Friday, March 2, 2018 — DT 28584

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28584
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, November 14, 2017
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28584]
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

Today's puzzle is a pleasant diversion and not overly taxing on the grey matter.

At Comment #30 on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Bertie reports Made life difficult by rushing and putting in ‘bombscare’ for 27 across. Wally !. My initial thought was that he or she might have mistyped Why ! (or been the victim of auto-correct). Then it dawned on me that I may have encountered this term before. Sure enough, it turns out that wally^[5] is an informal British term for a silly or inept person ⇒ I must have looked a total wally but I didn't care. The term dates from the 1960s and may have arisen from an incident in which an unfortunate chap name Wally became separated from companions at a 1960s pop festival and his name, announced many times over a loudspeaker, was taken up as a chant by the crowd.

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   Pretty // energetic after a bike race with Queen (10)

The Tourist Trophy^[5] (abbreviation TT^[5]) is a motorcycle-racing competition held annually on roads in the Isle of Man since 1907.

"Queen" = R (show explanation )

Queen may be abbreviated as Q, Qu. or R.

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

Qu.^[2] is another common abbreviation for Queen.

In the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms^*, Regina^[5] (abbreviation R^[5]) [Latin for queen] denotes the reigning queen, used following a name (e.g. Elizabetha Regina, Queen Elizabeth) or in the titles of lawsuits (e.g. Regina v. Jones, the Crown versus Jones — often shortened to R. v. Jones).

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^* A Commonwealth realm^[7] is a sovereign state that is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and shares the same person, currently Elizabeth II, as its head of state and reigning constitutional monarch, but retains a crown legally distinct from the other realms. There are currently sixteen Commonwealth realms, the largest being Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom with the remainder being smaller Caribbean and Pacific island nations.

Thus Queen Elizabeth signs her name as 'Elizabeth R' as seen here on Canada's paint-stained constitution.

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6a   Protest show, // Claude Monet's included (4)

Demo^[5] (abbreviation for demonstration) is a British^* term for a public meeting or march protesting against something or expressing views on a political issue ⇒ a peace demo.

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^* North Americans would use the unabbreviated term demonstration to describe such an event.

Parsing the Clue

As Mister Kitty points out in his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Since protest and show on their own can each define the answer, the clue could also be viewed as a double definition with a hidden word as wordplay.  But I haven’t seen anything like that before and so I’m not sure if that interpretation satisfies cryptic convention. Demo[5] is also used in the UK in the various senses that we know it in North America meaning: a demonstration of a product or technique ⇒ a cookery [cooking] demo.  a version of something such as computer software produced to demonstrate its capabilities or for use as a trial ⇒ there is a demo to try before you buy. a recording made to demonstrate the capabilities of a musical group or performer or as preparation for a full recording ⇒ (i) we recorded a three-song demo; (ii) a demo track. I would support Mr Kitty's contention that "protest show" denotes "a show of protest" and is not be a double definition.

Scratching the Surface
Claude Monet[5] (1840–1926) was a French painter. A founder member of the impressionists, his fascination with the play of light on objects led him to produce series of paintings of single subjects painted at different times of the day and under different weather conditions, such as the Water-lilies sequence (1899–1906; 1916 onwards).

9a   Temperature best /for/ fish (5)

What did he say?

In his review, Mr Kitty describes the solution as a verb that means best (or worst) in battle. Best[5] is used as a verb meaning to outwit or get the better of (someone)* ⇒ she refused to allow herself to be bested. * Ironically, in this sense best is a synonym of worst[5], a verb meaning to get the better of or defeat ⇒ this was not the time for a deep discussion—she was tired and she would be worsted.

10a   Looking // round with bishop helping (9)

"bishop" = B (show explanation )

B^[5] is an abbreviation for bishop that is used in recording moves in chess.

A bishop ^[5] is a chess piece, typically with its top shaped like a mitre, that can move any number of spaces in any direction along a diagonal on which it stands. Each player starts the game with two bishops, one moving on white squares and the other on black.

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12a   One tough, // difficult group of teachers (4,3)

In the UK, the National Union of Teachers is commonly known by the acronym NUT^[5] [much to the delight of their students, I am sure].

13a   Pick up // grand English film director (5)

While the abbreviation G for "grand" is deemed by British dictionaries to be an Americanism, it seems to be one that is well known to Brits — undoubtedly from American gangster films. It is frequently seen in British crossword puzzles and never seems to garner the abuse that usually greets the appearance of American terms (show more ).

Grand^[5] is an informal term for a thousand dollars or pounds ⇒ he gets thirty-five grand a year. While the term "grand" itself would seem to be commonly used in the UK, the informal abbreviation G^[5] meaning grand appears to be regarded as a North American usage ⇒ I was up nine Gs on the blackjack tables.

G is defined in various British dictionaries as follows:

• Oxford Dictionaries: (North American informal) abbreviation for grand, a thousand dollars)^[5].
• Chambers 21st Century Dictionary: (North American slang) abbreviation for a grand, 1000 dollars^[2].
• Collins English Dictionary: (mainly US slang) a symbol for grand (a thousand dollars or pounds)^[4,10].

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Sir David Lean^[5] (1908–1991) was an English film director. He made many notable films, including Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Doctor Zhivago (1965), and A Passage to India (1984).

Behind the Painting

Mr Kitty illustrates his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog with a reproduction of The Gleaners[7] (Des glaneuses), an oil painting by French painter Jean-François Millet (1814–1875) completed in 1857. It depicts three peasant women gleaning a field of stray stalks of wheat after the harvest. The painting is famous for featuring in a sympathetic way what were then the lowest ranks of rural society; this was received poorly by the French upper classes.

15a   Regularly get seen without cloak // one's got free (7)

Regular and Irregular

From a casual reading of Mr Kitty's review, one might leap to the conclusion that "regularly" automatically denotes the sequence of even letters. In actual fact, the term "regularly" merely indicates that a regular sequence of letters is required — which, in this particular case, happens to be the even letters. Although "regular" virtually always denotes every second letter, I seem to recall having seen — on rare occasions — the required sequence be every third letter. In today's clue, as is customarily the case, the setter does not specify whether we need the odd sequence or the even sequence — which is something we must figure out by trial and error.  I have observed that some bloggers do seem to believe that "regular" means the even sequence and "irregular" means the odd sequence. However, both the even sequence and the odd sequence are regular in that the letters are evenly spaced and setters often use the term "regular" to indicate either of these sequences. This misconception about "regular" always meaning an even sequence of letters likely arises because setters use the term "irregular" to denote an odd sequence of letters, based on irregular meaning 'peculiar' or 'odd'. Therefore, solvers must be aware that "irregular" always denotes an odd sequence but "regular" can denote either an even sequence or an odd sequence.

17a   Artist is held back by old-fashioned depiction of women /and/ money (7)

"artist" = RA (show explanation )

A Royal Academician (abbreviation RA^[10]) is a member of the Royal Academy of Arts^[5] (also Royal Academy; abbreviation also RA^[10]), an institution established in London in 1768, whose purpose is to cultivate painting, sculpture, and architecture in Britain. 

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Doll^[5] is an informal [and rather dated] North American term for an attractive young woman.

19a   European agreed mineral deposit /is/ blot on the landscape (7)

21a   A Roman's at sea -- // one's likely to be rowing (7)

22a   Sea captain // died, womaniser (5)

Sir Francis Drake^[5] (circa 1540–1596) was an English sailor and explorer. He was the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe (1577–80), in his ship the Golden Hind. He played an important part in the defeat of the Spanish Armada.

24a   Tell sir to change // climbing-frame (7)

Scratching the Surface
It is common practice for British school students to address (or refer to) their male teachers as "Sir", as in To Sir, with Love[7], a 1967 British drama film starring Sidney Poitier that deals with social and racial issues in an inner-city school.

27a   Mine's a nightmare - // it has probably gone off (9)

28a   Very old diamonds, // say (5)

29a   Finishes // repairs without beginning! (4)

30a   Sulk before ball? Daughter's rejected // sobriety (10)

Down

1d   Wine // when it gets served up (4)

Asti^[7] (formerly known as Asti Spumante) is a sparkling white Italian wine that is produced throughout southeastern Piedmont but is particularly focused around the towns of Asti and Alba. Since 1993 the wine has been classified as a Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) and as of 2004 was Italy's largest producing appellation.

2d   Ooh, the cat is worried - // it could be a canine problem (9)

3d   A cold starter of turkey or // ham? (5)

Scratching the Surface
Starter[5] is a British* term meaning the first course of a meal. * according to Oxford Dictionaries, the term is British, but certainly one that I would say is by no means foreign to Canada

4d   Recount rambling // stuff (7)

Stuff^[5] is an informal British term meaning to defeat heavily in sport ⇒ Town got stuffed every week.

5d   Looked up // six new diets (7)

7d   Flower in Devon borders one left // to uproot (5)

Flower is used in the whimsical cryptic crossword sense of something that flows — in other words, a river.

The River Exe^[7] rises on Exmoor in Somerset, 8.4 kilometres (5 mi) from the Bristol Channel coast, but flows more or less directly due south, so that most of its length lies in Devon. It reaches the sea at a substantial ria, the Exe Estuary, on the south (English Channel) coast of Devon.

8d   Sorting out // musical instrument before I blow the whistle (10)

11d   Soldier/'s/ routine (7)

14d   Ben pleaded to be free, /being/ trustworthy (10)

16d   Method /from/ company rising in demand (7)

18d   Notice embassy/'s/ entrance (9)

20d   Last // former lover -- tremendous? Not half! (7)

21d   Bit of cricket and bit of a race // have something in common (7)

"over" = O (show explanation )

On cricket scorecards, the abbreviation O^[5] denotes over(s), an over^[5] being a division of play consisting of a sequence of six balls bowled by a bowler from one end of the pitch, after which another bowler takes over from the other end.

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23d   Injured leaving hospital // with weapons (5)

25d   Always supporting Liberal ~ // anything that can be used to gain an advantage (5)

"Liberal" = L (show explanation )

The Liberal Party^[5] (abbreviation Lib.^[5] or L^[2])^* in Britain emerged in the 1860s from the old Whig Party and until the First World War was one of the two major parties in Britain. In 1988 the party regrouped with elements of the Social Democratic Party to form the Social and Liberal Democrats, now known as the Liberal Democrats. However, a small Liberal Party still exists although it has no representation in the UK Parliament, no Members of the European Parliament (MEP), no members of the Scottish Parliament, nor any members of the National Assembly for Wales.^[7]

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^* Although Lib.^[5] may be the more common abbreviation for the Liberal Party in Britain — likely to distinguish it from the the Labour Party^[5] (abbreviation Lab.^[5]) — Chambers 21st Century Dictionary indicates that L^[2] may also be used.

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Scratching the Surface

From a scientific perspective, one might quibble with the surface reading. A lever is certainly something that can be used to gain an advantage — but is by no means the only thing. In physics (mechanics in particular), mechanical advantage[5] is the ratio of the force produced by a machine to the force applied to it, used in assessing the performance of a machine and a simple machine[5] is any of the basic mechanical devices for applying a force, such as an inclined plane, wedge, or lever.

26d   Festival // payment — it's about time (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)
^[14] - CollinsDictionary.com (COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary)

Signing off for today — Falcon