Monday, December 11, 2017 — DT 28523 (Published Saturday, December 9, 2017)

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28523
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, September 4, 2017
Setter Rufus (Roger Squires)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28523]
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
Notes
This puzzle appears on the Monday Diversions page in the Saturday, December 9, 2017 edition of the National Post.

Introduction

This is the week that the planets align and the puzzles appear in the National Post on the same day of the week on which they were published in the UK — an event that occurs once every six weeks. Thus today's puzzle is a "Monday" offering from Rufus.

I was held up in the southeast corner by the Spanish dance and the Indian prince. The latter was new to me (knowing him only by his alias in 6a) and the former, although it has appeared before, did not come readily to mind.

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   Supports a parent /but/ doesn't talk about it (5,3)

6a   Jack found among big shots, // very rich men (6)

We usually find the letters AB clued by sailor or seaman. Today, Rufus throws a less frequently used device at us.

The entry for jack in The Chambers Dictionary would fill a page if it were not spread over parts of two pages. Among the definitions, one finds jack^[1] defined as (often with capital) a sailor.

In the Royal Navy, according to Oxford Dictionaries, able seaman^[5] (abbreviation AB^[5]), is a rank of sailor above ordinary seaman and below leading seaman. On the other hand, Collins English Dictionary tells us that an able seaman^[10] (also called able-bodied seaman) is an ordinary seaman, especially one in the merchant navy, who has been trained in certain skills.

Nob^[5] is an informal British term for a person of wealth or high social position ⇒ it was quite a do—all the nobs were there.

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Nabob^*[10] is an informal term for a a rich, powerful, or important man.

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^* Historically, nabob was another term for nawab^[10] (see 22d), a Muslim ruling prince or powerful landowner under the Mogul empire in India. The term later came to be applied first to a European who made a fortune in the Orient, especially in India and subsequently to any wealthy or influential person.

9a   Odds on wet weather /causing/ injury (6)

SP^[5] is the abbreviation for starting price^[7], the odds prevailing on a particular horse in the on-course fixed-odds^* betting market at the time a race begins.

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^* To the best of my limited knowledge in this field, this term would not be encountered in North America as betting on horse racing here is based on parimutuel betting rather than fixed-odds betting.

10a   Quartet heard and observed /as/ anticipated (8)

11a   A Ford not moving // forward -- then back! (2,3,3)

12a   Assumes // parking will be limited by migrating toads (6)

"parking" = P

13a   They raise the spirits (12)

The clue may allude to the fact that the distillation process^[7] increases the alcohol content of liquor.

16a   He can't help helping himself (12)

19a   Lively // turn I have put on (6)

A turn^[5] is a short performance, especially one of a number given by different performers in succession ⇒ (i) Lewis gave her best ever comic turn; (ii) he was asked to do a turn at a children’s party.

21a   Approached // wanderer uneasily (4,4)

23a   Make message unintelligible /in/ mad rush (8)

What did he say?

In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Miffypops writes Those of us of a certain age may well be reminded by the answer of the likes of Arthur Lampkin and Dave Bickers. Arthur Lampkin[7] is an English former professional motorcycle racer and Dave Bickers[7] (1938–2014) was an English Grand Prix motocross racer. Scramble[5] is a British term for a motorcycle race over rough and hilly ground ⇒ a local landowner allowed some kids to hold a motorbike scramble in the woods.

24a   Check // rower's seat (6)

25a   Add // a very quiet finale (6)

Pianissimo^[5,10] (abbreviation pp^[5,10]) is a direction used in music to mean either (as an adjective) very soft or very quiet or (as an adverb) very softly or very quietly.

26a   Dance // orchestra with woman leader (8)

The saraband^[5] (also sarabande) is a slow, stately Spanish dance in triple time.

Down

2d   Make use of // unfinished polymer plastic (6)

3d   Simple // sort of medieval song? (5)

Plainsong^[5] (also known as plainchant^[5]) is unaccompanied church music sung in unison in medieval modes and in free rhythm corresponding to the accentuation of the words, which are taken from the liturgy.

4d   Comic often aims /to make/ political statement (9)

5d   Members of Italian society breaking the rules (7)

A mafioso^[10] (plural mafiosos or mafiosi) is a person belonging to the Mafia.

6d   Mean to get a // girl (5)

7d   See // man on board crushing endless grain (9)

A bishop ^[5] is a chess piece, typically with its top shaped like a mitre, that can move any number of spaces in any direction along a diagonal on which it stands. Each player starts the game with two bishops, one moving on white squares and the other on black.

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A see^[10] is the diocese^* of a bishop, or the place within it where his cathedral^** or procathedral^*** is situated.

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^* A diocese^[5] is a district under the pastoral care of a bishop in the Christian Church — or, more precisely, episcopal churches.
^** A cathedral^[5] is the principal church of a diocese, with which the bishop is officially associated.
^*** A pro-cathedral^[5] (or procathedral^[10])  is a church used as a substitute for a cathedral.

Bishopric^[5] is another term for a diocese, a district under a bishop's control.

8d   Had inspiration? (8)

13d   Not unique // type of bridge (9)

Duplicate bridge^[5] is a competitive form of bridge in which the same hands are played successively by different partnerships.

14d   Queen's favourite // isle? Crete possibly (9)

Robert Dudley^[5], Earl of Leicester (c.1532–88) was an English nobleman, military commander, and favourite of Elizabeth I.

Scratching the Surface
Crete[5] is a Greek island in the eastern Mediterranean.

15d   A death sentence impending /or/ just some bird? (8)

This is not a double definition as the numeration (5,3) for the first part of the clue does not match that given.

In English law, the black cap^[7] was worn by a judge when passing a sentence of death. Although it is called a "cap", it is not made to fit the head like a typical cap does; instead it is a simple plain square made of black fabric. It was based on Tudor Court headgear. When worn, it is placed on the head on top of the judicial wig, with one of the four corners of the black fabric facing outward.

The death penalty has now been abolished in England and Wales, but the black cap is still part of a judge's official regalia, and as such it is still carried into the High Court by each sitting judge when full ceremonial dress is called for. It is worn every year on 9 November when the new Lord Mayor of the City of London is presented to the Law Courts.

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The blackcap^[5] is a mainly European warbler (Sylvia atricapilla) with a black cap in the male and a reddish-brown one in the female. In North America, blackcap is another name for the black-capped chickadee (Parus atricapillus).

17d   Publicity coverage /for/ speech (7)

18d   Not a Mr mistaken /as/ Mrs? (6)

A matron^[5] is an older married woman, especially one who is staid or dignified.

20d   Be sent up to bed, // having gone into a decline (5)

22d   Bwana's new // title? (5)

Nawab^[2,10] (also called nabob, see 6a) is a historical term for a Muslim ruling prince or powerful landowner under the Mogul empire in India.

Scratching the Surface
Bwana[5] is an East African term for a boss or master (often used as a title or form of address) ⇒ he can't hear you, bwana.

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