Wednesday, September 27, 2017 — DT 28470

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28470
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, July 4, 2017
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28470]
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

If I remember correctly, this puzzle was likely a bit more of a challenge for me than it seems to have been for Mr Kitty.

There is some interesting discussion on Big Dave's Crossword Blog about the existence of cryptic crosswords in languages other than English. It seems that they do exist in Dutch, although as dutch explains at Comment #31, the Dutch language is hardly conducive to their creation. Mr Kitty did discover a cryptic crossword in Hindi but it seems to be a one-of-a-kind curiosity.

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   Remarkable // cue (6)

5a   Weapon /bringing about/ Becket's end in play of T.S. Eliot? (8)

Scratching the Surface
Murder in the Cathedral[7] is a verse drama by American-born British poet, playwright, and essayist T.S. Eliot (1888–1965), first performed in 1935, that portrays the assassination of Archbishop Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170. In reality, I believe Becket was dispatched with a sword rather than the weapon suggested by the clue.

10a   A socially prominent person, // moreover (2,4)

Swell^[5] is dated slang for a fashionable or stylish person of wealth or high social position ⇒ a crowd of city swells.

11a   Amuse // daughter with one's leaflet (8)

12a   How to get pear juice /in/ a meeting arranged for journalists? (5,10)

Conference^[5] is a dessert pear of a firm-fleshed variety.

16a   Phone system // company installed during elected period (8)

18a   Politically extreme? No Conservative // spoke (6)

"Conservative" = C (show explanation )

The abbreviation for Conservative may be either C.^[10] or Con.^[10].

A Tory^[10] is a member or supporter of the Conservative Party in Great Britain or Canada.

Historically, a Tory^[10] was a member of the English political party that opposed the exclusion of James, Duke of York from the royal succession (1679–80). Tory remained the label for subsequent major conservative interests until they gave birth to the Conservative Party in the 1830s.

The Conservative Party^[5] is a a major British political party that emerged from the old Tory Party under Sir Robert Peel in the 1830s and 1840s. Since the Second World War, it has been in power 1951–64, 1970-74, and 1979–97. It governed in a coalition with the Liberal Democrats from 2010 until the general election of May 2015, in which it was returned with a majority.

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20a   Unusual scene involving a // meeting with spirit? (6)

21a   Instrument that's blown with lips /to make/ glasses (4-4)

We learn from the thread at Comment #11 on Big Dave's Crossword Blog that a different version of this clue appeared in both the iPad and Android apps. It would appear that the crossword can be accessed through a variety of media, including the printed edition of The Daily Telegraph, possibly also an online edition of The Daily Telegraph, as well as the iPad and Android apps, and finally the Telegraph Puzzles website.

The app version is:

• Specs /needed for/ instrument’s carrying frame (4-4)

22a   Rocket heading for asteroid in what could be scariest // flight (6,9)

Spiral^[5] is used in the sense of to show a continuous and dramatic increase ⇒ (i) inflation continued to spiral; (ii) he needed to relax after the spiralling tensions of the day.

27a   Perturbed, // third of class confined to school over it (8)

Gate^[5,10] is a British term meaning to confine or restrict (a pupil or student) to the school or college grounds as a punishment ⇒ he was gated for the rest of term.

28a   Very famous // fraud infiltrating cricket team caught? (6)

I have often seen "cricket team" used to clue the sequence XI (Roman numeral for eleven) but I think this may well be the first time that I have seen it used for II (a sequence of letters which looks like the Arabic number 11).

Eleven^[5] is the number of players in^* a cricket^[7] side [team] — and is often used as a metonym for such a team ⇒ at cricket I played in the first eleven.

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^* Note that in Britain a player is "in a side" or "in a team" rather than "on a team" as one would say in North America.

"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).

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29a   One called after another // select Oriental drink (8)

Sake^[5] (or saki^[5]) is a Japanese alcoholic drink made from fermented rice, traditionally drunk warm in small porcelain cups.

30a   Water heater // man heard (6)

Geyser^[5] is a British term for a gas-fired water heater through which water flows as it is rapidly heated.

In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Mr Kitty points to the natural phenomenon for which the water heater is a 29a.

While the words geezer and geyser do not have the same pronunciation in North America, they do in Britain with both being pronounced GHEE-zah—as you can hear for yourself by comparing the British and American pronunciations at TheFreeDictionary.com (geyser, geezer).

Down

2d   Cover // home? Sure can, if worried (9)

Here and There

When speaking of insurance, while the same verb form is used in Britain and North America, we use a different form of the noun on this side of the pond. As a verb, cover[5] means to protect against a liability, loss, or accident involving financial consequences ⇒ your contents are now covered against accidental loss or damage in transit. However, in the UK, the word cover[5] is used to denote protection by insurance against a liability, loss, or accident ⇒ your policy provides cover against damage by subsidence. This is equivalent to the North American term coverage[5] meaning the amount of protection given by an insurance policy ⇒ your policy provides coverage against damage by subsidence.

3d   A white wine // that may be seen in Trier (11)

Niersteiner^[5] is a white Rhine wine produced in the region around Nierstein, a town in Germany.

Scratching the Surface

Trier[5] is a city on the River Mosel in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany; population 103,500 (est. 2006). Established by a Germanic tribe, the Treveri, circa 400 BC, Trier is one of the oldest cities in Europe. It was a powerful archbishopric from 815 until the 18th century, but fell into decline after the French occupation in 1797. Nierstein and Trier are both located in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. However, Nierstein is actually on the Rhine while Trier is located some considerable distance away, near the border with Luxembourg.

4d   Ring up about island // flower (5)

6d   One apprehended by the force? (5)

This is an  &lit.^[7] (all-in-one) clue, a type of clue in which the entire clue not only provides the definition (according to one interpretation) but also serves as the wordplay (according to a different interpretation).

"force" = F (show explanation )

In physics, F^[5] is a symbol used to represent force in mathematical formulae.

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7d   Following // behind king (5)

"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.

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8d   Order // to work out (5)

Train is used in the sense of a train of events for which Chambers Thesaurus lists the following synonyms (among others): sequence, succession, series, progression, order, set, ...

9d   Porridge /or/ nothing at breakfast? (7)

13d   New York representative with the novel // Lolita, perhaps (7)

"representative" = MP (show explanation )

In Britain (as in Canada), a politician elected to the House of Commons is known as a Member of Parliament^[10] (abbreviation MP^[5]) or, informally, as a member^[5].

hide explanation

Lolita^[5] is a term^* for a sexually precocious young girl.

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^* The term comes from the name of a character in the novel Lolita (1958 [1955, according to other sources, including the Oxford Dictionaries entry for the author) by Vladimir Nabokov^[5].

14d   Blunder /in/ fear, losing head (5)

15d   Unlisted? // Former partner and board member, number unknown? (2-9)

"number unknown" = Y (show explanation )

In mathematics (algebra, in particular), an unknown^[10] is a variable, or the quantity it represents, the value of which is to be discovered by solving an equation ⇒ 3y = 4x + 5 is an equation in two unknowns. [Unknowns are customarily represented symbolically by the letters x, y and z.]

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Here and There
Ex-directory[5] (adjective) is a British term denoting (of a person or telephone number) not listed in a telephone directory or available through directory enquiries, at the wish of the subscriber. The equivalent North American term is unlisted.

17d   Indian on lake /producing/ fish basket (5)

The Cree^[3] are a Native American people inhabiting a large area from eastern Canada west to Alberta and the Great Slave Lake. Formerly located in central Canada, the Cree expanded westward and eastward in the 17th and 18th centuries, the western Cree adopting the Plains Indian life and the eastern Cree retaining their woodland culture. Cree is also the name of the Algonquian language of the Cree.

19d   Ceasefire /in/ Crimea? It's fragile (9)

Scratching the Surface

According to Oxford Dictionaries, Crimea[5] (usually the Crimea) is a peninsula of Ukraine lying between the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. It was the scene of the Crimean War in the 1850s. The majority of the population is Russian. Seemingly unbeknownst to Oxford — or perhaps just not recognized — Russia invaded and annexed Crimea in 2014[7]. The United Nations General Assembly adopted a non-binding resolution calling upon states not to recognise changes to the integrity of Ukraine. Though Russia has control over the peninsula, its sovereignty remains disputed as Ukraine and the majority of the international community consider the annexation illegal. A range of international sanctions remain in place against Russia as well as a number of named individuals as a result of the events of 2014.

20d   Spot inhabited by American // bear (7)

23d   Turn of phrase /used in/ papers I’m carrying round (5)

24d   Collect // lot once first of auctions is over (5)

In the wordplay, I believe the word once^[5] is being used as a conjunction meaning 'when.

25d   Grass // snake uncoiled (5)

Grass^[5] is an informal British term meaning:

• (noun) a police informer; and
• (verb) to inform the police of someone’s criminal activities or plans ⇒ (i) someone had grassed on the thieves; (ii) she threatened to grass me up.

This expression may derive from rhyming slang (grasshopper being rhyming slang (show explanation ) for 'copper').

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.

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26d   Initially, it covered invitingly naughty gateau? (5)

Gateau^[5] [from French gâteau, 'cake'] is a British term for a rich cake, typically one containing layers of cream or fruit.

I suppose we can consider the word "initially" to be part of the definition — perhaps someone ate all the icing off the cake.

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