Thursday, September 7, 2017 — DT 28456

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28456
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Saturday, June 17, 2017
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28456 – Hints] Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28456 – Review]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Big Dave (Hints) gnomethang (Review)
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
Notes
As this was a Saturday "Prize Puzzle" in Britain, there are two entries related to it on Big Dave's Crossword Blog — the first, posted on the date of publication, contains hints for selected clues while the second is a full review issued following the entry deadline for the contest. The vast majority of reader comments will generally be found attached to the "hints" posting with a minimal number — if any — accompanying the full review.

Introduction

This was a Saturday puzzle in Britain and it seemed to me to be a more enjoyable solve than I am accustomed to for puzzles appearing on that day. Comments on Big Dave's Crossword Blog would seem to support my impression.

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   Freshwater cod's not usually /found in/ this storage facility (5,2,7)

In a minor departure from what gnomethang has shown in his review, I've included the word "this" in the definition (after all, it has to go somewhere). Although clearly the word is present primarily to enhance the surface reading, I justify its inclusion in the definition as denoting that we need to identify a specific type of storage facility.

9a   Liking // song by writer (8)

The setter has almost certainly used "writer" in the sense of an implement used for writing. While North American dictionaries define pen^[3,11] as a writer or an author ⇒ a hired pen, British dictionaries do not list this meaning although they do show pen^[2,4] (or the pen^[5,10]) as symbolically denoting writing as an occupation.

10a   One artist on TV quiz show /is/ Arab (5)

"artist" = 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

QI^[7] (Quite Interesting) is a British comedy panel game television quiz show.

Delving Deeper

Most of the questions posed on QI are extremely obscure, making it unlikely that the correct answer will be given. To compensate, points are awarded not only for right answers, but also for interesting ones, regardless of whether they are right or even relate to the original question. Conversely, points are deducted from a panellist who gives "answers which are not only wrong, but pathetically obvious," typically answers that are generally believed to be true but in fact are misconceptions, or for obvious joke answers. These answers are known as forfeits, usually indicated by a loud siren, flashing lights, and the incorrect answer being displayed on screen. In addition, bonus points may be awarded or deducted for various challenges or incorrect references to a certain thing or place, varying from show to show.

12a   Foodstuff // farm animals finding no good (4)

13a   Finished being entertained by mischievous // beggar (10)

Beggar^[5] (verb) means to reduce (someone) to poverty ⇒ why should I beggar myself for you?.

15a   Male singer // with a single exception holds special attraction (8)

"It"^[7] (written in quotation marks) is a term that has come to mean sex appeal — although, in its earliest manifestation, it seems that the term pertained more to personality than to glamorous looks. Despite having been used as early as 1904 by Rudyard Kipling, the term was popularized  in the 1927 film It starring Clara Bow (who became known as the "It Girl").

16a   I'm surprised US soldiers /could be/ the Queen's companions? (6)

Cor^[5] is an informal British exclamation expressing surprise, excitement, admiration, or alarm ⇒ Cor! That‘s a beautiful black eye you’ve got!.

"US 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).

hide explanation

Princess Elizabeth (now Elizabeth II), age 10

The corgi^[5] (also Welsh corgi) is a dog of a short-legged breed with a foxlike head. Welsh Corgis have a strong association with Queen Elizabeth II, who has personally owned more than 30 dogs, either Corgis or Corgi/Dachshund crosses^[7].

18a   No huge complex /is/ adequate (6)

20a   Drama school endlessly involved in work in USA /and/ part of Canada (8)

I'm embarrassed to admit that I needed all the checking letters to solve this clue.

The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art^[7] (abbreviation RADA) is a drama school located in London, England. It is one of the oldest drama schools in the United Kingdom, founded in 1904.

Labor^[5] is the US spelling of labour.

23a   Diagnostic technique // upset dour sultan (10)

24a   Block // inexperienced reporter heading east (4)

26a   With daughter absent, perhaps son and I /will deliver/ hot food (5)

27a   Crazy male will /make/ hard case (8)

28a   Film // wet area in French cheese bar (5,9)

A fen^[3] is an area of low wet land having peaty soil and typically being less acidic than a bog.

Brie^[5] is a kind of soft, mild, creamy cheese with a firm white skin.

Brief Encounter^[7] is a 1945 British film directed by David Lean about British suburban life, centering on Laura, a married woman with children whose conventional life becomes increasingly complicated because of a chance meeting at a railway station with a stranger, Alec. They inadvertently but quickly progress to an emotional love affair, which brings about unexpected consequences. The screenplay is by Noël Coward, based on his 1936 one-act play Still Life.

Down

2d   Competitive rider // always in hospital department? On the contrary (7)

"hospital department" = ENT (show explanation )

Should you not have noticed, the ear, nose and throat (ENT^[2]) department is the most visited section, by far, in the Crosswordland Hospital.

hide explanation

Eventer^[5] is a British term for a horse or rider that takes part in eventing^[5], an equestrian sport in which competitors must take part in each of several contests, usually cross-country, dressage, and showjumping ⇒ he will begin his eventing career in March.

3d   Dismiss taking time to push out second // nail (4)

4d   Piece tabloid people penned in serious paper (8)

The Financial Times^[7] (abbreviation FT) is a British international business newspaper that is printed on conspicuous salmon pink newsprint.

5d   Allowance // taken from Horatio Nelson (6)

Scratching the Surface
Horatio Nelson[5], Viscount Nelson, Duke of Bronte (1758–1805) was a British admiral. Nelson became a national hero as a result of his victories at sea in the Napoleonic Wars, especially the Battle of Trafalgar, in which he was mortally wounded.

6d   Classroom display /showing/ emblem of Richard III before his end (10)

The White Boar^[7] was the personal device or badge of the English King Richard III of England (1452—1485, reigned from 1483), and is an early instance of the use of boars in heraldry.

7d   Studying /in/ redbrick university (7)

In Britain, to read^[5] means to study (an academic subject) at a university ⇒ (i) I’m reading English at Cambridge; (ii) he went to Manchester to read for a BA in Economics.

Red brick university^[7] (or redbrick university) is a term originally used to refer to eight or nine civic universities founded in the major industrial cities of England in the 19th century, although it is sometimes restricted to only those six that achieved independent university status prior to the first world war. The term is now used more broadly to refer to British universities founded in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in major cities.

Whilst the term was originally coined as these institutions were new and thus regarded by the ancient universities as arriviste, the description has since ceased to be derogatory with the 1960s proliferation of universities and the reclassification of polytechnics in 1992.

The University of Reading^[7] is a public university located in Reading, Berkshire in England. It was established in 1892 as a satellite college of Christ Church, Oxford. It received the power to grant its own degrees by Royal Charter in 1926 from King George V, and was the only university to receive such a charter between the two world wars.

The university is usually categorised as a red brick university, reflecting its original foundation in the 19th century.

8d   See vet /providing/ help for the bat (11)

Sight^[5] (verb) is used in the sense of to manage to see or observe (someone or something) or catch an initial glimpse of ⇒ tell me when you sight London Bridge.

Bat^[5] (noun) is used in the sense of a person batting, especially in cricket; in other words, a batsman ⇒ the team's opening bat.

In cricket, a sightscreen^[10] (or sight-screen^[2] or sight screen^[5]) is any of a set of large white movable screens placed near the boundary behind the bowler at either end of a cricket ground that provide a background against which the batsman can see the ball clearly.

11d   Cockney bigamist has this // nonsense (6,5)

Dutch^*[5] (usually one's old dutch) is an informal British term (especially among cockneys^**) for one's wife.

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^* abbreviation for duchess from Duchess of Fife, Cockney rhyming slang (show explanation ) for wife

Rhyming slang^[5] is a type of slang that replaces words with rhyming words or phrases, typically with the rhyming element omitted. For example, butcher’s, short for butcher’s hook, means ‘look’ in cockney rhyming slang.

hide explanation

^** A cockney^[5,10] is a native of East London [specifically that part of East London known as the East End^[5]], traditionally one born within hearing of Bow Bells (the bells of St Mary-le-Bow^[7] church). Cockney is also the name of the dialect or accent typical of cockneys, which is characterised by dropping the aitch (H) from the beginning of words as well as the use of rhyming slang^[5].

As a solution to the latter definition, double Dutch^[5] is used in the informal British sense of language that is impossible to understand; in other words, gibberish ⇒ instructions written in double Dutch.

14d   Character of the dump portrayed by French artist -- only one small // smear (10)

Stig of the Dump^[7] is a children's novel by English author Clive King, first published in the United Kingdom in 1963. It is regarded as a modern children's classic and is often read in schools.

Henri Matisse^[5] (1869–1954) was a French painter and sculptor. His use of non-naturalistic colour led him to be regarded as a leader of the Fauvists. His later painting and sculpture displays a trend towards formal simplification and abstraction, and includes large figure compositions and abstracts made from cut-out coloured paper.

17d   Me acting outrageously // having a certain attraction (8)

Contrary to gnomethang's indication in his review, I would say that the word "having" is a necessary part of the definition which is an adjective.

19d   Oxford University row about learner, // one having no connections (7)

One can find OU^[5,10] defined as the abbreviation for Oxford University in Collins English Dictionary — but, surprisingly, not in Oxford Dictionaries.

"learner" = L (show explanation )

The cryptic crossword convention of L meaning learner or student arises from the L-plate^[7], a square plate bearing a sans-serif letter L, for learner, which must be affixed to the front and back of a vehicle in various jurisdictions (including the UK) if its driver is a learner under instruction.

hide explanation

An outlier^[5] is a a person or thing situated away or detached from the main body or system ⇒ a western outlier in the Andaman archipelago.

21d   Old habit // that could make beer better (7)

A doublet^[5,10] is a man's short close-fitting padded jacket with or without sleeves, commonly worn from the 14th to the 17th century (especially in the phrase doublet and hose) ⇒ they were wearing red velvet doublets and hose.

22d   British wildcat /seen in/ spring (6)

Ounce^[5] is another term for snow leopard^[5], a rare large cat which has pale grey fur patterned with dark blotches and rings, living in the Altai mountains, Hindu Kush, and Himalayas.

25d   The second person in Shakespeare /to get/ short measure (4)

Thou^[5] is an archaic or dialect form of you, as the singular subject of a verb.

Thou^[5] is an informal term for one thousandth of an inch.

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