Tuesday, October 31, 2017 — DT 28494

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28494
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, August 1, 2017
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28494]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Mr Kitty
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 knew that 26a had to be my grandchildren's favourite toy but could I decipher the wordplay? Well, I stared at it seemingly forever with no idea of how to decode it. It was only as I was writing the review and on the verge of throwing in the towel and seeking help from Mr Kitty that the cricket connection clicked.

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   Pitcher // in side we rated (4)

3a   Pilot study, then series of steps, /then/ this by pilot? (4,6)

9a   Manage // company training (4)

"training" = PE (show explanation )

PE^[5] is the abbreviation for physical education [or Phys Ed, as it was known in my school days]. 

hide explanation

10a   Serve salad, blended // sauce /being required/ (5,5)

The words "being required" are a bit of window dressing to enhance the surface reading. In effect, they convey the idea that "The solution is a word meaning ...".

Salsa verde^[5] (Spanish, literally 'green sauce') can refer to either:

• an Italian sauce made with olive oil, garlic, capers, anchovies, vinegar or lemon juice, and parsley
• a Mexican sauce of finely chopped onion, garlic, coriander, parsley, and hot peppers

11a   Warn /of/ jam with last bit not used before date (7)

Mr Kitty is undoubtedly correct in his interpretation of the wordplay in which he has "[a] five-letter jam or crush minus the last letter" (PRES[S]). I, on the other hand, thought of an eight-letter foodstuff that I put on my toast minus its last half (PRES[ERVE]). I will grant that "last bit" is more likely to refer to a single letter than to half a word.

13a   Two articles about permit /for/ gymnast, perhaps (7)

14a   Considerate when drunk? // Blasphemous behaviour /is the answer/ (11)

A bit more window dressing here. The phrase "is the answer" serves a purpose similar to that of "being required" in 10a.

18a   What surveyor may use /in/ flat after ghost is seen (6,5)

A spirit level^[5] is a device consisting of a sealed glass tube partially filled with alcohol or other liquid, containing an air bubble whose position reveals whether a surface is perfectly level.

Let Me Level With You
The instrument shown in Mr Kitty's review is a spirit level — but one more likely to be used by a carpenter than a surveyor. A surveyor uses an instrument called a transit level which is an optical instrument, or a telescope, complete with a built-in spirit level that is mounted on a tripod. In the accompanying diagram, the spirit level is labelled "Leveling Vial".

Scratching the Surface
In the surface reading, flat[5] is the British term for what would be called an apartment[5] in North America.

21a   Instrument /that may be/ graduate's shortly (7)

22a   Flexible sort, odd /making/ stand (7)

Rum^[5] is a dated informal British term meaning odd or peculiar ⇒ it’s a rum business, certainly.

23a   Conspicuous // signs attached to home (2,8)

24a   First to call round with trendy // piece (4)

25a   Old Fleet Street operative // kind to crossword compiler (10)

Fleet Street^[5] is a street in central London in which the offices of national newspapers were located until the mid 1980s (often used as a metonym for the British Press) ⇒ the hottest story in Fleet Street.

26a   Toy that's in bits // on middle of floor (4)

For this clue, you need to wear your cricket hat. In cricket, the on^[5] (also known as on side) is another name for the leg^[5] (also called leg side), the half of the field (as divided lengthways through the pitch) away from which the batsman’s feet are pointed when standing to receive the ball ⇒ he played a lucky stroke to leg. The other half of the field is known as the off^[5] (also called off side).

Down

1d   Lark/'s/ flight enthralling a daughter (8)

2d   After drugs, journalists love // strong coffee (8)

The drug in question is Ecstasy (commonly known as E) (show explanation ). As "drugs" is plural in the clue, "Es" is plural in the solution (ES).

E^[5] is an abbreviation for the drug Ecstasy^* or a tablet of Ecstasy ⇒ (i) people have died after taking E; (ii) being busted with three Es can lead to stiff penalties.

---

^* Ecstasy^[5] is an illegal amphetamine-based synthetic drug with euphoric effects, originally produced as an appetite suppressant. Also called MDMA (Methylenedioxymethamphetamine).

hide explanation

"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

4d   Remove // ages on top of engravings (5)

5d   Conductor /of/ opera popular in Northern Ireland (9)

Tosca^[7] is an opera in three acts by Italian composer Giacomo Puccini (1858–1924) to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica (1857–1919) and Giuseppe Giacosa (1847–1906). It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. 

"Northern Ireland" = NI (show explanation )

Northern Ireland^[5] (abbreviation NI^[5]) is a province of the United Kingdom occupying the northeast part of Ireland; population 1,775,000 (est. 2008); capital, Belfast.

According to Oxford Dictionaries, Northern Ireland^[5] is the only major division of the United Kingdom to hold the status of province, with England^[5], Scotland^[5] and Wales^*[5] being countries.

---

^* Oxford Dictionaries did not always describe Wales as a country. However,they changed this after I pointed out in a previous blog that England and Scotland were described as countries while Wales was shown as a principality. Do I really have such power?

hide explanation

Arturo Toscanini^[5] (1867–1957) was an Italian conductor. He was musical director at La Scala in Milan (1898–1903; 1906-8) before becoming a conductor at the Metropolitan Opera, New York (1908–21).

6d   Nothing controls // flab (4,7)

If "love" means nothing (see 2d) then naturally "nothing" must mean LOVE.

7d   Danger could come from // such a plot (6)

8d   Time to support subject set for discussion /in/ police force (3,3)

The Met^[5] denotes the Metropolitan Police in London — otherwise known as Scotland Yard.

Delving Deeper

The Metropolitan Police Service[7] (widely known informally as the Met[5]) is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement in Greater London, excluding the "square mile" of the City of London which is the responsibility of the City of London Police. The Met also has significant national responsibilities such as co-ordinating and leading on counter-terrorism matters and protection of the British Royal Family and senior figures of Her Majesty's Government. The Met is also referred to by the metonym Scotland Yard after the location of its original headquarters in a road called Great Scotland Yard in Whitehall. The Met's current headquarters is New Scotland Yard, in Victoria.

12d   Accomplices /in/ case? Scores I suspect (11)

15d   Straightening // a tendon without a need initially to replace it (9)

Who thinks that today's setter received a passing grade in anatomy class?

A tendon^[5] is a flexible but inelastic cord of strong fibrous collagen tissue attaching a muscle to a bone.

A ligament^[5] is a short band of tough, flexible fibrous connective tissue which connects two bones or cartilages or holds together a joint.

16d   Accomplished advance /or/ defeat? (8)

17d   Bird // vivid in colour, duck (8)

"duck" = O (show explanation )

In cricket, a duck^[5] is a batsman’s score of nought [zero] ⇒ he was out for a duck. This is similar to the North American expression goose egg^[5] meaning a zero score in a game.

In British puzzles, "duck" is used to indicate the letter "O" based on the resemblance of the digit "0" to this letter.

hide explanation

19d   Old boy is to supply // musician (6)

"old boy" = OB (show explanation )

In Britain, an old boy^[5] (abbreviation OB^[2])  is:

1. a former male student of a school or college ⇒an old boy of Banbury County School; or
2. a former male member of a sports team or company ⇒ the White Hart Lane old boy squared the ball to present an easy chance from 12 yards.

It is also a chiefly British affectionate form of address to a boy or man ⇒ ‘Look here, old boy,’ he said.

hide explanation

As an anagram indicator, supply is used as an adverb meaning 'in a supple^[5] manner'.

20d   Dozing // when cover drawn up (6)

22d   Regret clothing first two of children /in/ frilly lace (5)

A ruche^[5] is a strip of pleated or frilled lawn, lace, etc, used to decorate blouses, dresses, etc, or worn around the neck like a small ruff as in the 16th century.

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