Tuesday, June 27, 2017 — DT 28404

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28404
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, April 18, 2017
Setter Mister Ron (Samuel)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28404]
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

While I did eventually manage to complete this puzzle without resorting to calling out the electronic helpers, it did put up some pretty stiff resistance. Clearly, I am still not at the top of my game after my lengthy absence from puzzledom.

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   Club // ordered synthetic cream (10,4)

Manchester City Football Club^[7] is an English professional football [soccer] club, based in Manchester, England, that plays in the Premier League (the top level in the English football league system).

9a   Begin accepting law broken /for/ loyalist? (8)

10a   Hurry over and see heartless // carer (5)

12a   Flier/'s/ mischievous activity (4)

13a   Get faster // a cold vegetable, mostly devoured (10)

15a   Rate // terribly evil toy entertaining child at first (8)

16a   Might one prohibit // flag? (6)

I consider the first part of the clue to be an implied definition which the solver is expected to interpret as "someone who might prohibit".

18a   Republican quietly abandoning Bill/'s/ schedule (6)

"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

"Republican" = R (show explanation )

A Republican^[5] (abbreviation R^[5])  is a member or supporter of the Republican Party^[5], one of the two main US political parties^*, favouring a right-wing stance, limited central government, and tough, interventionist foreign policy. It was formed in 1854 in support of the anti-slavery movement preceding the Civil War.

---

^* the other being the Democratic Party

In the UK, republican^[5] can refer to an advocate of a united Ireland but the abbreviation does not seem to apply to that usage.

hide explanation

20a   Most frightening // hotel -- and most spacious (8)

Hotel^[5] is a code word representing the letter H, used in radio communication.

23a   Tailor awaits cost /for/ garments (10)

Waistcoat^[3] is the British term for the garment that North Americans would call a vest. In Britain, a vest^[3] is an item of underwear for the upper body.

24a   Love /is/ about in land of the Wizard from the East (4)

"love" = ZERO (show explanation )

In tennis, squash, and some other sports, love^[5] is a score of zero or nil ⇒ love fifteen.

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

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz^[7] is an American children's novel written by author L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow, originally published in 1900. It has since been reprinted on numerous occasions, most often under the title The Wizard of Oz, which is the title of the popular 1902 Broadway musical as well as the iconic 1939 musical film adaptation.

The story chronicles the adventures of a young farm girl named Dorothy in the magical Land of Oz, after she and her pet dog Toto are swept away from their Kansas home by a cyclone. Its groundbreaking success and the success of the Broadway musical adapted from the novel led Baum to write thirteen additional Oz books that serve as official sequels to the first story.

26a   Support // son, overweight, knocked back by female (5)

27a   Account in the red? /That's/ sweet (8)

Sweet^[5] is a British term for a sweet dish forming a course of a meal; in other words, a pudding or dessert. The parsing shown above assumes that cookies^* can be included within the scope of this definition.

---

^* biscuits to the Brits

On the other hand, perhaps sweet is being used as an adjective. In that case, the clue would parse as:

• Account in the red? // That's sweet (8)

where the implied definition is "[something] that's sweet".

28a   Current therapy // cure for problem on top? (5,9)

The clue is a double definition with the second one being cryptic.

Down

2d   Cheers up with lunar shot being seen around // common (7)

Cheers^[5] is a chiefly British expression expressing gratitude or acknowledgement for something ⇒ Billy tossed him the key. ‘Cheers, pal.’.

Ta^[5] is an informal British exclamation signifying thank you ⇒‘Ta,’ said Willie gratefully.

3d   Fit // wife leaves deep-sea diver? (4)

4d   Lack // vehicle in south London, say (8)

5d   European setter regularly upset this setter -- /one needs/ respect! (6)

"this setter" = ME (show explanation )

It is a common cryptic crossword convention for the creator of the puzzle to use terms such as (the or this) compiler, (the or this) setter, (this) author, (this) writer, or this person to refer to himself or herself. To solve such a clue, one must generally substitute a first person pronoun (I or me) for whichever of these terms has been used in the clue.

hide explanation

6d   Shelve getting daughter to replace carbon support under a // light source (10)

"carbon" = C (show explanation )

C^[5] is the symbol for the chemical element carbon.

hide explanation

7d   Trainer reorganised // ground (7)

8d   Star's allowance /for/ party? (11)

11d   Suspect I've writ lots? // I want some more! (6,5)

Oliver Twist^[7], subtitled The Parish Boy's Progress, is the second novel by English author Charles Dickens (1812–1870), published in 1838. The story is about an orphan, Oliver Twist, who is born into a life of poverty and misfortune in a workhouse.

During the several years he spent at the workhouse, Oliver Twist^[7] is brought up with little food and few comforts. One day, around the time of his ninth birthday, the desperately hungry boys decide to draw lots; the loser must ask for another portion of gruel. The task falls to Oliver, who at the next meal tremblingly comes forward, bowl in hand, and begs the overseer, Mr. Bumble, for gruel with his famous request: "Please, sir, I want some more".

14d   Fancy cities mostly find Conservative /to be/ methodical (10)

17d   Song // may amuse if heard on the radio (8)

A canticle^[5] is a hymn or chant, typically with a biblical text, forming a regular part of a church service.

19d   Vegetable /that's/ somewhat crisp in a chilli (7)

21d   Reportedly, one glimpsed // something ugly (7)

This clue incorporates a homophone that works only if one talks like a Brit — or, at least, like some Brits.

The word "sore", when pronounced in a non-rhotic (show explanation ) accent typical of many parts of Britain, sounds like "saw".

Non-rhotic accents omit the sound < r > in certain situations, while rhotic accents generally pronounce < r > in all contexts. Among the several dozen British English accents which exist, many are non-rhotic while American English (US and Canadian) is mainly rhotic. This is, however, a generalisation, as there are areas of Britain that are rhotic, and areas of America that are non-rhotic. For more information, see this guide to pronouncing < r > in British English.

hide explanation

22d   Promise // company 2,001 tons (6)

25d   Worry // doctor after forgetting answer (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