Wednesday, January 3, 2018 — DT 28542

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28542
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, September 26, 2017
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28542]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Mr Kitty
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

With another fairly gentle offering today, it would appear that the setters are taking a gradual approach to working us back into shape following the holiday period.

I thought that this review would not take too long to write. Then I got sidetracked by LetterboxRoy's comment concerning 20a and ended up spending far too much time in pool halls and billiard parlours.

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

7a   Prediction // concerning English players (8)

9a   Cooked piece following right // set of instructions (6)

10a   List of charges /resulting from/ spat about a Republican (6)

"Republican" = R (show explanation )

A Republican^[5] (abbreviation R^[5])  is a member or supporter of the Republican Party^[5], one of the two main US political parties^*, favouring a right-wing stance, limited central government, and tough, interventionist foreign policy. It was formed in 1854 in support of the anti-slavery movement preceding the Civil War.

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^* the other being the Democratic Party

In the UK, republican^[5] can refer to an advocate of a united Ireland but the abbreviation does not seem to apply to that usage.

hide explanation

11a   Pause // at these, I suspect (8)

12a   What sales rep wants /in/ embassy? (4,10)

A high commission^[5] is an embassy of one Commonwealth country in another ⇒ the Canadian High Commission in London.

Canada House
The High Commission of Canada in the United Kingdom
Trafalgar Square, London

15a   British vessel, // sailing ship (4)

Ark^[5] is an archaic name for a ship or boat. The best known example is undoubtedly Noah's ark^[5], the ship in which Noah, his family, and the animals were saved from the Flood, according to the biblical account (Gen. 6-8).

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Bark^[10] (a variant spelling, especially US, of barque^[10]) denotes:

• a sailing ship of three or more masts having the foremasts rigged square and the aftermast rigged fore-and-aft
• a poetic term for any boat, especially a small sailing vessel

17a   Children's game next to American // river (5)

The Tagus^[5] is a river in southwestern Europe, the longest river of the Iberian peninsula, which rises in the mountains of eastern Spain and flows over 1,000 km (625 miles) generally westwards into Portugal, where it turns south-westwards, emptying into the Atlantic near Lisbon.

19a   One in lobby nearly /manages to get/ flag down (4)

20a   Game /of/ catch, then rest (8,6)

In billiards, a bridge^[5] is:

• the support for the tip of a cue formed by the hand
• a long stick with a frame at the end which is used to support a cue for a difficult shot

Behind the Picture

In Comment #9 on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, LetterboxRoy claims that the illustration used by Mr Kitty in his hint for 20a is "a pool rest. A snooker bridge is a raised arch, used to ‘bridge over’ an obstacle ball in order to cue the white." However, that assertion would appear to be not entirely well-founded. According to a glossary of cue sports terms[7]: Bridge[7] denotes either the player's hand or a mechanical bridge used to support the shaft end of the cue stick during a shot. A mechanical bridge[7] is a special stick with a grooved, slotted or otherwise supportive end attachment that helps guide the cue stick – a stand-in for the bridge hand. It is usually used only when the shot cannot be comfortably reached with a hand bridge. An entire class of different mechanical bridges exist for snooker, called rests. Rake[7] is another name for a mechanical bridge, so-called because of its typical shape. From what I can gather, the device shown by Mr Kitty in his review is what is described below (in the definitions for rest and spider) as "a common American-style rake bridge". "American-style rake bridge" Rest[7] is a chiefly British term for a set of mechanical bridges. British-style rests differ from most American-style rake bridges in shape, and take several forms: the cross, the spider and the swan (or goose neck), as well as the rarer and often unsanctioned hook. When used unqualified, the word usually refers to the cross. Swan, spider, and cross A cross[7] (also called cross rake or jigger) is a type of rest, with a straight shaft and "x"-shaped head for resting the cue upon. A spider[7] (also called spider rest) is a type of rest, similar to a common American-style rake bridge but with longer legs supporting the head so that the cue is higher and can reach over and around an obstructing ball to reach the cue ball. A swan[7] (also called swan rest) is a type of rest, similar to a spider in that the head is raised by longer supporting legs, but instead of a selection of grooves on the top for the cue to rest in there is only one, on the end of an overhanging neck, so that a player can get to the cue ball more easily if the path is blocked by two or more obstructing balls. Also known as the goose neck. A hook rest[7] (also called the hook) is a type of mechanical bridge that has only recently been endorsed by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) to allow its use in major tournament play. It is a normal rest with the head in line with the shaft, but the last foot or so of the shaft is curved. This allows players to position the curved end around an obstructing ball that would have otherwise left them hampered on the cue ball and in need of a spider or swan with extensions*, which would have less control. * An extension is any mechanical aid that serves to extend the length of the player's cue, normally added to the end of the butt either by clipping around the end or screwing into the base. Though extensions are used for pool, it is more common in snooker because of the significantly larger table size.

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Contract bridge^[10] is the most common variety of the card game bridge, in which the declarer receives points counting towards game and rubber only for tricks bid and made, with any additional tricks (overtricks) counting as bonus points.

23a   R&A 'links'? Wrong area /in/ country (3,5)

Scratching the Surface
R&A[10] is the abbreviation for the Royal and Ancient Club, a golf club, headquarters of the sport's ruling body, based in St Andrews, Scotland. A links[5] (also golf links) is a golf course, especially one on grass-covered sandy ground near the sea.

25a   Sieve /and/ cooking device, but no opener (6)

A riddle^[5] is a large coarse sieve, especially one used for separating ashes from cinders or sand from gravel.

27a   Fix // waste pipe at the end (6)

28a   Chief villain in film /may be/ unbalanced (3-5)

Down

1d   Piece of furniture, // as yet incomplete (4)

2d   Rather natural, conceivably, without a // distinctive taste (6)

3d   Long // hold-up heading off (4)

4d   Conservative rebels /in/ moments of truth (6)

"Conservative" = C (show explanation )

The abbreviation for Conservative may be either C.^[10] or Con.^[10].

The Conservative Party^[5] is a a major British political party that emerged from the old Tory Party^* under Sir Robert Peel in the 1830s and 1840s. Since the Second World War, it has been in power 1951–64, 1970-74, and 1979–97. It governed in a coalition with the Liberal Democrats from 2010 until the general election of May 2015, in which it was returned with a majority.

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^* Historically, a Tory^[10] was a member of the English political party that opposed the exclusion of James, Duke of York from the royal succession (1679–80). Tory remained the label for subsequent major conservative interests until they gave birth to the Conservative Party in the 1830s.

hide explanation

5d   Glaswegian, perhaps, // given to habitual drinking round clubs (8)

"clubs" = C (show explanation )

Clubs^[2] (abbreviation C^[1]) is one of the four suits of playing-cards.

hide explanation

6d   Honest /and/ winning still (10)

8d   Offend // a female head (7)

13d   Cold clerical office -- that's after wearing a // slip (10)

A curacy^[5] is the office of a curate^*, or the tenure of this ⇒ he served his curacy in Northampton.

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^* Curate^[5] can denote:

• (also assistant curate) a member of the clergy engaged as assistant to a vicar, rector, or parish priest
• (archaic) a minister with pastoral responsibility

14d   Wonderful // conjuring tricks (5)

Magic^[2,5] (adjective, also used as an exclamation) is a colloquial British term denoting excellent, marvellous, great, wonderful, or exciting ⇒ it was a great time, magic.

16d   Play // surprisingly large family put on (4,4)

King Lear^[7] is a tragedy by English playwright William Shakespeare (1564-1616). The title character descends into madness after disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all.

18d   Awful bores at university // become more realistic (5,2)

In Britain, up^[5] means at or to a university, especially Oxford or Cambridge ⇒ they were up at Cambridge about the same time.

21d   Forest officer /in/ rage after third of fires (6)

22d   Certainly // popular feat (6)

24d   Stake // partly guaranteed (4)

26d   Adore // unlimited spices (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