Monday, July 10, 2017 — DT 28413 (Published on Saturday, July 8, 2017)

Prologue

The National Post — as has been its practice between Canada Day and Labour Day for several years — is currently producing a print edition only from Tuesday through Saturday. Moreover, the paper has announced that it will henceforth adhere to this schedule year-round, eliminating the Monday print edition entirely. However, unlike in past years, the National Post will produce an ePaper edition on Monday. The ePaper edition is available free-of-charge to subscribers to the print edition.

I had anticipated this to mean that the Cryptic Crossword would be available on Mondays in the ePaper edition. However, the National Post has decided to follow a different approach. It is publishing the Monday puzzle on a second Diversions page in the Saturday edition of the paper.

I must admit that I only became aware of the fact that the Monday puzzle is being printed in the Saturday paper through comments on the blog yesterday. On the mistaken believe that the National Post was skipping these puzzles entirely, I have been composing the Monday blog in the form of a "Bonus Puzzle".

Here is today's Bonus Puzzle, DT 28413.

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28413
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, April 28, 2017
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28413]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Deep Threat
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 second Diversions page in the Saturday, July 8, 2017 edition of the National Post.

Introduction

Today's puzzle provides a very gentle workout — in fact, remarkably easy considering that it is a Giovanni 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   Ref's glared, out /to show/ a sort of pride (4-6)

6a   Almost disdain // an incentive (4)

9a   Gate // at social function letting number in (10)

10a   Soon /to get/ a refusal from Paris? (4)

The French word for 'no' is non^[8].

13a   Deceived // daughter escaped cunningly (7)

15a   US author /in/ nasty situation meeting our Queen (6)

"our Queen" = ER (show explanation )

The regnal ciphers (monograms) of British monarchs are initials formed from the Latin version of their first name followed by either Rex or Regina (Latin for king or queen, respectively). Thus, the regnal cipher of Queen Elizabeth is ER^[5] — from the Latin Elizabetha Regina.

hide explanation

Joseph Heller^[5] (1923–1999) was an American novelist. His experiences in the US air force during the Second World War inspired his best-known novel Catch-22 (1961), an absurdist black comedy satirizing war and the source of the expression ‘catch-22’ [which must surely qualify as a 'nasty situation'].

16a   Show // company beginning to move after rest (6)

17a   Ill health's so sad, invalid /being/ extremely ancient (2,3,2,3,5)

18a   Old knight /and/ fighting men about to disembark (6)

Roland^[5] was the famous of Charlemagne's paladins^*, hero of the Chanson de Roland (12th century). He is said to have become a friend of Oliver, another paladin, after engaging him in single combat in which neither won. Roland was killed at the Battle of Roncesvalles^**.

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^* A paladin was any of the twelve peers of Charlemagne's court, of whom the Count Palatine was the chief. The term came to mean a knight renowned for heroism and chivalry.
^** A battle which took place in 778 at a mountain pass in the Pyrenees, near the village of Roncesvalles in northern Spain. The rearguard of Charlemagne's army was attacked by the Basques and massacred.

20a   Awful blunder, side having dropped off // package (6)

21a   Some French group eating first bit of rice // pudding? (7)

In French, des^[8] is a partitive article meaning 'some'.

Here and There
Whereas in North America, the term pudding[5] denotes specifically a dessert with a soft or creamy consistency, in Britain the term pudding refers to either: a cooked sweet dish served after the main course of a meal; or  the dessert course of a meal ⇒ what’s for pudding?. The terms dessert and pudding are synonymous in Britain and the response to What’s for pudding? could well be Apple pie.

22a   About time // to shut up (4)

25a   I urge mater to sort out // Daisy maybe (10)

Marguerite^[5] is another term for ox-eye daisy (also known as common daisy or — as I would refer to it — as simply daisy).

26a   Piece of wood /in/ panel at home (4)

27a   Work with newspaper folk I have /found to be/ burdensome (10)

"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

Mater^[5] [Latin for 'mother'] is a dated, informal British term for mother ⇒ the mater has kept on the house in London.

Down

1d   Close off // an animal (4)

2d   Departed // well into the night (4)

3d   One on errand /for/ a strip of cloth (6)

4d   What could upset gut as a rule -- grand // stuff full of sweetness (10,5)

5d   Officer ultimately in charge of the fellow's // wealth (6)

"in charge of" = IC (show explanation )

The abbreviation i/c^[5] can be short for either:

1. (especially in military contexts) in charge of ⇒ the Quartermaster General is i/c rations; or
2. in command ⇒ 2 i/c = second in command.

hide explanation

7d   Dispel a pain with a cold // drink (4,6)

8d   See me starring with a whip? (10)

I solved this based on the definition with the help of the checking letters and failed to see the anagram.

I would call this a semi-all-in-one clue as the word "see" does not appear to factor into the wordplay.

11d   The Conservative in a court case // full of drama (10)

"Conservative" = C (show explanation )

The abbreviation for Conservative may be either C.^[10] or Con.^[10].

A Tory^[10] is a member or supporter of the Conservative Party in Great Britain or Canada.

Historically, a Tory^[10] was a member of the English political party that opposed the exclusion of James, Duke of York from the royal succession (1679–80). Tory remained the label for subsequent major conservative interests until they gave birth to the Conservative Party in the 1830s.

The Conservative Party^[5] is a a major British political party that emerged from the old Tory Party under Sir Robert Peel in the 1830s and 1840s. Since the Second World War, it has been in power 1951–64, 1970-74, and 1979–97. It governed in a coalition with the Liberal Democrats from 2010 until the general election of May 2015, in which it was returned with a majority.

hide explanation

12d   Female toilets please greatly with energy-saving // form of illumination (10)

Loo^[5] is an informal British term for a toilet.

"energy" = E (show explanation )

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

hide explanation

13d   What may be demanded when maiden leaves, // going nowhere (4-3)

"maiden"  = M (show explanation )

In cricket, a maiden^[5], also known as a maiden over and denoted on cricket scorecards by the abbreviation m.^[10], is an over^* in which no runs are scored.

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^* An over^[5] is a division of play consisting of a sequence of six balls bowled by a bowler from one end of the pitch, after which another bowler takes over from the other end.

hide explanation

14d   This person had set up round of drinks /to get/ deal (4,3)

"this person had" = ID (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 "this person" with the verb "to have" producing "this person had" which must be replaced by "I'd" (a contraction of "I had").

hide explanation

(One's) shout^[5] is an informal British term denoting one's turn to buy a round of drinks ⇒ Do you want another drink? My shout.

19d   Leave // in the morning quietly after month (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

20d   Instructions /for/ what to wear when it's too hot for long johns? (6)

23d   One not very bright turned up /in/ a sort of skirt (4)

24d   Lot heard /making/ summer celebration (4)

Fete^[5] (also fête) is a British term for a public function, typically held outdoors and organized to raise funds for a charity, including entertainment and the sale of goods and refreshments ⇒ a church fete.

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