Friday, July 14, 2017 — DT 28417

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28417
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, May 3, 2017
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28417]
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

As expected, we are blessed with a highly enjoyable offering from Jay today.

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   Sort of loaf around quietly -- /and get/ married (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

5a   Inspiration found in most of top // puzzles (7)

A muse^[5] is a person or personified force who is the source of inspiration for a creative artist.

Delving Deeper

In Greek and Roman mythology, the Muses[5] are the nine goddesses, the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, who preside over the arts and sciences. The Muses are generally listed as Calliope (epic poetry), Clio (history), Euterpe (flute playing and lyric poetry), Terpsichore (choral dancing and song), Erato (lyre playing and lyric poetry), Melpomene (tragedy), Thalia (comedy and light verse), Polyhymnia (hymns, and later mime), and Urania (astronomy).

9a   Flier /seen as/ headless chicken (5)

10a   Handling // speech about evacuation of Prague (9)

11a   Rest, /seeing/ two score 1,000 in victories (5,5)

12a   Football team ultimately lacking // incentive (4)

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club^[7] commonly referred to as the Spurs, is an English professional football [soccer] club located in Tottenham, London, that plays in the Premier League (the top level in the English football league system).

14a   Poet's trembling after damn lad // loses cool (5,4,3)

Blow^[5] is a British euphemism for damn ⇒ (i) ‘Well, blow me’, he said, ‘I never knew that.’; (ii) I'm blowed if I want to see him again.

18a   Mechanic/'s/ musical brother with the old-fashioned backing (6,6)

Grease^[7] is a 1978 American musical romantic comedy film based on the1971 musical of the same name about two lovers in a 1950s high school. The film stars John Travolta and  Olivia Newton-John.

21a   Tropical plant /depicted by/ fine artist (4)

"artist" = RA (show explanation )

A Royal Academician (abbreviation RA^[10]) is a member of the Royal Academy of Arts^[5] (also Royal Academy; abbreviation also RA^[10]), an institution established in London in 1768, whose purpose is to cultivate painting, sculpture, and architecture in Britain. 

hide explanation

Okra^[5] is a plant of the mallow family with long ridged seed pods, native to the Old World tropics. The immature seed pods are eaten as a vegetable.

22a   Speak sharply, confronting monster // one's found in the garden (10)

25a   Precedents /set in/ cricket trials? (4,5)

The wordplay (as confirmed by the setter in a response to Comment #3 on Big Dave's Crossword Blog) is a simple charade of TEST (cricket) + CASES (trials). The words "set in" merely constitute a link phrase between the definition and wordplay.

I will confess that I attempted to parse the clue as:

• Precedents // set in cricket trials? (4,5)

with the wordplay being CASE (set) contained in (in) TESTS (cricket trials). I see from the thread originating from Comment #3 on Big Dave's Crossword Blog that I am not alone in pursuing this approach. Both components of this parsing (CASE = "set" and TESTS = "cricket trials") are admittedly a bit of a stretch.

26a   Showing a tendency /to be/ lying (5)

This is one way of lying; another would be supine.

27a   Insensitive // Opposition leader with American chasing visit (7)

28a   Disgusting // display following outside broadcast (7)

Outside broadcast^[5] (abbreviation OB^[5]) is a British term for a radio or television programme that is recorded or broadcast live on location and not in a studio ⇒ outside broadcast units.

Down

1d   Plan faster // attack from the air (6)

2d   Left one extremely // irritable (6)

Livery^[10] is another word for liverish^[10] which means disagreeable or peevish.

3d   Scold fans rioting about end of fancy // sugar (10)

Candyfloss consists of spun sugar^[5].

4d   Banned hot issue revealing // Indian attire (5)

A dhoti^[5] is a garment worn by male Hindus, consisting of a piece of material tied around the waist and extending to cover most of the legs.

5d   Analyse // sudden failure to work (9)

Contrary to what the 2Kiwis have indicated in their review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, I don't consider this to be a double definition as the solution would have to be numerated (5,4) if the definition were "analyse" (a verb). For this to be a double definition, the first definition would need to be analysis (a noun).

6d   Mare rears up, taking in energy // drink (4)

"energy" = E (show explanation )

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

hide explanation

7d   Bargains will include favourite // pieces (8)

Snip^[5,10] is a mainly British term for a surprisingly cheap item; in other words, a bargain ⇒ the wine is a snip at £3.65.

8d   Stars must welcome role turning up /in/ such hot spots (8)

Suntrap^[5] is a British term for a place sheltered from the wind and positioned to receive much sunshine ⇒ the pool is enclosed by the bungalows, palm trees, and bushes and is a real suntrap.

13d   Signals // get her pals to change (10)

15d   Chap is beset by troubles /and/ has casual affairs (9)

Chap^[3,4,11] is an informal British^[5] or chiefly British^[3] term for a man or boy (show explanation ) — although a term that is certainly commonly used in Canada.

Chap^[3,4,11] is a shortened form of chapman^[3,4,11], an archaic term for a trader, especially an itinerant pedlar^[a,b].

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^[a] Pedlar is the modern British spelling of peddler^[c] which, in most senses, is a US or old-fashioned British spelling. The exception is in the sense of a dealer in illegal drugs which the Brits spell as drug peddler.
^[b] The current meaning of chap^[2] dates from the 18th century. In the 16th century, chap meant 'a customer'. The dictionaries do not explain how a shortened form of 'chapman' (pedlar) came to mean 'customer'.
^[c] Collins COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary

hide explanation

16d   Carol upset during a nervous reaction? // Don't know (8)

17d   Voting system is set in genuine // retaliation (8)

Proportional representation^[5] (abbreviation PR) is an electoral system in which parties gain seats in proportion to the number of votes cast for them ⇒ PR has been a success in Germany.

19d   Resign or expect to take // cut (6)

Here, cut^[3] means to refuse to speak to or recognize (someone); in other words, to snub ⇒ cut me dead at the party.

20d   A former girlfriend's rumoured // extension (6)

23d   Bother! Last of tomato // sauce (5)

For cryptic purposes, bother^[11] is used as a noun in the sense of something or someone troublesome or burdensome.

Pesto^[10] is a sauce for pasta, consisting of basil leaves, pine nuts, garlic, oil, and Parmesan cheese, all crushed together.

24d   Trace // ring (4)

An echo^[10] is the the trace produced on a radar screen by the signal reflected from a radar target.

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