Monday, July 31, 2017 — DT 28428

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28428
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, May 16, 2017
Setter Mister Ron (Chris Lancaster)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28428]
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
Notes
This puzzle appears on the Monday Diversions page in the Saturday, July 29, 2017 edition of the National Post.

Introduction

Mister Ron delivers another enjoyable offering.

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 semi-all-in-one (semi-&lit.) clues. All-in-one (&lit.) clues and cryptic definitions are marked with a dotted underline. Explicit link words and phrases are enclosed in forward slashes (/link/) and implicit links are shown as double forward slashes (//).

Across

1a   Famous explorer, // by Jove! (5,5)

Sir Robert Falcon Scott^[5] (1868–1912) was an English explorer and naval officer. In 1910–12 Scott and four companions made a journey to the South Pole by sledge, arriving there in January 1912 to discover that Roald Amundsen had beaten them by a month. Scott and his companions died on the journey back to base.

By Jove^[5] is a dated exclamation indicating surprise or used for emphasis ⇒ by Jove, yes, it's been warm all right.

Great Scott!^[5] is a dated exclamation expressing surprise or amazement ⇒ Great Scott! You scored two hundred and seventy-three!.

6a   Celebrity // of American shows (4)

9a   He or she maybe died after Church // passed judgment? (10)

"church" = CE (show explanation )

The Church of England^[10] (abbreviation CE^[10]) is the reformed established state Church in England, Catholic in order and basic doctrine, with the Sovereign as its temporal head.

hide explanation

I interpret the question mark in the clue to indicate that "judgment" is but an example of what might be "passed". Thus one would interpret the definition as "passed (judgment, for example)" since one might "pass judgment" or "pronounce judgment".

10a   Space // mission finally leaves ground (4)

Here and There

Ground[5] denotes an area of land, often with associated buildings, used for a particular sport ⇒ (i) a football ground; (ii) Liverpool’s new ground is nearing completion. Although this usage of the word ground is not exclusively British, it does seem to be a usage that has fallen into disfavour in North America. In North America, it would be much more likely for such a venue to be called a field or a stadium. Collins COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary says that a ground is an area of land which is specially designed and made for playing sport or for some other activity. In American English grounds is also used. ⇒ (i) the city's football ground; (ii) a parade ground. I can think of only two instances of this usage for sports facilities in North America. The Wanderers Grounds[7] is a sports field in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The Polo Grounds[7] was the name of three stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used mainly for professional baseball and American football from 1880 until 1963. As the name suggests, the original Polo Grounds, opened in 1876 and demolished in 1889, was built for the sport of polo. It was converted to a baseball stadium in 1880. In baseball, the stadium served at various times as the home of the New York Giants (now San Francisco Giants), the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets. In football, it was home to the New York Giants (NFL) and New York Jets (AFL). Shea Stadium opened in 1964 and replaced the Polo Grounds as the home of the Mets and Jets. The Polo Grounds was demolished  that year and a public housing complex built on the site.

12a   Singer // keen on retirement (4)

13a   Question again // regarding African dictator found in river (2-7)

Idi Amin Dada^[7] (c. 1925–2003) was the third President of Uganda, ruling from 1971 to 1979. As commander of the Ugandan Army, he led a military coup in January 1971 that deposed Milton Obote.

Delving Deeper

In 1977, when Britain broke diplomatic relations with Uganda, Amin declared he had defeated the British and added "CBE", for "Conqueror of the British Empire", to his title. Amin's rule was characterized by human rights abuses, political repression, ethnic persecution, extrajudicial killings, nepotism, corruption, and gross economic mismanagement. The number of people killed as a result of his regime is estimated by international observers and human rights groups to range from 100,000 to 500,000.

The River Exe^[7] rises on Exmoor in Somerset, 8.4 kilometres (5 mi) from the Bristol Channel coast, but flows more or less directly due south, so that most of its length lies in Devon. It reaches the sea at a substantial ria, the Exe Estuary, on the south (English Channel) coast of Devon.

15a   9 gifts /for/ company (8)

The numeral "9" is a cross reference indicator directing the solver to insert the solution to clue 9a 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.

---

^* light-coloured cell in the grid

16a   Associate/'s/ not entirely sweet -- hard to get backing (6)

Here and There

Sweet[5] is a British term for a small shaped piece of confectionery made with sugar ⇒ a bag of sweets. In North American parlance, sweets would be candy[5] and a sweet would be a piece of candy*. * In Britain, candy[5] means sugar crystallized by repeated boiling and slow evaporation ⇒ making candy at home is not difficult—the key is cooking the syrup to the right temperature. In Britain, bonbon[5] is another word for a piece of confectionery — or, in British terms, a sweet. In North America, a bonbon[3,11] is a specific type of candy, namely one that has a center of fondant, fruit, or nuts and is coated with chocolate or fondant.

"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

Behind the Picture

You may well wonder why Mr Kitty illustrates his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog with a picture of rolled oat cookies. Hobnobs[7] is the name of a biscuit* [cookie] made from rolled oats and jumbo oats** marketed under the McVitie's brand by British multinational food manufacturer United Biscuits. Apparently, they have been available in Canada since November 2012 in the British food section of Wal-Mart. * The British use the term biscuit[3,4,11] to refer to a range of foods that include those that would be called either cookies or crackers in North America. A North American biscuit[5] is similar to a British scone. ** Oats[7] used for cooking may be whole (groats), cut into two or three pieces (called "pinhead", "steel-cut" or "coarse" oatmeal), ground into medium or fine oatmeal, or steamed and rolled into flakes of varying sizes and thicknesses (called "rolled oats", the largest size being "jumbo").

18a   Ultimately abandon one fool /for/ another (6)

The implied definition is "another [fool]".

The wordplay is N (ultimately abandon; final letter of abandoN) + I ([Roman numeral for] one) + TWIT (fool).

Here and There

From the dictionary entries,  I would guess that the word "twit" may have a slightly different connotation in the UK than it does in North America. British dictionaries define twit as an informal term meaning variously (1) a fool or idiot[2]; (2) a foolish or stupid person, an idiot[10]; and (3) a silly or foolish person[5]. Both Oxford Dictionaries and Collins English Dictionary characterize the term as being chiefly British. American dictionaries, on the other hand, define twit as an informal term for (1) a foolishly annoying person[3] or (2) an insignificant or bothersome person[11]. Thus the emphasis in North America seems to focus more on the fact that the person is a pest — as opposed to the intellectual capacity of the person.

20a   TV bulletin, perhaps, // wants majority of sect shot (8)

23a   Fashionable area enveloped by evil -- to criminal /that's/ pure (9)

I would have described the parsing of the wordplay a bit differently than Mr Kitty does, namely "a word for fashionable, followed by A(rea) inside (enveloped by) an anagram (criminal) of  EVIL TO".

24a   Part of church // fails when not taking sides (4)

26a   Terrible // anger shown by daughter (4)

27a   Crowd, //late in the evening, have a ball (10)

28a   Record // some police about to arrest son (4)

"some police" = CID (show explanation )

The Criminal Investigation Department (seemingly better known by its abbreviation CID^[2]) is the detective branch of a British police force.

hide explanation

29a   Overwrought // doctor eats richly (10)

Down

1d   Look amazed /and/ go crazy without love (4)

"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

2d   Book promoted by the setter's // controversial (7)

"the setter's" = IVE (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.

Today, the setter has made the scenario slightly more complicated by combining "setter" with the verb "to have" producing "setter's" (a contraction of "setter has") which must be replaced by "I've" (a contraction of "I have").

hide explanation

3d   Inventor/'s/ mistaken: atoms do shine (6,6)

Thomas Edison^[5] (1847–1931) was an American inventor. He took out the first of more than a thousand patents at the age of 21. His inventions include automatic telegraph systems, the carbon microphone for telephones, the phonograph, and the carbon filament lamp.

4d   Catch // Bond? (8)

Misdirection by Convention

By convention, it is an acceptable practice for the setter of a cryptic crossword to unnecessarily capitalize words to create misdirection. However, it is deemed unacceptable to omit necessary capitalization. In this clue, the setter needlessly capitalizes the word "bond" in order to misdirect our attention to James Bond[5] (known also by his code name 007), a fictional British secret agent in the spy novels of English author Ian Fleming (1908–1964).

5d   Weary, saving energy // in rows (6)

"energy" = E (show explanation )

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

hide explanation

7d   Prosecute // a rule in hearing (7)

8d   Aggravate // former partner over account and berate in error (10)

11d   The Genesis version of Stairway to Heaven (6,6)

Jacob's ladder^[10] is the ladder reaching up to heaven that Jacob saw in a dream (Genesis 28:12–17).

Scratching the Surface

Genesis[7] were an English rock band formed in 1967. The most commercially successful and longest-lasting line-up includes keyboardist Tony Banks, bassist/guitarist Mike Rutherford and drummer/singer Phil Collins. Other important members were the original lead singer Peter Gabriel and guitarist Steve Hackett. The band underwent many changes in musical style over its career, from folk music to progressive rock in the 1970s, before moving towards pop at the end of the decade. "Stairway to Heaven"[7] is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released in late 1971. It was composed by guitarist Jimmy Page and vocalist Robert Plant for the band's untitled fourth studio album (often called Led Zeppelin IV). It is often referred to as one of the greatest rock songs of all time.

14d   Liberal // old writer cared (4-6)

17d   Backtrack about bridge opponents // showing respect (8)

In the card game bridge, North^[5] and South^[5] comprise one partnership and play against East^[5] and West^[5] who form the other partnership.

19d   Stave off entertaining sailors /in/ bars (7)

"sailors" = RN (show explanation )

The Royal Navy^[5] (abbreviation RN) is the British navy. It was the most powerful navy in the world from the 17th century until the Second World War.

hide explanation

21d   Poison/'s/ drunk in scare (7)

22d   Poor // attempt to support friend (6)

25d   Concrete // coin once used in Madrid (4)

The real^[5] was a former coin and monetary unit of various Spanish-speaking countries [among them, Spain].

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

Saturday, July 29, 2017 — Beyond the Rainbow

Introduction

Today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon adds a splash of colour to a sunny summer day.

I invite you to leave a comment to let us know how you fared with the puzzle.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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 █ - yet to be solved

Legend:	"*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed
	"( )" letters inserted; "_" letters deleted; "†" explicit in the clue
	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 semi-all-in-one (semi-&lit.) clues. All-in-one (&lit.) clues and cryptic definitions are marked with a dotted underline. Explicit link words and phrases are enclosed in forward slashes (/link/) and implicit links are shown as double forward slashes (//).

Across

1a   Paint // farm animal encountered around back of cabin (7)

PIG|ME(N)T — PIG (farm animal) + MET (encountered) containing (around) N(back of cabin; final letter of cabiN)

5a   Yellowish-pink // rice left unfinished in a kettle (7)

A|P(RIC)OT — RIC (rice left unfinished; RIC[E] with the final letter missing) contained in (in) {A (†) + POT (kettle)}

9a   One of the Stooges embracing the sixth // film (5)

MO(VI)E — MOE (one of the Stooges) containing (embracing) VI (the sixth; as George VI, [King] George the Sixth)

The Three Stooges^[7] were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1928 until 1970, best known for their 190 Columbia short-subject films that have been airing on television regularly since 1958. Their hallmark was physical farce and slapstick. In films, the Stooges were commonly known by their actual first names. There were a total of six stooges over the act's run, with only three active at any given time, but Moe Howard and Larry Fine were mainstays throughout the ensemble's run of more than forty years.

The original team consisted of Moe Howard (real name Moses Harry Horowitz), Moe's brother Shemp Howard (real name Samuel Horowitz) and Larry Fine (real name Louis Feinberg). In 1932, Shemp Howard left the group and was replaced by by his younger brother, Curly Howard (real name Jerome Lester Horowitz). Curly suffered a debilitating stroke in May 1946, and Shemp returned, reinstating the original lineup, until his death of a heart attack in November, 1955. Following the death of Shemp Howard, various other actors appeared as the third member of the trio.

10a   Reverse-colour pictures, // for example, taken by locals (9)

N(EG)ATIVES — EG (for example) contained in (taken by; consumed by [as one would say of medicine, for instance]) NATIVES (locals)

11a   Pink // state of wheels? (9)

CAR|NATION — NATION (state) of CARS (wheels) or, in other words, CAR NATION

12a   The guy with Ann returned // hair colouring (5)

HE|NNA — HE (the guy) + reversal (returned) of ANN

13a   In excavation, old // colouring matter (6)

IN|DIG|O — IN (†) + DIG ([archaeological] excavation) + O (old; abbrev.)

14a   Classes // at painting, sculpture, etc. retracted (6)

{STRA|TA}< — reversal (retracted) of {AT (†) + ARTS (painting, sculpture, etc.)}

18a   Mere GI breaking // rule (6)

REGIME* — anagram (breaking) of MERE GI

20a   Al Pacino halfway through with a // wool supplier (6)

AL|PAC|A — AL (†) + PAC (Pacino halfway through; initial half of PAC[INO]) + (with) A (†)

Scratching the Surface
Al Pacino[7] is an American actor of stage and screen, filmmaker, and screenwriter. Pacino, who has had a career spanning over five decades, is one of few performers to have won a competitive Oscar, an Emmy and a Tony Award for acting, dubbed the "Triple Crown of Acting".

24a   Lose tension, like // long stories (5)

SAG|AS — SAG (lose tension) + AS (like)

26a   Treatment of a top tooth /is/ something tough to handle (3,6)

{HOT POTATO}* — anagram of (treatment of) A TOP TOOTH

27a   Endure // one Mafia boss going after thug (2,2,3,2)

GO ON| AN|D ON — {AN (one) + DON (Mafia boss)} following (going after) GOON (thug)

28a   Substituted // paint finish (3,2)

SAT IN — SATIN (paint finish)

29a   Misleads // tenderfeet about the Spanish (7)

D(EL)UDES — DUDES (tenderfeet) containing (about) EL (the Spanish; Spanish definite article)

30a   Moderately warm, bright colour /for/ title character Pierce (7)

MILD|RED — MILD (moderately warm) + RED (bright colour)

Mildred Pierce^[7] is a 1941 hardboiled novel by James M. Cain. It was made into an Academy Award–winning film of the same name in 1945, starring Joan Crawford, and a 2011 Emmy Award–winning miniseries of the same name, starring Kate Winslet.

Down

1d   Rock // note held by Deep Purple? (6)

PU(MI)CE — MI ([musical] note) contained in (held by) PUCE (deep purple)

Scratching the Surface

Deep Purple[7] are an English rock band formed in 1968. The band is considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock. Deep Purple, together with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, have been referred to as the "unholy trinity of British hard rock and heavy metal in the early to mid-seventies". They were listed in the 1975 Guinness Book of World Records as "the globe's loudest band" for a 1972 concert at London's Rainbow Theatre, and have sold over 100 million albums worldwide.

2d   Ruling // verging on crazy (9)

GOVERNING* — anagram (crazy) of VERGING ON

3d   Colour of a fantastic city // in ephemeral daydream (7)

_EMERAL|D_ — hidden in (in) ephEMERAL Daydream

The Emerald City^[7] (sometimes called the City of Emeralds) is the capital city of the fictional Land of Oz in L. Frank Baum's Oz books, first described in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900).

4d   Hergé cartoon hero’s given green // colourings (8)

TINTIN(G)S — {TINTIN (Hergé cartoon hero) + S ('s)} containing (given) G (green; abbrev.)

Tintin^[7] is a fictional character in The Adventures of Tintin, the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé, pen name of Georges Remi (1907–1983).

5d   Silver // transformed garnet (6)

ARGENT* — anagram (transformed) of GARNET

Argent^[5] is silver as heraldic tincture.

6d   Teeth in a set // chatter badly (7)

RATCHET* — anagram (badly) of CHATTER

7d   Group of witches // around roasting place (5)

C|OVEN — C (around; abbreviation for circa) + OVEN (roasting place)

8d   Chuck eating small amount with a // Mexican dish (8)

TOS(TAD|A)S — TOSS (chuck) containing (eating) {TAD (small amount) + (with) A (†)}

A tostada^[5] (also tostado) is a Mexican deep-fried corn flour pancake topped with a seasoned mixture of beans, mincemeat, and vegetables.

15d   White // flower behind a research site (9)

A|LAB|ASTER — ASTER (flower) following (behind) {A (†) + LAB (research site)}

16d   Anticipated // hype by editor about herb (8)

PR|E(SAGE)D — PR (hype; abbrev. for public relations) + (by) ED (editor; abbrev.) containing (about) SAGE (herb)

17d   A container wrapped in purplish /and/ silvery colour (8)

PL(A|TIN)UM — {A (†) + TIN (container)} contained in (wrapped in) PLUM (purplish; adjective)

19d   Brownish-yellow // ooze covering name on a marquee (7)

MU(STAR)D — MUD (ooze) containing (covering) STAR (name on a marquee)

21d   Wild partying, after the initial // excitement (7)

_AROUSAL — [C]AROUSAL (wild partying) with the initial letter removed (after the initial)

22d   Underworld getting behind school’s primary // colours (6)

S|HADES — HADES (underworld) following (getting behind) S (school's primary; initial (primary) letter of School)

23d   Charitable about one Italian // opera composer (6)

GO(UN)OD — GOOD (charitable) containing (about) UN (one Italian; Italian word meaning 'one')

A bit of electronic guidance was required here. Opera is hardly my forte.

Charles François Gounod^[5] (1818–1893) was a French composer, conductor, and organist. He is best known for his opera Faust (1859).

Un^[8] is an Italian word meaning 'one'.

25d   Threatening sound /from/ grey bird of prey (5)

GR|OWL — GR (grey; abbrev.) + OWL (bird of prey)

Epilogue

Today's colourful puzzle mentions most of the colours of the rainbow. Several (red, yellow, green, and indigo) appear explicitly in either the clues or solutions. I think purple (as either plum or puce) is an acceptable stand-in in for violet. That leaves only orange and blue missing. A number of other colours are also mentioned. As well, there are several other references to colour in general. And Judy Garland sang "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" in the film to which allusion is made in 3d.

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

Friday, July 28, 2017 — DT 28427

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28427
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, May 15, 2017
Setter Rufus (Roger Squires)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28427]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Miffypops
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

After reviewing a "Friday" Giovanni puzzle a couple of days ago, Miffypops is back in his customary spot unravelling a "Monday" Rufus creation.

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 semi-all-in-one (semi-&lit.) clues. All-in-one (&lit.) clues and cryptic definitions are marked with a dotted underline. Explicit link words and phrases are enclosed in forward slashes (/link/) and implicit links are shown as double forward slashes (//).

Across

1a   A charming expression (11)

9a   No charge is made, /so get/ release (4)

10a   Knock on wood if you want to become such a player (11)

As I recall, the toy instrument I played with as a child had metal bars, but in a real one they are made of wood.

The xylophone^[7] (from Greek words meaning "wooden sound") is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets.

11a   Highlight // one's seen in the theatrical world (4)

14a   Reg struggling in last, /but still/ the greatest (7)

16a   Crab tea prepared /for/ the panda (7)

A bearcat^[5] is a bear-like climbing mammal, especially the red panda or binturong.

17a   Made an effort, /though/ tired out (5)

18a   /Get/ the bird, /or/ one encore? (4)

Bis^[5] is a musical direction denoting 'again'.

An ibis^[5] is a large wading bird with a long downcurved bill, long neck, and long legs.

19a   Mark /gets/ nothing less than a film award (4)

20a   Wild bears // that may cut up rough (5)

Neither the cryptic reading nor the surface reading made much sense to me. I did manage to discover what the surface reading means (see box following). However, as for the wordplay, I can only surmise that the clue implies that a sabre may not be an instrument that produces cuts of extreme precision.

Scratching the Surface
Cut up rough[5] is an informal British expression meaning to behave in an aggressive, quarrelsome, or awkward way ⇒ he can cut up rough and turn a bit nasty if he's got a mind to.

22a   Gallery object /is/ a welcome surprise (7)

The gods^[5] is a [possibly British] theatrical term for the gallery in a theatre ⇒ they sat in the gods.

23a   It's cooked /in/ South African tradition (7)

SA^[5] is the abbreviation for South Africa — but nowhere did I find it listed as an abbreviation for South African.

24a   Left // somewhat short (4)

28a   Crazy // way a teacher may receive orders? (3,4,4)

In Britain, head^[5] is short for headmaster^[5] (a man who is the head teacher in a school), headmistress^[5] (a woman who is the head teacher in a school), or head teacher^[5] (the teacher in charge of a school).

As used in the solution to the second definition, off takes the informal sense of 'from' ⇒ I bought it off a friend.

Off one's head^[10,10a] (or out of one's head) is a mainly British slang expression meaning insane or delirious ⇒ He's gone completely off his head.

---

^[10a] COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary

29a   Help // to translate from Latin and French (4)

"from Latin" = AB (show explanation )

In Latin, ab is a preposition that can mean 'from'.

hide explanation

"and French" = ET (show explanation )

In French, et^[8] is a conjunction meaning 'and'.

hide explanation

30a   Man of intelligence // moves centre stage (6,5)

Down

2d   Spends money on // extras, we hear (4)

In cricket, an extra^[5] is a run scored other than from a hit with the bat, credited (in most cases) to the batting side rather than to a batsman. The types of extra^[7] are no ball, wide, bye, leg-bye, and penalty runs.

In cricket, a bye^[5] is a run scored from a ball that passes the batsman without being hit (recorded as an extra, not credited to the individual batsman).

3d   Very little // to put into the morning hours (4)

4d   Unbeliever // is at the assembly (7)

5d   Trouble spots for teenagers? (4)

6d   Secured when wandering /or/ let loose (7)

7d   The North Sea? Yes and no (6,5)

8d   Private sign /for/ office workers (11)

In astrology, Aries^[10] (also called the Ram) is the first sign of the zodiac, symbol ♈, having a cardinal fire classification, ruled by the planet Mars. The sun is in this sign between about March 21 and April 19.

12d   The policemen to send after skyjackers? (6,5)

Flying squad^[5] is a British term for a division of a police force or other organization which is capable of reaching an incident quickly ⇒ (i) the gang were caught by the Flying Squad; (ii) a medical flying squad.

Behind the Picture
Miffypops illustrates his review with a picture of actors John Thaw and Dennis Waterman in a scene from the British television programme The Sweeney. The Sweeney[7] is a 1970s British television police drama focusing on two members of the Flying Squad, a branch of the Metropolitan Police specialising in tackling armed robbery and violent crime in London. The programme's title derives from Sweeney Todd, which is Cockney rhyming slang for "Flying Squad". The programme was originally broadcast from 1975 to 1978 with repeated screenings until the early 1980s. It starred John Thaw as Detective Inspector Jack Regan, and Dennis Waterman as his partner, Detective Sergeant George Carter.

13d   What motoring school is expected to do /for/ fireman's boss? (5,6)

In Britain, motoring school^[10] is another name for driving school^[10].

A fireman^[10] on a railway locomotive is:

• (on steam locomotives) the man who stokes the fire and controls the injectors feeding water to the boiler
• (on diesel and electric locomotives) the driver's assistant

15d   Put your foot down! (5)

The only question here was "TRAMP or TREAD?"

16d   Alcoholic drinks, // things that give a buzz? About right (5)

20d   Dishonestly acquire // piece of riding gear (7)

Snaffle^[5] is an informal British term meaning to take (something) for oneself, typically quickly or without permission ⇒ shall we snaffle some of Bernard’s sherry?.

 A snaffle^[10] (also called snaffle bit) is a simple jointed bit for a horse.

21d   Dedicated // a Sterne novel (7)

Laurence Sterne^[5] (1713–1768) was an Irish novelist. He is best known for his nine-volume work The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy (1759–67), which parodied the developing conventions of the novel form.

25d   An opening // celebration or its aftermath (4)

26d   He's rough, // tough, loveless, confused (4)

"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

27d   One imprisoned /as/ murderer (4)

The key to the wordplay is recognizing that the word "imprisoned" could be replaced by the phrase "in jail". Now you just need to find the correct synonym for jail.

In the Bible, Cain^[5] is the eldest son of Adam and Eve and murderer of his brother Abel.

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

Thursday, July 27, 2017 — DT 28426

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28426
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Saturday, May 13, 2017
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28426 – Hints] Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28426 – Review]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Tilsit (Hints) gnomethang (Review)
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
Notes
As this was a Saturday "Prize Puzzle" in Britain, there are two entries related to it on Big Dave's Crossword Blog — the first, posted on the date of publication, contains hints for selected clues while the second is a full review issued following the entry deadline for the contest. The vast majority of reader comments will generally be found attached to the "hints" posting with a minimal number — if any — accompanying the full review.

Introduction

Typical of a "Saturday" prize puzzle, this offering provides no daunting challenge.

Apologies for the faux pas in Tuesday's review in which I included information for a word which was not the solution to the clue. While solving the puzzle, I recall that having the letter "I" in place from the intersecting entry, I was looking for a word ending in -IST as the solution. The word that I came up with was the rather antiquated word "OCULIST" but, of course, it was quickly discarded as it had the wrong number of letters. Despite this, it seems that while writing the review, it was this word that stuck in my mind rather than the correct — but more mundane — word "OPTICIAN". Thank you to Richard for bringing the misstep to my attention.

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 semi-all-in-one (semi-&lit.) clues. All-in-one (&lit.) clues and cryptic definitions are marked with a dotted underline. Explicit link words and phrases are enclosed in forward slashes (/link/) and implicit links are shown as double forward slashes (//).

Across

3a   Classic western /produced by/ RADA tutor? (10)

The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art^[7] (abbreviation RADA) is a drama school located in London, England. It is one of the oldest drama schools in the United Kingdom, founded in 1904.

Stagecoach^[7] is a 1939 American Western film directed by John Ford, starring Claire Trevor and John Wayne in his breakthrough role. The film follows a group of strangers riding on a stagecoach through dangerous Apache territory.

8a   Difficult at college /being/ short of money (4,2)

In Britain, up^[5] means at or to a university, especially Oxford or Cambridge ⇒ they were up at Cambridge about the same time.

9a   Facing // plot after work, work over (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

10a   Famous guitarist with his group, // one presiding over celebrations (3,5)

Brian May^[7] is an English musician, singer, songwriter and astrophysicist, best known as the lead guitarist of the British rock band Queen.

A May queen^[5] is a pretty girl chosen and crowned in traditional celebrations of May Day.

11a   Time for a coffee /in/ the Spanish fair (6)

"the Spanish" = EL (show explanation )

In Spanish, the masculine singular form of the definite article is el^[8].

hide explanation

In Britain, the morning tea or coffee break comes at 11:00 am and lunch is typically taken at 1:00 pm. The Brits refer informally to the morning break as elevenses^[5].

12a   Anyway, // don't contemplate so much (10)

14a   Area round capital // no longer rated badly (7,6)

Naturally, the capital we are looking for is London^[5], the capital of the United Kingdom, situated in southeastern England on the River Thames; population (Greater London) 7,619,800 (est. 2008).

Greater London is a metropolitan area comprising central London and the surrounding regions. It is divided administratively into the City of London, thirteen inner London boroughs, and twenty outer London boroughs.

20a   Try sailing at sea -- // it could make you hoarse (10)

22a   Police unit /using/ bad PR a lot (6)

There is a minor typo in gnomethang's review which should read "An anagram, indicated by ‘bad’, of PR A LOT.".

23a   Dishonest behaviour /in/ dreadful piece of drama (4,4)

24a   One with dimples that may get hooked on a course (4,4)

25a   Pleasant accompanying English university // girl (6)

26a   While not present // at work, a bishop posted one article (2,8)

"bishop" = B (show explanation )

B^[5] is an abbreviation for bishop that is used in recording moves in chess.

hide explanation

Down

1d   Yale gang, for a change, // fail badly (3,2,3)

From a British perspective, lay an egg^[5] is an informal North American expression meaning to be completely unsuccessful.

2d   Correspond after a duke /gets/ fit (8)

"duke" = D (show explanation )

A duke^[5] (abbreviation D.^[10]) is a male holding the highest hereditary title in the British and certain other peerages^*.

---

^* The peerage^[5] is the nobility in Britain or Ireland, comprising the ranks of duke or duchess, marquess or marchioness, earl or countess, viscount or viscountess, and baron or baroness.

hide explanation

3d   Extent /of/ odds studied (6)

SP^[5] is the abbreviation for starting price^[7], the odds prevailing on a particular horse in the on-course fixed-odds^* betting market at the time a race begins.

---

^* To the best of my limited knowledge in this field, this term would not be encountered in North America as betting on horse racing here is based on parimutuel betting rather than fixed-odds betting.

In Britain, to read^[5] means to study (an academic subject) at a university ⇒ (i) I’m reading English at Cambridge; (ii) he went to Manchester to read for a BA in Economics.

4d   Rule clubs ignored // after a while (4)

A canon^[5] is a general law, rule, principle, or criterion by which something is judged ⇒ the appointment violated the canons of fair play and equal opportunity.

In his review, gnomethang would appear to make reference to canon^[5] as a Church decree or law ⇒ (i) a set of ecclesiastical canons; (ii) legislation which enables the Church of England General Synod to provide by canon for women to be ordained.

"clubs" = C (show explanation )

Clubs^[2]) (abbreviation C^[1]) is one of the four suits of playing-cards.

hide explanation

5d   To support energy, squeeze in very // strong coffee (8)

"energy" = E (show explanation )

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

hide explanation

So^[5] is an adverb (used for emphasis) meaning extremely or very much ⇒ she looked so pretty.

6d   Group inside enjoys terrific // shellfish (6)

7d   Ship -- // clipper, perhaps (6)

Contrary to gnomethang's determination, I would say that this is a double definition.

A cutter^[5] is a light, fast coastal patrol boat ⇒ a coastguard cutter.

A clipper^[5] (also clippers) is an instrument for cutting or trimming small pieces off things ⇒ (i) a nail clipper; (ii) a set of hair clippers. 

Scratching the Surface
In the surface reading, clipper[5] refers to a fast sailing ship, especially one of 19th-century design with concave bows and raked masts ⇒ the Cutty Sark, a tea clipper built in 1869.

13d   Faux pas /made by/ enfant terrible blowing top (5)

An enfant terrible^[5] (French, literally 'terrible child') is a person who behaves in an unconventional or controversial way ⇒ the enfant terrible of contemporary art.

A faux pas^[5] (French, literally 'false step') is an embarrassing or tactless act or remark in a social situation ⇒ ‘I was suddenly sick in the back of their car’—it was years before he could confess his faux pas to them.

15d   Count late manoeuvring /as/ revealing (8)

Tell^[3,5,11] is an archaic term meaning to enumerate or count (the members of a group) ⇒ (i) the shepherd had told all his sheep; (ii) telling one's blessings; (iii) 16 windows, all told. Tell^[10] can mean to count (votes), especially in a parliament.

Delving Deeper

It is this sense of the word "tell" that would seemingly give rise to the term teller*[5], a person employed to deal with customers' transactions in a bank [in other words, someone who counts money]. * The term teller (in the sense of a bank employee) is characterized by Oxford Dictionaries as being chiefly North American.[5] However, Collins English Dictionary makes no such claim, defining teller[10] as merely another name for a cashier[10] (also known as a bank clerk) — an employee of a bank responsible for receiving deposits, cashing cheques, and other financial transactions.

16d   Daughter put on excellent // meaty spread (8)

I have diffidently marked this clue as a cryptic definition as I am hesitant to declare "meaty spread" to be a precise definition.

Ripping^[5] is a dated informal British term meaning splendid or excellent ⇒ she's going to have a ripping time.

Dripping^[5] (US [& Canadian, I believe] drippings) is fat that has melted and dripped from roasting meat, used in cooking or eaten cold as a spread ⇒ bread and dripping.

17d   Barking canine with us, // a source of irritation (8)

As an anagram indicator, barking^[5] is used in an informal British sense meaning completely mad or demented ⇒ (i) we are all a bit barking; (ii) has she gone completely barking mad?.

18d   Primate/'s/ word of disapproval during Prohibition (6)

19d   Page about marvellous // small house (6)

"page" = P (show explanation )

The abbreviation for page is p^[5] ⇒ see p 784.

hide explanation

I have marked this as a cryptic definition as I believe that the word "small" in the definition may allude to the fact that the word "prefab" is a shortened form of "prefabricated" rather than that the house necessarily has to be small.

I also considered parsing the clue as:

• 19d   Page about marvellous small // house (6)

in which the wordplay would be P (page; abbrev.) + RE (about) + FAB (marvellous small; shortened form of fabulous)

21d   Sickness // in Ghana? Use antibiotics (6)

Scratching the Surface

Ghana[5] is a country of West Africa, with its southern coastline bordering on the Atlantic Ocean; population 23,887,800 (est. 2009); languages, English (official), West African languages; capital, Accra. Former name (until 1957) Gold Coast. Formerly a centre of the slave trade, the area became the British colony of Gold Coast in 1874. In 1957 it was the first British colony to gain independence as a member of the Commonwealth, under the leadership of Kwame Nkrumah.

23d   Half a century in Rome inhabiting big // residence (4)

Here and There

In Britain, the term flat[5] is used for what would be called an apartment[5] in North America. The term apartment is used in Britain, but seemingly in a more restricted sense than in North America  applying primarily to temporary or upscale accommodation. As Oxford Dictionaries puts it, an apartment[5] is: a British term for a flat, typically one that is well appointed or used for holidays ⇒ self-catering holiday apartments; or a North American term for any flat ⇒ the family lived in a rented apartment.

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