Thursday, December 14, 2017 — DT 28526

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28526
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, September 7, 2017
Setter RayT (Ray Terrell)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28526]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By pommers
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

As pommers points out in his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, while the average level of difficulty for this puzzle is two stars, the difficulty level of individual clues is fairly evenly apportioned between one star and three stars.

There is more than the usual amount of chatter in the Comments section on Big Dave's Crossword Blog today and several of the comments contain expressions or observations that might need a bit of explanation.

At Comment #4, you may notice Angellov's use of the expreesion "I did manage on my Jack Jones ...". On one's jack^[5] (or on one's Jack Jones) is British rhyming slang for on one's own. I think a true Cockney would have omitted the word "Jones" (show explanation ).

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

At Comment #5 Young Salopian refers to putting "3*/4* in the honesty box". An honesty box^[10] is a container into which members of the public are trusted to place payments when there is no attendant to collect them. This is his figurative way of fessing up to finding the puzzle more difficult than it had been rated by pommers in his review.

At Comment #30, Jaylegs complains "Sorry but I did not enjoy this [and] I did not rate the phrase in the Quicky^** either ...". Rate^[5,10] is an informal [almost certainly British^*] term meaning to have a high opinion of ⇒ (i) Mike certainly rated her, goodness knows why; (ii) the clients do not rate the new system.

---

^* at least when used as in the cited examples
^** the Quicky (Quick Crossword) is another crossword puzzle published in The Daily Telegraph

In her response to Comment #35, while making an observation on the appearance of the word "beam" [Beam being the alter ego of crossword setter RayT (Ray Terrell)] in the solution to 13a, Jane states "I think he tends to ring the changes between ‘Beam’ and ‘Ray’. I guess it would be rather difficult to clue ‘Terrell’!". Ring the changes^[a] (an expression primarily heard in the UK and Australia) means to continually alter or change something ⇒ I'm not surprised that Tina showed up with purple hair today—she loves ringing the changes with her hair color.

---

^[a] Farlex Dictionary of Idioms

At Comment #36, Michael mentions that he will be attending a cricket match at Lord's Cricket Ground^[7], generally known as Lord's [or, as Michael spells it, Lords], a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is widely referred to as the "home of cricket" and is home to the world's oldest sporting museum. 

At Comment #40, jean-luc cheval (a resident of Hyères, France) refers to RayT as "our professeur". RayT lives in Paris where he teaches English to French journalism students.

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   Present // licence taking in account one's sweetheart (12)

"sweetheart" = E (show explanation )

A common cryptic crossword construct is to use the word "sweetheart" to clue E, the middle letter (heart) of swEet.

hide explanation

---

Present^[5] is used in the sense of to represent (someone or something) to others in a particular way ⇒ the prime minister presented himself as a radical figure.

8a   Extravagant old gentleman sent back // dish (7)

"extravagant" = 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

---

Risotto^[5] is an Italian dish of rice cooked in stock with ingredients such as vegetables and meat or seafood.

9a   Revolutionary artist with brush tip spoils // icon collection (7)

"artist" = RA (show explanation )

A Royal Academician (abbreviation RA^[10]) is a member of the Royal Academy of Arts^[5] (also Royal Academy; abbreviation also RA^[10]), an institution established in London in 1768, whose purpose is to cultivate painting, sculpture, and architecture in Britain. 

hide explanation

11a   Teacher losing last resistance for European // student (7)

"resistance" = R (show explanation )

In physics, R^[5] is a symbol used to represent electrical resistance in mathematical formulae.

hide explanation

I must admit that pommers was not the only one to attempt to invent the word TEACHEE.

12a   Short-term // trendy cut involves energy (7)

"energy" = E (show explanation )

In physics, E^[5] is a symbol used to represent energy in mathematical formulae.

hide explanation

13a   Flash around river /reveals/ fish (5)

The bream^[5] is a greenish-bronze deep-bodied freshwater fish (Abramis brama) native to Europe.

Who is Beam

The appearance of the word "beam" in a RayT crossword often draws a comment from the reviewer or visitors on Big Dave's Crossword Blog as it has today from Jane at Comment #10 and Heno at Comment #35. Beam is the pseudonym used by crossword compiler Ray Terrell (whom we know as RayT) for his Toughie (show explanation ) puzzles. You may have noticed the theme here, a beam being a ray of light. In addition to the Cryptic Crossword (the crossword which is carried in syndication by the National Post), The Daily Telegraph also publishes the Toughie Crossword. The former appears in The Daily Telegraph from Monday to Saturday — customarily on the back page of the paper (and thus is commonly referred to on Big Dave's Crossword Blog as the 'back-pager'). The latter is published from Tuesday to Friday and is found in the middle of the paper. A separate series of Cryptic Crossword puzzles appears in The Sunday Telegraph. hide explanation

14a   'Relate' /being/ bold to break up a heartache? (9)

The question mark denotes that heartache is but one example of a pain.

Scratching the Surface
Relate[7] is a charity providing relationship support throughout the United Kingdom. Services include counselling for couples, families, young people and individuals, sex therapy, mediation and training courses.

16a   Nudge holding a // balance (9)

19a   Part initially revolving or turning over rapidly (5)

Despite reservations, I have marked this as a semi-all-in-one clue in which the entire clue provides the definition within which the wordplay (marked by the dashed underline) has been embedded.

My reservations relate to the inclusion of the word "initially" in the definition. After all, this part should continue to revolve or turn over rapidly — otherwise the occupants of the vehicle which it powers would find themselves in very big trouble.

21a   A torrent going over round grand American // falls (7)

While the abbreviation G for "grand" is deemed by the Brits to be an Americanism, it seems to be one that is well known to them — undoubtedly from American gangster films (show more ).

Grand^[5] is an informal term for a thousand dollars or pounds ⇒ he gets thirty-five grand a year. While the term "grand" itself would seem to be commonly used in the UK, the informal abbreviation G^[5] meaning grand appears to be regarded as a North American usage ⇒ I was up nine Gs on the blackjack tables.

G is defined in various British dictionaries as follows:

• Oxford Dictionaries: (North American informal) abbreviation for grand, a thousand dollars)^[5].
• Chambers 21st Century Dictionary: (North American slang) abbreviation for a grand, 1000 dollars^[2].
• Collins English Dictionary: (mainly US slang) a symbol for grand (a thousand dollars or pounds)^[10].

hide explanation

---

Panoramic View of Niagara Falls

The Canadian^* Horseshoe Falls (on the right) is generally considered to be grander than the American Falls (on the left).

---

^* The Horseshoe Falls^[5] (also known as the Canadian Falls) is now located almost entirely within Canada. When the boundary between Canada and the US was established in 1819, the Horseshoe Falls was considerably wider. However, in 1955 and again in the early 1980s the US extended Goat Island (the large island between the American and Canadian Falls) eliminating 400 feet of Horseshoe Falls (leaving only a tiny fragment of the falls remaining on the US side of the border).

23a   Use // former wife's intrigue to keep single (7)

24a   English Literature First /for/ snob (7)

25a   Caught in final leg, rowed // briskly (7)

The musical direction allegro^[5] means at a brisk speed.

Behind the Picture

In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, pommers includes a photo of the Austin Allegro[7], a small family car that was manufactured by the Austin-Morris division of British Leyland from 1973 until 1982. The same vehicle was built in Italy by Innocenti between 1974 and 1975 and sold as the Innocenti Regent. In total, 642,350 Austin Allegros were produced during its ten-year production life, most of which were sold on the home market. The car was distinguished by an essentially square "quartic" steering wheel and a terrible reputation[7] for quality (with some observers ranking it as the worst car ever produced in Britain), earning it the nickname "All Aggro" [all aggravation].

26a   Excellent // time raced before finish in track (12)

Down

1d   Rogue wearing suit /is/ 21, maybe (7)

Cad^{[3,4,5,10,11]} is a dated informal (British^*) term for a man who behaves dishonourably, especially towards a woman ⇒ her adulterous cad of a husband.

---

^* Among my regular stable of dictionaries, only Collins English Dictionary characterizes this term as British.

---

The numeral "21" is a cross reference indicator directing the solver to insert the solution to clue 21a in its place to complete the clue. The directional indicator is customarily omitted in situations such as this where only a single clue startsin the light^* that is being referenced.

---

^* light-coloured cell in the grid

2d   Best could be one of worst (7)

Carefully Worded
The words "could be" are very appropriate here as "best" could also be a synonym of "worst". Best[5] (verb) means to outwit or get the better of (someone) ⇒ she refused to allow herself to be bested. Worst[5] (verb) means to get the better of or defeat ⇒ this was not the time for a deep discussion—she was tired and she would be worsted.

3d   Terrible idea so far // previously mentioned (9)

4d   All performers // express disapproval on sex being raised (5)

It^[2,5] (usually written in quotation marks, "it") is an informal term for sexual intercourse or sex appeal ⇒ (i) the only thing I knew nothing about was ‘it’; (ii) they were caught doing ‘it’ in the back seat of his car.

---

In music, tutti^[5] is a direction indicating that a passage is to be performed with all voices or instruments together.

5d   Bird identified by crows? (7)

The question mark flags the cryptic nature of the clue.

6d   Small airline /serving/ part of Russia (7)

Iberia^[7] is the flag carrier airline of Spain, founded in 1927 and based in Madrid. In 2011, Iberia merged with British Airways to form the International Airlines Group (IAG) although both airlines continue to operate under their respective brands as wholly owned subsidiaries of IAG.

---

Siberia^[5] is a vast region of Russia, extending from the Urals to the Pacific and from the Arctic coast to the northern borders of Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and China. Noted for the severity of its winters, it was traditionally used as a place of exile; it is now a major source of minerals and hydroelectric power.

7d   Drunk on pub terrace /displaying/ beer belly? (12)

The question mark indicates that this is a definition by example.

10d   Earn more until cut changes // salary (12)

15d   China // working on replica (9)

17d   This person fronts a bank, /getting/ richer (7)

"this person" = ME (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

A bank^[10] is:

• an arrangement of objects, especially similar objects, in a row or in tiers ⇒ a bank of dials
• a tier of oars in a galley

18d   Roman perhaps // flipping great penetrating translation of Latin (7)

"great" = AI (show explanation )

A1^[4][5] or A-one^[3] meaning first class or excellent comes from a classification for ships in The Lloyd's Register of Shipping where it means equipped to the highest standard or first-class.

hide explanation

19d   Check // Queen record oddly unlisted (7)

"Queen" = R (show explanation )

Queen may be abbreviated as Q, Qu. or R.

Q^[5] is an abbreviation for queen that is used especially in describing play in card games and recording moves in chess.

Qu.^[2] is another common abbreviation for Queen.

In the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms^*, Regina^[5] (abbreviation R^[5]) [Latin for queen] denotes the reigning queen, used following a name (e.g. Elizabetha Regina, Queen Elizabeth) or in the titles of lawsuits (e.g. Regina v. Jones, the Crown versus Jones — often shortened to R. v. Jones).

---

^* A Commonwealth realm^[7] is a sovereign state that is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and shares the same person, currently Elizabeth II, as its head of state and reigning constitutional monarch, but retains a crown legally distinct from the other realms. There are currently sixteen Commonwealth realms, the largest being Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom with the remainder being smaller Caribbean and Pacific island nations.

Thus Queen Elizabeth signs her name as 'Elizabeth R' as seen here on Canada's paint-stained constitution.

hide explanation

"record" = EP (show explanation )

EP^[10] (abbreviation for extended-play) is one of the formats in which music is sold, usually comprising four or five tracks.

hide explanation

20d   However tense, // meditation // is the answer (7)

22d   Cheers up endlessly minute garret (5)

Cheers^[5] is an informal British expression of gratitude or acknowledgement for something ⇒ Billy tossed him the key. ‘Cheers, pal.’.

Ta^[5] is an informal British exclamation signifying thank you ⇒‘Ta,’ said Willie gratefully.

Tick^[5] is an informal British term for a moment ⇒ (i) I shan’t be a tick; (ii) I’ll be with you in a tick.

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