Thursday, November 23, 2017 — DT 28511

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28511
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, August 21, 2017
Setter Rufus (Roger Squires)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28511]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Miffypops
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 there is no doubt as to the setter of the puzzle. It is definitely one of Rufus' creations.

Last week, Rufus (Roger Squires) was pulled from his usual "Monday" spot in the rotation and replaced by Mister Ron (Chris Lancaster). That puzzle appeared in the National Post one week ago yesterday. I am afraid that I had not read the comments at Big Dave's Crossword Blog before posting my review and so was not aware of this fact at that time. I only discovered that the puzzle had not been set by Rufus when pommers mentioned it in a comment a couple of days later and I only realized that Mister Ron had compiled it when Senf remarked on it yet another day later.

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   Humble // suggestion to refer to a clue that's not here today (4,3,4)

I likely spent as much time on this clue as I did on the remaining clues combined. I did use some electronic assistance but my helpers did not serve up the answer on a silver platter. They merely helped me narrow down the number of possibilities. It still involved a lot of deduction on my part to assemble the correct combination from the long lists of candidates they nominated for each position in the solution.

After that experience, I felt humbled when I read the first part of Miffypops' hint "I just love it when one across is a piece of cake". However, I regained a bit of confidence when I got to "Not so today".

9a   Pole enters by way of // special permit (4)

10a   A capital picture-house (4,7)

The Tate Gallery^[5] (commonly known simply as the Tate) is a national museum of art in London, England founded in 1897 by the sugar manufacturer Sir Henry Tate (1819–1899) to house his collection of modern British paintings, as a nucleus for a permanent national collection of modern art. It was renamed Tate Britain in 2000, when the new Tate Modern gallery opened. [I would surmise that by that time the original collection could no longer be considered "modern".]

11a   Half the alphabet // that's studied by physicists (4)

... the other half being N to Z.

14a   Leaning over // he upset Nigel (7)

16a   Book /in/ stock (7)

17a   Showed open-mouthed wonder /seeing/ space-man? (5)

In his review at Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Miffypops writes "Not only do you have to guess which man you also have to shorten his name. Unfair clueing in my opinion." In theory, one should be able to arrive at the solution through either the definition or the wordplay. This is a case where one is more apt to arrive at the solution via the definition and then use the wordplay to confirm it. That is, having found the solution based on the definition, does it also satisfy the wordplay.

18a   Cushions // which are left behind by astronauts? (4)

This was an easy solve — once I had focussed on the right leg of the journey. I spent too much time pondering on what they might have left behind on the moon.

19a   Great work // from the picador (4)

Scratching the Surface
In bullfighting, a picador[5] is a person on horseback who goads the bull with a lance.

20a   Don't agree with // sending potato back (5)

22a   Redoing novel /to be/ cut (7)

Cut^[3] means to refuse to speak to or recognize (someone); in other words, to snub ⇒ cut me dead at the party.

23a   [It receives word /of/ a murder that's been arranged (7)

24a   Clothing // to boast about (4)

28a   What dead men do, // on being held back by informers (4,2,5)

Dead men tell no tales^[a,b,c] is a proverb alluding to the fact that those who are dead cannot reveal secrets.

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^[a] Farlex Dictionary of Idioms; ^[b] McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs; ^[c] Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary

A Truth of the Ages

This proverb apparently dates at least to the 13th century. A posting on the website Quoteland.com claims that Will Durant's Age of Faith volume 4, in his Civilization series quotes p 530 of Lewis Browne's "Wisdom of Israel," NY, 1945, as attributing this line to the medieval Persian poet Sa'di, around 1250, saying this is what we should to to all quacks and charlatans: "So I finished the rogue, notwithstanding his wails, With stones, for dead men, as you know, tell no tales."

29a   Has // wrongly won point (4)

30a   Character /in/ tantrum meant to explode (11)

Down

2d   The first man /for whom/ madam lost her head (4)

"the first man" = ADAM (show explanation )

In the biblical and Koranic traditions, Adam^[5] is the name of the first man. According to the Book of Genesis, Adam was created by God as the progenitor of the human race and lived with Eve in the Garden of Eden.

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3d   Still // quits (4)

Still^[5] is an adverb meaning even (used with comparatives for emphasis) ⇒ (i) write, or better still, type, captions for the pictures; (ii) Hank, already sweltering, began to sweat still more profusely.

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Quits^[5] is an adjective meaning (of two people) on even terms, especially because a debt or score has been settled ⇒ I think we’re just about quits now, don’t you?.

4d   Approaching // Grannie for change (7)

5d   He could be told, /but/ he probably wouldn't understand (4)

6d   Suffered wounds after fighting, /but/ sang (7)

7d   Cold game? (6,5)

This is one of those clues which is only cryptic if you fall for the misdirection — and many will likely not especially if they don't happen to be wintertime hunters.

8d   Such a reception may please friends /but/ annoy enemies (4,7)

This is a difficult clue to mark as part of the clue is implied (which I have attempted to show through the use of a dotted underline for the second definition). The dotted underline is also appropriate as the usage is ironic. The clue, in full, would read "Such a reception may please friends /but/ [such a reception may] annoy enemies".

In the Old West, unwelcome guests might be given a warm welcome with blazing rifles ⇒ Okay, boys! Let's give these varmints a warm welcome!.

Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable lists a warm reception (also a hearty welcome) as meaning a hot opposition ⇒ The Home Rule members are prepared to give the Coercion Bill a warm reception; Mr. Parnell’s followers will oppose it tooth and nail.—Newspaper paragraph, May 19th, 1885.

12d   Scapegoat // one of Fagin's pickpockets? (8,3)

Whip^[5] is an informal British term meaning to steal (something) ⇒ the escaper had whipped his overcoat.

Scratching the Surface
Fagin[7] is a fictional character who appears as an antagonist of the novel Oliver Twist (1838) authored by English writer Charles Dickens (1812–1870). He is the leader of a group of children, the Artful Dodger and Charley Bates among them, whom he teaches to make their livings by pickpocketing and other criminal activities, in exchange for a roof over their heads.

13d   It's worn after the match (7,4)

My first (erroneous) attempt here was WEDDING GOWN, reasoning that it would be in used condition (worn) following the ceremony. In my books, that would have been a more Rufusesque solution than the actual one.

15d   Georgia and Edward // confined to school (5)

Gate^[5,10] is a British term meaning to confine or restrict (a pupil or student) to the school or college grounds as a punishment ⇒ he was gated for the rest of term.

16d   Show // to look back on, they say (5)

20d   Make duty-free? (7)

It may have been Miffypops "iffy clue of the day". However, I rather liked this  cryptic definition alluding to a soldier, for example, taking over a post from another.

21d   A doctor breaks journey /to get/ an instrument (7)

"doctor" = MB (show explanation )

In Britain, the degree required to practice medicine is a Bachelor of Medicine^[7] (MB, from Latin Medicinae Baccalaureus), which is equivalent to a North American Doctor of Medicine (MD, from Latin Medicinae Doctor). The degree of Doctor of Medicine also exists in Britain, but it is an advanced degree pursued by those who wish to go into medical research. Physicians in Britain are still addressed as Dr. despite not having a doctoral degree. 

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Tambour^[5] is a historical term for a small drum.

25d   Strike /makes/ mates upset (4)

In Britain, mate^[5] — in addition to being a person’s husband, wife, or other sexual partner — is an informal term for a friend or companion ⇒ my best mate Steve.

26d   Quiet // part of electrical motor (4)

27d   Anxious /to show/ how cutting you can be? (4)

Some of those posting comments on Big Dave's Crossoword Blog report that the word "show" was misspelled as "sow" in various versions of this puzzle in Britain including in the paper edition of The Daily Telegraph. As this error does not appear in the National Post, it must have been introduced during the production process in the UK after the puzzle had been distributed in syndication (see The Life Cycle of a Cryptic Crossword Puzzle ).

The Life Cycle of a Cryptic Crossword Puzzle

The reason why errors that get corrected in the UK still show up months later in the puzzle in Canada can be understood if one looks at what I believe to be the life cycle of a puzzle:

1. The setter creates the puzzle and submits it to the puzzle editor.
2. The puzzle editor and setter refine the puzzle.
3. The puzzle is distributed in syndication. (Some papers print the puzzle on or close to the date it appears in the UK. Other papers, such as the National Post, print the puzzle weeks or months later.)
4. The puzzle editor may make changes to the puzzle (with or without consulting the setter) after it has been distributed in syndication. These (and subsequent) changes do not appear in the syndicated puzzle (which has already been distributed).
5. The puzzle is prepared for print publication. Errors may be introduced during the production process. These errors sometimes also carry forward to the online versions of the puzzle.
6. The puzzle is prepared for online publication. Additional errors may be introduced during this production process but affect only the online versions of the puzzle. Complicating matters even further, there are apparently multiple online platforms on which the puzzle appears —  namely, the online edition of The Daily Telegraph and the Telegraph Puzzles website as well as Apple and Android apps. There will sometimes be an error on one of these online platforms that is not present on the others.
7. The various online versions of the puzzle are posted.
8. Errors in the online versions of the puzzle (regardless of at what stage they were introduced) are often corrected at some point during the day of publication. Of course, errors in the print edition cannot be corrected.

hide explanation

Keen^[5] is a British^* term meaning having or showing eagerness or enthusiasm ⇒ (i) a keen gardener; (ii) John was keen to help.

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^* British! Really?

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In the second definition, the setter seems to play with a couple of meanings of the word. Keen^[10] (said of a tool or implement) denotes having a sharp cutting edge or point. It can also mean intellectually acute.

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