Wednesday, January 24, 2018 — DT 28557

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28557
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, October 13, 2017
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28557]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Deep Threat
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

This weeks "hump day" puzzle was an end-of-week offering in the UK. On any day, it should not prove too difficult a solve.

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   Mountains around indicated -- avoid finally in that landing (10)

The phrase "in that" denotes 'in the foregoing', instructing us to insert the final letter of avoiD into what has been produced by the wordplay which precedes it.

6a   Support // location for holiday entertainment? (4)

Here and There

The British use the word holiday(s) where North Americans might say vacation[5]. Holiday[5,10] (often holidays) is a chiefly British term for a period in which a break is taken from work or studies for rest, travel, or recreation ⇒ (i) I spent my summer holidays on a farm; (ii) Fred was on holiday in Spain. According to British dictionaries, the usual US and Canadian term for such a break is vacation. However, I am accustomed to hearing the two terms used almost interchangeably — in much the same manner that we use fall and autumn interchangeably. This may not be the case in all parts of Canada, but I grew up in the Maritimes and have lived in Eastern Ontario for most of my life, both areas where British influence is particularly strong. In Britain, the word vacation[5] has a very specific meaning, a fixed holiday period between terms in universities and law courts ⇒ the Easter vacation. In North America, such a period might be called a break[7].

A Stroll on the Pier

Pleasure piers[7] were first built in Britain during the early 19th century with the earliest structure being the Ryde Pier on the Isle of Wight, opened in 1814. At that time the introduction of the railways for the first time permitted mass tourism to dedicated seaside resorts. The large tidal ranges at many such resorts meant that for much of the day, the sea was not visible from dry land. The pleasure pier was the resorts' answer, permitting holidaymakers to promenade over and alongside the sea at all times. Providing a walkway out to sea, pleasure piers often include amusements and theatres as part of the attraction. The world's longest pleasure pier is at Southend-on-sea, Essex, and extends 1.3 miles (2.1 km) into the Thames estuary. Following the building of the world's first seaside pier at Ryde, the pier became fashionable at seaside resorts in England and Wales during the Victorian era, peaking in the 1860s with 22 being built in that decade. A symbol of the typical British seaside holiday, by 1914, more than 100 pleasure piers were located around the UK coast. In a 2006 UK poll, the public voted the seaside pier onto the list of icons of England.

9a   Exceptionally arty bairns, // a couple shining (6,4)

A binary star^[5] is a system of two stars in which one star revolves round the other or both revolve round a common centre.

10a   Animals // appearing in tapestry (4)

13a   Objections restricting second person /in/ business deals (7)

15a   Charge again /presents/ terrible ordeal (6)

Charge^[5] is used in the sense of to load or fill (a container, gun, etc.) to the full or proper extent.

16a   Female full of trouble // as one in direct confrontation (4-2)

The solution is an adjective (or adverb). Therefore, the word "as" must be included in the definition.

17a   Expression of ambition inadequate for the likes of 21? (3,4,3,5)

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 starts in the light^* that is being referenced.

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^* light-coloured cell in the grid

18a   Underground activity // fashionable during Chinese dynasty (6)

Ming^[5,12] is the name of the dynasty that ruled China 1368–1644, a period noted for scholarly achievements & artistic works, especially porcelains.

20a   Old bird facing terrible end // cried in pain (6)

The moa^[5] is a large extinct flightless bird resembling the emu, formerly found in New Zealand.

21a   Traveller in new enterprise // wildly enthusiastic, one recruited by the navy (7)

The "new enterprise" was manned space flight.

Yuri Gagarin^[5] (1934–1968) was a Russian cosmonaut. In 1961 he made the first manned space flight, completing a single orbit of the earth in 108 minutes.

22a   Rubbish? The last thing to see /in/ art gallery (4)

Here and There
Rubbish[5] is used in the sense of material that is considered unimportant or valueless ⇒ she had to sift through the rubbish in every drawer. Oxford Dictionaries considers the word rubbish[5] (in all senses) to be British — despite it not being characterized as such by American dictionaries. I think, like yesterday's starlings, the word has long ago become naturalized in North America.

Tat^[5] is an informal British term for tasteless or shoddy clothes, jewellery, or ornaments ⇒ the place was decorated with all manner of gaudy tat.

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"art gallery" = TATE (show explanation )

The Tate Gallery^[5] (commonly known simply as the Tate) is a national museum of art in London, England founded in 1897 by the sugar manufacturer Sir Henry Tate (1819–1899) to house his collection of modern British paintings, as a nucleus for a permanent national collection of modern art. It was renamed Tate Britain in 2000, when the new Tate Modern gallery opened. [I would surmise that by that time the original collection could no longer be considered "modern".]

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25a   Time's up here (5,5)

26a   Utter oath, dropping small // treat (4)

27a   Seafood /for which/ crispbread would be out of place (6,4)

The spider crab^[5] is a crab with long thin legs and a compact pear-shaped body, which is camouflaged in some kinds by attached sponges and seaweed.

Here and There

A bit surprisingly, I only found the term crispbread in British dictionaries. Crispbread[5] is a thin, savoury biscuit* made from crushed rye or wheat. * The British use the term biscuit[3,4,11] to refer to a range of foods that include those that would be called either cookies or crackers in North America. In North America, crispbread would be considered to be a type of cracker. A North American biscuit[5] is similar to a British scone.

Down

1d   Cries /when/ boss is nasty (4)

2d   Country // boy ensnares maiden finally (4)

3d   Town // street half cut off has upset couple (6)

Stroud^[7] is a market town (show explanation ) and civil parish (show explanation ) in the county of Gloucestershire, England.

Market town^[10] is a mainly British term for a town that holds a market, especially an agricultural centre in a rural area.

Market town^[7] or market right is a legal term, originating in the Middle Ages, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city. A town may be correctly described as a "market town" or as having "market rights", even if it no longer holds a market, provided the legal right to do so still exists.

In England and Wales, from the time of the Norman conquest, the right to award a market charter was generally seen to be a royal prerogative. Once a charter was granted, it gave local lords the right to take tolls and also afforded the town some protection from rival markets. When a chartered market was granted for specific market days, a nearby rival market could not open on the same days.

As traditional market towns developed, they featured a wide main street or central market square. These provided room for people to set up stalls and booths on market days. Often the town erected a market cross (known as a mercat cross) in the centre of the town, to obtain God's blessing on the trade.

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In Britain, a parish^[5] [designated civil parish to distinguish it from an ecclesiastical parish] is the smallest unit of local government, constituted only in rural areas ⇒ a parish councillor.

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4d   Wicked conduct, as in Eden, // not approved of (15)

Scratching the Surface
Eden[5] (also Garden of Eden) is the place where Adam and Eve lived in the biblical account of the Creation, from which they were expelled for disobediently eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge.

5d   Condition of fat cats // breaking the law (6)

7d   This person's architectural feature /creates/ an obstruction (10)

"this person's" = IM (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.

Today, the setter has made the scenario slightly more complicated by combining "this person" with the verb "to be" producing "this person's" (a contraction of "this person is") which must be replaced by "I'm" (a contraction of "I am").

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In architecture, a pediment^[5] is:

• the triangular upper part of the front of a classical building, typically surmounting a portico
• a triangular feature surmounting a door, window, or other part of a non-classical building

8d   Seaside experience? // Celebrate during course of it, having journey round (6,4)

What did he say?

In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Deep Threat describes the journey as being perhaps on a seaside donkey. Donkey rides[7] are a traditional feature of seaside resorts in the United Kingdom. Children are allowed to ride donkeys on a sandy beach for a fee in summer months while on holiday, normally led in groups at walking pace. The tradition started in Victorian times, but is now much less popular. It is probable that the donkeys offered to ride on were originally working draught animals in the cockle industries around the coast.

11d   Time chart I constructed -- // it involves working out numbers (10)

12d   Change international organisation? Right, // it can be part of a power system (10)

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization^[5] (NATO) is an association of European and North American states, formed in 1949 for the defence of Europe and the North Atlantic against the perceived threat of Soviet aggression. It includes most major Western powers, although France withdrew from the military side of the alliance in 1966.

An alternator^[2] is an electricity generator that produces alternating current by means of one or more coils rotating in a magnetic field.

Delving Deeper

Alternators[7] are used in modern automobiles to charge the battery and to power the electrical system when its engine is running. Given that the battery and electrical systems of automobiles use DC power, one might wonder why an AC power source would be employed. Until the 1960s, automobiles used DC dynamo generators with commutators. With the availability of affordable silicon diode rectifiers, alternators were used instead. This was encouraged by the increasing electrical power required for cars in this period, with increasing loads from larger headlamps, electric wipers, heated rear windows and other accessories. Alternators have several advantages over direct-current generators. They are lighter, cheaper and more rugged. They use slip rings providing greatly extended brush life over a commutator. The brushes in an alternator carry only excitation current, a small fraction of the current carried by the brushes of a DC generator, which carry the generator's entire output. Despite their names, both 'DC generators' (or 'dynamos') and 'alternators' initially produce alternating current. In a so-called 'DC generator', this AC current is generated in the rotating armature, and then converted to DC by the commutator and brushes. In an 'alternator', the AC current is generated in the stationary stator, and then is converted to DC by the rectifiers (diodes).

13d   Supporting // vehicle turning up ahead of ruler (7)

14d   One with deep pride? (3,4)

The deep^[5] is a literary term for the sea ⇒ denizens of the deep.

19d   Bitterness over work // that goes at a fast pace (6)

"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.

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When it comes to marking the definition, I have diverged from Deep Threat's approach determining that gallop^[5] is used in the sense of a ride on a horse at a gallop ⇒ Wilfred went for a gallop on the sands.

Were one to accept Deep Threat's explanation:

• Bitterness over work /that goes at/ a fast pace (6)

then the phrase "that goes at" must be seen to be a link phrase. In the absence of a better alternative, I might be convinced to accept that explanation. However, given what I see to be a superior choice, I will opt for it.

Behind the Score

Deep Threat illustrates his review with a rendition of "The Devil's Gallop" by British composer Charles Williams. The piece, better known in Britain as the theme music for the BBC radio serial Dick Barton - Special Agent (broadcast from 1946 to 1951) is played by the BBC Concert Orchestra. Charles Williams[7] (1893–1978), born Isaac Cozerbreit, composed music for many British films and radio shows. His best known piece might be the title theme for the 1960 Billy Wilder film The Apartment[7] starring Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine. Originally titled "Jealous Lover", it was first heard in the 1949 film The Romantic Age. A recording by Ferrante & Teicher, released as "The Theme from The Apartment", reached #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1960.

20d   Common man // from Birmingham is terrible (6)

Scratching the Surface
Birmingham[5] is an industrial city in west central England.

23d   Vessel /with/ the Queen's designation -- you and I will go aboard (4)

"the Queen's designation" = ER (show explanation )

The regnal ciphers (monograms) of British monarchs are initials formed from the Latin version of their first name followed by either Rex or Regina (Latin for king or queen, respectively). Thus, the regnal cipher of Queen Elizabeth is ER^[5] — from the Latin Elizabetha Regina.

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24d   Immature insect/'s/ food (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