Thursday, November 9, 2017 — DT 28501

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28501
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, August 9, 2017
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28501]
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

Well, I am certainly glad to see that the 2Kiwis also found this puzzle to be "a little towards the trickier end of the spectrum". Four interlinked clues in the northwest corner put up a valiant fight. Calling my trusty electronic assistants in(to) action vanquished 12a and the remainder of the corner quickly fell without further intervention from the assistants. I did need a little help from them though at 23d.

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   This is why broadcast /is/ unacceptable opinion (6)

4a   City // beach element that is to disappear (3,5)

9a   Look // undaunted, seeing that man sent back inside (6)

10a   Scheme /of/ church to welcome new prison (8)

"church" = CE (show explanation )

The Church of England^[10] (abbreviation CE^[10]) is the reformed established state Church in England, Catholic in order and basic doctrine, with the Sovereign as its temporal head.

hide explanation

12a   Lethargy // during court case? (8)

13a   Fatal, having ultimately changed sides /to get/ weapon (6)

15a   Put squeeze on directors /for/ advertising material (8,5)

18a   Liberal lad bit upset, /seeing/ cannons shot here (8,5)

Here and There
Cannon[5,10] is a British term for; a billiards shot in which the cue ball is caused to contact one object ball after another; or the points scored by such a shot. In Canada and the US, this would be called a carom.

20a   Shabby-sounding /and/ singular complement to mince (6)

Tatty^[5,10] is an informal, mainly British term denoting worn out, shabby, tawdry, or unkempt ⇒ tatty upholstered furniture.

Here and There
Mince[5] is a British term for minced meat, especially beef ⇒ stir in the mince and fry until browned. From a British perspective, ground beef[5] is a North American term for minced beef.

Tattie^[5] is an informal Scottish term for a potato ⇒ a hot plate of tatties 'n' mince.

Mince and tatties^[7] is a popular Scottish dish, consisting of minced beef and mashed potato. It sometimes contains other vegetables or thickening agents. It has had a longtime connection to school dinners.

Delving Deeper

When it comes to mince and tatties, there is no set recipe or form of cooking and large variations can occur from cook to cook. Essentially the dish consists of varying amounts of minced beef, onions, carrots or other root vegetables, seasoning and stock. Some cooks add thickening agents such as flour, oatmeal or cornflour. Despite concerns that British people are no longer eating traditional dishes, mince and tatties remains popular in Scotland. A survey by the Scottish Express in 2009 found that it was the most popular Scottish dish, with a third of respondents saying that they eat mince and tatties once a week. In 2006, the European Union introduced new rules on meat processing which was reported by The Daily Mail as meaning the end of mince and tatties because of the limitations on resting meat for mincing. This resulted in Scottish National Party leader and First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond announcing "They can take our lives but they will never take our freedom to make mince and tatties. I am confident that, if some European commissioners were allowed to taste delicious mince and tatties, we would see off the threat to this dish. But we will fight them on the beaches and we will fight them in the butcher's shops to make sure we never have to surrender our mince and tatties." Mince and tatties is well known for being used historically in school canteens, where the quality of the ingredients and the ability to feed a large number of children made it popular.

22a   List dyes for repacking // treated artificially (8)

24a   Drink // part of profit -- I repaid after getting a return (8)

25a   Bundles of corn // accepted on board ship (6)

"on board ship" = 'contained in SS' (show explanation )

In Crosswordland, you will find that a ship is almost invariably a steamship, the abbreviation for which is SS^[10]. Thus phrases such as "aboard ship" or "on board ship" (or sometimes merely "aboard" or "on board") are Crosswordland code for 'contained in SS'.

hide explanation

Stook^[5] is a British term for a group of sheaves of grain stood on end in a field.

Behind the Picture

Should you happen to look at the picture that the 2Kiwis use to illustrate their review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, you are likely to say "Wait a minute, that isn't corn!". Well, it is in the UK. The word "corn" has quite a different meaning in Britain than it does in North America. The plant known in North America (as well as Australia and New Zealand) as corn[5], is called maize[5] in the UK. In Britain, corn refers to the chief cereal crop of a district, especially (in England) wheat or (in Scotland) oats.

26a   Turn, oddly reluctant // to cross (8)

27a   Inventor/'s/ lack of affectation rejected (6)

Side^[5] is an informal British term for a boastful or pretentious manner or attitude ⇒ there was absolutely no side to him.

Thomas Edison^[5] (1847–1931) was an American inventor. He took out the first of more than a thousand patents at the age of 21. His inventions include automatic telegraph systems, the carbon microphone for telephones, the phonograph, and the carbon filament lamp.

Down

1d   Why bridges must bear // cross (6)

2d   Tries again to pre-empt a student/'s/ dry run (9)

"learner | student" = L (show explanation )

The cryptic crossword convention of L meaning learner or student arises from the L-plate^[7], a square plate bearing a sans-serif letter L, for learner, which must be affixed to the front and back of a vehicle in various jurisdictions (including the UK) if its driver is a learner under instruction.

hide explanation

3d   It's frowned upon by some purists but one is to happily cohabit (5,10)

5d   Excitedly eager to know more // since the opening of gallery (4)

6d   Bemused, // blame doubt developing after dance party (15)

In Britain, disco^[5] — in addition to being a style of music or dancing or a club at which such music is performed — can also refer to a party at which people dance to such music.

7d   Be // first to support old flame (5)

8d   Take manual control /of/ extra attraction at fairground (8)

11d   Conflict in river crossing // at the front (7)

14d   A church gallery/'s/ visual aid material (7)

We attend church for the second time today (see 10a).

"gallery" = TATE (show explanation )

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".]

hide explanation

An acetate^[5] is a transparency made of cellulose acetate film.

16d   Hates // to maintain lads must eat one (9)

17d   Remove // such a painting (8)

19d   Unusual issue /that's/ likely to succeed (4-2)

21d   Letter /from/ volunteers supporting article (5)

"volunteers" = TA (show explanation )

In the UK, Territorial Army^[5] (abbreviation TA^[5]) was, at one time, the name of a volunteer force founded in 1908 to provide a reserve of trained and disciplined military personnel for use in an emergency. Since 2013, this organization has been called the Army Reserve.

hide explanation

Theta^[5] is the eighth letter of the Greek alphabet (Θ, θ).

23d   Appreciates // somewhere to stay (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