, protecting old // theatre in London (5,5,5)

The Royal Opera House^[7] is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House.

5d   Heavy metal/'s/ starring role (4)

6d   Performer offering a balanced performance, although high (9,6)

7d   Independent in role developed /for/ an Oxford college (5)

"independent" = I (show explanation )

I^[1] is the abbreviation for independent, perhaps in the context of a politician with no party affiliation.

hide explanation

Oriel College^[7] is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford.

8d   Sort of treatment /provided by/ wild flower in Yorkshire (8)

Flower is used in the whimsical cryptic crossword sense of something that flows — in other words, a river.

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.

11d   Evidence of having paid // wrong price, including energy, on time (7)

"energy" = E (show explanation )

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

hide explanation

14d   Gaunt // quietly moved by small degrees, (7)

"quietly" = P (show explanation )

Piano^[3,5] (abbreviation p^[5]), is a musical direction meaning either (as an adjective) soft or quiet or (as an adverb) softly or quietly.

hide explanation

16d   Clean and most upset about source of recent // weather phenomenon (4,5)

17d   Small taxi, shabby, turning up // that'll carry a weapon (8)

19d   A model lies regularly, // the way things are (2,2,2)

21d   Bride asked to reveal // thoughts (5)

23d   Heads of section talk up department // boss (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