Friday, October 13, 2017 — DT 28482

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28482
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, July 18, 2017
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28482]
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

After a stumble yesterday, I was tripped up a couple of times today. It will be interesting to see if anyone on this side of the Atlantic gets 14d without aid.

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

7a   A centre in the Parisian // ball game (8)

"the Parisian" = LE (show explanation )

In French, the masculine singular form of the definite article is le^[8].

hide explanation

In soccer, hockey, and other team games, a centre^[5] is a kick, hit, or throw of the ball from the side to the middle of field.

In soccer, a cross^[5] is a pass of the ball across the field towards the centre close to one's opponents' goal ⇒ Beckham's low cross was turned into the net by Cole.

9a   Closer game? Lose out, /but/ well done! (6)

10a   Remarkable reign associated with a // queen (6)

"queen" = Regina (show explanation )

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

11a   Tall tale about king /causes/ disagreement (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

12a   Very imposing -- /that's/ how actors are on the cinema screen (6,4,4)

15a   Not even second // chances (4)

17a   Strange, // the two of us following one road? On the contrary (5)

19a   Dog // story heard (4)

20a   Pensioners initially sang in // tune in minstrel style (3,5,2,4)

"Old Folks at Home"^[7] (also known as "Swanee River", "Swanee Ribber" [from the original lyrics], or "Suwannee River") is a minstrel song written by American songwriter Stephen Foster in 1851.

Delving Deeper

Since 1935, "Old Folks at Home" has been the official state song of Florida, although over time, the lyrics were progressively altered to be less offensive. American writer Diane Roberts observed: Florida got enlightened in 1978; we substituted "brothers" for "darkies." There were subsequent revisions. At Jeb Bush's second inauguration as governor in 2003, a young black woman gave a moving, nondialect rendition of "Old Folks at Home," except "still longing for the old plantation" came out "still longing for my old connection." Perhaps someone confused Stephen Foster's lyrics with a cell phone commercial. In 2008, a Florida statute established "Old Folks at Home" as the state song with an expurgated version of the lyrics replacing those from the 1935 version. The river mentioned in the song is the Suwanee River in Florida. Foster purposely misspelled it as "Swanee" to fit the melody.

23a   Deliberate // trick by team on right (8)

"team" = SIDE (show explanation )

Side^[5] is a British term for a sports team ⇒ there was a mixture of old and young players in^* their side.

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

In North America, the term side^[3] is used in a very general fashion that can denote one of two or more opposing individuals, groups, teams, or sets of opinions. While this same general usage would seem to exist as well in the UK, the term side^[5] is also used there in a much more specific sense to mean a sports team, as we can clearly see from the following usage examples ⇒ (i) Previous England rugby sides, and England teams in many other sports, would have crumbled under the weight of such errors.; (ii) They'll face better sides than this Monaco team, but you can only beat what's put in front of you.

hide explanation

25a   Sordid // Greek partner, according to a Cockney? (6)

Phrases such as "according to a Cockney" are used by setters to indicate that the initial aitch is to be dropped from a word — a speech characteristic associated with the cockney^* dialect spoken in the East End of London.

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^* 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).

27a   Hit // rower (6)

In rowing, stroke^[5] denotes the oar or oarsman nearest the stern of a boat, setting the timing for the other rowers.

28a   No thanks! Great! // Don't mention it! (3,2,3)

Ta^[5] is an informal British exclamation signifying thank you ⇒‘Ta,’ said Willie gratefully.

Down

1d   Centre // of inferior quality (4)

In the end, I needed but the gentlest of nudges to point me in the right direction. However, before reaching that point and thinking the solution might be RARE (quality), I spent more than a little time and effort trying to find a word of the form _RARE_ that could mean "inferior".

2d   Making mistake // chopping head off fish (6)

3d   Insect landing on fine // meat (4)

"fine" = F (show explanation )

F^[5] is an abbreviation for fine, as used in describing grades of pencil lead [a usage that Oxford Dictionaries surprisingly characterizes as British].

hide explanation

4d   Fighting // court case (6)

5d   Area // DI observing rules very closely (8)

Scratching the Surface

A detective inspector (DI[5]) is a senior police officer in the UK. Within the British police, inspector[7] is the second supervisory rank. It is senior to that of sergeant, but junior to that of chief inspector. Plain-clothes detective inspectors are equal in rank to their uniformed counterparts, the prefix 'detective' identifying them as having been trained in criminal investigation and being part of or attached to their force's Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

6d   Promises no changes -- // an error in speech (10)

A spoonerism^[5] is a verbal error in which a speaker accidentally transposes the initial sounds or letters of two or more words, often to humorous effect, as in the sentence you have hissed the mystery lectures. It is named after the Reverend W. A. Spooner (1844–1930), an English scholar who reputedly made such errors in speaking.

8d   Bird /in/ spring on river bank (7)

13d   Also short of bubbly, // etc (3,2,5)

14d   Hitch up ^/in/ Hawick, they say (5)

I certainly offer no apologies for needing to seek a bit of assistance here, being familiar with neither the Scottish town nor the British slang.

Hawick^[7] ( (listen) HOYK) is a town in the Scottish Borders council area and historic county of Roxburghshire in the east Southern Uplands of Scotland.

Hoick^[5] is an informal British term meaning to lift or pull abruptly or with effort ⇒ she hoicked her bag on to the desk.

16d   Reconstructed Swedish boxing ring /is/ minor attraction (8)

18d   Current // doctor caught head of clinic out (7)

Here and There
South of the border, it is spelled draft; across the pond, it is spelled draught; here one might find it spelled either way.

21d   Senior citizens // love stories about duke (6)

"love" = O (show explanation )

In tennis, squash, and some other sports, love^[5] is a score of zero or nil ⇒ love fifteen. The resemblance of a zero written as a numeral (0) to the letter O leads to the cryptic crossword convention of the word "love" being used to clue this letter.

Although folk etymology has connected the word with French l'oeuf 'egg', from the resemblance in shape between an egg and a zero, the term apparently comes from the phrase play for love (i.e. the love of the game, not for money).

hide explanation

"duke" = D (show explanation )

A duke^[5] (abbreviation D.^[10]) is a male holding the highest hereditary title in the British and certain other peerages^*.

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^* The peerage^[5] is the nobility in Britain or Ireland, comprising the ranks of duke or duchess, marquess or marchioness, earl or countess, viscount or viscountess, and baron or baroness.

hide explanation

22d   Husband and his mother's sisters /could be/ locals? (6)

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

24d   Amphitheatre // in Trier, in Germany (4)

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.

26d   Ointment /from/ research centre spilled over motorway (4)

Motorway^[2,5] (abbreviation M^[5]) is a British, Australian, and New Zealand term for a dual-carriageway road [divided highway] designed for fast-moving traffic, especially one with three lanes per carriageway [direction of travel] and limited access and exit points [controlled access].

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