Thursday, October 5, 2017 — DT 28476

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28476
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, July 11, 2017
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28476]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Big Dave
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

The top half of this puzzle was quickly dispatched; however, the bottom half put up far more of a struggle. From the comments on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, the vast majority of solvers found this puzzle difficult. Interestingly, among those who reported difficulty in a particular quadrant, there seems to be no consensus as to which quadrant was most difficult.

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   Like that country, a // nation in Africa (7)

Mali^[5] is a landlocked country in West Africa, south of Algeria. Former name (until 1958) French Sudan.

Somalia^[5] is a country in the Horn of Africa. The modern republic of Somalia became independent in 1960 following the unification of two former colonies, British Somaliland and Italian Somalia.

8a   Sea found by fish, // unusually lucky (7)

The Med^[5] is an informal, chiefly British name for the Mediterranean Sea.

10a   One goes either way, // as in my gym (10)

11a   Food /in/ Salerno, shocking (4)

Here and There
In Britain, nosh[5] is an informal term for food in general ⇒ filling the freezer with all kinds of nosh whereas in North America it denotes a snack or small item of food ⇒ have plenty of noshes and nibbles conveniently placed.

Scratching the Surface
Salerno[5] is a Mediterranean port on the west coast of Italy, on the Gulf of Salerno south-east of Naples.

12a   Old musician // butchers new composition (8)

Franz Schubert^[5] (1797–1828) was an Austrian composer. His music is associated with the romantic movement for its lyricism and emotional intensity, but belongs in formal terms to the classical age.

14a   Colour // indigo's sixth on spectrum (6)

Scratching the Surface
The colours of the rainbow listed from top to bottom are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet — so indigo is, indeed, sixth on the spectrum.

15a   Pineapple, // some bananas with syrup, not popular (4,7)

A hand^[5] is a bunch of bananas ⇒ mottled hands of bananas.

Grenadine^[5] is a sweet cordial made in France from pomegranates.

Pineapple^[5] is an informal name for a hand grenade.

19a   Unproductive // mogul, by the sound of it? (6)

Mogul^[5] is used in the informal sense of an important or powerful person, especially in the film or media industry ⇒ the Hollywood movie mogul, Sam Goldwyn.

Baron^[5] is used in the sense of an important or powerful person in a specified business or industry ⇒ a press baron.

20a   European // college student welcoming recess, finally (8)

An Etonian^[5] is a past or present member of Eton College^* ⇒ an Old Etonian.

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^* Eton College^[7], often informally referred to simply as Eton, is an English boarding school for boys located in Eton, Berkshire, near Windsor.

Estonia^[5] is a a Baltic country on the south coast of the Gulf of Finland. Having been annexed by the USSR in 1940, it regained its independence on the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991.

22a   Joker, say, // witty type (4)

23a   Strange sap on cream // cheese (10)

Mascarpone^[5] is a soft, mild Italian cream cheese.

25a   Vulgar woman // partly regretted always being laid back (7)

Ladette^[5] (from lad + -ette) is an informal British term for a young woman who behaves in a boisterously assertive or crude manner and engages in heavy drinking sessions [in other words, who acts like a man].

26a   Most within range // are in tree-house (7)

Down

1d   Sovereign // working in part of spring (7)

2d   Vehicle ranked? // Try one (4)

Taxi rank^[5] is the British term for taxi stand, a place where taxis park while waiting to be hired.

3d   Toy // instrument (6)

4d   Force /in/ garden tool, then cut round it (8)

5d   Relief in strong competitors? // That was designed to be torture! (4,6)

An iron man^[5] (especially in sporting contexts) is an exceptionally strong or robust man.

Delving Deeper

An Iron man[7] is an athlete of unusual physical endurance. This durability is generally measured by an athlete's ability to play without missing a game and/or start for an extended period of time, sometimes, even for an entire career. Some of the more notable athletes with significant streaks in sports history includes baseball's Lou Gehrig and Cal Ripken Jr., American football's Brett Favre, basketball's A. C. Green, ice hockey's Doug Jarvis,and stock car racing's Jeff Gordon.

Historically, an iron maiden^[5] was an instrument of torture consisting of a coffin-shaped box lined with iron spikes.

6d   Note // dog's breakfast time (7)

A dog's dinner^[5] (or a dog's breakfast) is an informal British expression for a poor piece of work or, in other words, a mess ⇒ we made a real dog’s breakfast of it. I would think that the latter version of the expression is more common in North America; the former not so much.

9d   Labour leader I greet sadly in job, // knocking spirit? (11)

A poltergeist^[2] is a type of mischievous ghost supposedly responsible for otherwise unaccountable noises and the movement of furniture and other objects.

13d   Guard in bed, suffering // complete (10)

16d   Magic! // That will bring the house down (8)

Magic^[2] (adjective, also used as an exclamation) is a colloquial term^* denoting excellent, marvellous, or great.

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^* this usage of the word magic^[5] is characterized by Oxford Dictionaries as British; furthermore, the word is not listed in this particular sense in my American dictionaries

Dynamite^[12] (adjective) is US slang^* meaning outstanding, very exciting, effective, etc.

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^* the word dynamite is not listed as an adjective in my British dictionaries

17d   Wheels off /in/ plant (7)

Caraway^[5] is a white-flowered Mediterranean plant whose seeds are used for flavouring and as a source of oil.

18d   Doctor sharing // extra food (7)

21d   Kid brother's heart /in/ China? (3,3)

24d   Catch up /and/ split up (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