Thursday, January 4, 2018 — DT 28543

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28543
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, September 27, 2017
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28543]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By 2Kiwis
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

I would say that Jay has cranked up the difficulty level a notch today from what we have experienced during the previous few days.

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   In going before board, unionist revolutionary /shows/ defiance of authority (15)

Scratching the Surface

In the surface reading, unionist[5] might be used in any of the following senses although I would consider the second meaning to be the most likely: a member of a trade union or an advocate or supporter of trade unions a person, especially a member of a Northern Ireland political party, who is in favour of the union of Northern Ireland with Great Britain (historically) a member of a British political party formed in 1886 which supported maintenance of the parliamentary union between Great Britain and Ireland

9a   School actors /for/ internet service (7)

How small is my herd?
A school[5] is a large group of fish or sea mammals ⇒ a school of dolphins. A pod[5] is a small herd or school of marine animals, especially whales ⇒ a pod of 500 dolphins frolicking in the bay. By inference, we can therefore deduce that a pod is a small large group and I suppose a group of 500 marine animals is just that.

10a   Tyre, oddly, has more than enough // tread (7)

Tyre^[5] is the British spelling of tire in the sense of an automobile component.

11a   Bad loser in lawsuit /is/ a dish (9)

12a   Determination /of/ women suffering (4)

13a   Excellent, // for each will be protected by advance on wages (6)

Sub^[5] is a British term for an advance or loan against expected income ⇒ ‘I've got no money.’ ‘Want a sub?’.

15a   Magazine rejected hotel -- a case of rancid // fish (8)

A magazine^[5] is a container or detachable receptacle for holding a supply of cartridges to be fed automatically to the breech of a gun ⇒ he took the machine gun and a spare magazine.

A clip^[5] is a metal holder containing cartridges for an automatic firearm ⇒ he shot twice, but his clip was empty.

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

---

The pilchard^[5] is a small, edible, commercially valuable marine fish of the herring family. A sardine^[5] is a young pilchard or other young or small herring-like fish.

18a   Close friend /of/ prisoner hiding note (8)

The note in question is ti, the seventh note of the major scale in tonic sol-fa. While North America appears to have standardized on this spelling, British dictionaries also list te as a variant spelling — although they differ among themselves as to which variant is the principal spelling and which is the alternative spelling (show more ).

In music, ti^[5] (also te) is:

• (in tonic sol-fa) the seventh note of the major scale
• the note B in the fixed-doh system

A perusal of entries in American and British dictionaries produces some interesting results.

The only recognized spelling in the US would seem to be ti^[3,11] while British dictionaries are split into two camps. On one side, Chambers 21st Century Dictionary and Collins English Dictionary give the principal spelling as te^[2,4,10] with ti^[2,4,10] being an alternative spelling. On the other side, The Chambers Dictionary and Oxford Dictionaries take the contrary position, giving the spelling as ti^[1,5] with te^[1,5] shown as an alternative spelling.

Note that the sister publications, The Chambers Dictionary and Chambers 21st Century Dictionary, are diametrically opposed on the issue and Oxford Dictionaries has done a complete about face as I have notes in my files from a previous review showing that "Oxford Dictionaries decrees that te^[5] is the British spelling with ti being the North American spelling.".

hide explanation

19a   French city // does annoy (6)

Angers^[5] is a town in western France, capital of the former province of Anjou.

What did they say?

In their review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, the 2Kiwis indicate that Does annoy = enrages Initially, I thought this might be an error*. However, upon further consideration, I think that it may, in fact, be an intentional oblique hint (giving a synonym of the solution rather than the solution itself). * The fact that the word they give as a hint is almost an anagram of the solution is what led me to wonder if it was an error.

22a   Work on carbon monoxide // compound (4)

"work" = OP (show explanation )

In music, an opus^[5] (plural opuses or opera) is a separate composition or set of compositions.

The abbreviation Op.^[5] (also op.), denoting opus, is used before a number given to each work of a particular composer, usually indicating the order of publication. The plural form of Op. is Opp..

Opus^[5] can also be used in a more general sense to mean an artistic work, especially one on a large scale ⇒ he was writing an opus on Mexico.

hide explanation

CO is the formula for the chemical compound carbon monoxide showing that one atom of carbon (symbol C) bonds with one atom of oxygen (symbol O) to form one molecule of carbon monoxide (symbol CO).

This clue adheres to the cryptic crossword convention that the word "on" — when used as a positional indicator in an across clue — signifies 'following'  (show explanation )

"A on B" Convention

An often ignored cryptic crossword convention provides that, in an across clue, the construction "A on B" is used to clue B + A. The rationale for this practice is that in order for A to be placed on B, B must already have been positioned (i.e., already have been written). Since the English language is written from left to right, this means that B must come first and A is then appended to it. Notwithstanding the above, a solver must always be vigilant for setters who flout this convention.

hide explanation

23a   To start off, // it's roughly covered by home attendance (9)

26a   Top // expert on breakers (7)

27a   Popular range /giving/ link to president? (3,4)

A hotline^{*[1,3#,4,5,10,13]} (or hot line^{*[1#,2,3,11,12]}) is a direct telephone line set up for a specific purpose, especially for use in emergencies or for communication between heads of government.

---

^# denotes the principal or first-listed spelling where multiple spellings are given
^* The dictionaries are split on the spelling of the word with British dictionaries leaning toward hotline and American dictionaries favouring hot line. The Chambers Dictionary and the Chambers 21st Century Dictionary desert their British cousins and line up in the American camp with the former giving both spellings with hot line being the first-listed variant and the latter showing only the hot line variant. The Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary gives hotline as a variant spelling but not when used in this sense.

Delving Deeper

A hotline[7] is a point-to-point communications link in which a call is automatically directed to the preselected destination without any additional action by the user when the end instrument goes off-hook. An example would be a phone that automatically connects to emergency services on picking up the receiver. Therefore, dedicated hotline phones do not need a rotary dial or keypad. A typical non-dial red phone used  for hotlines. This one is a prop which is on display in the Jimmy Carter Library and Museum erroneously representing the Moscow–Washington hotline. The most famous hotline between states is the Moscow–Washington hotline[7], which is also known as the "red telephone", although telephones have never been used in this capacity. This direct communications link was established on 20 June 1963, in the wake of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and utilized teletypewriter technology, later replaced by telecopier and then by electronic mail. Apparently, Canada's Prime Minister did not rate a direct hotline. Canadian author Peter C. Newman relates the following anecdote in his book Here Be Dragons: Telling Tales of People, Passion and Power: As prime minister, John Diefenbaker always kept the red NORAD hotline telephone on prominent display in his East Block office. "Why, I can get the American president at any time!" he would boast to visitors. After Lester Bowles "Mike" Pearson took office in the spring of 1963, he removed the emergency instrument from its prominent location and hid it carelessly behind a curtain. When it suddenly began to ring one winter morning during Cold War tensions, he couldn't find it. He had been interrupted in mid-conversation with his External Affairs minister Paul Martin, and the two men began chasing each other around the room like a pair of Keystone Kops. "My God, Mike," gasped Martin, as they failed to locate the source of the sound. "Do you realize this could mean war?" "They can't start a war," puffed the optimistic Pearson, "if we don't answer the phone." As it turned out, the caller was a confused Bell subscriber who wanted to speak to "Charlie" and had mistakenly dialled the most highly classified number in the country.

28a   Come down heavily // on addicts as gran gets trashed (4,4,3,4)

Down

1d   Independent agreements encompassing mass // strikes (7)

"independent" = I (show explanation )

I^[1] is the abbreviation for independent, in all likelihood in the context of a politician with no party affiliation.

hide explanation

"mass" = M (show explanation )

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

hide explanation

2d   Teams /with/ spin bowlers all out bar the tail-ender (5)

Side^[5,10] is a British^* term for spin imparted to the cue ball in snooker and billiards by striking it off-centre with the cue.

---

^* The equivalent term in the US and Canada is 'English'.

Scratching the Surface

The surface reading is all about cricket. In cricket, a bowler[5] is member of the fielding side who bowls or is bowling — bowling[7] being  the action of propelling the ball toward the wicket defended by a batsman. There are different types of bowlers[7] ranging from fast bowlers, whose primary weapon is pace, through swing and seam bowlers who try to make the ball deviate in its course through the air or when it bounces, to slow bowlers, who will attempt to deceive the batsmen with a variety of flight and spin. A spin bowler usually delivers the ball quite slowly and puts spin on the ball causing it to bounce at an angle off the pitch. All out[7] denotes the situation in cricket when 10 of the 11 members of the batting team have been dismissed thus completing the innings*. * Although this is described as "all out", one member of the batting team is always "not out". This is because batsmen always bat in pairs, and once 10 have been dismissed, there are no longer sufficient batsmen remaining to form a pair. In cricket, a tailender[5,10] (or tail-ender[2]) is a weak batsman sent in to bat towards the end of the batting order ⇒ an astonishing display of hitting by the tailender. Ironically, the tail-ender — despite being the weakest batsman on the team — is quite likely to be the one member of the team who is "not out".

3d   Part of car // was very hot around front of radiator -- strange! (5,4)

Rum^[5] is a dated informal British term meaning odd or peculiar ⇒ it’s a rum business, certainly.

4d   No one is up supporting double-crosser /getting/ allowance (6)

5d   Courageous // international agent needs passport, for example (8)

6d   Nearly open /for/ a drink? (4)

Jar^[5] is an informal British term for a glass of beer ⇒ let’s have a jar.

7d   Involve // mischievous child with tall story about pet (9)

8d   Wanted to cross line, // annoyed (7)

"line" = L (show explanation )

In textual references, the abbreviation for line is l.^[5] ⇒ l. 648.

hide explanation

14d   Top up and serve half of rich // smorgasbord (9)

At Comment #6 on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, there is a bit of discussion about whether smogasbord and potpourri are synonyms. Sometimes when words don't seem to match, one has to look beyond the first meanings that come to mind.

A smorgasbord^[5] is literally a range of open sandwiches and delicacies served as hors d'oeuvres or a buffet. However, here the word is used in the figurative sense of a wide range of something or, in other words, a variety ⇒ the album is a smorgasbord of different musical styles.

Potpourri^[10] is a cooking term for a stew of meat and vegetables. However, here it is used in the more general sense of a collection of unrelated or disparate items or, in other words, a miscellany. In fact, could one not just as well say  ⇒ the album is a potpourri of different musical styles?

16d   Made up // arguments against planned diets (9)

17d   Loudly assertive // step, clamping down on National Trust (8)

In Britain, the National Trust^[5] (abbreviation NT) is a trust for the preservation of places of historic interest or natural beauty in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, founded in 1895 and supported by endowment and private subscription. The National Trust for Scotland^[7], a separate organization, was founded in 1931.

18d   Zinc is organic, offering // something with bite (7)

20d   Transfixes // second people in line for broadcast (7)

It would seem that I became transfixed (in the wrong sense of the word) by the wrong sense of the word 'transfixed'.

Queue^[5] is a chiefly British term meaning a line or sequence of people or vehicles awaiting their turn to be attended to or to proceed. As Collins English Dictionary states, the usual US and Canadian term is line^[10] (in this sense of the word).

---

Transfix^[5] is used in the sense of to pierce with a sharp implement or weapon ⇒ a field mouse is transfixed by the curved talons of an owl.

21d   Complaint /from/ motoring organisation about street followed by Her Majesty (6)

The Automobile Association^[7] (The AA) is a British motoring association founded in 1905, which was demutualised in 1999 to become a private limited company which currently provides car insurance, driving lessons, breakdown cover [roadside assistance], loans, motoring advice and other services.

---

You may have observed that complaints in Crosswordland are often medical in nature.

24d   Nice friend shot // mate from Spain (5)

This could almost be the start of a certain genre of joke. Three friends, a Frenchman, a British man, and a Spanish man, went into a bar ...

Nice^[5] is a resort city on the French Riviera, near the border with Italy.

Ami^[8] is the masculine form of the French word meaning 'friend'.

---

In Britain, mate^[5] — in addition to being a person’s husband, wife, or other sexual partner — is an informal term for a friend or companion ⇒ my best mate Steve.

 Amigo^[8] is the masculine form of the Spanish word meaning 'friend'. 

25d   Oddly, team lick // white powder (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