Monday, November 13, 2017 — DT 28503 (Published Saturday, November 11, 2017)

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28503
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, August 11, 2017
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28503]
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
Notes
This puzzle appears on the Monday Diversions page in the Saturday, November 11, 2017 edition of the National Post.

Introduction

I got through this one without needing to call in any outside assistance and definitely found it to be a 27a experience.

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

3a   Meal // commercial traveller's obtained beside a street (6)

6a   Successive notes /coming from/ French artist (4)

Although do and re are the names by which the musical notes are known to North Americans, from the perspective of a British musician they are variant spellings of doh and ray respectively.

Do^[5] is a variant^* spelling of doh^[5] which, in solmization, can denote either:

• (in tonic sol-fa) the first and eighth note of a major scale; or
• the note C in the fixed-doh system.

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^* Oxford shows do as a "North American, British, [and] US" variant spelling

Re^[5] is a variant spelling of ray^[5] which, in solmization, can denote either:

• (in tonic sol-fa) the second note of a major scale; or
• the note D in the fixed-doh system.

Gustave Doré^[5,7] (1832–1883) was a French artist and book illustrator, known for his woodcut illustrations of books such as Dante's Inferno (1861), Cervantes' Don Quixote (1863), and the Bible (1865–6).

Delving Deeper
Doré[7] was mainly celebrated for his paintings in his day. His paintings remain world-renowned, but his woodcuts and engravings are where he really excelled as an artist with an individual vision. Examples of works by Gustave Doré
Illustration from Don Quixote	Andromeda, 1869

8a   Revolutionary, // tedious person from what we hear (5)

Thomas Paine^[5] (1737–1809) was an English political writer. His pamphlet Common Sense (1776) called for American independence, and The Rights of Man (1791) defended the French Revolution. His radical views prompted the British government to indict him for treason and he fled to France^*. Other notable works: The Age of Reason (1794).

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^* Paine^[7] was born in England and emigrated to the British American colonies in 1774 becoming a citizen of Pennsylvania and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He returned to England in 1787. In 1792, he fled to France. In 1802 or 1803, Paine returned to the US where he resided until his death.

Paine or Pain

Paine[7] was born Thomas Pain, later changing the spelling of his surname to Paine. Throughout his life, Paine was certainly a pain to virtually anyone with whom he came into contact and demonstrated a remarkable propensity to alienate people. At the time of his death, most American newspapers reprinted the obituary notice from the New York Evening Post that was in turn quoting from The American Citizen, which read in part: "He had lived long, did some good, and much harm." Only six mourners came to his funeral, two of whom were black, most likely freedmen. Many years later the writer and orator Robert G. Ingersoll wrote: Thomas Paine had passed the legendary limit of life. One by one most of his old friends and acquaintances had deserted him. Maligned on every side, execrated, shunned and abhorred – his virtues denounced as vices – his services forgotten – his character blackened, he preserved the poise and balance of his soul. He was a victim of the people, but his convictions remained unshaken. He was still a soldier in the army of freedom, and still tried to enlighten and civilize those who were impatiently waiting for his death. Even those who loved their enemies hated him, their friend – the friend of the whole world – with all their hearts. On the 8th of June 1809, death came – Death, almost his only friend. At his funeral no pomp, no pageantry, no civic procession, no military display. In a carriage, a woman and her son who had lived on the bounty of the dead – on horseback, a Quaker, the humanity of whose heart dominated the creed of his head – and, following on foot, two negroes filled with gratitude – constituted the funeral cortege of Thomas Paine.

9a   Sack group of soldiers -- // that lot can go to blazes! (4,7)

10a   Time to get ready-to-eat // food (5)

Tripe^[5] is the first or second stomach of a cow or other ruminant used as food.

11a   Church always wanting newspaper article? // I'll drum up support (11)

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

16a   Wild cat, // coolest possibly when avoiding sun (6)

"sun" = S (show explanation )

S^[1] (or S.) is the abbreviation for sun (so sayeth The Chambers Dictionary) [although no context is provided, I presume it would be in astronomy or astrology].

hide explanation

17a   Operators /getting/ on in leaps and bounds (8)

19a   Good person came down, // not at all relaxed (8)

20a   See humour /shown by/ this gathering of emotionally connected folk (4-2)

Humour^[2] is used in the sense of a specified temperament or state of mind ⇒ He is in good humour today.

Vein^[1,2] is used in the sense of a mood, tone, or humour ⇒ written in a sarcastic vein.

22a   A president's out of order -- // they must take steps (11)

25a   Watery terrain -- // hard to find on another planet (5)

"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

27a   A blur, a sleep, awfully // nice (11)

28a   Number with purpose /getting/ a great deal (2,3)

29a   Left-winger // to move faster than 22? (4)

Trot^[5] is an informal, chiefly derogatory term for a Trotskyist or supporter of extreme left-wing views ⇒ (i) a band of subversive Trots; (ii) he declared that the Corporation was a ‘nest of long-haired Trots’.

30a   Grow // something that can count as one of the daily five? (6)

The Eatwell Guide is the British counterpart to Canada's Food Guide. One of its key messages is "Eat at least 5 portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables every day".

Down

1d   Row /in/ resort, the last thing resort needs (4)

From an orthographical perspective, the letter "T" is "the last thing resorT needs".

2d   Brought up /in/ dirtier dens, going off the rails (11)

3d   Judge and City politicians meeting // where food is served (11)

The setter uses "City" as a surrogate for for the EC postcode^* which serves the City of London — which is not to be confused with the city of London (show explanation ). The EC (Eastern Central) postcode area^[7] (also known as the London EC postcode area) is a group of postcode districts in central London, England. It includes almost all of the City of London as well as parts of several other London boroughs.

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^* postcode being the British counterpart of the Canadian postal code or American zip code

The City of London^[7] is a city and ceremonial county within London. It constituted most of London from its settlement by the Romans in the 1st century AD to the Middle Ages, but the conurbation has since grown far beyond the City's borders. The City of London is now only a tiny part of the metropolis of London, though it remains a notable part of central London. It is one of two districts of London to hold city status, the other being the adjacent City of Westminster.

The City of London is widely referred to simply as the City (often written as just "City" and differentiated from the phrase "the city of London" by capitalising "City") and is also colloquially known as the Square Mile, as it is 1.12 sq mi (2.90 km²), in area. Both of these terms are also often used as metonyms for the United Kingdom's trading and financial services industries, which continue a notable history of being largely based in the City. This is analogous to the use of the terms Wall Street and Bay Street to refer to the financial institutions located in New York and Toronto respectively.

hide explanation

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

The abbreviation for Conservative may be either C.^[10] or Con.^[10].

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

4d   What one expects to observe /in/ member of religious group (6)

A Parsee^[5] is an adherent of Zoroastrianism, especially a descendant of those Zoroastrians who fled to India from Muslim persecution in Persia during the 7th–8th centuries.

5d   Distinguished cricketer at university // recovers from bender (6,2)

Sir Garfield Sobers^[7], also known as Gary or Garry Sobers, is a former cricketer who played for the West Indies between 1954 and 1974, and is widely considered to be cricket's greatest all-rounder^*.

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^* All-rounder^[5] is a British term for a versatile person or thing, especially a cricketer who can both bat and bowl well.

In Britain, up^[5] means at or to a university, especially Oxford or Cambridge ⇒ they were up at Cambridge about the same time.

6d   Follow academic master /as/ a matter of belief (5)

7d   Journey taking in good // mountain feature (5)

"good" = G (show explanation )

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

hide explanation

12d   Fantastic sermon, gents // being spellbound? (11)

Engrossment^[5] is the state of being engrossed (or, in other words, being spellbound).

13d   Camels /in/ divine house, one of twelve outside capital (11)

Divine^[5] is a dated term for a cleric or theologian which, in turn, is often used in cryptic crosswords to clue the letters "DD" (show explanation ).

Doctor of Divinity^[7] (abbreviation D.D. or DD, Divinitatis Doctor in Latin) is an advanced academic degree in divinity.

Historically, the degree of Doctor of Divinity identified one who had been licensed by a university to teach Christian theology or related religious subjects. In the United Kingdom, Doctor of Divinity has traditionally been the highest doctorate granted by universities, usually conferred upon a religious scholar of standing and distinction. In the United States, the Doctor of Divinity is usually awarded as an honorary degree.

hide explanation

In astrology, Aries^[10] (also called the Ram) is the first sign of the zodiac, symbol ♈, having a cardinal fire classification, ruled by the planet Mars. The sun is in this sign between about March 21 and April 19.

14d   Irish turning up to celebrate // historical event in Dublin (6)

The Easter Rising^[5] was the uprising in Dublin and other cities in Ireland against British rule, Easter 1916. It ended with the surrender of the protesters, most of whose leaders were subsequently executed, but was a contributory factor in the establishment of the Irish Free State (1922).

15d   Travel with friends, finally have a little drink /and/ chat (6)

18d   Wicked predator /shows/ little sign of sorrow (8)

21d   Cane /giving/ sound of hard blow -- we don't like that! (6)

23d   Mathematician /establishing/ new rule about transcendental number (5)

In mathematics, e^[5] is the transcendental^* number that is the base of Napierian or natural logarithms, approximately equal to 2.71828.

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^* A transcendental number^[5] is a number such as e or π that is real but not a root of an algebraic equation with rational coefficients.

Leonhard Euler^[5] (1707–1783) was a Swiss mathematician. Euler attempted to elucidate the nature of functions, and his study of infinite series led his successors, notably Abel and Cauchy, to introduce ideas of convergence and rigorous argument into mathematics.

24d   Precise // demand (5)

26d   Hurry -- daughter must be collected, // put out of sight (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