Friday, December 8, 2017 — DT 28522

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28522
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Saturday, September 2, 2017
Setter Mister Ron (Chris Lancaster)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28522 – Hints] Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28522 – Review]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Big Dave (Hints) crypticsue (Review)
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
Notes
As this was a Saturday "Prize Puzzle" in Britain, there are two entries related to it on Big Dave's Crossword Blog — the first, posted on the date of publication, contains hints for selected clues while the second is a full review issued following the entry deadline for the contest. The vast majority of reader comments will generally be found attached to the "hints" posting with a minimal number — if any — accompanying the full review.

Introduction

This puzzle well deserves the three stars for difficulty and four stars for enjoyment awarded to it by crypticsue in her review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog. It is definitely meatier fare than we often get in what was a Saturday "prize puzzle" in the UK. A "prize puzzle" is one for which readers of The Daily Telegraph are invited to submit their solutions in the hopes of winning a small prize such as a pen or a low value gift card. Of course, this is really a scheme to mine names and addresses from which to compile a database for advertising purposes. "Prize puzzles" have customarily been on the easier side, which many observers attribute to a desire on the part of the newspaper to maximize the number of entries —  and, correspondingly, the size of the database collected.

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   Run place near Manchester, /and/ one in Kent (10)

Bury^[7] [pronounced berry^*] is a town in Greater Manchester, England.

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^*  Although according to Gazza^* in a review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog As someone who used to live in said borough I have to say that this is not the way the locals pronounce it – they make it sound more like flurry than merry.

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Canterbury^[5] is a city in Kent, south-eastern England, the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury. St Augustine established a church and monastery there in 597 and it became a place of medieval pilgrimage.

6a   At first didn't have // feathers (4)

10a   Women in certain quantity // hunt well? (5)

Here "hunt well" is a terse way of saying "seek a source of water".

11a   Praise /in/ article ain't loud, unfortunately (9)

In her review, crypticsue gives one take on the wordplay. Alternatively, it could be A ([indefinite] article) + anagram (unfortunately) of AINT LOUD.

12a   Back everyone to move quickly around one -- /it's/ a wrap! (8)

13a   Son with money /for/ bouquet (5)

15a   Again, agent/'s/ made to take too much on board (7)

Fed^[5] is an informal US term for a federal agent or official, especially a member of the FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation] ⇒ I don’t think he has any friends since he ratted to the Feds.

Here and There

I note that Oxford Dictionaries has modified the entry for this definition. On a previous visit to the site, the usage example read I don’t think he has any friends since he grassed to the Feds — a rather bizarre mix of British slang ("grass") and American slang ("Fed"). Grass[5] is an informal British term meaning: (noun) a police informer; and (verb) to inform the police of someone’s criminal activities or plans ⇒ (i) someone had grassed on the thieves; (ii) she threatened to grass me up. This expression may derive from rhyming slang (grasshopper being rhyming slang (show explanation ) for 'copper'). Rhyming slang[5] is a type of slang that replaces words with rhyming words or phrases, typically with the rhyming element omitted. For example, butcher’s, short for butcher’s hook, means ‘look’ in Cockney rhyming slang. hide explanation

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Board^[5,10] is an archaic term for a table, especially one used for eating at, and especially when laden with food ⇒ he looked at the banquet which was spread upon his board.

17a   One just looking /for/ place to surf (7)

Until I read crypticsue's review, I hadn't thought of this as a double definition but rather perceived it to be a cryptic definition. I have to say that defining a (web) browser as a "place to surf" does not sit comfortably with me. A "means to surf", yes — but a "place to surf"?

19a   Secretary's learned // piece of writing (7)

PA^[5] is an abbreviation used in Britain^* for personal assistant.

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^* It is the use of the abbreviation that is British, not the term itself. Even in North America, I don't think the abbreviation is entirely unheard of.

21a   Too much silver found in church // building (7)

"too much" = OTT (show explanation )

OTT^[5] (short for over the top) is an informal British expression denoting excessive or exaggerated ⇒ presenting him as a goalscoring Superman seems a bit OTT.

hide explanation

The symbol for the chemical element silver is Ag^[5] from Latin argentum.

"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

22a   English tax returns keeping about // spot on (5)

British — perhaps not so much
Spot on[5] is an informal British* term meaning (as an adjective) completely accurate or (as an adverb) accurately ⇒ your reviews are spot on. * I would think that this "British" term is well-travelled.

24a   Forcibly removed, /being/ drunk due to endless port (8)

This port is served again at 9d.

27a   Have guests // come in? The writer is in leather (9)

"the writer" = I (show explanation )

It is a common cryptic crossword convention for the creator of the puzzle to use terms such as (the or this) compiler, (the or this) setter, (this) author, (this) writer, or this person to refer to himself or herself. To solve such a clue, one must generally substitute a first person pronoun (I or me) for whichever of these terms has been used in the clue.

hide explanation

Leather^[5] (verb) is an informal British term meaning to beat or thrash (someone) ⇒ he caught me and leathered me black and blue.

28a   Kid read out // letters (5)

29a   Challenge // revolutionary retailer advertising clothes (4)

30a   Money paid /for/ somewhere to live (10)

Down

1d   Start to create fuss over // ending (4)

In music, a coda^[5] is:

• the concluding passage of a piece or movement, typically forming an addition to the basic structure ⇒ the first movement ends with a fortissimo coda
• the concluding section of a dance, especially of a pas de deux or the finale of a ballet in which the dancers parade before the audience.

2d   Crewmen so upset // latest recruits? (9)

3d   Incident/'s/ clear with papers going missing (5)

4d   Fought // rough having spilt blood outside (7)

5d   Regret broadcast jibe? // Nonsense (7)

Rhubarb^[5] is an informal British term denoting nonsense^* ⇒ it was all rhubarb, about me, about her daughter, about art.

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^* The term may well come from the theatre world where the term rhubarb^[5] refers to the noise made by a group of actors to give the impression of indistinct background conversation, especially by the random repetition of the word ‘rhubarb’.

7d   I love having turned // green (5)

8d   One's hopeless // car with a flat battery? (3-7)

In Britain^*, flat^[5] (adjective) denotes (of a battery) having exhausted its charge.

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^* In North America, one would describe such a battery as being dead, a term that also seems to be used in the UK, as Oxford Dictionaries defines dead^[5] (adjective) as (of an electric circuit or conductor) carrying or transmitting no current ⇒ the batteries are dead.

It is merely a guess on my part, but perhaps there may be a nuance in the British usage of these terms in that a flat battery can be recharged while a dead battery is beyond hope?

9d   Document // concise after-dinner instruction? (8)

Port^[5] (also port wine) is a strong, sweet dark red (occasionally brown or white) fortified wine, originally from Portugal, typically drunk as a dessert wine. The name is a shortened form of Oporto, a major port from which the wine is shipped.

14d   See // MP in centre finish supporting hospital (10)

Scratching the Surface
The MP here is more likely to be a Member of Parliament[5] (see more ) than a military policeman[5]. 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

16d   Praise // cook's welcoming coffee (8)

18d   Fellow Arab, say, squandering billions /to get/ position on board (9)

On the chessboard, stalemate^[5] is a position counting as a draw, in which a player is not in check but cannot move except into check ⇒ last time I played him it ended up in stalemate.

20d   Teach // pair of Europeans about old coin (7)

A ducat^[10] is any of various former European gold or silver coins, especially those used in Italy or the Netherlands.

Delving Deeper
The ducat[7] was used as a trade coin in Europe from the later middle ages until as late as the 20th century. Many types of ducats had various metallic content and purchasing power throughout the period. The gold ducat of Venice gained wide international acceptance, like the medieval Byzantine hyperpyron and the Florentine florin, or the modern British pound sterling and the United States dollar.

21d   A duke wears this // gold one in court (7)

"gold" = OR (show explanation )

Or^[5] is gold or yellow, as a heraldic tincture.

In heraldry, a tincture^[5] is any of the conventional colours (including the metals and stains, and often the furs) used in coats of arms.

hide explanation

"court" = CT (show explanation )

Ct^[2] is the abbreviation for Court in street addresses — and possibly in other contexts as well.

hide explanation

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A duke^[5] is a male holding the highest hereditary title in the British and certain other peerages^*.

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^* The peerage^[5] is the nobility in Britain or Ireland, comprising the ranks of duke or duchess, marquess or marchioness, earl or countess, viscount or viscountess, and baron or baroness.

A coronet^[5] is a small or relatively simple crown, especially as worn by lesser royalty and peers or peeresses.

23d   Co-star, possibly, if not front of stage? (5)

The entire clue forms the wordplay in which the definition (marked with a solid underline) is embedded.

25d   Regularly go bust -- greed /is/ strange (5)

26d   Pound // where copper usually goes? (4)

An Added Flourish
The wording of the clue evokes the expression pound the beat[5] meaning (of a police officer) to patrol an allocated route or area..

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