Tuesday, February 6, 2018 — DT 28566

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28566
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, October 24, 2017
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28566]
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

This puzzle provided a good mental workoout — especially the southeast quadrant.

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   Antoine, developing // student at college (7)

An Etonian^[5] is a past or present member of Eton College^* ⇒ an Old Etonian.

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^* Eton College^[7], often informally referred to simply as Eton, is an English boarding school for boys located in Eton, Berkshire, near Windsor.

5a   Takes long steps /in/ street, then trips (7)

9a   Rough seas in cup // competition with jumps (9)

Puissance^[5] is a competitive test of a horse's ability to jump large obstacles in showjumping⇒ (i) nine horses contested last night's Puissance; (ii) a Puissance horse.

10a   Wife returned, about to // fly off the handle (5)

11a   An introduction to Chaucer in capital // tale (7)

Rome^[5] is the capital of Italy, situated on the River Tiber about 25 km (16 miles) inland.

Scratching the Surface
Geoffrey Chaucer[5] (c.1342–1400) was an English poet. His most famous work, the Canterbury Tales (c.1387–1400), is a cycle of linked tales told by a group of pilgrims. His skills of characterization, humour, and versatility established him as the first great English poet. Other notable works: Troilus and Criseyde (1385).

12a   Discussion involving singular // herb (7)

To a grammarian, s^[5] is the abbreviation for singular.

13a   Anagram /in/ bottom row (9)

Behind the Picture
The illustration used by Mr Kitty in his review is a map of the London Underground (subway) with the names of the stations replaced by their anagrams. Here is a map with the actual names.

16a   Having a spherical shape // bored out (5)

17a   Drink needed after Foreign Office // meeting (5)

Foreign Office^[5] (abbreviation FO^[5]) is short for Foreign and Commonwealth Office^[5], the British government department dealing with foreign affairs.

18a   Pure // blue appropriate (9)

21a   Fancy // better cereal (7)

In the cryptic reading, better is used as a verb.

Cap^[5] is used in the sense of to follow or reply to (a story, remark, or joke) by producing a better one ⇒ he prayed no wit would cap his remark with some repartee.

22a   I suffer, having backed lad/'s/ affair (7)

25a   Therefore cover /is/ reliable (5)

26a   Queen /in/ ruin or holding tax over (4,5)

Mary I^[5] (1516–1558), daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, reigned as Queen of England 1553–8; known as Mary Tudor or Bloody Mary. In an attempt to reverse the country's turn towards Protestantism she instigated the series of religious persecutions by which she earned her nickname.

27a   A loser staggering, out of energy, an // unplaced competitor (4-3)

"energy" = E (show explanation )

In physics, E^[5] is a symbol used to represent energy in mathematical formulae.

hide explanation

28a   Wonder about Lake // poet (7)

Andrew Marvell^[5] (1621–1678) was an English metaphysical poet. He was best known during his lifetime for his verse satires and pamphlets attacking the corruption of Charles II and his ministers; most of his poetry was published posthumously and was not recognized until the 20th century. Notable poems: ‘To his Coy Mistress’ and ‘Bermudas’.

In the following work, he takes a more subtle approach to seduction than Harvey Weinstein.

Down

1d   Perhaps Nero/'s/ representative during Rome uprising (7)

Nero^[5] (AD 37-68) was Roman emperor 54-68; full name Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus. Infamous for his cruelty, he wantonly executed leading Romans. His reign witnessed a fire which destroyed half of Rome in 64.

2d   Widespread disgust /shown by/ platform firing leader (5)

3d   Playwright/'s/ single book: 'Every Way But West' (5)

Henrik Ibsen^[5] (1828–1906) was a Norwegian dramatist. He is credited with being the first major dramatist to write tragedy about ordinary people in prose. Ibsen’s later works, such as The Master Builder (1892), deal increasingly with the forces of the unconscious and were admired by Sigmund Freud. Other notable works: Peer Gynt (1867), A Doll’s House (1879), Ghosts (1881).

4d   Granny eager /to find/ buff-coloured cloth (7)

Nan^[5] is an informal British term for one's grandmother.

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Nankeen^[5] is a yellowish-buff cotton cloth ⇒ a waistcoat and knee breeches of nankeen [from the name of the city of Nanking (also Nanjing) where it was first made].

5d   Sheer, the Parisian // tower (7)

"the French" = LE (show explanation )

In French, the masculine singular form of the definite article is le^[8].

hide explanation

6d   Ice, mostly, round edges of inner // lake (9)

7d   Idly draw wire /in/ bomb (9)

A wire^[5] is an electronic listening device that can be concealed on a person ⇒ an undercover police informer who was wearing a wire.

A bug^[5] is a concealed miniature microphone, used for secret eavesdropping or recording ⇒ they cleaned out the bugs and wiretaps.

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Doodlebug^[5] is an informal British term for the V-1^[5], a small flying bomb powered by a simple jet engine, used by the Germans in the Second World War.

8d   Dog // someday must be trained (7)

A Samoyed^[5] is a dog of a white Arctic breed.

14d   A tower erected to store produce /in/ citadel (9)

An acropolis^[5] is a citadel or fortified part of an ancient Greek city, typically one built on a hill. The Acropolis^[5] is the ancient citadel at Athens, containing the Parthenon and other notable buildings, mostly dating from the 5th century BC.

15d   Cue employing a // rest (9)

Scratching the Surface
A cue[5] is a long straight tapering wooden rod for striking the ball in snooker, billiards, etc. As a verb, cue[5] means to use a cue to strike the ball ⇒ Mark cued well early on. A rest[5] is a support for a cue in billiards or snooker.

17d   Female I found wearing such a plastic // flower (7)

The fuchsia^[5] is a shrub with pendulous tubular flowers that are typically of two contrasting colours. They are native to America and New Zealand and are commonly grown as ornamentals.

18d   Lecturer bringing in about a million? // You wish! (5,2)

A don^[10] is a member of the teaching staff at a university or college, especially at Oxford or Cambridge.

19d   Animals (two of them) making heavy metal (7)

Wolfram^[10] is another name for tungsten^[10]. The symbol for this element (W) is derived from the former name.

20d   Climber // to catch up on correct procedure detailed (7)

23d   One's job is delivering someone else's work (5)

Like Rabbit Dave at Comment #5 on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, I hampered my efforts here for quite some time by inserting AGENT.

A work^[5] is a literary or musical composition or other piece of art ⇒ a work of fiction.

24d   Plant/'s/ small advantage (5)

Sedge^[5] is a grass-like plant with triangular stems and inconspicuous flowers, growing typically in wet ground. Sedges are widely distributed throughout temperate and cold regions.

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