Thursday, October 12, 2017 — DT 28481

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28481
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, July 17, 2017
Setter Rufus (Roger Squires)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28481]
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

Introduction

Although today's puzzle from Rufus is easy — even by his gentle standards — I managed to stumble on one clue.

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   Targets // that could be a mistake (5,3)

6a   Stick // unusually hard with twice initial efficiency (6)

9a   Concede // mixing up East with South and North at intervals (6)

10a   Articulate // fib about arranged treat (8)

11a   Those performing for pleasure // are a must to broadcast (8)

12a   Moaned about // guardian spirit (6)

Daemon^[5] (or daimon) denotes the guardian spirit of a place or person.

13a   Pelt the principal of the school you attend? // Show some shame! (4,4,4)

In Britain, head^[5] is short for headmaster^[5] (a man who is the head teacher in a school), headmistress^[5] (a woman who is the head teacher in a school), or head teacher^[5] (the teacher in charge of a school).

On Big Dave's Crossword Blog, many Brits commented that they were much more familiar with a different phrase that is similar to the solution.

The phrase hide one's head^[5] means to cover up one's face or keep out of sight, especially from shame ⇒ if that happened you might as well hide your head.

The phrase hang one's head (in shame) means to be deeply ashamed ⇒ a record that should make them hang their heads in shame.

16a   Two things a fiddler may do // to appear excessively deferential (3,3,6)

Chambers 21st Century Dictionary defines scrape^[2] as a colloquial term meaning to play the fiddle, while Oxford Dictionaries tells that scrape^[5] is a humorous term meaning to play a violin tunelessly ⇒ Olivia was scraping away at her violin.

The expression bow and scrape^* means to behave obsequiously or too deferentially, as in In this fashionable store, the salespersons virtually bow and scrape before customers. This term dating from then mid-1600s alludes to the old-fashioned custom of bowing so deeply that one's foot draws back and scrapes the ground. A cliché for a century or more, it may be dying out.

---

^* The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms

19a   One whose leader goes out every morning (6)

Leader^[10] (also called leading article) is a mainly British term for the leading editorial in a newspaper.

21a   Trouble // is found in small change perhaps (8)

23a   One usually gets into a flap at its opening time (8)

Having become fixated on "KNEEBONE", I could not force myself to move beyond it without a gentle nudge from my electronic assistants. Interestingly, I now discover that it is not even a word, although I have difficulty understanding why it is not — after all, anklebone^[10] is a word.

Scratching the Surface
Opening time[5] is a British term for the time at which public houses may legally open for custom [business].

24a   Boring plant (3-3)

Although plant is not a term I would use for such an installation, I suppose it fits at a stretch. Plant^[2] (noun) denotes the buildings, equipment and machinery used in the manufacturing or production industries, e.g. a factory, a power station, etc.

25a   One is not keen to show it (6)

26a   More than one beastly food container -- that depends! (8)

Depend^[5] is used in an archaic or literary sense meaning to hang down ⇒ his tongue depended from open jaws.

Down

2d   Suppose // idiot must go to university, supported by yours truly (6)

3d   Appearing upright // before getting caught (5)

Ct is supposedly the abbreviation for caught — although it eluded me as I was unable to find it in any of my dictionaries including The Chambers Dictionary.

4d   'Dead? Not us!' -- becoming disturbed /and/ alarmed (9)

5d   Drunken males getting stuck into my // wine (7)

Historically, malmsey^[5] was a strong, sweet white wine imported from Greece and the eastern Mediterranean islands. In modern usage, the term denotes a fortified Madeira wine of the sweetest type.

6d   Bill, joining Edward, // performed on stage (5)

I arrived at the solution via a different route than the one taken by miffypops, thinking AC (bill; abbreviation for account) + TED ([short for] Edward).

As for miffypops' solution, one might well argue that a bill and a an act are not the same thing. A bill^[5] is a draft of a proposed law presented to parliament for discussion, whereas an act^[5] is a written law passed by Parliament, Congress, etc.

7d   It may be cast in two ways, // so he or she may make it (9)

Cast^[5] (said of a horse) means to lose (a shoe).

I presume the other way a horseshoe may be cast is the action of throwing one in a game of horseshoes.

On the other hand (or foot), the clue might possibly refer to a method of manufacturing horseshoes — although, to the best of my knowledge, the horsehoes that are worn by horses are generally made by forging rather than casting. Forge^[5] means to make or shape (a metal object) by heating it in a fire or furnace and hammering it while cast^[5] means to shape (metal or other material) by pouring it into a mould while molten.

However, I did manage to find a reference to the casting of horsehoes^[5] in Wikipedia which states that "Around 1000 AD, cast bronze horseshoes with nail holes became common in Europe". Of course, most horseshoes produced for purely decorative purposes are cast.

Behind the Picture
Fairfield Horseshoe[7] is a classic circular hillwalking ridge walk route in the English Lake District. The 16 kilometre route with 1100 metres of ascent includes the peaks of Low Pike (508 metres), High Pike (656 metres), Dove Crag (792 metres), Hart Crag (822 metres), Fairfield (873 metres), Great Rigg (766 metres), Heron Pike (612 metres), and Nab Scar (440 metres).

8d   Well-founded // desert isle with lake (8)

Iona^[5] is a small island in the Inner Hebrides, off the west coast of Mull [a larger island]. It is the site of a monastery founded by St Columba in about 563.

13d   Courage perceived /to be/ genuine (9)

14d   Sum a union distributed /as/ agreed (9)

15d   It may produce winter // ailments leading to little sleep (4,4)

17d   Cannot even contract /for/ an eating place (7)

18d   Silver's hiding part of face // in pain (6)

Scratching the Surface
The surface reading may refer to Long John Silver[7], a fictional character who is the main antagonist of the novel Treasure Island (1883) by Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894).

20d   With lots of space, // tie a ship up by end of day (5)

22d   Bit of speech the actor didn't rehearse (2-3)

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