Wednesday, July 5, 2017 — DT 28410

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28410
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, April 25, 2017
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28410]
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

Introduction

I needed the most gentle of nudges from my electronic assistants to complete this puzzle. It was the "old girl" at 16d who was blocking my progress. Once she was identified, the intersecting "Scottish sports centre" was easily deciphered from the wordplay.

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   Two teams divided /or/ together? (4,2,4)

Side^[5] is a British term for a sports team ⇒ there was a mixture of old and young players in^* their side.

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^* Note that, in Britain, a player is "in a side" rather than "on a team" as one would say in North America.

In North America, the term side^[3] is used in a very general fashion that can denote one of two or more opposing individuals, groups, teams, or sets of opinions. While this same general usage would seem to exist as well in the UK, the term side^[5] is also used there in a much more specific sense to mean a sports team, as we can clearly see from the following usage examples ⇒ (i) Previous England rugby sides, and England teams in many other sports, would have crumbled under the weight of such errors.; (ii) They'll face better sides than this Monaco team, but you can only beat what's put in front of you.

6a   Primate playing host to southern // sector of Church (4)

9a   Plants /from/ cold climates initially bedded in at one (5)

10a   Male hanging round mine /for/ festival (5,4)

12a   Cheerful // kind, wearing trendy shades (2,4,7)

Shade^[5] is used in a literary sense meaning a ghost ⇒ the ghost is the shade of Lucy Walters, first mistress of Charles II.

14a   Carpentry tool // one wants, badly (5,3)

15a   Star/'s/ black eye? (6)

17a   King careless concerning // warning device (6)

"king" = K (show explanation )

K^[5] is an abbreviation for king that is used especially in describing play in card games and recording moves in chess.

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19a   Compete in a further // sports centre in Scotland (8)

Aviemore^[7] is a town and tourist resort, situated within the Cairngorms National Park in the Highlands of Scotland. The town is popular for skiing and other winter sports, and for hill-walking in the Cairngorm Mountains.

21a   Having amorous affairs /is/ what 24's hubby enjoys? (7,6)

The numeral "24" is a cross reference indicator directing the solver to insert the solution to clue 24a 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.

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^* light-coloured cell in the grid

24a   Her man on a course? Most of the time, it seems! (4,5)

25a   Freeloader /given/ shelter by church (5)

26a   Starts to see inconsistencies throughout elaborate // plot (4)

27a   Many a cartoon strip is so // extremely silly -- shown one I overlooked (10)

Down

1d   Discharge // rifle (4)

2d   Speech /in/ the novel beginning differently (7)

3d   Put the spotlight on // British rowing -- invite changes (5,4,4)

4d   A lot must, surprisingly /revealing/ all? (3,5)

5d   Shoots // game (5)

7d   Left one on // allotment (7)

Scratching the Surface
Allotment[5]may be used in  a British sense of a plot of land rented by an individual for growing vegetables or flowers. This term is also used in Canada — at least in Ottawa — although one would be more apt to hear it referred to here by the full version of the name, allotment garden[7].

8d   Simple way /to achieve/ financial security (4,6)

11d   Woman and husband with historical object being shown round bar /in/ country, unofficially (5,8)

Politically, the island of Ireland^[7] is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially named Ireland), which covers five-sixths of the island, and Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, in the northeast of the island.

13d   GP, too, seeks out // village near Slough (5,5)

Slough^[7] (rhymes with plough) is a large town in Berkshire, England, 20 miles (32 km) west of central London.

Stoke Poges^[7] is a village in Buckinghamshire, England. It is centred approximately three miles north of Slough.

16d   Unnerved /seeing/ old girl take the plunge (8)

18d   Unscrupulous type /in/ area instructed sailor to come over (1,3,3)

"sailor" = AB (show explanation )

In the Royal Navy, according to Oxford Dictionaries, able seaman^[5] (abbreviation AB^[5]), is a rank of sailor above ordinary seaman and below leading seaman. On the other hand, Collins English Dictionary tells us that an able seaman^[10] (also called able-bodied seaman) is an ordinary seaman, especially one in the merchant navy, who has been trained in certain skills.

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20d   Daughter coming in to mend broken // bit (7)

22d   Dizzy, // theologian being held by foreign soldier close to sacristy (5)

"theologian" = DD (show explanation )

Doctor of Divinity^[7] (abbreviation D.D. or DD, Divinitatis Doctor in Latin) is an advanced academic degree in divinity.

Historically, the degree of Doctor of Divinity identified one who had been licensed by a university to teach Christian theology or related religious subjects. In the United Kingdom, Doctor of Divinity has traditionally been the highest doctorate granted by universities, usually conferred upon a religious scholar of standing and distinction. In the United States, the Doctor of Divinity is usually awarded as an honorary degree.

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"foreign soldier" = GI (show explanation )

A GI^[5] is a private soldier in the US army ⇒ she went off with a GI during the war.

Contrary to popular belief, the term apparently is not an abbreviation for general infantryman, but rather derives from the term government (or general) issue (originally denoting equipment supplied to US forces).

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23d   The woman duke // got rid of (4)

"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^*.

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^* 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.

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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