Tuesday, September 19, 2017 — DT 28464

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28464
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, June 27, 2017
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28464]
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

Still playing catchup. An especially busy week has been compounded by computer problems

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   Shaken // after meal -- I had to embrace that woman! (10)

Mr Kitty, in his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, comments that the "definition, while legal, feels stretched". You be the judge.

Flourish^[5] means to wave (something) about to attract attention ⇒ ‘Happy New Year!’ he yelled, flourishing a bottle of whisky.

While one probably would not shake a bottle of whisky when flourishing it, I think the description might well apply in the case of cheerleaders flourishing pom-poms.

6a   Pirate // caught wife (4)

"caught" = C (show explanation )

In cricket, one way for a batsman to be dismissed is to be caught out^[5], that is for a player on the opposing team to catch a ball that has been hit by the batsman before it touches the ground.

On cricket scorecards, the abbreviation c.^[2,10] or c^[5] denotes caught (by).

hide explanation

Rib^[1,11,12] is a facetious term for a wife (in humorous allusion to the Biblical creation of Eve from Adam's rib [Gen. 2:21-22]).

Behind the Picture
Mr Kitty, who is an American, illustrates his review with a picture of a crib in the shape of a pirate ship. I suspect that this clever choice may have gone over the heads of most British readers as they would refer to a child's bed as a cot[5] rather than a crib[5].

9a   Fat-free // drink here? (5)

Local^[5] is an informal British term for a pub convenient to a person’s home ⇒ a pint in the local.

10a   I see MP has exotic // accent (9)

12a   Former // nobleman -- one with the Queen (7)

An earl^[5] is a British nobleman ranking above a viscount and below a marquess [in other words, the third highest of the five ranks of British nobility — duke, marquess, earl, viscount, and baron].

"the Queen" = ER (show explanation )

The regnal ciphers (monograms) of British monarchs are initials formed from the Latin version of their first name followed by either Rex or Regina (Latin for king or queen, respectively). Thus, the regnal cipher of Queen Elizabeth is ER^[5] — from the Latin Elizabetha Regina.

hide explanation

13a   Friendly // group you and I should enter (5)

15a   A European god embraced by American // writers (7)

In Norse mythology, Thor^[5,7], the son of Odin and Freya (Frigga), is a hammer-wielding god associated with thunder, lightning, storms, oak trees, strength, the protection of mankind, and also hallowing, healing and fertility. Thursday is named after him.

17a   Descartes perhaps backing principle/'s/ revival (7)

René Descartes^[7] (1596 – 1650) was a French philosopher, mathematician, and writer who spent most of his adult life in the Dutch Republic. He has been dubbed the 'Father of Modern Philosophy', and much subsequent Western philosophy is a response to his writings, which are studied closely to this day.

19a   Craft, if prepared, /provides/ transport illegally (7)

21a   Jerks getting hold of a court/'s/ plans (7)

"court" = CT (show explanation )

Ct^[2] is the abbreviation for Court in street addresses — and possibly in other contexts as well.

hide explanation

22a   Painful condition // I caught after school, ignoring the odds (5)

The abbreviation from 6a does an encore.

24a   Amusing to get rid of large // boor (7)

A boor^*[5] is a rough and bad-mannered person ⇒ at last the big obnoxious boor had been dealt a stunning blow for his uncouth and belligerent manner.

---

^* Origin: Mid 16th century (in the sense ‘peasant’): from Low German būr or Dutch boer ‘farmer’.

Peasant^[5] is an informal term for an ignorant, rude, or unsophisticated person ⇒ That is a civilized drink, you peasant. [Might this be a case of the pot calling the kettle black?]

27a   Reprobate // left single beer tin for recycling (9)

Scratching the Surface
In North America, we would almost certainly say "beer can" rather than "beer tin" — which would render the clue meaningless.

28a   Old hat // initially tarnished ceremony (5)

29a   Luxury car missing second // wheel (4)

Rolls^[10] is an informal name for a Rolls-Royce^[10], a make of very high-quality, luxurious, and prestigious British^* car.

---

^* Although the Rolls-Royce company is no longer British-owned.

30a   Entertainers // almost cocky in front of previous head of state (10)

Down

1d   Female poorly /making/ jam (4)

2d   Musicians // offering choir a rest if one joins in (9)

3d   Manager // left in regret before start of relegation (5)

Scratching the Surface

Relegation[5] is a British term for the transfer of a sports team or player to a lower division of a league ⇒ (i) the team manager refuses to throw in the towel and admit that relegation is inevitable; (ii) the club has suffered two successive relegations. Sports leagues in the UK typically operate on a process of promotion and relegation[7] in which teams are transferred between two divisions based on their performance for the completed season. The best-ranked teams in the lower division are promoted to the division above, and the worst-ranked teams in the higher division are relegated [moved down] to the division below. In some leagues, play-offs or qualifying rounds are also used to determine rankings. This process can continue through several levels, with teams being exchanged between levels 1 and 2, levels 2 and 3, levels 3 and 4, and so on. An alternate system of league organisation which is used in the US, Canada and Australia is a closed model which always has the same teams playing, with occasional admission of expansion teams and relocation of existing teams, and with no movement between the major league and minor leagues.

4d   Order // agents to infiltrate City? On the contrary (7)

"City" = EC (show explanation )

In the clue, the setter uses "city area" to stand for for the EC postcode^* which serves the City of London. The EC (Eastern Central) postcode area^[7] (also known as the London EC postcode area) is a group of postcode districts in central London, England. It includes almost all of the City of London as well as parts of several other London boroughs.

---

^* postcode being the British counterpart of the Canadian postal code or American zip code

The City of London^[7] (not to be confused with the city of London) is a city and ceremonial county within London. It constituted most of London from its settlement by the Romans in the 1st century AD to the Middle Ages, but the conurbation has since grown far beyond the City's borders. The City of London is now only a tiny part of the metropolis of London, though it remains a notable part of central London. It is one of two districts of London to hold city status, the other being the adjacent City of Westminster.

The City of London is widely referred to simply as the City (often written as just "City" and differentiated from the phrase "the city of London" by capitalising "City") and is also colloquially known as the Square Mile, as it is 1.12 sq mi (2.90 km²), in area. Both of these terms are also often used as metonyms for the United Kingdom's trading and financial services industries, which continue a notable history of being largely based in the City. This is analogous to the use of the terms Wall Street and Bay Street to refer to the financial institutions located in New York and Toronto respectively.

hide explanation

5d   Rome on the rise -- gripping for a // leader such as Nero (7)

Nero^[5] (AD 37-68) was Roman emperor 54-68; full name Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus. Infamous for his cruelty, he wantonly executed leading Romans. His reign witnessed a fire which destroyed half of Rome in 64.

7d   Build /and/ demolish, we're told (5)

8d   Dead // tired? (10)

11d   Crane is poisoned -- with this? (7)

In clues such as this I refuse to accept that the definition is given by merely the pronoun "this". With the exception of pure cryptic definitions, a cryptic crossword clue is supposed to provide two routes to the solution — these generally being wordplay and definition. However, I defy anyone to propose a solution to a clue based solely on the single word "this". Thus, I see the entire clue here to be a cryptic definition which one can interpret to mean "Something that one may use to poison a crane". As a second route to the solution, we find wordplay (in the form of an anagram) embedded within this definition.

14d   Demanding // detail (10)

16d   Policeman // runs holding up abandoned diamonds (7)

"runs" = R (show explanation )

On cricket scorecards [not to mention baseball scoreboards], the abbreviation R^[5] denotes run(s).

In cricket, a run^[5] is a unit of scoring achieved by hitting the ball so that both batsmen are able to run between the wickets, or awarded in some other circumstances.

hide explanation

Off^[5] is used in the sense of cancelled ⇒ tell them the wedding's off.

18d   Wife is lean -- it works to reduce this? (9)

As in 11d, I would reiterate that one cannot solve the clue based solely on the pronoun "this". The entire clue tells us that the wife is lean because she has succeeded in reducing something (which constitutes the solution to the clue) through the use of some unspecified method (it).

20d   Trump measure /creates/ upset (7)

Trump^[5] is used in the sense of to surpass (something) by saying or doing something better ⇒ But I believe that in such trying times as these precision of meaning trumps political correctness or delicacy of phrasing.

Cap^[5] is used in the sense of to follow or reply to (a story, remark, or joke) by producing a better one ⇒ he prayed no wit would cap his remark with some repartee.

21d   A bit of a brew? // One tries to avoid stir (3,4)

Stir^[5] is an informal term for prison [on both sides of the Atlantic] ⇒ I’ve spent twenty-eight years in stir.

Tea leaf^[5] is British rhyming slang for a thief.

---

^* 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.

23d   'Some alcohol!' I belligerently // slur (5)

25d   Flower // expert removing head (5)

26d   Views looking north and south (4)

This type of clue is difficult to mark. The definition is "views" but the remainder of the clue does not provide an independent way to find the solution. Rather it describes an attribute of the solution provided by the definition (namely that it is a palindrome). Consequently, I have not placed slashes between the two parts of the clue. It is not an approach that I especially like — but is better than any of the alternatives that I have considered.

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