Friday, September 22, 2017 — DT 28467

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28467
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, June 30, 2017
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28467]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By pommers
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

We wrap up the week with this relatively gentle offering 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 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   State of dissolution // in which things get very hot (7,3)

I like this clue very much and I had no difficulty solving it. However, it did give me pause when I came to write the review.

After some reflection, I have concluded that this is a double definition with the second definition slightly on the cryptic side, it being an allusion to a melting pot^[5] which is a pot in which metals or other materials are melted and mixed.

In the first definition, I believe that dissolution^[10] is used in the sense of the act of dissolving; the resolution or separation into component parts; disintegration; destruction by breaking up and dispersing.

I would say that "state of dissolution" may be a rather incomplete analogue for melting pot^[5] which is a figurative description of a place where different peoples, styles, theories, etc. are mixed together ⇒ Toronto is a melting pot of different cultures. Dissolution refers only to the breakdown of the original cultures but not to the subsequent fusion between the elements of those cultures that is the essence of the 'melting pot'.

Scratching the Surface
In the surface reading, dissolution[5] is intended to be seen as meaning debauched living or dissipation ⇒ an advanced state of dissolution.

6a   More than one great performer // hurts when losing heart (4)

10a   Social ritual // embraced by weird ancestors (5)

11a   I got tools out /as/ investigator of organ (9)

12a   To-do /gets/ prisoner 'enry being locked up (5-2)

If an H is dropped in the clue, then an H must also be dropped in the solution.

Harry was considered the "spoken form" of Henry^[7] in medieval England. Most English kings named Henry were called Harry. At one time, the name was so popular for English men that the phrase "Tom, Dick, and Harry" was used to refer to everyone.

This is one of those clues where the wordplay must be broken up to form a list of instructions, in this case "[Step 1] prisoner; [Step 2] 'enry being locked up". At each step, one must apply the instruction to the result of the preceding step. The result of Step 1 is CON (prisoner). At Step 2, we insert (lock up) ARRY ('enry) in the result from Step 1 to get C(ARRY) ON.

Here and There
Carry-on[10] (noun) is an informal British term for a fuss or commotion ⇒ (i) What a carry-on!; (ii) Nobody imagined this carry-on in the Gulf; (iii) With all the carry-on you couldn't blame the man for wishing he was miles away. [not to be confused with the phrasal verb carry on[5]] In North America, we would say carrying-on[6] rather than carry-on ⇒ I'm fed up with your incessant carrying-on.

A Whole New Perspective
I was not familiar with this British use of carry-on as a noun. However, I now wonder if there is an allusion to this usage in the titles of the long-running series of British Carry On ... films. Although the film titles use the phrasal verb Carry On, there is certainly a lot of carry-on taking place in the films.

13a   Ottoman ruler given a // bit of food /for/ his wife? (7)

This is a double definition with wordplay.

A sultan^[10] is the sovereign of a Muslim country, especially of the former Ottoman Empire.

Sultana^[5] is a British^* name for a small, light brown, seedless raisin used in foods such as puddings and cakes.

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^* despite being characterized as British by Oxford Dictionaries, the term sultana^[3] is certainly in common usage in North America

A sultana^[5] is a wife or concubine of a sultan.

14a   Cast doubt on earliest gospel? /What is/ the point // ? (8,4)

Following on the heels of one double definition with wordplay, might this be yet another? I have marked it in this manner, although it may not have been intended as such. In fact, there is even a second question mark in the clue that I might have marked — but that seemed a bit extreme!

The Gospel According to Mark^[7] is the second book of the New Testament and one of the four canonical gospels contained therein.

Traditionally thought to be an epitome (summary) of Matthew, which accounts for its place as the second gospel in the Bible, most scholars now regard it as the earliest of the gospels, dating from c. AD 66–70. Most scholars also reject ["cast doubt on"] the tradition which ascribes it to Mark the Evangelist, the companion of Peter, and regard it as the work of an unknown author.

18a   Police tag's so unreliable /for/ one managing to break free (12)

21a   English politician to go wrong entertaining old // ruler (7)

23a   Unfortunately inadequate couple of arts graduates /in/ a state (7)

24a   TV presenter /shows/ a knight meeting monarch getting excited (9)

"knight" = N (show explanation )

A knight^[5] is a chess piece, typically with its top shaped like a horse’s head, that moves by jumping to the opposite corner of a rectangle two squares by three. Each player starts the game with two knights.

N^[5] is the abbreviation for knight used in recording moves in chess [representing the pronunciation of kn-, since the initial letter k- represents 'king'].

As an aside, it is interesting to note that the Chambers 21st Century Dictionary defines: 

• K^[2] as an abbreviation used in chess for knight. 
• K^[2] is a symbol used in chess to represent a king. 
• N^[2] is a symbol used in chess to represent a knight.

The dictionary fails to specify how one differentiates an abbreviation from a symbol.

On the other hand, both The Chambers Dictionary and the Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary list K or K.^[1,11] as an abbreviation for knight without specifying the specific context in which this abbreviation is used. However, the context may well be in an honours list rather than in a game of chess. In the UK, for instance, KBE^[5] stands for Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

hide explanation

25a   I had the thing to capture old // fool (5)

26a   Match // that might expose inadequacies (4)

Contrary to pommers, I see this as a double definition. A test is something that is specifically designed to expose inadequacies.

Test^[5] (short for Test match)^[5] denotes an international cricket or rugby match, typically one of a series, played between teams representing two different countries ⇒ the Test match between Pakistan and the West Indies.

27a   Married woman may keep it -- /and/ demean man, I fancy (6,4)

Down

1d   /As/ one dealing with people not well, // I'd come out (6)

The setter has chosen to use an inverted sentence structure causing the link word "as" to be positioned at the beginning of the clue rather than in its customary position in the middle.

Medico^[3,5] is an informal term for a medical practitioner or student [apparently on both sides of the pond].

2d   Inner protections /for/ ships (6)

3d   A purer boy doing wrong /offers/ an apology (1,3,4,6)

4d   Weed // crushed under logs (9)

Groundsel^[5] is the common name for several species of widely distributed plant of the daisy family, with yellow rayless flowers, in particular the common groundsel (Senecio vulgaris), which is a common weed.

5d   Tramps heading off -- // they make a musical sound (5)

What did he say?
In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, pommers refers to tramps, possibly of American origin. From a British perspective, hobo[5] is a North American term for a homeless person; a tramp or vagrant.

7d   Country fellow /providing/ delivery on cricket field (8)

In cricket, a Chinaman^[5] is a ball that spins from off (show explanation ) to leg (show explanation ), bowled by a left-handed bowler to a right-handed batsman.

Off^[5] (also called off side) denotes the half of the field (as divided lengthways through the pitch) towards which the batsman's feet are pointed when standing to receive the ball.

Leg^[5] (also called leg side) denotes the half of the field (as divided lengthways through the pitch) away from which the batsman’s feet are pointed when standing to receive the ball. Leg is also known as on^[5] (or on side).

hide explanation

8d   Disappointments /with/ groups needing inner support (8)

9d   A building in which political opponents will get cross more than once (7,7)

15d   Well-established // home, crumbling, finally came down (9)

16d   Material // engineers brought to Mediterranean area (8)

"engineers | soldiers" = RE (show explanation )

The Corps of Royal Engineers^[7], usually just called the Royal Engineers (abbreviation RE), and commonly known as the Sappers^[7], is a corps of the British Army that provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces.

hide explanation

Levant^[5] an archaic name for the eastern part of the Mediterranean with its islands and neighbouring countries.

17d   One getting cold with little energy chooses // items for mountaineering (3,5)

19d   River goes into sea, a // place where yachts are seen (6)

The main^[5] is an archaic or literary term for the open ocean.

What did he say?

In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, pommers writes Take a word for sea, the Spanish one .... The Spanish Main[5] is the former name for the north coast of South America between the Orinoco River and Panama and adjoining parts of the Caribbean Sea when they were under Spanish control. Note that the term Spanish Main refers not only toa portion of the Caribbean Sea but also to the coastal areas bordering it.

20d   Abstainer surrounded by British booze? /It's/ a struggle! (6)

"abstainer" = TT (show explanation )

Teetotal^[5] (abbreviation TT^[5]) means choosing or characterized by abstinence from alcohol ⇒ a teetotal lifestyle.

A teetotaller^[5] (US teetotaler; abbreviation TT^[5]) is a person who never drinks alcohol.

The term teetotal is an emphatic extension of total, apparently first used by Richard Turner, a worker from Preston [England], in a speech (1833) urging total abstinence from all alcohol, rather than mere abstinence from spirits, as advocated by some early temperance reformers.

hide explanation

22d   Graduate has drink before // 10 (5)

The numeral "10" is a cross reference indicator directing the solver to insert the solution to clue 10a 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

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