Thursday, November 2, 2017 — DT 28496

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28496
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, August 3, 2017
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28496]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Kath
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

Today's puzzle from an unidentified setter, while fairly gentle, is nevertheless a very enjoyable solve.

Although it has somewhat abated, the overwhelmingly negative reaction to the introduction of a Facebook-type "Like" button on Big Dave's blog that has been raging all week continues today. Given that the button no longer exists, I presume Big Dave must have bowed to popular opinion and removed 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 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   Broken-down gents is man's // task (10)

Scratching the Surface
The gents[5] is an informal British term for a men's public toilet.

6a   Hit book, // 'Mary's Little Friend' (4)

"Mary Had a Little Lamb"^[7] is an English language nursery rhyme of nineteenth-century American origin. It reportedly recounts an actual incident that occurred in the early 1800s in which Mary Sawyer of Sterling, Massachusetts took her pet lamb to school.

9a   Very stuck in one // crack (5)

"very" = V (show explanation )

The abbreviation v (or v.)^[1,2,5,10] stands for very. Although this definition is found in most of my British dictionaries, it does not appear in any of my American dictionaries. Unfortunately no explanation is given as to the specific context in which one might encounter this usage. The only example that I can imagine is when combined with G as a grade of VG (very good) on school tests or assignments.

hide explanation

10a   Undergarment // itches when worn by Cleese? (4,5)

John Cleese^[7] is an English actor, voice actor, screenwriter, producer, and comedian who was a  founding member in the late 1960s of the British comedy troupe Monty Python. He is also well known for writing and starring in productions such as the British television sitcom Fawlty Towers and the comedy film A Fish Called Wanda.

12a   Unusual place is ... // unusual (7)

... or does the clue parse as:

• Unusual // place is ... unusual (7)

13a   Tor in // African country (5)

In Britain, tor and ben are terms meaning high elevations of land in dialects spoken in the south and north respectively.

A tor^[7] is a large, free-standing rock outcrop that rises abruptly from the surrounding smooth and gentle slopes of a rounded hill summit or ridge crest. In the South West of England, the term is commonly also used for the hills themselves – particularly the high points of Dartmoor in Devon and Bodmin Moor in Cornwall.

Ben^[5] (used especially in place names) is Scottish for a high mountain or mountain peak ⇒ Ben Nevis^*.

---

^* Ben Nevis^[5] is a mountain in western Scotland. Rising to 1,343 m (4,406 ft), it is the highest mountain in the British Isles.

Benin^[5] is a country of West Africa, immediately west of Nigeria. The country was conquered by the French in 1893 and became part of French West Africa. In 1960 it became fully independent. Former name (until 1975) Dahomey.

How High is My Mountain

I was amused by the distinction drawn by Brian in Comment #26 on Big Dave's Crossword Blog that a tor is not a mountain, but a hill. How high is a mountain anyway? Ben Nevis in Scotland, the highest mountain in the British Isles, is 4,406 feet. Brown Willy, a tor on Bodmin Moor and the highest point in Cornwall, England, is 1,380 feet. High Willhays, a tor on Dartmoor in Devon, England, is somewhat higher at 2,037 feet. The North Mountain of Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley is a mere 771 feet while Mount Logan in the Yukon, Canada's highest point, is 19,551 feet. Denali (formerly called Mount McKinley) in Alaska, the highest peak in North America, is 20,146 feet. And, of course, Mount Everest, the highest summit in the world, is 29,029 feet.

15a   Tommy/'s/ secret (7)

In the UK, tommy^[5,10] (also Tommy or Tommy Atkins) is an informal term for a private in the British Army. The term originates from the use of the name Thomas Atkins in specimens of completed official forms in the British army during the 19th century.

17a   Type // that is within parameters (7)

19a   Feels sorry for // river birds (7)

The egret^[5] is any a heron with mainly white plumage, having long plumes in the breeding season.

21a   Cannot stand, /and/ old Penny is similar (7)

In the British currency system used prior to the introduction of the current decimal currency system in 1971, a penny^[5] (abbreviation d^[5] [for denarius]) was a coin or monetary unit equal to one twelfth of a shilling or 240th of a pound.

22a   Cold fish? // Hold on! (5)

The ling^[5,10] is any of a number of long-bodied edible marine fishes including various species of large East Atlantic fish related to the cod, in particular Molva molva, which is of commercial importance.

24a   Disorder // returns in Angola, I mean Algeria (7)

What Kath has failed to mention in her review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, not only is the solution hidden (in), it is also reversed (returns).

Anaemia^[5] is the British spelling of the disorder we are likely more familiar seeing spelled as anemia.

27a   Soldier in appropriate American // gear (9)

Para^[4,11] (short for paratrooper) is a soldier in an airborne unit.

28a   Rule // check announced (5)

29a   Fish // doze endlessly going round (4)

30a   Niece slept badly, /getting/ sickness (10)

Down

1d   Father raises feet of pews inside // part of church (4)

2d   Washing // part of leg -- good after climbing mountains (9)

"good" = G (show explanation )

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

hide explanation

3d   Grebes seen regularly, /and/ other birds (5)

Scratching the Surface
The grebe[5] is a diving waterbird with a long neck, lobed toes, and almost no tail, typically having bright breeding plumage used in display.

4d   Doctor emails about a // debility (7)

5d   No new benefit // surprise (7)

7d   The woman in North America turned // pale (5)

8d   I spit in vehicles, /creating/ concerns (10)

In the wordplay, spit^[5] is used in the sense of a narrow point of land projecting into the sea ⇒ a narrow spit of land shelters the bay.

Ness^[5] (a term usually found in place names) means a headland or promontory ⇒ Orford Ness.

11d   Out of work? // Jack has nothing to be thankful for (7)

"jack" = J (show explanation )

J^[5] is an abbreviation for jack that is used in describing play in card games.

hide explanation

14d   Grasp // treasure (10)

16d   One gets even // angrier, initially, with five green bananas (7)

18d   Fake // obstacle left out (9)

20d   Alarm/'s/ gone off, keeping right time (7)

Off^[10] (said of food or drink) means having gone bad, sour, etc ⇒ this milk is off.

21d   Determined, /seeing/ conked-out TV (4-3)

In her review, Kath says "I’m not sure if this is a double definition ...". The numeration (4,3) for the second part does not match that given, so I would not deem this to be a double definition.

23d   Press: // 'Politician admitted to awful lie' (5)

"politician" = MP (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

25d   A drink's raised in front of Raphael's last // work of art (5)

Scratching the Surface
Raphael[5] (1483–1520) was an Italian painter and architect; Italian name Raffaello Sanzio. Regarded as one of the greatest artists of the Renaissance, he is particularly noted for his madonnas, including his altarpiece the Sistine Madonna (c.1513).

26d   Stake // used in plant extension (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