Friday, February 23, 2018 — DT 28579

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28579
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, November 8, 2017
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28579]
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

Today's puzzle from Jay is another fairly gentle and fun workout.

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   Rely on nerve /in/ place of vessels being abandoned? (6,4)

I'm afraid I have to quibble with the explanation given by the 2Kiwis in their review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog. BANK is being clued by "rely" and not by "rely on". In this clue, the word "on" is acting as a charade indicator and the clue adheres to the "A on B" convention for across clues.

"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. It is apparent that not all setters subscribe to this convention — or, at least, they do not adhere to it religiously. Perhaps, they rely on the convention when it suits their purpose and ignore it when it becomes an inconvenience. [On second thought, perhaps that is typical of most religious observance.] In any event, a solver must always be vigilant for instances where setters flout this convention.

Bottle^[5] is an informal British term denoting the courage or confidence needed to do something difficult or dangerous ⇒ I lost my bottle completely and ran.

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Bottle bank^[5] is a British term for a place where used glass bottles may be deposited for recycling.

6a   Doctor imprisoned by a king // out of control (4)

"doctor" = MO (show explanation )

A medical officer^[5] (abbreviation MO^[5]) is a doctor in charge of the health services of a civilian or military authority or other organization.

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"king" = K (show explanation )

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

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10a   Alarm /caused by/ article about photo? On the contrary (5)

The phrase "on the contrary" directs us to invert the logic of the preceding statement so that the wordplay becomes 'photo about article'.

11a   Object to // test (9)

12a   New Delhi may be occupied by the French // sex kitten (7)

"the French" = LA (show explanation )

In French, the feminine singular form of the definite article is la^[8].

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A Delilah^[5] is a seductive and wily temptress^*.

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^* In the Bible, Delilah^[5] was a woman who betrayed Samson to the Philistines (Judges 16) by revealing to them that the secret of his strength lay in his long hair.

Scratching the Surface
New Delhi[5] is the capital of India, a city in north central India built 1912–29 to replace Calcutta (now Kolkata) as the capital of British India.

13a   Moved aside, // chased by son (7)

The "A by B" construction here follows the same convention as "A on B" in 1a.

14a   Sharpe conceivably /offering/ way of expressing things? (4,2,6)

This clue is a reverse anagram (show explanation ). The solution (TURN OF PHRASE) can be viewed as consisting of an anagram indicator (TURN OF) and anagram fodder (PHRASE) that when executed produce the outcome "sharpe" which appears in the clue. The word "conceivably" in the clue is the reverse anagram indicator. Note that by positioning the word "sharpe" at the beginning of the clue, the setter is able to capitalize it thus making it appear to be a surname rather than just a meaningless series of letters.

In a 'normal' clue, the wordplay appears in the clue and the outcome arising from the execution of the wordplay is found in the solution. For instance, in a clue of the anagram type, the anagram indicator (operator) and anagram fodder (the material on which the indicator operates) would appear in the clue and the outcome of performing the anagram operation would be found in the solution.

On the other hand, in a 'reverse anagram', this situation is reversed. The anagram indicator and fodder are found in the solution and the outcome of executing the anagram operation appears in the clue. This is not unlike the premise of the TV game show Jeopardy — where contestants are given the answer and must respond with a question. Here the solver is given the outcome of the anagram operation and must find the anagram indicator and fodder which would produce it.

Personally, having a background in mathematics and engineering, I would much prefer to use the term 'inverse anagram' rather than 'reverse anagram' as this type of construct is analogous to the concept of inverse functions in those fields. However, I have resigned myself to the fact that this idea is unlikely to find traction.

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Scratching the Surface
Several visitors to Big Dave's Crossword Blog comment that to them the clue suggests English satirical novelist Tom Sharpe[7] (1928–2013).

18a   Fool - he's covering small business /supplying/ dryers (7,5)

Clot^[5] is an informal British term for a foolish or clumsy person ⇒ Watch where you’re going, you clot!.

21a   Traveller /sees/ Prime Minister hugging single girl, shaken (7)

23a   Business custom /is/ to share accommodation (7)

24a   Celebrate in song after the end of shambolic // eatery (9)

An aria^[5] is a long accompanied song for a solo voice, typically one in an opera or oratorio.

25a   Appearing in court, group /may be/ distressed (5)

26a   Belt /of/ lava with sulphur at the head (4)

The symbol for the chemical element sulphur is S^[5].

27a   Servers // with first-class locks (10)

"first-class" = 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.

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Down

1d   Offers must incorporate exercises /for/ people, perhaps (6)

"exercises" = PE (show explanation )

PE^[5] is an abbreviation^* for physical education.

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^* In my experience, phys ed^{[3,6,11,12,14]} is the more common shortened form in North America.

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2d   This, if ignoring his approach, /is/ a mess (6)

3d   Council // putting writer in place (5,9)

The council^[10] (sometimes capitalized) is a British^* term for the local governing authority of a town, county, etc.

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^* At least, the term is British in the eyes of the editors at Collins English Dictionary. Personally. I would say that the term is not at all British. Or, perhaps, we in Canada just use a British form of local government.

Local authority^{[2,4,5,10,14]} is a British and New Zealand term for the governing body of a county, district, etc. The equivalent US term is local government.

4d   Support workers /making/ plays in court (9)

5d   Gets close to // answer, resolved to avoid women (5)

As an anagram indicator, resolve^[5] is used in the the sense (said of something seen at a distance) to turn into a different form when seen more clearly ⇒ the orange light resolved itself into four roadwork lanterns.

7d   Details /of/ independent article in 'Time' (8)

"independent" = I (show explanation )

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

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Scratching the Surface
Time[7] is an American weekly news magazine founded in 1923. In addition to the US edition, Time also publishes several regional international editions. A so-called "Canadian edition" which was essentially the US edition with Canadian advertising and a token amount of Canadian editorial content was discontinued in 2008.

8d   Heavily involved /with/ requirement in castle (4-4)

A keep^[5] is the strongest or central tower of a castle, acting as a final refuge.

9d   Southern Comedy Store /is/ a shambles (14)

If we take the parsing to be S (southern) + LAUGHTER (comedy) + HOUSE (store), then for cryptic purposes, "store" is being used as a verb.

Although there are no complaints about this on Big Dave's Crossword Blog,  I do not see comedy and laughter as synonyms (comedy being something that is intended to induce laughter), at least when used strictly as nouns. However, perhaps they may have essentially the same meaning when used as modifiers. For instance, compare the names of a couple of British comedy venues:

• The Comedy Store^[7] is a comedy club located in Soho, London, England which opened in 1979. It was named after The Comedy Store club in California.
• According to TripAdvisor, Laughterhouse Comedy is Liverpool's biggest and best comedy promoter with nights at The Slaughter House (voted in the top 5 comedy venues in the UK).

While I expect that the setter is using "comedy" to clue "laughter", I have not completely ruled out the possibility that "Comedy Store" may be cluing "Laughterhouse" (although the latter seems rather dubious).

In fact, with Liverpool located in Northern England, the clue might even have read:

• Northern comedy club /is/ a shambles (14)

although that would probably be considered to be too obscure a clue.

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A shambles^[5] (archaic except in place names) is a butcher's slaughterhouse ⇒ the shambles where the animals were slaughtered.

15d   Insolence, interrupting fine talk about Republican /in/ part of presentation (4,5)

"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].

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"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.

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16d   Circle regularly selects // requirements for mountaineers (3,5)

What did they say?
In their review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, the 2Kiwis write BRB doesn’t support this definition. The Chambers Dictionary (aka the Big Red Book or BRB) defines ice pick[1] as a tool with a pointed end used for splitting ice.

17d   Criminal types /may be/ terribly slow to accept prison sentence (8)

19d   Humiliates // military settlements, under attack at the outset (6)

20d   Standing of university in branch of maths (6)

In Britain, the short form for mathematics is maths^[5] ⇒ her mother was a maths teacher, rather than math^[5] as is the case in North America ⇒ she teaches math and science.

22d   Mum looks down on tune used over // one from a musical (5)

Here "one" could denote either a character or song in either of two musicals.

Maria^[7] is the leading female character in the 1957 Broadway musical West Side Story, the award winning adaptation of William Shakespeare's romantic tragedy Romeo and Juliet.

"Maria"^[7] is also a song from West Side Story sung by the male lead Tony when he learns the name of the girl he's fallen in love with is "Maria". The name "Maria" is spoken or sung in the song 27 times.

Maria von Trapp^[7] (1905–1987), the stepmother and matriarch of the Trapp Family Singers, is a leading female character in the award winning 1959 Broadway musical The Sound of Music.

"Maria"^[7], sometimes known as "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?" is a show tune from The Sound of Music. This song is sung by the nuns at Nonnberg Abbey, who are exasperated with Maria for being too frivolous and frolicsome for the decorous and austere life at the Abbey.

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)
^[14] - CollinsDictionary.com (COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary)

Signing off for today — Falcon