Monday, October 30, 2017 — DT 28493 (Published Saturday, October 28, 2017)

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28493
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, July 31, 2017
Setter Rufus (Roger Squires)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28493]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Miffypops
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
This puzzle appears on the Monday Diversions page in the Saturday, October 28, 2017 edition of the National Post.

Introduction

A few British terms hampered me today. In one case (the truck fuel at 25a), I needed electronic help to solve the clue. In a couple of other cases (the expression at 15a and the old banknote at 5d), even though I managed to come up with the correct solution, I needed help to parse the clue.

Coincidentally given that today is the eve of Halloween, 17a makes a rather appropriate appearance.

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   Go after // funds to take in United (6)

"United" = U (show explanation )

In the names of sports clubs, U^[5] is the abbreviation for United^[5] — in Britain, a word commonly used in the names of soccer and other sports teams formed by amalgamation ⇒ Man U [Manchester United].

hide explanation

4a   Good man joins other ranks backing ruler -- /it's/ touching (8)

"other ranks" = OR (show explanation )

In the British armed forces, the term other ranks^[5] (abbreviation OR^[5]) refers to all those who are not commissioned officers.

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9a   Producing endless // dried fruit (6)

10a   Look smaller, /though/ unique (8)

12a   Failed Eastern // hombre (4)

Implicit Hint

There is an implicit hint present in this clue. The setter has used a North American term as the definition, implying that the solution is also a North American term. Hombre*[5] is an informal North American term for a man, especially one of a particular type** ⇒ the Raiders quarterback is one tough hombre. * Origin: Mid 19th century (originally denoting a man of Spanish descent); Spanish, ‘man’ ** the word hombre is usually accompanied by a modifier to specify the "particular type" as in the case of the usage example where we have one tough hombre Dude*[5] is an informal North American term for a man or guy (often as a form of address) ⇒ (i) hey dude, what's up?; (ii) if some dude smacked me, I'd smack him back. * Origin: Late 19th century (denoting a dandy); probably shortened from doodle, perhaps with allusion to Yankee Doodle Dandy

13a   Wood // works in church (5)

In music, the abbreviation Op.^[5] (also op.), denoting opus, is used before a number given to each work of a particular composer, usually indicating the order of publication.

In the clue, the setter has used OPS (works) as the plural of OP (work). While this may be acceptable in Crosswordland, in the real world the plural form of Op. is Opp..

"church" = CE (show explanation )

The Church of England^[10] (abbreviation CE^[10]) is the reformed established state Church in England, Catholic in order and basic doctrine, with the Sovereign as its temporal head.

hide explanation

14a   A shade // too near the knuckle? (4)

Near the knuckle^[5] is an informal British expression meaning verging on the indecent or offensive.

17a   Spirited relations (5,7)

20a   Frowning with alarm -- no time /to reveal/ obvious mistake (7,5)

23a   A B C D F or G (4)

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).

As a definition, each item in the list is a musical NOTE. As wordplay, we see that most of the notes of the scale are listed, but NOT E.

Variations on Not E and No Te(s)

Setters seem to find no end of ways to musically clue NOTE(S) as either Not E or No Te(s). The most recent example that we have seen occurred as recently as Friday, in DT 28492, where Giovanni gave us: 21a   Bits of music // jumping from las to dohs? (5) In her reply to Comment #10 on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, crypticsue remarks that her favourite version of this clue appeared in Toughie 770. That clue is: 20a      Do, re, me, fa, so or la/A, B, C, D, F or G?   Money-carrier hit repeatedly by ‘charmingly sweet’ singer (4) in which the setter manages not only to work in both variations in a single clue, but throw in a third element as well. The first list is missing the note "te" so gives us NO TE; the second list is missing the note "E" so gives us NOT E. To decipher the third element of the clue, one must know that the theme of this puzzle — which was published in The Daily Telegraph on May 11, 2012 — is "The Owl and the Pussycat", a nonsense poem by English writer Edward Lear (1812–1888), first published during 1871 as part of his book Nonsense Songs, Stories, Botany, and Alphabets. The puzzle appeared on the eve of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Lear. The key pieces of information needed to solve the clue are found in the first half of the poem: I The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea    In a beautiful pea-green boat, They took some honey, and plenty of money,    Wrapped up in a five-pound note. The Owl looked up to the stars above,    And sang to a small guitar, "O lovely Pussy! O Pussy, my love,     What a beautiful Pussy you are,          You are,          You are! What a beautiful Pussy you are!" II Pussy said to the Owl, "You elegant fowl!    How charmingly sweet you sing! Here is how crypticsue reviewed the clue on Big Dave's Crossword Blog: So you look at the first part of the wordplay and you know what the lists represent so you write in the answer.   However, this is crafty stuff  – if you know your music (or even your ‘Sound of Music’!)  then you will have noticed that there are items missing from  the two lists.   You can split the solution two ways:  2, 2 showing what is missing from the first list; 3, 1 what is missing from the second.  In our poet’s day,  a £5 example of the solution was much larger and could be used by our themed couple to wrap up their provisions for the journey.  When 2d was  singing ‘charmingly sweetly’ to his beloved, he would have hit many a true musical sound.   Three separate pieces of wordplay for one little four letter word – amazing!

24a   Change of heart /for/ space traveller (5)

25a   Lorry driver (4)

Lorry^[5] is the common name in the UK for the vehicle known in North America as a truck^[5] — although the word truck would also seem to be well known to the Brits. In fact, Oxford Dictionaries rather circularly defines a lorry as being a truck and a truck as being a lorry.

Derv^*[5] (also DERV) is a British term for diesel oil for road vehicles.

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^* Origin: 1940s (apparently Second World War forces' slang); acronym from diesel-engined road vehicle

28a   Rickshaw operators // who run the business? (8)

In my initial misguided approach, I attempted to interpret this as a cryptic definition with the word "running" indicating that I needed a term that would apply to a rickshaw operator who pulled his vehicle on foot as opposed to one who used mechanical means such as a bicycle, for instance.

29a   He spoke famously /of/ Circe corrupting love (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).

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Marcus Tullius Cicero^[5] (106–43 BC) was a Roman statesman, orator, and writer. As an orator and writer Cicero established a model for Latin prose; his surviving works include speeches, treatises on rhetoric, philosophical works, and letters. A supporter of Pompey against Julius Caesar, in the Philippics (43 BC) he attacked Mark Antony, who had him put to death.

Scratching the Surface
In Greek mythology, Circe[5] is an enchantress who lived on the island of Aeaea. When Odysseus visited the island his companions were changed into pigs by her potions, but he protected himself with the magic herb moly and forced her to restore his men to human form.

30a   Tries to consume the whole // vegetables (8)

31a   Pitch a tent on American // college grounds (6)

Down

1d   Showing off, scrapping knight with maiden /and/ model (8)

"knight" = N (show explanation )

A knight^[5] is a chess piece, typically with its top shaped like a horse’s head, that moves by jumping to the opposite corner of a rectangle two squares by three. Each player starts the game with two knights.

N^[5] is the abbreviation for knight used in recording moves in chess [representing the pronunciation of kn-, since the initial letter k- represents 'king'].

As an aside, it is interesting to note that the Chambers 21st Century Dictionary defines: 

• K^[2] as an abbreviation used in chess for knight. 
• K^[2] is a symbol used in chess to represent a king. 
• N^[2] is a symbol used in chess to represent a knight.

The dictionary fails to specify how one differentiates an abbreviation from a symbol.

On the other hand, both The Chambers Dictionary and the Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary list K or K.^[1,11] as an abbreviation for knight without specifying the specific context in which this abbreviation is used. However, the context may well be in an honours list rather than in a game of chess. In the UK, for instance, KBE^[5] stands for Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

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"maiden"  = M (show explanation )

In cricket, a maiden^[5], also known as a maiden over and denoted on cricket scorecards by the abbreviation m.^[10], is an over^* in which no runs are scored.

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^* An over^[5] is a division of play consisting of a sequence of six balls bowled by a bowler from one end of the pitch, after which another bowler takes over from the other end.

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2d   Gunners parachuting? // Bit of a shower (8)

The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery^[7] (abbreviation RA), is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it comprises a number of regiments.

3d   University can upset // this group (4)

5d   Crooked attorney sure /to make/ legal tender? (8,4)

In the UK, a Treasury note^[10] (also called currency note) was a note issued by the British Treasury from 1914 to 1928 in two denominations, a £1 note and a ten shilling (£0.50) note.

Delving Deeper

Banknotes in the UK are normally issued by the Bank of England as well as by a number of commercial banks. At the start of the First World War, the Currency and Bank Notes Act 1914 was passed, giving the Treasury temporary powers to issue banknotes[7] in two denominations, one at £1 and another at 10 shillings. Treasury notes had full legal tender status and were not convertible for gold through the Bank of England. They replaced the gold coin in circulation to prevent a run on sterling and to enable purchases of raw materials for armaments production. The promise (not adhered to) was that they would be removed from circulation after the war had ended. In fact, the notes were issued until 1928, when the Currency and Bank Notes Act 1928 returned note-issuing powers to the banks.

6d   Bellows, losing head /in/ rows (4)

7d   Reformed ladies /show/ the highest standards (6)

8d   He's after fuel // cuts (6)

What did he say?
In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, notice that Miffypops specifically refers to the fuel in question as that used to fire up your central heating. From a British perspective, gasoline[10] and gas[10] (when used as an abbreviation for gasoline) are North American (and New Zealand) terms for petrol.

11d   One will provide care for a small charge (6-6)

Charge^[5] is used in the sense of a person or thing entrusted to the care of someone ⇒ the babysitter watched over her charges.

15d   Climbing frame -- for ramblers? (5)

Rambler^[5] is used in the sense of a person who walks in the countryside for pleasure.

What did he say?
In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Miffypops remarks that stiles have been [m]ostly replaced by kissing gates now. Kissing gate[5] is a British term for a small gate hung in a U- or V-shaped enclosure, letting one person through at a time.

16d   Column seen in flight (5)

18d   Suddenly stop leading? // Time to get your skates on (6-2)

19d   Former // vicar in holy surroundings (8)

A vicar^[5] is a member of the clergy, although the meaning of the term varies among religious denominations (show more ).

The term vicar may mean:

• in the the Church of England, an incumbent of a parish where tithes formerly passed to a chapter or religious house or layman;
• in other Anglican Churches, a member of the clergy deputizing for another;
• in the Roman Catholic Church, a representative or deputy of a bishop;
• in the US Episcopal Church, a clergyman in charge of a chapel;
• a cleric or choir member appointed to sing certain parts of a cathedral service.

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21d   Reduced fare for buffet users? (6)

22d   A sweet's served up /in/ layers (6)

Sweet^[5] is a British term for a sweet dish forming a course of a meal; in other words, a pudding or dessert.

26d   Lower section of natural // river (4)

The Ural River^[5] is a river, 1,575 miles (2,534 km) long, that rises at the southern end of the Ural Mountains in western Russia and flows through western Kazakhstan to the Caspian Sea at Atyraū.

27d   One's needed to travel /and/ is in Virginia (4)

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