Tuesday, October 24, 2017 — DT 28489

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28489
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, July 26, 2017
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28489]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By 2Kiwis
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

I always count on an enjoyable solve when presented with one of Jay's puzzles — and today is no exception. As for difficulty, I would say that it rates just slightly toward the easier end of the scale.

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   South American rebel group/'s/ means of avoiding duty (10)

The Contras^[5] were a guerrilla force in Nicaragua which opposed the left-wing Sandinista government 1979–90, and was supported by the US for much of that time.

As pointed out by Silvanus at Comment #17 on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, the Contras operated in Central America, not South America.

6a   Useful quality // dismissing the good in adverts (4)

Adverts is a slangy term for advertisements; therefore we need to replace it with another slangy term.

"good" = G (show explanation )

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

hide explanation

10a   Island // on which corn may be planted to make a sign? (5)

In astrology, Capricorn^[10] (also called the Goat) is the tenth sign of the zodiac, symbol ♑, having a cardinal earth classification and ruled by the planet Saturn. The sun is in this sign between about December 22 and January 19.

Capri^[5] is an island off the west coast of Italy, south of Naples.

11a   Militant type // working to be accepted by friendly German (9)

12a   Demanding // information contained in Exodus (7)

Gen^[5] is an informal British term for information ⇒ you’ve got more gen on him than we have.

Scratching the Surface
Exodus[5] is the second book of the Bible, which recounts the departure of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, their journey across the Red Sea and through the wilderness led by Moses, and the giving of the Ten Commandments. The events have been variously dated by scholars between about 1580 and 1200 BC.

13a   Prune topping for this? (7)

14a   Refreshment outlet for surfers (8,4)

18a   Just southern right-wingers will welcome the end of party // lies (5,7)

A Tory^[10] is a member or supporter of the Conservative Party in Great Britain (show more ) or Canada.

Historically, a Tory^[10] was a member of the English political party that opposed the exclusion of James, Duke of York from the royal succession (1679–80). Tory remained the label for subsequent major conservative interests until they gave birth to the Conservative Party in the 1830s.

The Conservative Party^[5] is a a major British political party that emerged from the old Tory Party under Sir Robert Peel in the 1830s and 1840s. Since the Second World War, it has been in power 1951–64, 1970-74, and 1979–97. It governed in a coalition with the Liberal Democrats from 2010 until the general election of May 2015, in which it was returned with a majority.

hide explanation

21a   Sleep /in/ ghetto and live rough at first (7)

Scratching the Surface
The phrase live rough[5] means to live and sleep outdoors as a consequence of having no proper home ⇒ hundreds of refugees have been living rough on the streets.

23a   Think // this person should join game played outside at home (7)

"this person" = I (show explanation )

It is a common cryptic crossword convention for the creator of the puzzle to use terms such as (the or this) compiler, (the or this) setter, (this) author, (this) writer, or this person to refer to himself or herself. To solve such a clue, one must generally substitute a first person pronoun (I or me) for whichever of these terms has been used in the clue.

hide explanation

24a   Musical works /coming from/ speaker with single thus reversed (9)

An oratorio^[5] is a large-scale, usually narrative musical work for orchestra and voices, typically on a sacred theme, performed without costume, scenery, or action. Well-known examples include Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, Handel’s Messiah, and Haydn’s The Creation.

25a   Restaurant // that has bars (5)

In clues of this style, I mentally insert the implied pronoun 'something' (or 'someone', where appropriate) to complete the thought, thus making the second definition read "[something] that has bars".

26a   Regular // form of rugby with no wingers (4)

Rugby sevens^[5] (also sevens^[5]) is a seven-a-side form of Rugby Union.

What did they say?

In their review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, the 2Kiwis describe the solution as [the] form of rugby that has eight players per team fewer than normal. Rugby union[10] (abbreviation RU[5]) is a form of rugby football played between teams of 15 players (in contrast to rugby league[5], which is played in teams of thirteen). The 2Kiwis appear to dismiss rugby league as not being normal. Perhaps that is due to the fact that rugby union[7] is the national sport in New Zealand — and also Wales, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and Madagascar.

27a   Saving // argument against being of use (10)

Down

1d   Secret stores // church found in case, possibly (6)

2d   Drop off family // item used at table (6)

3d   Show surprise /seeing/ one bare wire, say, frayed (5,2,7)

4d   Setter's barking following bend /in/ London road (3,6)

As an anagram indicator, barking^[5] is used in an informal British sense meaning completely mad or demented ⇒ (i) we are all a bit barking; (ii) has she gone completely barking mad?.

Bow Street^[7] is a thoroughfare in Covent Garden, Westminster, London.

Delving Deeper

The street was developed in the early 17th century for residential purposes. In the 18th century, the street declined as a place of residence following the establishment of the Royal Opera House and the nearby Covent Garden Theatre which led to a reputation for prostitution during the late-17th and 18th centuries. Bow Street has a strong connection with the law; the Bow Street Runners, an early voluntary police force, was established here by Henry Fielding in 1750, and the Metropolitan Police Service [Scotland Yard] operated a station house from 1832, which led to the construction of the Bow Street Magistrates' Court.

5d   Direction /taken by/ prime minister once (5)

Lord Frederick North^[5] (1732–1792) was a British Tory statesman, Prime Minister 1770–82. He sought to avoid the War of American Independence, but was regarded as responsible for the loss of the American colonies.

7d   Illusionist's look for mother -- // a straight- thinking individual (8)

"look" = LO (show explanation )

Lo^[5] is an archaic exclamation used to draw attention to an interesting or amazing event ⇒ and lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them.

hide explanation

8d   Flipping salesmen around famous hotel /for/ a drink (8)

César Ritz^[7] (1850–1918) was a Swiss hotelier and founder of several hotels, most famously the Hôtel Ritz, in Paris and The Ritz Hotel in London. His nickname was "king of hoteliers, and hotelier to kings," and it is from his name and that of his hotels that the term ritzy derives.

9d   Gather men tipsy after party spirit -- // such a spoilsport (3,2,3,6)

15d   Flower /of/ youth reflected? (9)

In Greek mythology, Narcissus^[5] is a beautiful youth who rejected the nymph Echo and fell in love with his own reflection in a pool. He pined away and was changed into the flower that bears his name.

16d   Not working -- the listener's certainly // at sea (8)

What did they say?
In their review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, the 2Kiwis describe the homonym as being somewhat dodgy we thought. While, for me, the homonym is perfect, that would not be the case for speakers of other dialects.

17d   Copy // one Greek letter inscribed in tile (8)

Mu^[5] is the twelfth letter of the Greek alphabet (Μ, μ).

Tiles are a common roofing material in the UK, a tile^[5] being a thin rectangular slab of baked clay or other material, used in overlapping rows for covering roofs ⇒ trees shook violently and tiles were dislodged from rooftops.

Slate^[5] refers to a flat plate of slate used as roofing material ⇒ a loose slate falls from the roof.

From the usage examples, one might get the impression that tiles falling from roofs is a common problem in Britain. Maybe thatched roofs are not such a bad idea.

19d   International wearing right dress /for/ an Italian resort (6)

I.^[10] is the abbreviation for International.

Rimini^[5] is a port and resort on the Adriatic coast of north-eastern Italy.

20d   Physical consequence, /being/ let out in fast car? (3,3)

Jag^[5] is an informal term for a Jaguar car.

Delving Deeper
Jaguar[7] is the luxury vehicle brand of Jaguar Land Rover, a British multinational car manufacturer with its headquarters in Whitley, Coventry, England, owned by the Indian company Tata Motors since 2008.

22d   Creature // in love depressed by Redditch's surroundings (5)

"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

Scratching the Surface
Redditch[5] is an industrial town in west central England, in Worcestershire.

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