Tuesday, February 20, 2018 — DT 28576

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28576
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Saturday, November 4, 2017
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28576 – Hints] Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28576 – Review]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Tilsit (Hints) crypticsue (Review)
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
Notes
As this was a Saturday "Prize Puzzle" in Britain, there are two entries related to it on Big Dave's Crossword Blog — the first, posted on the date of publication, contains hints for selected clues while the second is a full review issued following the entry deadline for the contest. The vast majority of reader comments will generally be found attached to the "hints" posting with a minimal number — if any — accompanying the full review.

Introduction

This puzzle seems to offer a bit heartier fare than the typical "Saturday" puzzle (Saturday being the day on which it was published in the UK).

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   Declines credit /for/ essential car accessory (8)

Tick^*[5] (used in the phrase on tick) is an informal British term meaning credit ⇒ the printer agreed to send the brochures out on tick.

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^* The term apparently originates as a short form for ticket in the phrase on the ticket, referring to an IOU or promise to pay.

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A dipstick^[5] is a graduated rod for measuring the depth of a liquid, especially oil in a vehicle's engine.

9a   Review // smartphone program upgrade (8)

10a   Prevent // compensation taking time (4)

11a   Celebration of moving // conflict between two dynasties (5-7)

House^[5] denotes a noble, royal, or wealthy family or lineage; in other words, a dynasty ⇒ the power and prestige of the House of Stewart.

Ming^[5] is the name of the dynasty that ruled China 1368–1644 founded by Zhu Yuanzhang (1328–1398).

13a   Trunk carries tyres primarily -- certainly /makes/ contribution to road safety (4-4)

The cat's eye^[5,7] (also cat's-eye^[3]) or, as a British trademark, Catseye^[2,7,10] is a retroreflective safety device used in road marking and was the first of a range of raised pavement markers. It originated in the UK in 1934 and is today used all over the world.

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^* Catseye^[2,10] is the trademark for cat's eyes manufactured by the British firm Reflecting Roadstuds Limited which was founded by the inventor of the device. In its listing, The Chambers Dictionary spells the trademark incorrectly as Cat's-eye^[1]. Although Oxford Dictionaries indicates the existence of a British trademark, it either (depending on how one looks at it) lists an incorrect spelling (cat's eye^[5]) for the trademark or completely neglects to list the spelling of the trademark (which is different from the spelling of the generic term). Chamber's 21st Century Dictionary, Collins English Dictionary, and Wikipedia all get the spelling of the trademark correct.

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

15a   Sort of trout swallowing Black // Sea fish (6)

The turbot^[5] is a European flatfish of inshore waters, which has large bony tubercles on the body and is prized as food.

The Turbot War
During the 1994 "Turbot War" (in which Canada cracked down on Spanish trawlers engaged in illegal fishing practices on the Grand Banks off the coast of Newfoundland) Canadian fisheries minister Brian Tobin famously said "We're down now finally to one last, lonely, unloved, unattractive little turbot clinging on by its fingernails to the Grand Banks of Newfoundland".

16a   'House' might split for this (4)

Appropriately enough, this would seem to be a semi-all-in-one clue with embedded wordplay. The entire clue provides the definition and the portion with the dashed underline is the wordplay.

According to both Oxford Dictionaries and Collins English Dictionary, semi^[5,10] is an informal British term for a semi-detached house ⇒ a three-bedroomed semi. However, this usage is not uncommon in Canada, although we would surely say ⇒ a three-bedroom semi.

17a   Survivor of Henry VIII stabbed by English // blade (5)

Katherine Parr^[5] (1512–1548) was the sixth and last wife of Henry VIII. Having married the king in 1543, she influenced his decision to restore the succession to his daughters Mary and Elizabeth (later Mary I and Elizabeth I respectively).

Two out of Six
Katherine Parr[5] was one of two wives to outlive Henry VIII, the other being Anne of Cleves[5], his fourth wife, whose marriage to Henry was ended by annulment.

18a   Viewed // part of play in auditorium (4)

20a   Sophisticated // ancient city, source of misery (6)

Ur^[5] is an ancient Sumerian city formerly on the Euphrates, in southern Iraq. It was one of the oldest cities of Mesopotamia, dating from the 4th millennium BC, and reached its zenith in the late 3rd millennium BC. Ur^[7] is considered by many to be the city of Ur Kasdim mentioned in the Book of Genesis as the birthplace of the Hebrew patriarch Abraham.

21a   Drunk cuts meal, /getting/ wine (8)

Muscatel^[5] (also muscadel) denotes a wine or raisin made from muscatel grapes^*.

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^* A muscatel grape^[5] (also muscadel grape) is a muscat grape, especially as grown for drying to make raisins. A muscat grape^[5] is a variety of white, red, or black grape with a musky scent, grown in warm climates for wine or raisins or as table grapes.

23a   Complain about northern girl on stage -- // an angel? (12)

26a   Regular parts in theatre accompanied by piano /or/ other instrument (4)

"piano" = P (show explanation )

Piano^[3,5] (abbreviation p^[5]), is a musical direction meaning either (as an adjective) soft or quiet or (as an adverb) softly or quietly.

hide explanation

27a   Check outlet // design again (8)

28a   Second display of grief /is/ extensive (8)

Down

2d   Friend // early to catch a train initially (8)

In time^[5] means not late or punctual which may be — but is not necessarily — early.

3d   Who's disported at posh cities? (12)

I have to conclude that this is intended to be another semi-all-in one clue with embedded wordplay.

Tilsit's parsing of this clue is a mystery to me. He shows the definition as being merely the first two words of the clue. However, I believe one has to use the entire clue as the definition as it is the word "posh" that adds the dimension of sophistication to to the clue. When read as the definition, the 's is a contraction for 'has' and the clue denotes "[Someone] who has frolicked at posh cities?".

He goes on to say that the clue has "no anagram indicator as such". I would argue that the anagram indicator is "disported" (as crypticsue indicates in her review).

As I wrote this, I had yet to read the day-of-publication comments on Big Dave's Crossword Blog. However, as crypticsue indicates in her review, "there was a lot of discussion about this one on the day" and I am pleased to see that the consensus opinion there would seem to confirm my analysis of the clue.

Disport^[5,10] is an archaic or humorous term meaning (when used transitively) to indulge (oneself) in pleasure or (when used intransitively) to frolic or gambol ⇒ a painting of ladies disporting themselves by a lake.

4d   Damage // among 12 good citizens and true (6)

The phrase twelve good men and true^[a], denoting a jury, has been with us since at least the 17th century.

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^[a] The Phrase Finder

Delving Deeper

When this phrase 'twelve men good and true' was coined, in the early 17th century, 'good' implied distinguished rank or valour. These days people aren't required to be valiant or of high rank in order to be part of a jury. They aren't even required to be men, as women have been called for jury in both the UK and USA since around 1920. This was a consequence of the women's suffrage movement. Prior to the 1920s the opponents of the movement were appalled by the fact that, if women could vote, they could also sit on juries. This was considered worse by some than the right to vote itself. In 1915, the Massachusetts Anti-Suffrage Committee argued, "Jury duty for your wife or your daughter is almost unthinkable. Yet it will be part of her legal duty as a voter."

What did she say?

In her review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, crypticsue describes a jury as being [made up of] dependable men, of rank and honour. The phrase was adapted later to ‘twelve good men and true’, indicating the twelve (originally all men, now both sexes) of a criminal jury. She is quoting from another entry on The Phrase Finder, What's the meaning of the phrase 'Good men and true'?[a]. In England, the modern jury trial evolved in the mid-12th century during the reign of Henry II[7]. Juries were originally composed of "dependable men, of rank and honour" (see preceding box). The phrase "twelve men good and true", a poetic or literary way of expressing this, appears to have come into use in the 17th century (which is definitely "later" when compared to the 12th century). [a] The Phrase Finder

5d   Moose comes up eating a // vegetable (4)

Here and There
In Britain, elk[5] is another name for the moose* (Alces alces). The animal (Cervus canadensis) known to North Americans as an elk is generally called a wapiti[3,4,11] in the UK, although it may also be referred to as the American elk or Canadian elk.

6d   Southern dish // spread haphazardly (8)

7d   Performance of rock band on one // old musical (4)

Gigi^[7] is a 1958 American musical-romance film directed by Vincente Minnelli with screenplay by Alan Jay Lerner based on the 1944 novella of the same name by French novelist Colette. The film features songs with lyrics by Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe, arranged and conducted by André Previn and stars Leslie Caron, Maurice Chevalier, and Louis Jourdan . A stage adaptation played Broadway in 1973 and London's West End in 1985.

8d   Raise // crew in Orpington? (8)

An eight^[5] is an eight-oared rowing boat or its crew.

An Orpington^[5,10,12] is a breed of chicken. Oxford Dictionaries describes it as being buff, white, or black in colour. Collins English Dictionary adds that it is a heavy fowl that lays brown eggs and Webster’s New World College Dictionary informs us that it is large, full-bodied chicken with featherless legs, usually raised for its meat.

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Origin: from Orpington, the name of a town in Kent in southern England.

12d   Skill in shooting // 1000 boats, with crew on another boat (12)

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).

14d   Feature of rugby // seconds, being supported by clubs with spirit (5)

"clubs" = C (show explanation )

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

hide explanation

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In rugby, a scrum^[5] is an ordered formation of players, used to restart play, in which the forwards of a team form up with arms interlocked and heads down, and push forward against a similar group from the opposing side. The ball is thrown into the scrum and the players try to gain possession of it by kicking it backwards towards their own side.

16d   Like mule // delivered after objections raised (8)

Clearly, in his hints, Tilsit must have intended to write "a word for objections" rather than "a word for injections".

17d   Came earlier /and/ took prey (8)

Predate^[5] (said of an animal) means to act as a predator of; in other words to catch and eat (prey).

19d   One taking charge /in/ Vote for Reagan'? (8)

Ronald Reagan^[5] (1911–2004) was an American Republican statesman, 40th President of the US 1981-9.

An electron^[5] is a stable subatomic particle with a charge of negative electricity, found in all atoms and acting as the primary carrier of electricity in solids.

22d   Look at article /and/ feel angry (6)

24d   North American provided // opposite of 3 (4)

The numeral "3" is a cross reference indicator directing the solver to insert the solution to clue 3d 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

25d   Counts // slugs (4)

What did he say?

In his hint on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Tilsit equates slugs to shorts. Short[5] (noun) is a British term for a drink of spirits served in a small measure* or, as Collins English Dictionary puts it, a short[10] is a drink of spirits as opposed to a long drink such as beer. * A measure[5] is a container of standard capacity used for taking fixed amounts of a substance. Like North Americans, Brits also use the word shot[5] to describe a small drink of spirits ⇒ he took a shot of whisky.

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