Tuesday, November 7, 2017 — DT 28499

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28499
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, August 7, 2017
Setter Rufus (Roger Squires)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28499]
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

There is a bit of chatter on Big Dave's site today about "Ancient History". Should I admit to remembering that era well?

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   A great // stop for sailors (5)

Avast^[5] is a nautical exclamation directing (someone) to stop or cease ⇒ a sailor is expected to keep hauling until the mate hollers ‘Avast!.

4a   Jumper with a pocket in front (8)

Here and There

Although Miffypops writes "Rufus is leading us towards a jumping marsupial with a pouch for carrying its young", I would suggest that he actually may be misleadingly leading us toward an item of clothing. However, a jumper in the UK is not the same as a jumper here. In Britain, a jumper[5] is a knitted garment typically with long sleeves, worn over the upper body (in North American parlance, a sweater — in particular, a pullover). The dress that those of us in North America know as a jumper, the Brits would call a pinafore[5] (a collarless sleeveless dress worn over a blouse or [British] jumper [i.e., North American sweater]). Thus, if a British lass were to wear a pinafore over her jumper and a North American gal were to wear a jumper over her sweater, they would be dressed identically.

8a   Blue study getting Edward // depressed (8)

9a   Came to blows -- // no longer retained (8)

11a   Withdraw // both note and pamphlet (7)

In music — specifically, in tonic sol-fa — re is the second note of a major scale. In Britain, where the more common spelling is ray^[5], re^[5] might be seen as a variant [or, horrors, American] spelling.

13a   Possibly meant to secure some // accommodation (9)

Here and There

In Britain, the term flat[5] is used for what would be called an apartment[5] in North America. The term apartment is used in Britain, but seemingly in a more restricted sense than in North America  applying to either temporary or upscale accommodation. As Oxford Dictionaries puts it, an apartment[5] is: a British term for a flat, typically one that is well appointed or used for holidays ⇒ self-catering holiday apartments; or a North American term for any flat ⇒ the family lived in a rented apartment.

15a   Number of accident-prone vessels suspended (3,5,7)

I may have been a bit tough on myself here in the way I marked the clue. I did get the first and third words and the second word even crossed my mind but I said "No, can't be."

"Ten Green Bottles"^[7] is a reverse counting song that is popular in the United Kingdom. It is similar to the North American song "99 Bottles of Beer"^[7] — except it starts close enough to the finish line that it is likely to be sung to completion. In essence, the song is a single verse repeated, each time with one bottle fewer:

Ten green bottles hanging on the wall
Ten green bottles hanging on the wall
And if one green bottle should accidentally fall,
There'll be nine green bottles hanging on the wall.

The version of "99 Bottles of Beer" with which I am familiar is different than the one given by Wikipedia (perhaps due to my version having been learned around the campfire at Boy Scout camp), my version being as follows:

99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer.
If one of those bottles should happen to fall, 98 bottles of beer on the wall...

as opposed to the Wikipedia version:

99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer.
Take one down, pass it around, 98 bottles of beer on the wall...

18a   Paint // theatre group assembled by Hancock's mate making comeback (9)

Rep^[5] is an informal shortened form of repertory^[5]. It can refer either to the performance of various plays, operas, or ballets by a company at regular short intervals,  or to a repertory theatre or company.

Tony Hancock^[7] (1924–1968) was an English comedian and actor. Popular during the 1950s and early 1960s, he had a major success with his BBC series Hancock's Half Hour, on radio from 1954 to 1961 and on television from 1956-1960, in which he soon formed a strong professional and personal bond with comic actor Sid James (1913–1976).

Distemper^[5] is a kind of paint using glue or size instead of an oil base, for use on walls or for scene-painting.

21a   It's a man out of sorts -- // this will keep him going (7)

22a   In wars Eric worked /for/ people flying aircraft (8)

24a   Girl not without heart, /but/ peevishly impatient (8)

Ah! Petula Clark — I must admit to having had a bit of a thing for her back in the 60s.

At Comment #15, Kath comments "it took me ages to find the 24a girl – it’s hardly a common name". Petula Clark^[7] was born Sally Olwen Clark. Young Sally's stage name of Petula was invented by her father, Leslie Clark; he joked it was a combination of the names of two former girlfriends, Pet and Ulla.

25a   As a guess, dancing // soothes (8)

26a   Stop being an outsider (5)

Down

1d   Removed, /being/ absent-minded (10)

In the second definition, the setter uses absent-minded^[5] in the sense of inattentive rather than forgetful.

2d   A job for the summer (8)

3d   Agree ten in new line-up -- // one's not yet made a score (8)

4d   Fools // the youngsters (4)

5d   Cargo boat finally transported // small racing vehicle (2-4)

6d   Politician in government // to mess up (6)

"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

7d   Married with ring, /but apparently/ didn't pay yet (4)

10d   Gets up /in/ terrible scramble (8)

12d   Informal invitation to sit -- not only in church (4,1,3)

Pew^[5] is an informal British term for a seat ⇒ Take a pew. What'll you have?.

14d   Cook makes tarts /for/ demanding employer (10)

16d   One to value // something that was buried, perhaps (8)

17d   Man (or woman) of action? (8)

19d   Split over being on board ship /in/ thongs (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

In the wordplay, thong is not something one would wear [I'm thinking footwear, of course ; )], but rather thong^[5] is used in the sense of a narrow strip of leather or other material, used especially as a fastening or as the lash of a whip.

20d   In time, little beast /will make/ mistakes (6)

22d   Song /with/ a melody that's uplifting (4)

An aria^[5] is a long accompanied song for a solo voice, typically one in an opera or oratorio.

23d   Father caught in end of mattress // springs (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