Tuesday, February 27, 2018 — DT 28581

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28581
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, November 10, 2017
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28581]
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

Giovanni puts us through a rather gentle workout today.

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   A loveless sign? // So be it! (4)

"love" = O (show explanation )

In tennis, squash, and some other sports, love^[5] is a score of zero or nil ⇒ love fifteen. The resemblance of a zero written as a numeral (0) to the letter O leads to the cryptic crossword convention of the word "love" being used to clue this letter.

Although folk etymology has connected the word with French l'oeuf 'egg', from the resemblance in shape between an egg and a zero, the term apparently comes from the phrase play for love (i.e. the love of the game, not for money).

hide explanation

3a   Gives gears thrashing, // like angry driver? (10)

9a   Volunteers doubling up /for/ so long (2-2)

"volunteers" = TA (show explanation )

In the UK, Territorial Army^[5] (abbreviation TA^[5]) was, at one time, the name of a volunteer force founded in 1908 to provide a reserve of trained and disciplined military personnel for use in an emergency. Since 2013, this organization has been called the Army Reserve.

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In Britain, ta-ta^[5] is an informal way to say goodbye ⇒ well, I’ll say ta-ta, love.

10a   Angry group of magistrates /should be/ impartial (10)

As an adjective, crossbench^*[1] (or cross-bench^[5]) is a British term meaning independent or impartial.

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^* The term comes from the configuration of seating in the British House of Lords (and some other legislatures) where the crossbenches^[1,7] (or cross benches^[2,5] or cross-benches^[4,10]) — benches located between and perpendicular to the government and opposition benches — are occupied by neutral or independent members.

11a   Number competent // that can be kept (7)

Tenable^[5] (said of an office, position, scholarship, etc.) means able to be held or used ⇒ a scholarship of £200 per annum tenable for three years.

13a   Wicked end to week, a kind you don't want to finish (7)

14a   Enjoyment /of/ naughty cat in act of destruction (11)

18a   Foreign father with broad smile had // to travel around (11)

The French word for 'father' is père^[8].

21a   Lady looking forward to the match? (7)

Although the above clue was published in the print edition of The Daily Telegraph, a somewhat different clue appeared on the Telegraph Puzzles website in the UK:

• Working in cafe, Jane's ending /as/ one who's found her man (7)

22a   The old man, short character // that is often very colourful (7)

23a   Pet? // It ceases to wander around in the morning (7,3)

24a   Spot // troublesome animal in garden? (4)

Here and There

Note that Deep Threat, in his review, refers to the "animal" in the clue as "one of the little pests that tunnels under your lawn". In Britain, a garden[2,10] is an area of land, usually one adjoining a house, where grass, trees, flowers and other ornamental plants, fruit, vegetables, etc, are grown (i.e., what one would call a yard in Canada and the US). Note that a British garden includes the lawn as well as everything else whereas a North American garden would comprise only the flower and vegetable beds and any trees or shrubs contained therein and exclude the lawn and any trees or shrubs growing there. In Britain, a yard[10] is a piece of enclosed ground, usually either paved [covered with paving stones] or laid with concrete and often adjoining or surrounded by a building or buildings.

25a   They initially organised squatting protest about nothing /in/ passage (10)

26a   High-class violin not the first /requirement for/ jazz (4)

Strad^[5] is an informal term for a Stradivarius^[5], a violin or other stringed instrument made by Italian violin-maker Antonio Stradivari^[5] (c.1644–1737) or his followers.

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Trad^[10] (noun) is a mainly British term for traditional jazz^*, as revived in the 1950s.

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^* Traditional jazz^[10] is a style of jazz originating in New Orleans, characterized by collective improvisation by a front line of trumpet, trombone, and clarinet accompanied by various rhythm instruments.

Down

1d   Height // of talent learner's shown for piano (8)

"learner" = L (show explanation )

The cryptic crossword convention of L meaning learner or student arises from the L-plate^[7], a square plate bearing a sans-serif letter L, for learner, which must be affixed to the front and back of a vehicle in various jurisdictions (including the UK) if its driver is a learner under instruction.

hide explanation

"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

2d   Catch // fish after getting new net (8)

4d   Shrub /needing/ good 'ack? (5)

"good" = G (show explanation )

The abbreviation G^[10] for good likely relates to its use in grading school assignments or tests.

hide explanation

An aitch dropped in the clue indicates that one must also drop an aitch in the solution.

Hack^[5] can mean a horse in any of several senses:

• a horse for ordinary riding
• a good-quality lightweight riding horse, especially one used in the show ring
• a horse let out for hire
• an inferior or worn-out horse

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Gorse^[5] is a yellow-flowered shrub of the pea family, the leaves of which are modified to form spines, native to western Europe and North Africa.

5d   Taking it easy, is inside, // not giving in (9)

6d   Wealthy // firm (11)

As the solution to the first definition, substantial^[5] is an adjective meaning important in material or social terms; in other words, wealthy ⇒ a substantial Devon family.

7d   Being victorious but not initially /in/ baseball division (6)

8d   Branch of philosophy, // hard one for unorthodox sect to grasp (6)

"hard" = H (show explanation )

H^[2,5] is an abbreviation for hard, as used in describing grades of pencil lead ⇒ a 2H pencil.

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12d   Wolves keeping supporters outside, // walkers with their kit? (11)

15d   Soldiers in a salute /showing/ assent (9)

16d   Area 26 set up // somewhere in Devon (8)

The numeral "26" is a cross reference indicator directing the solver to insert the solution to clue 26a 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

Dartmoor^[5] is a moorland district in Devon that was a royal forest in Saxon times, now a national park.

17d   Cleric /is/ right, always having the last word? (8)

Here "the last word" is to be interpreted as a word meaning 'the last'.

19d   Cricket side determined /to get/ compensation (6)

In cricket, the off^[5]  (also called off side) is the half of the field (as divided lengthways through the pitch) towards which the batsman's feet are pointed when standing to receive the ball.  The other half of the field is known as either the leg^[5] (also called leg side) or on^[5] (also called on side) ⇒ he played a lucky stroke to leg.

20d   Part of Japan, a magnificent // country (6)

22d   Letters at bottom of page about the French // philosopher (5)

PTO^[5] (abbreviation for please turn over) is a British term that is written at the foot of a page to indicate that the text continues on the reverse.

"the French | the Parisian" = LA (show explanation )

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

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Plato^[5] (circa 429-circa 347 BC) was a Greek philosopher.

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