Thursday, October 26, 2017 — DT 28491

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28491
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, July 28, 2017
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28491]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Deep Threat
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

My downfall today came on a British slang term for the police with which I was not familiar together with a couple of musical styles — one before my time and one after. Although I had encountered both of these forms of music previously, neither occurred to me as I was attempting to solve the puzzle. However, a third form of "so-called" music did come to mind and successfully blocked all efforts to move beyond it.

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 — including whimsical and vague 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   Accept // a token in new deal (4,2)

4a   Little reptile exploits // flowering plants (8)

9a   Make reference, /as/ man getting audibly vulgar (6)

10a   Always you must keep on -- // not just some of you! (8)

11a   /As/ Soviet official, / I'm cross, am mad (9)

As in 9a, the word "as" acts as a link word. However, due to the inverted sentence structure used here, this time it appears at the beginning of the clue.

A commissar^[5] is an official of the Communist Party, especially in the former Soviet Union or present-day China, responsible for political education and organization ⇒ films that are passed by the political commissar.

13a   Excellent // department led by ace (5)

14a   A live gent's let loose, // a gospel preacher (13)

17a   Doctor on visit -- severe /and/ a bit too touchy? (13)

21a   Cardinal /providing/ article about Religious Education (5)

In the UK, religious education^[10] (abbreviation RE^[5]) is a subject taught in schools which educates about the different religions of the world.

Cardinal^{[2,3,4,10,11]} is another term for cardinal number.

23a   Bitterness showing by those with aspiration heading off, // quick movers (9)

24a   Have a hand in genuine // action to cancel debt? (8)

25a   One form of music /and/ another making comeback with time (6)

The word PARAGE perfectly fit the wordplay, being a reversal (making comeback) of RAP [allegedly a form of music] followed by AGE (time), but has nothing to do with music. PARADE is a form of music, as is PAVANE, but both fail to satisfy the wordplay. In the end, I was stumped until I took a peek at Deep Threat's review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog.

A rag^[5] is a ragtime^* composition or tune.

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^* Ragtime^[5] is a kind of music evolved by black American musicians in the 1890s and played especially on the piano, characterized by a syncopated melodic line and regularly accented accompaniment ⇒ ragtime piano classics.

As a musical term, garage^[5] can denote either:

• a style of unpolished, energetic rock music associated with suburban amateur bands ⇒ a garage band; or
• a form of dance music incorporating elements of drum and bass, house music, and soul, characterized by a rhythm in which the second and fourth beats of the bar are omitted

26a   Rat /in/ dry zone here shedding skin (8)

Here and There

The connotation of rat as being a deserter would appear to be stronger in the UK than in North America. Rat[3] is defined in the American Heritage Dictionary as slang for a despicable person, especially one who betrays or informs upon associates (which seems to fall a bit short of being a deserter). The Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary moves quite a ways in the direction of deserter, defining rat[11] as slang for an informer or a person who abandons or betrays associates. However, Collins English Dictionary is unequivocal in defining rat[4] as an informal term for a person who deserts his or her friends or associates, especially in time of trouble adding that the word is also chiefly US slang for an informer or, in other words, a stool pigeon.

27a   1 Across funny // old comedian (6)

The numeral and directional indicator "1 Across" is a cross reference indicator directing the solver to insert the solution to clue 1a in its place to complete the clue. The directional indicator is customarily included only in situations such as this where both Across and Down clues start in the light^* that is being referenced.

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^* light-coloured cell in the grid

Buster Keaton^[5] (1895–1966) was an American actor and director. His deadpan face and acrobatic skills made him one of the biggest comedy stars of the silent-film era. He starred in and directed films including The Navigator (1924) and The General (1927).

Down

1d   Time young birds /may be found in/ straw etc (6)

A hatch^[3] is a group of young organisms, especially birds, that hatch at one time; in other words, a brood.

2d   Tricky mile trek including middle of bog? // A shorter distance (9)

A kilometre^[5] is a metric unit of measurement equal to 1,000 metres (approximately 0.62 miles).

3d   What was paid off long ago /in/ coppers? (3,4)

I presumed that the clue must merely be a cryptic definition alluding to the fact that a bill would have to be very old if it could be paid off in coppers, given that inflation has rendered pennies virtually worthless (Canada discontinued its one cent coin in 2013).

In Britain, the Bill^[5] (or the Old Bill) is an informal term for the police.

5d   Girl given payment in beastly home, brought up /to be/ respectful (11)

6d   Business of transporting stuff -- // hard to get out of old African capital (7)

"hard" = H (show explanation )

H^[2,5] is an abbreviation for hard, as used in describing grades of pencil lead ⇒ a 2H pencil.

hide explanation

Carthage^[5] was an ancient city on the coast of North Africa near present-day Tunis. Founded by the Phoenicians c.814 BC, Carthage became a major force in the Mediterranean, and came into conflict with Rome in the Punic Wars. It was finally destroyed by the Romans in 146 BC.

7d   Number in double figures // to achieve success (5)

I agree with Deep Threat's assessment that the first definition is "rather vague" — thus I have marked it with a dotted underline.

8d   Attend match, // say, in which muscle is evident (8)

12d   Economy good with people /showing/ a redeeming quality (6,5)

"good" = G (show explanation )

The abbreviation G^[10] for good likely relates to its use in grading school assignments or tests.

hide explanation

15d   Alien gent, frightfully // lacking in refinement (9)

16d   Harry and Edward // tinkered about (8)

Harry Potter^[7] is a series of fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the life of a young wizard, Harry Potter, and his friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Potter^[3,4,11], a chiefly British counterpart to the North American term putter, means to move with little energy or direction ⇒ to potter about town.

18d   The female subsequently lacking a // sanctuary (7)

19d   One thus tardy /is to get/ set apart from others (7)

20d   Oriental dropping off at the front /gets/ behind (6)

22d   Frolics /of/ old politicians undermining Speaker ultimately (5)

"politicians" = MPS (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

Scratching the Surface
The Speaker[5] is the presiding officer in a legislative assembly, especially the House of Commons.

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