Friday, September 8, 2017 — DT 28457

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28457
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, June 19, 2017
Setter Rufus (Roger Squires)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28457]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Miffypops
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

Rufus is known as the master of the cryptic definition and his prowess in this area is certainly on full display today.

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   Academic // agitatedly cautioned a pupil (11)

9a   Price of progress /is/ not bad, we hear (4)

The definition relates to the price of making progress through the agency of a public transit vehicle.

10a   USS Washington? (7,4)

A capital ship^[5] is a large warship such as a battleship or aircraft carrier.

Since the founding of the United States, a fairly large number of ships have been given the name USS Washington^[7] — some named in honour of George Washington and some named in honour of the State of Washington. The most recent battleship to bear the name was launched in 1940, decommissioned in 1947, and scrapped in 1961. The current holder of the name is a submarine.

11a   Lied about /being/ out of work (4)

14a   Part that can't be matched? (7)

16a   Learner // of French taken in by showy performance (7)

"of French" = DE (show explanation )

In French, de^[8] is a preposition meaning 'of'' or 'from'.

hide explanation

17a   Unexpected advance, /getting/ girl's name? (5)

18a   A singular performance (4)

19a   Outright order /for/ a European banker (4)

Banker is a whimsical Crosswordland term for a river — something that has banks.

The Oder^[5] is a river of central Europe which rises in the mountains in the east of the Czech Republic and flows northwards through western Poland to meet the River Neisse, then continues northwards forming the northern part of the border between Poland and Germany before flowing into the Baltic Sea.

20a   Change /may be/ converted later (5)

22a   Reveal // model bodies? That's about right (7)

One could almost consider the entire clue to be the definition.

23a   Excused duty? (3-4)

24a   Part of an instrument // that naturally grows wet (4)

28a   Nap sack? (8,3)

29a   Lift // facility that's for the better (4)

The Tote (British trademark) is a system of betting based on the use of the totalizator, in which dividends are calculated according to the amount staked rather than odds offered ⇒ he has taken a risk with the tote.

30a   Such action, possibly violent, is not offensive (4-7)

Down

2d   Kent port // trade (4)

Deal^[7] is a town in Kent, England (population 30,085 at 2011 census) which lies on the English Channel, eight miles northeast of Dover. It is a former fishing, mining and garrison town. Close to Deal is Walmer, a possible location for Julius Caesar's first arrival in Britain. Deal became a 'limb port' of the Cinque Ports in 1278 and grew into the busiest port in England; today it is a seaside resort, its quaint streets and houses the only reminder of its history. The coast of France is approximately twenty-five miles from the town and is visible on clear days.

3d   One in jail -- // he killed his brother (4)

In the Bible, Cain^[5] is the eldest son of Adam and Eve and murderer of his brother Abel.

4d   Nature's resorts -- // they supply brewed drinks on tap (3,4)

5d   Expel // some notorious truants (4)

6d   We can do with it (7)

7d   Team captains who know the score (11)

8d   Same again? (6,5)

12d   Kind /of/ desecration that's seen around (11)

13d   Rises will secure unemployment benefit /for/ youngsters (11)

15d   Furniture // catalogue (5)

16d   Shelter in street /for/ wet weather (5)

20d   Free from // sailor's love in entanglement (7)

"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.

hide explanation

21d   I'm great playing // jazz (7)

Ragtime^[5] is a kind of music evolved by black American musicians in the 1890s and played especially on the piano, characterized by a syncopated melodic line and regularly accented accompaniment ⇒ ragtime piano classics.

25d   Quiet little imp /making/ filthy lucre (4)

"quiet" = 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

In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Miffypops points out that the "online version" is:

• Quiet little chap making filthy lucre (4)

Later, in a reply to Comment #6, he clarifies that by "online version" he means "The Telegraph Subscriptions" website (in other words, the electronic version of The Daily Telegraph). The puzzle would seem to appear on a variety of platforms in the UK — the print edition of the paper, the online edition of the paper, the Telegraph Puzzles website, as well as Apple and Android apps. It seems that there can be variations between the versions of the puzzle published on each of these platforms.

26d   /Though/ socially acceptable in time // it gives one the shivers! (4)

The setter has chosen to use an inverted sentence structure that places the "linkword" at the start of the clue rather than in the middle.

"socially acceptable" = U (show explanation )

In Britain, U^[5] is used informally as an adjective (in respect to language or social behaviour) meaning characteristic of or appropriate to the upper social classes ⇒ U manners.

The term, an abbreviation of  upper class, was coined in 1954 by Alan S. C. Ross, professor of linguistics, and popularized by its use in Nancy Mitford's Noblesse Oblige (1956).

In Crosswordland, the letter U is frequently clued by words denoting "characteristic of the upper class" (such as posh or superior) or "appropriate to the upper class" (such as acceptable). 

hide explanation

27d   Toiletry // obtained from capital chemists (4)

Scratching the Surface
In Britain, the term chemist[5] can mean a shop where medicinal drugs are dispensed and sold, and in which toiletries and other medical goods can be purchased ⇒ antihistamine tablets are freely available in chemists; or a person authorized to dispense medicinal drugs. In North America, the former would be known as a pharmacy or drug store and the latter as a pharmacist or druggist.

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