Thursday, September 14, 2017 — DT 28461

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28461
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, June 23, 2017
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28461]
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

Today's puzzle from Giovanni is a pangram — a puzzle in which every letter of the alphabet appears at least once in the solutions. For once, I actually recognized it as such.

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   Element // opposing this person's carrying on (8)

"this person's" = MY (show explanation )

It is a common cryptic crossword convention for the creator of the puzzle to use terms such as (the or this) compiler, (the or this) setter, (this) author, (this) writer, or this person to refer to himself or herself. To solve such a clue, one must generally substitute a first person pronoun (I or me) for whichever of these terms has been used in the clue.

Today, the setter has made the scenario slightly more complicated by making "this person" possessive producing "this person's" which must be replaced by "my".

hide explanation

5a   Hit squashes a // big stomach (6)

9a   King getting happiness /in/ telling of story (8)

"king" = R (show explanation )

In the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms^*, Rex^[5] (abbreviation R^[5]) [Latin for king] denotes the reigning king, used following a name (e.g. Georgius Rex, King George — often shortened to GR) or in the titles of lawsuits (e.g. Rex v. Jones, the Crown versus Jones — often shortened to R. v. Jones).

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^* A Commonwealth realm^[7] is a sovereign state that is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and shares the same person, currently Elizabeth II, as its head of state and reigning constitutional monarch, but retains a crown legally distinct from the other realms. There are currently sixteen Commonwealth realms, the largest being Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom with the remainder being smaller Caribbean and Pacific island nations.

hide explanation

10a   Attack // one hitting nail on the head? (6)

12a   Article produced by diocese /making one/ boil (6)

A diocese^[5] is a district under the pastoral care of a bishop in the Christian Church — or, more precisely, episcopal churches.

A see^[10] is the diocese of a bishop, or the place within it where his cathedral or procathedral is situated.

13a   Sets of flags /showing/ birds (8)

Here and There

European and American buntings are quite different birds as the name bunting can refer to: numerous species of Old World seed-eating songbirds related to the finches, typically having brown streaked plumage and a boldly marked head several species of small New World songbirds of the cardinal subfamily, the male of which is mainly or partly bright blue in colour In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, pommers shows a Painted Bunting which is a New World bunting.

15a   Factory // discovered by railway (7)

16a   It contributes to nasty eye (4)

20a   One of four on board /is/ cheat (4)

21a   Projecting structures /needing/ black strings? (7)

25a   Words at bottom of page /giving/ business information (8)

26a   Be delayed after setback of one country /or/ another (6)

The implied definition is "another [country]".

28a   Hesitation about a fellow Nato country, // in truth (6)

29a   PM /given/ brief line in new collection of diaries (8)

Benjamin Disraeli^[5], 1st Earl of Beaconsfield (1804–1881) was a British Conservative statesman; Prime Minister 1868 and 1874–80. He was largely responsible for the introduction of the second Reform Act (1867). He also ensured that Britain bought a controlling interest in the Suez Canal (1875) and made Queen Victoria Empress of India.

30a   Like some lines // Dorothy sent to Edward (6)

31a   Plant // explorer found to east of isle (8)

Sir Francis Drake^[5] (circa 1540–1596) was an English sailor and explorer. He was the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe (1577–80), in his ship the Golden Hind. He played an important part in the defeat of the Spanish Armada.

The Isle of Man^[5] is an island in the Irish Sea which is a British Crown dependency having home rule, with its own legislature (the Tynwald) and judicial system.

Mandrake^[5] (Mandragora officinarum) is a Mediterranean plant  of the nightshade family, with a forked fleshy root which supposedly resembles the human form and which was formerly used in herbal medicine and magic; it was alleged to shriek when pulled from the ground.

Down

1d   What this answer isn't -- // a sign of something wrong? (6)

2d   Inclined /to be/ formal in speech, no leader (6)

3d   Strikers may be in this // seated enclosure after game (8)

Striker is a whimsical term for a match.

Scratching the Surface
In soccer [football to the Brits], striker[10] is an informal term for an attacking player, especially one who generally positions himself or herself near the opponent's goal in the hope of scoring.

4d   Lack of approval /for/ sheltered space (4)

6d   Changes // notices to include a small point (6)

7d   Put up // brief observation about mother keeping home (8)

8d   Firm endlessly dealt with idiots -- // troubles at a personal level? (8)

11d   Queen to make a speech, // having sufficient number in attendance (7)

"queen" = QU (show explanation )

Queen may be abbreviated as Q, Qu. or R.

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

Qu.^[2] is another common abbreviation for Queen.

In the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms^*, Regina^[5] (abbreviation R^[5]) [Latin for queen] denotes the reigning queen, used following a name (e.g. Elizabetha Regina, Queen Elizabeth) or in the titles of lawsuits (e.g. Regina v. Jones, the Crown versus Jones — often shortened to R. v. Jones).

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^* A Commonwealth realm^[7] is a sovereign state that is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and shares the same person, currently Elizabeth II, as its head of state and reigning constitutional monarch, but retains a crown legally distinct from the other realms. There are currently sixteen Commonwealth realms, the largest being Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom with the remainder being smaller Caribbean and Pacific island nations.

Thus Queen Elizabeth signs her name as 'Elizabeth R' as seen here on Canada's paint-stained constitution.

hide explanation

14d   One expecting a blessing after expulsion? (7)

17d   Container of a certain colour // with big dents (8)

18d   Cook /using/ unusual root in days gone by (3-5)

19d   Introduction of rule queried, dubiously // mandatory (8)

22d   Footballer // somewhere in India has story (6)

Goa^[5] is a state on the west coast of India; capital, Panaji. Formerly a Portuguese territory, it was seized by India in 1961. It formed a Union Territory with Daman and Diu until 1987, when it was made a state.

A footballer, of course, is a soccer player.

23d   Picture-taker // arrived, distinguished academician (6)

"distinguished academician" = RA (show explanation )

A Royal Academician (abbreviation RA^[10]) is a member of the Royal Academy of Arts^[5] (also Royal Academy; abbreviation also RA^[10]), an institution established in London in 1768, whose purpose is to cultivate painting, sculpture, and architecture in Britain. 

hide explanation

24d   Conflict -- // condition requiring street soldiers around (6)

"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

27d   A lass left out, upset /in/ foreign capital (4)

Riga^[5] is a port on the Baltic Sea, capital of Latvia; population 722,000 (est. 2007).

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