Thursday, July 6, 2017 — DT 28411

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28411
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, April 26, 2017
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28411]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By KiwiColin
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

Today's puzzle was an enjoyable romp — nothing to work up a serious sweat but hugely enjoyable.

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 (//).

Across

1a   Hard to accept end of summer, /causing/ depression (6)

4a   Contents of handbag has them // horrified (6)

8a   Festival // of flesh -- four must be eaten! (8)

10a   Films // like this will be/ rejected after struggle to accept daughter (6)

11a   Mark // left from short neckwear? (4)

12a   Revealed /to be/ signed up (10)

13a   Emotions /of/ this stranger in turmoil (12)

16a   Investment /leaving/ highlander so transformed? (12)

20a   Magic broomstick? (10)

I don't think that it is necessary to split the answer (5,5) as suggested by KiwiColin. Air Canada flies aircraft, NASA flies spacecraft, so I would expect coven members to fly witchcraft.

21a   Raised // dough with no advice, initially (4)

22a   One is kept in farm buildings /for/ kids (6)

Bairn^[5] is a chiefly Scottish and Northern English term for a child.

23a   See drain burst here if in car? (8)

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.

24a   Scrooge-like, ignoring core of all // unhappiness (6)

25a   Well up // in poetry? (6)

I have marked this clue somewhat differently than did KiwiColin. I would say that the first definition is merely "well up" (if you are "well up" in a subject, you are "versed" in it). I also see the latter part of the clue as a second definition, "in poetry" meaning "versed".

Down

1d   Parts /of/ American farms subject to start of tenancy (8)

Whereas "subject to" means 'under' and this is a down clue, the wordplay is RANCHES (American farms) under (subject to) T {the first letter (start) of Tenancy}.

From a British perspective, a ranch^[5] is a large farm, especially in North America or Australia, where cattle or other animals are bred.

I think one might get some pushback from ranchers hearing their spreads referred to as farms.

2d   Fellow nervously accommodating // person with title deed (5)

3d   Good cookers will incorporate right // controls (7)

"good" = G (show explanation )

The abbreviation G^[10] for good likely relates to its use in grading school assignments or tests.

hide explanation

Cooker is a British term for a stove used for cooking food. The definitions provided by Chambers 21st Century Dictionary and Collins English Dictionary indicate that the term cooker^[2,10] applies to any stove used for this purpose, including those heated by gas, electricity, oil, or solid fuel. On the other hand, Oxford Dictionaries restricts the term cooker^[5] to only stoves powered by gas or electricity.

5d   Admits defeat /but/ survives, leaderless, in spirit (5,2)

6d   Directed // commercial in costume? (9)

Directed as in ⇒ the speaker directed his remarks to the new graduates.

7d   Drier across river -- // this is needed by a gardener (6)

What did he say?

In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, KiwiColin writes that we need the drier that is an essential possession for Galactic Hitchhikers. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy[7] is a comedy science fiction series created by English author Douglas Adams (1952–2001). Originally a radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1978, it was later adapted to other formats, including stage shows, novels, comic books, a 1981 TV series, a 1984 computer game, and 2005 feature film. A prominent series in British popular culture, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has become an international multi-media phenomenon; the novels are the most widely distributed, having been translated into more than 30 languages by 2005. The broad narrative follows the misadventures of the last surviving man, Arthur Dent, following the demolition of the planet Earth by a Vogon constructor fleet to make way for a hyperspace bypass. Dent is rescued from Earth's destruction by Ford Prefect, a human-like alien writer for the eccentric, electronic travel guide The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by hitchhiking onto a passing Vogon spacecraft. Following his rescue, Dent explores the galaxy with Prefect and encounters Trillian, another human that had been taken from Earth prior to its destruction by the President of the Galaxy, the two-headed Zaphod Beeblebrox, and the depressed Marvin, the Paranoid Android. According to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a towel "is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have". The importance of the towel was introduced in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy original radio series in 1978. The follow-up book explained the importance of towels[7] in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy universe in Chapter 3, using much of the same wording as the original radio series. Towel Day[7] is celebrated every year on 25 May as a tribute to the author Douglas Adams by his fans. On this day, fans openly carry a towel with them, as described in Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy or share their folded animal towels to demonstrate their appreciation for the books and the author. The commemoration was first held 25 May 2001, two weeks after Adams' death on 11 May.

9d   Remained confused after supporter/'s/ skilful deception (11)

14d   Others curse where there's a late change, /getting/ such treatments (4,5)

A rest cure^[10] is a rest taken as part of a course of medical treatment, as for stress, anxiety, etc.

15d   Designated // home care for needy oddly cancelled (8)

17d   Prosecutor/'s/ bill underwritten by Conservative employer (7)

The word "underwritten" is used by the setter to indicate 'written below' (i.e., after in a down clue).

"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

18d   Dated fashion // shock (7)

19d   Win over // new barmaids, not given first degree (6)

Hats off to KiwiColin who recognized that "The word barmaids contains two arts degrees ..."which explains why Jay —  ever meticulous in his cluing — carefully specifies that we are to remove the first one.

21d   Last of granite laid in deep // foundations (5)

KiwiColin's hint would be more precise were it to read, "The final letter of granite is placed inside [an adjective describing] a deep singing voice".

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