Wednesday, November 8, 2017 — DT 28500

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28500
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, August 8, 2017
Setter Shamus (Philip Marlow)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28500]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Mr Kitty
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 is a highly entertaining offering from Shamus.

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   Source of fine // piece in standard bill (7,6)

9a   Frenchman pair backed in Lincolnshire town /is/ braggart (9)

The French word monsieur^[8] (abbreviation M^[8]) means 'gentleman' or 'man'.

Louth is a market town and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. Louth is the principal town and centre for a large rural area of eastern Lincolnshire.

10a   High ball // one enjoys getting down in sport (5)

Skier is a variant spelling of skyer^[5] which, in cricket, is a hit which goes very high.

11a   Sluggish // trainer tires somewhat (5)

12a   Period of service /in/ sunless French city (4)

"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

Tours^[5] is an industrial city in west central France, on the River Loire.

13a   Musicians // not allowed to be heard (4)

15a   High-flier from Russia /or/ Georgia with mobile I rang (7)

Yuri Gagarin^[5] (1934–1968) was a Russian cosmonaut. In 1961 he made the first manned space flight, completing a single orbit of the earth in 108 minutes.

Delving Deeper

On 27 March 1968, at the age of 34, while on a routine training flight from Chkalovsky Air Base, he and flight instructor Vladimir Seryogin died in a MiG-15UTI crash near the town of Kirzhach. The bodies of Gagarin and Seryogin were cremated and the ashes were buried in the walls of the Kremlin on Red Square. The cause of the crash[7] that killed Gagarin is not entirely certain, and has been subject to speculation about conspiracy theories over the ensuing decades.

Scratching the Surface
In the surface reading, Georgia[7] likely refers to a country in the Caucasus region of south-western Asia, on the eastern shore of the Black Sea and bordering Russia, Turkey, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. Mobile[5] is a British term for a mobile phone [North American cell phone[5]] ⇒ we telephoned from our mobile to theirs.

17a   Journalist provided with diamonds /in/ town hall perhaps (7)

18a   Support horse close to race, // not yet fully formed? (7)

20a   Sailor confronts blokes after party, /showing/ guts? (7)

Bloke^[5] is an informal British^* term for a man ⇒ he’s a nice bloke.

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^* British, but certainly very familiar to anyone on this side of the pond who has ever watched a British film or television programme

21a   Very small // element with unknown character (4)

"unknown" = Y (show explanation )

In mathematics (algebra, in particular), an unknown^[10] is a variable, or the quantity it represents, the value of which is to be discovered by solving an equation ⇒ 3y = 4x + 5 is an equation in two unknowns. [Unknowns are customarily represented symbolically by the letters x, y and z.]

hide explanation

22a   Daily // attraction falling short (4)

Daily^[5] (noun) is a dated British term for a woman who is employed to clean someone else’s house each day.

Char^[5] is an informal British term for charwoman^[5], a dated British name for a woman employed as a cleaner in a house or office.

23a   Unspoken // work of diplomat touring India (5)

India^[5] is a code word representing the letter I, used in radio communication.

The use of the word "touring" as a containment indicator is predicated on it meaning  'going around' (i.e., travelling).

26a   Award mostly established // with a pot? (5)

"award" = OBE (show explanation )

OBE^[5] is the abbreviation for Officer of the Order of the British Empire.

The Order of the British Empire^[5] is an order of knighthood applicable to the United Kingdom and certain Commonwealth realms which was instituted in 1917 and is divided into five classes, each with military and civilian divisions. The classes are: Knight or Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE), Knight or Dame Commander (KBE/DBE), Commander (CBE), Officer (OBE), and Member (MBE). The two highest classes entail the awarding of a knighthood.

hide explanation

27a   Bird, fish /and/ insect (9)

The roach^[5] is an edible Eurasian freshwater fish of the carp family, popular with anglers.

28a   Fear about lard in a cooking // method to achieve a solution (5,3,5)

Down

1d   Place where everyone turns out for a party? (7,7)

2d   Origin, it's said, /in/ regular journey (5)

3d   I should appear before time alarm goes off? /It's/ unimportant (10)

4d   One putting away a large amount? (7)

5d   Popular hotel on river // within a company (2-5)

Hotel^[5] is a code word representing the letter H, used in radio communication.

The River Ouse^[5] (rhymes with booze rather than mouse) is a river of northeastern England, formed at the confluence of the Ure and Swale in North Yorkshire and flowing 92 km (57 miles) south-eastwards through York to the Humber estuary.

There are also several other rivers in England having the same name or minor variations thereof, namely:

1. a river of southeastern England, which rises in the Weald of West Sussex and flows 48 km (30 miles) south-eastwards to the English Channel;
2. (also Great Ouse) a river of eastern England, which rises in Northamptonshire and flows 257 km (160 miles) eastwards then northwards through East Anglia to the Wash near King’s Lynn; or
3. (also Little Ouse) a river of East Anglia, which forms a tributary of the Great Ouse.

6d   Neck // in stork is stretched (4)

7d   Bishop in mistrial stirred // primitive allegiance? (9)

"bishop" = B (show explanation )

B^[5] is an abbreviation for bishop that is used in recording moves in chess.

hide explanation

8d   Catch slanderer that's upset // older lover (6-8)

14d   Frenchman embracing girlfriend/'s/ home from home? (4-1-5)

Home from home^[5] is the British counterpart to the North American expression home away from home, a place where one is as happy, relaxed, or comfortable as in one's own home.

A pied-à-terre^[5] is a small flat [apartment], house, or room kept for occasional use.

16d   Place for putting punch -- // vulnerable area that needs protection (5,4)

Green belt^[5] is a British^* term for an area of open land around a city, on which building is restricted ⇒ Darlington should preserve its green belt.

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^* Oxford Dictionaries may consider the term to be British but it does seem to have migrated to Canada.

19d   At work, I teach learner /what's/ right? (7)

"learner" = 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

Contrary to what Mr Kitty indicates in his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, I would say that the definition is merely "right", not "what's right". The word "what's" is a link word.

The Alternate Clue

In the UK, a different clue initially appeared on the Telegraph Puzzles website (from where most reviewers source the puzzle): Chalet rebuilt with / correct / source of investment? (7) As Mr Kitty shows in his review, the wordplay would be an an anagram (rebuilt) of {CHALET + the first letter of (source of) Investment)}. He ponders "I'm not sure about the role of correct here.  Suggestions welcome." The word "correct" would have to be the definition being an allusion to "ethical investment funds". However, I certainly don't believe that this clue structure (with the definition inserted in the midst of the wordplay) conforms to accepted cryptic crossword convention — which would explain why the clue was replaced. Mr Kitty goes on to say "The printed crossword used [a] revised clue.  It now appears in the online version as well". As the so-called "revised clue" is the one that appeared not only today in the syndicated puzzle in the National Post but also in the print edition of The Daily Telegraph, I would say that it is the "original clue" and that the short-lived clue that appeared briefly on the Telegraph Puzzles website was, in fact, the actual "revised clue" (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: The setter creates the puzzle and submits it to the puzzle editor. The puzzle editor and setter refine the puzzle. 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.) 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). 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. 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. The various online versions of the puzzle are posted. 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

20d   A devotee eating mostly staple food // from Kenya? (7)

The question mark indicates that this is a definition by example, i.e., the adjectival phrase "from Kenya" is one example of what the word "African" might denote. Other possibilities include "from Angola", "from Mozambique", etc.

24d   Something to sit on // right after tea (5)

Chai (also cha) is an alternative spelling of char^[5], an informal British name for tea [as a drink].

25d   Distribution halved /in/ food outlet (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