Tuesday, December 5, 2017 — DT 28519

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28519
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, August 30, 2017
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28519]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By KiwiColin
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

Jay gives us a relatively gentle workout today.

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   Intends to circle island in poor health, /getting/ uninterrupted progress (5,7)

9a   Simple boxes or empty case /for/ ceramic ware (9)

10a   Pulls a face, /seeing/ weapons across river (5)

Gurn^[5] is a British term meaning to pull^* a grotesque face.

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^* Pull a face^[5] is another way of saying make a face.

11a   With detectives chasing, managed /to get/ off! (6)

"detectives" = CID (show explanation )

The Criminal Investigation Department (seemingly better known by its abbreviation CID^[2]) is the detective branch of a British police force.

hide explanation

Off^[10] (said of food or drink) means having gone bad, sour, etc ⇒ this milk is off.

12a   Daily newspaper's millions -- a // force of attraction! (8)

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.

The i^[7] is a British newspaper owned and published by Johnston Press, which also publishes the Yorkshire Post and The Scotsman. It is a tabloid format publication aimed at commuters and others with limited time. Prior to 2016, the i was owned by the group belonging to Russian-born British media mogul Evgeny Lebedev that publishes The Independent and Independent on Sunday.

What did they say?

In their review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, the KiwiColin tells us that the word "newspaper" is cluing  a one letter abbreviation for a UK newspaper that in now only published on-line. I'm afraid KiwiColin has picked up the wrong newspaper. The Independent [7] (nicknamed the Indy) is a British online newspaper. Established in 1986 as an independent national morning newspaper published in London, it was sold to Russian oligarch Alexander Lebedev in 2010. It began as a broadsheet, but changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition of The Independent was published in March 2016, leaving only its digital editions. KiwiColin, situated as he is in New Zealand, can be forgiven for his confusion with British newspapers. Fortunately, I had run across both of the newspapers in question in previous puzzles and did manage to identify the correct publication. I am surprised, though, by the number of Brits who failed to twig to the proper newspaper.

13a   Son does nothing, /but/ edges along warily (6)

15a   Ship carrying cargo of loose ginger /produces/ snorts (8)

In Crosswordland, you'll rarely go wrong in assuming that a ship is a steamship (abbreviation SS^[5]).

18a   Men jump /for/ chance of redemption here (8)

19a   Fine performer/'s/ important part (6)

"fine" = F (show explanation )

F^[5] is an abbreviation for fine, as used in describing grades of pencil lead [a usage that Oxford Dictionaries surprisingly characterizes as British].

hide explanation

21a   Previously finished // quick examination (4-4)

23a   Qualifier/'s/ against cutting new beard (6)

26a   Indian state/'s/ area service rolled back (5)

Mass^[5] is the celebration of the Christian Eucharist, especially in the Roman Catholic Church.

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Assam^[5] is a state in northeastern India. Most of the state lies in the valley of the Brahmaputra River; it is noted for the production of tea.

27a   Skinny artist (9)

28a   What might be instrumental /in/ legislative assembly notes? (7,5)

Chamber music^[5] denotes instrumental music played by a small ensemble, with one player to a part, the most important form being the string quartet.

Down

1d   Scroll // worthless reading matter on your meeting with American (7)

2d   Overall // interest payable before working (5)

APR^[5] is the abbreviation for annual or annualized percentage rate (used typically of interest on loans or credit).

Here and There

Overall[4] — not to be confused with overalls (see below) — is a British term for a a protective work garment usually worn over ordinary clothes. It would seem to be a general term that encompasses not only garments that the British call dungarees (North American overalls) or boiler suits (North American coveralls) but also coat and smock type garments (such as lab coats perhaps) — and, judging by the present clue, even aprons as well. While Brits and North Americans share many of the same names for articles of clothing, the meaning of those terms is often quite different on either side of the pond. In North America, overalls[3,11] are loose-fitting trousers, usually of strong fabric, with a bib front and shoulder straps, often worn over regular clothing as protection from dirt. The British definition of overalls[4] is broader, including not only garments with a bib and shoulder straps but also those having a jacket top. These latter garments are also known as boiler suits in the UK and would be called coveralls[3] in North America. Furthermore, whereas the term dungarees[3,4,11] is used in North America to refer to either trousers or North American style overalls, in the UK it is used solely to mean the latter, i.e., a suit of workman's overalls made of dungaree [denim] consisting of trousers with a bib attached. Note that I have carefully avoided using the North American term "pants" in favour of the more universal term "trousers". In Britain, the term "pants" refers to underwear. Thus when I take off my pants in the UK, I am far more exposed than when I do so in North America!

3d   Doctor sees end in // poverty! (9)

4d   Pseudonym one's forgotten, // unfortunately (4)

5d   Writing // that's seen on face on clock? (8)

This type of writing, otherwise known as cursive, is apparently no longer taught in Ontario schools.

6d   River // running through where ginseng's raised ; (5)

The Niger^[5] is a river in north-western Africa, which rises on the north-eastern border of Sierra Leone and flows in a great arc for 4,100 km (2,550 miles) north-east to Mali, then south-east through western Niger and Nigeria, before turning southwards into the Gulf of Guinea.

7d   Panorama /may be/ in favour of religious group seizing power (8)

"power" = P (show explanation )

In physics, P^[10] is a symbol used to represent power [among other things] in mathematical formulae.

hide explanation

8d   Analyses // a second and speaks (6)

14d   Germany have players // low in spirits (8)

"Germany" = D (show explanation )

The International Vehicle Registration (IVR) code for Germany is D^[5] [from German Deutschland].

hide explanation

16d   Develop a drug with revolutionary fix /for/ cell (9)

17d   Impetus /gained from/ minute show of hesitation (8)

18d   The last character cutting copra concocted // something for depression (6)

Prozac^[5] is a trademark for a synthetic compound which inhibits the uptake of serotonin in the brain and is taken to treat depression.

Scratching the Surface
Copra[5] is dried coconut kernels, from which oil is obtained.

20d   Old boy's on unlimited notice to support Queen -- /it's/ automatic (7)

"old boy" = OB (show explanation )

In Britain, an old boy^[5] (abbreviation OB^[2])  is:

1. a former male student of a school or college ⇒an old boy of Banbury County School; or
2. a former male member of a sports team or company ⇒ the White Hart Lane old boy squared the ball to present an easy chance from 12 yards.

It is also a chiefly British affectionate form of address to a boy or man ⇒ ‘Look here, old boy,’ he said.

hide explanation

"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).

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^* 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

22d   Power // specs and speed (5)

This is known as a 'visual' or 'looks like' clue. The word "specs" (short for spectacles) clues OO because this combination of letters looks like a pair of spectacles.

24d   Set out to cover team // departures (5)

Eleven^[5] (often appearing as a Roman numeral XI) is the number of players in^* a cricket^[7] side [team] or an Association football^[7] [soccer] team — and is frequently used as a metonym for such a team ⇒ at cricket I played in the first eleven.

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^* Note that in Britain a player is "in a side" or "in a team" rather than "on a team" as one would say in North America.

25d   A bit of nasty ear // infection (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