Tuesday, March 31, 2020 — DT 29153

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 29153
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, September 11, 2019
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29153]
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

The solutions to a couple of clues in this puzzle (18a, 16d) prompted considerable discussion on Big Dave's Crossword Blog.

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.

Symbols and Markup Conventions
"*" - anagram "~" - sounds like "<" - indicates the preceding letters are reversed "( )" - encloses contained letters "_" - replaces letters that have been deleted	"†" - indicates that the word is present in the clue "solid underline" - precise definition "dotted underline" - cryptic definition "dashed underline" - wordplay "double underline" - both wordplay and definition
Click here for further explanation and usage examples of the symbols and markup conventions used on this blog.

Across

1a	Carry // drink left on board (7)

"drink" = SUP (show explanation )

As a verb, sup^[5] is a dated or Northern English term meaning to take (drink or liquid food) by sips or spoonfuls ⇒ (i) she supped up her soup delightedly; (ii) he was supping straight from the bottle.

As a noun, sup^[5] means

• a sip of liquid ⇒ he took another sup of wine
• (in Northern England or Ireland) an alcoholic drink ⇒ the latest sup from those blokes at the brewery

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5a	Group importing revolutionary rum // fold (7)

Rum^[5] is used in a dated informal British sense meaning odd or peculiar ⇒ it’s a rum business, certainly.

9a	Language // rejected by cryptographer (5)

10a	International relations // destabilising Olympic day endlessly (9)

11a	Cycling Leeds roads will make you this! (6-4)

Leeds^[5] is an industrial city in West Yorkshire, northern England. It developed as a wool town in the Middle Ages, becoming a centre of the clothing trade in the Industrial Revolution.

A Note on Markup Notation

Today, I am introducing a small adjustment in markup notation. You will notice that a portion of the clue above has a double underline. This indicates that that portion of the clue plays two roles — in this case, serving as both the wordplay as well as being part of the definition. The clue is a semi-all-in-one clue in which the entire clue is the definition (which I have marked as a cryptic definition as it certainly does not seem to be a precise definition) in which we find embedded wordplay. The markup is intended to show that the dotted underline is considered to extend under the entire clue while the portion of the clue marked by the double underline also plays a second role, in this case as wordplay. Over the years, I have played around with different ways to mark such a clue. Most recently, I had come up with a way to explicitly place a dotted line under the entire clue and a separate dashed line under the portion of the clue providing the wordplay. However, this was not only very time-consuming to apply, but it did not necessarily display properly on all browsers and/or all devices. The new method — while perhaps not as intuitive as the old method — should address both of these issues. It is both easy to apply and relies on standard HTML markup functions. Click here for a fuller explanation of the symbols and markup conventions used on this blog. This article has recently been revised to incorporate the change described here.

12a	Run off // a quantity of cloth (4)

14a	Establishment // play for time beset by independent people (12)

"Independent" = I (show explanation )

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

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18a	Hears about policeman arresting Republican // tenant farmer (12)

"Republican" = R (show explanation )

A Republican^[5] (abbreviation R^[5] or Rep.^[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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Here and but not There
As can be seen from the comments on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, the North American term that is the solution to this clue was a mystery to a good number of Brits. Sharecropper[10] is a mainly US term for a farmer, especially a tenant farmer, who pays over a proportion of a crop or crops as rent.

21a	Go out /and/ send back couple carrying cross (4)

22a	Instigator /of/ heavy metal in bell (10)

25a	Working dog getting hold of bird // without delay (2,3,4)

On the nail^[10] [a British expression, it would seem, based on the dictionaries in which it is found]  means (with respect to payments) at once (especially in the phrase pay on the nail).

Delving Deeper

Four bronze tables — called nails[7] — are located outside The Exchange in Bristol, England. These were probably modelled after mobile tables which were taken to trade fairs and markets. The bronze nails, with their flat tops and raised edges which prevent coins from tumbling onto the pavement*, were made as convenient tables at which merchants could carry out their business. The oldest of the four is undated but believed to be from late Elizabethan times while the newest is dated 1631. Deals could be closed by payment on the nails—the popularly supposed origin of the saying "pay on the nail" or "cash on the nail". However, this origin of the term is disputed. * 'Pavement'[5] is the British term for sidewalk, a raised paved [covered with paving stones] or asphalted path for pedestrians at the side of a road. North American pedestrians visiting the UK may well be surprised to be admonished to "Keep to the pavement"!

26a	Area in shade /will be/ soil (5)

27a	Ridicules // date disheartened with fairground attractions (7)

28a	Full of regret about church // magic (7)

"church" = CE [Church of England] (show reference )

The Church of England^[10] (abbreviation CE^[10]) is the reformed established state Church in England, Catholic in order and basic doctrine, with the Sovereign as its temporal head.

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Down

1d	Poles initially expecting /to be/ thin on the ground (6)

2d	Ornamental building /needing/ a party space set up (6)

"party" = DO (show more )

Do^[5,12] is an informal British^[5] or chiefly British^[12] term^* for a party or other social event ⇒ the soccer club Christmas do.

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^* although Webster’s New World College Dictionary^[12] supports the contention by Oxford Dictionaries Online^[5] that this usage is British, two other US dictionaries do not characterize do^[3,11] used in this sense as a British term

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3d	Got the better of // untalked-of criminal (10)

4d	ID subsumed by rising group // trends (5)

5d	Article in office // journal cut (5,4)

6d	Decline // work under medical professional (4)

"work" = OP (show explanation )

In music, an opus^[5] (Latin 'work', plural opuses or opera) is a separate composition or set of compositions.

The abbreviation Op.^[5] (also op.), denoting opus, is used before a number given to each work of a particular composer, usually indicating the order of publication. The plural form of Op. is Opp..

Opus^[5] can also be used in other contexts to denote an artistic work, especially one on a large scale ⇒ he was writing an opus on Mexico.

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7d	Speaker has one old // piece set to music (8)

8d	Islands with shade -- /that's/ the central point (8)

13d	A person who's followed /could be/ quiet and expert compiler of crosswords (10)

"quiet" = P [music notation] (show reference )

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.

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15d	Ends // trials with men undergoing a change (9)

16d	Help around new store, // like a star (8)

This solution to this clue generated a bit of consternation on Big Dave's Crossword Blog,. However, as an adjective, asteroid^[10] means shaped like a star.

17d	Jesting about one's // 1 Across on flight (8)

The numeral and directional indicator "1 Across" is a cross reference indicator to clue 1a (show more ).

To complete the clue, a solver must replace the cross reference indicator with the solution to the clue starting in the light^* identified by the cross reference indicator.

As is the case today, the cross reference indicator may include a directional indicator but this is customarily done only in situations where there are both Across and Down clues originating in the light that is being referenced.

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^* light-coloured cell in the grid

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19d	Recommendation /of/ a daughter on immorality? (6)

"daughter" = D [genealogy] (show reference )

In genealogies, d^[5] is the abbreviation for daughter ⇒ Henry m. Georgina 1957, 1s 2d^*.

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^* Henry married Georgina in 1957. Their marriage produced 1 son and 2 daughters.

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20d	Rather // narrow-minded about head of religion (6)

23d	Talk about Liberal repeatedly // causes annoyance (5)

Gas^[3] is used in the informal sense of (noun) idle or boastful talk or (verb) to talk excessively.

"Liberal" = L (show more )

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 (founded in 1989 by members of the original Liberal Party opposed to its merger with the Social Democratic Party) 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. Today, the party holds only a handful of seats at the local government level.^[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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24d	Pay attention to // river rising below hospital (4)

The Dee^[5,7] could be any of several rivers in Scotland and England — not to mention Ireland and Australia — the most prominent being:

• a river in northeastern Scotland, which rises in the Grampian Mountains and flows eastwards past Balmoral Castle to the North Sea at Aberdeen
• a river that rises in North Wales and flows past Chester and on into the Irish Sea

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 Advanced 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