Monday, July 3, 2017 — DT 28408 (Published on Saturday, July 1, 2017)

Prologue

The National Post — as has been its practice between Canada Day and Labour Day for several years — is commencing a Tuesday through Saturday print publication schedule beginning today. Moreover, the paper has recently announced that it will adhere to this schedule year-round, eliminating the Monday print edition. However, unlike in past years, the National Post will produce an ePaper edition on Monday. Thus the Cryptic Crossword should be available on Mondays — albeit only online. Note that the ePaper edition is available free-of-charge to subscribers to the print edition.

This development came as a bit of a surprise to me. In anticipation of the National Post not publishing today, I had prepared this posting of DT 28408 as a Bonus Puzzle. As an added bonus, you will likely get two different versions of clue 22d — one in the version of the puzzle which appears in the ePaper edition of the National Post and a second in the version which I have provided.

Post Script: Subsequent to the appearance of this Blog posting, I discovered that the National Post is publishing the Monday puzzle in its Saturday edition.

Please note that this post was prepared in advance as I will be camping this weekend and may not have reliable Internet access.

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28408
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Saturday, April 22, 2017
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28408 – Hints] Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28408 – 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
This puzzle appears on the second Diversions page in the Saturday, July 1, 2017 edition of the National Post.
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

Today we are back to gentler fare following yesterday's challenging workout from Giovanni.

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   Chinese side /shows/ two simple gymnastic exercises (6,4)

6a   Repeat // section of the chorus (4)

10a   Just // offside? (5)

Offside^[5] (noun) is a British term for:

• the side of a vehicle furthest from the kerb [curb] (in Britain, the right) ⇒ the rear offside wheel; or
• the right side of a horse.

Delving Deeper

As one might expect, nearside[5] is a British term for the side of a vehicle nearest the kerb [curb] (in Britain, the left) ⇒ he veered to the nearside and crashed into a van. The terms "nearside" and "offside" appear to have been carried over from riding. I would presume that the original usage relates to the fact that riders mount and dismount from the left side of the horse, thus making the left the nearside and the right the offside — with offside being used in the sense of "far side" and not to signify the side on which one gets off or dismounts. Unless I am seriously misreading her statement, Merusa would appear to have reversed things in her contribution in the thread at Comment #9 on Big Dave's Crossword Blog.

11a   Frank scoffed /seeing/ would-be MP (9)

"member | Member of Parliament | politician" = MP (show explanation )

In Britain (as in Canada), a politician elected to the House of Commons is known as a Member of Parliament^[10] (abbreviation MP^[5]) or, informally, as a member^[5].

hide explanation

12a   Everyone will come into bonus /and/ get fat (7)

13a   Salesman commonly has not // put new gloss on (7)

14a   Revenue man // extorts -- panic could result (3,9)

Revenue^[5] (often the revenue) is the department of the civil service collecting state revenue ⇒ when the revenue makes a demand for tax, that demand is implicitly backed by the powers of the state.

Delving Deeper

Inland revenue[5] is a British term for public revenue consisting of income tax and some other direct taxes. In the UK, the government department responsible for assessing and collecting inland revenue was formerly known as the Inland Revenue. In April 2005, the Inland Revenue was merged with HM Customs and Excise to form HM Revenue and Customs. Colloquially, especially among those not in the youngest taxpaying bracket, 'Revenue and Customs' has not yet widely replaced the former name.[7]

In the UK, a tax inspector^[5] (another term for inspector of taxes) is an official responsible for assessing and collecting income tax and some other taxes.

18a   Getting better // beers around in religious institution (12)

21a   Gangster's starter replaced by first bit of local // seafood (7)

Scratching the Surface
In the surface reading, starter[5] is a chiefly British* term meaning the first course of a meal. * according to Oxford Dictionaries, British, but certainly a term that I would say is by no means foreign to Canada

23a   Learned without starting // to repeat (7)

24a   Where top golfers play // outside (2,3,4)

An open^[10] is a sports competition which anyone may enter. In golf, the four major championships for men^[7] are considered to be (in order of play date) the Masters Tournment, the U.S. Open, The Open Championship and the PGA Championship. The third of these events — the only one to be played outside the US — is known around the world as the British Open but in typical British fashion is known within the UK as simply The Open.

25a   Person honoured to be in newspaper boss/’s/ set (5)

MBE^[5] stands for Member of the Order of the British Empire.

Delving Deeper

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire[7] is the "order of chivalry of British democracy", rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations and public service outside the Civil Service. It was established in 1917 by King George V, and comprises five classes, in civil and military divisions, the most senior two of which make the recipient either a knight if male, or dame if female. There is also the related British Empire Medal, whose recipients are affiliated with, but not members of, the order. The classes are: Knight or Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE), Knight or Dame Commander (KBE/DBE), Commander (CBE), Officer (OBE), and Member (MBE). Appointments to the Order of the British Empire were at first made on the nomination of the self-governing Dominions of the Empire, the Viceroy of India, and the colonial governors, as well as on nominations from within the United Kingdom. As the Empire evolved into the Commonwealth, nominations continued to come from the Commonwealth realms, in which the monarch remained head of state. These overseas nominations have been discontinued in realms which have established their own Orders, such as the Order of Australia, the Order of Canada, and the New Zealand Order of Merit, but members of the Order are still appointed in the British Overseas Territories.

26a   Turn detective /and see/ Jupiter, Saturn and Mars, perhaps (4)

DS^[10] is the abbreviations for Detective Sergeant. Within the British police, sergeant^[7] is the first supervisory rank. Sergeant is senior to the rank of constable, and junior to inspector. Detective sergeants are equal in rank to their uniformed counterparts; only the prefix 'detective' identifies them as having completed at least one of the various detective training courses authorising them to conduct and/or manage investigations into serious and/or complex crime.

In Roman mythology, Jupiter^[5] (also called Jove) was the chief god of the Roman state religion, originally a sky god associated with thunder and lightning. His wife was Juno. The equivalent deity in Greek mythology is Zeus.

In Roman mythology, Saturn^[5] is an ancient god, regarded as a god of agriculture. The equivalent deity in Greek mythology is Cronus.

In Roman mythology, Mars^[5] is the god of war and the most important Roman god after Jupiter. The month of March is named after him. The equivalent deity in Greek mythology is Ares.

27a   Obstinately determined // the dragons must be beaten (10)

Down

1d   London prison // surgeon's outfit (6)

HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs^[7] (informally "The Scrubs") is a men's prison, located in the Wormwood Scrubs area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, in inner west London, England. The prison is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service.

2d   Entertain /using/ the Queen's English (6)

3d   Animal that none implicated /in/ patriotic song (8,6)

4d   Obscure // novel tried once (9)

5d   Queen Mary? // Nothing upset Her Majesty (5)

"Her Majesty" = 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

RMS^* Queen Mary^[7] is a retired ocean liner that sailed primarily on the North Atlantic Ocean from 1936 to 1967 for the Cunard Line (known as Cunard-White Star Line when the vessel entered service). Following her retirement from service as an ocean liner, the ship sailed to the port of Long Beach, California where she remains permanently moored and operates as a tourist attraction featuring restaurants, a museum and a hotel.

---

^*Royal Mail Ship

7d   Old racing cars // to crash -- I will be shattered (8)

8d   Open vessel // to capsize (8)

It would seem that gnomethang has either mistyped the solution or been the victim of auto-correction. The solution, of course, is OVERTURN as his explanation clearly indicates.

9d   Bank payment /for/ unsophisticated hobby? (6,8)

15d   Teen disco frenzied // in parts (9)

16d   Tell about bitter // rebuke (8)

17d   A bad tune played // with no less energy (8)

19d   Cane /makes/ graduate low after pinching book (6)

20d   Travels round coasts of Dominica upset // old sailor (3-3)

Scratching the Surface

Dominica[5] is a mountainous island in the Caribbean, the loftiest of the Lesser Antilles and the northernmost and largest of the Windward Islands; population 72,700 (est. 2009); languages, English (official), Creole; capital, Roseau. The island came into British possession at the end of the 18th century, becoming an independent republic within the Commonwealth in 1978. The island was named by Christopher Columbus, who discovered it on a Sunday (Latin dies dominica 'the Lord's day') in 1493.

22d (Print version)   Indian ready /with/ energy to follow rugby games (5)

Two versions of this clue appeared in the UK. The version above is from the print edition of The Daily Telegraph and is the version which I expect would have been published by the National Post. The version below is from the Telegraph Puzzles website and is the version which appears in the puzzle that I have provided to you.

• (Online version)   Indian ready /for/ rugby games heading east (5)

I parsed the clue slightly differently than did gnomethang. I saw the wordplay as {RU (rugby) + PE (games)} preceding (heading) E (east; abbrev.).

"rugby" = RU (show explanation )

Rugby union^[10] (abbreviation RU^[5]) is a form of rugby football played between teams of 15 players (in contrast to rugby league^[5], which is played in teams of thirteen).

 Rugby union^[7] is is the national sport in New Zealand, Wales, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and Madagascar.

hide explanation

PE^[5] is the abbreviation for physical education [or Phys Ed, as it was known in my school days]. This is the first time that I can recall seeing it clued as "games".

Ready^[5,10] or the ready^[10] (also called readies or the readies) is an informal British term for ready money^[5,10] (also called ready cash), funds for immediate use or, in other words, available money or cash.

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