Monday, April 27, 2020 — DT 29172 (Published Saturday, April 25, 2020)

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 29172
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, October 3, 2019
Setter proXimal (Steve Bartlett)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29172]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Falcon
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

I believe I found this puzzle easier the second time around — although that is somewhat hard to judge as the first time I was solving under the pressure of the clock as I was reviewing it for Big Dave's Crossword Blog. Moreover, I didn't recall having previously seen the puzzle until I was well into it.

I invite you to leave a comment to let us know how you fared with the puzzle.

Abbreviations — Part XVII

Today, I decided to delve into the world of arts and entertainment. As you can see, the pickings are pretty slim. I can't believe that a setter actually managed to work the abbreviation for the British sitcom into a clue. However, I did find it in my archive, so it may have happened.

Abbreviation	Stands for	Additional Information
BOAF	Birds of a Feather	British sitcom (from 80's & 90's)
ENO	English National Opera	Opera company based in London, England
GH	General Hospital	American daytime soap opera
LSO	London Symphony Orchestra	As it says on the tin
OB	outside broadcast	Radio or television programme recorded or broadcast live on location
RA	Royal Academy or Royal Academician	Organization supporting the arts in Britain; usually clued as 'artist' or 'artists'
RADA	Royal Academy of Dramatic Art	Drama school in London, England

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.

Markup Conventions
"//" - marks the boundary between wordplay and definition when no link word or link phrase is present "/[link word or phrase]/" - marks the boundary between wordplay and definition when a link word or link phrase is present	"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 markup conventions used on this blog.

Across

1a	New York gang includes small // kids (5)

West Side Story^[7] is a 1957 Broadway musical with a book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. It was inspired by William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet.

The story is set in the Upper West Side neighborhood in New York City in the mid 1950s, a multiracial, blue-collar neighborhood. The musical explores the rivalry between two teenage street gangs of different ethnic backgrounds, the Jets (who are white) and the Sharks (who are Puerto Rican).

"small " = S [clothing size]

S^[5] is the abbreviation for small (as a clothing size).

hide

4a	Report of perfume demonstration // at focal location (9)

9a	Grant Mike dubious // promotion (9)

10a	European Union almost provided backing? /It's/ unclear (5)

"European Union " = EU

The European Union^[5] (abbreviation EU) is an economic and political association of certain European countries as a unit with internal free trade and common external tariffs.

hide

11a	Find adult aged shunning all outsiders /and/ humour (7)

12a	Engineer // cross after permit is rejected (7)

I don't remember if I picked the correct cross immediately on my first solve. I certainly didn't today. I went the religious route and had TELROOD until a search of reference sources failed to turn up any engineer by that name. So, it was back to the (engineering) drawing board.

Thomas Telford^[5] (1757–1834) was a Scottish civil engineer. He built hundreds of miles of roads, more than a thousand bridges (including the Menai suspension bridge^* 1819–26), and a number of canals, including the Caledonian Canal across Scotland (opened 1822).

---

^* a bridge across the Menai Strait^[5], a channel separating the island of Anglesey from the mainland of north-western Wales

13a	What happens when PM begins // making reforms (6)

Split the solution (2,4) to find the answer to the question posed by the wordplay.

It was at this point that I finally twigged to having seen this puzzle before. This is likely due to the trouble this clue gave me last time around (as you can see from my review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog).

15a	Machine part // chap must regularly handle (8)

18a	Warm // trio of islands to the west (8)

Elba^[5] is a small island off the west coast of Italy, famous as the place of Napoleon’s first exile (1814–15).

Cos is an alternative spelling of Kos^[5], a Greek island in the southeastern Aegean, one of the Dodecanese group. It is the home of cos lettuce^[5] (known to North Americans as romaine^[5]).

20a	Geographical feature // seen in Tuscany only (6)

Scratching the Surface
Tuscany[5] is a region of west central Italy, on the Ligurian Sea.

23a	Expert with good month to review // app, perhaps (7)

"good " = G [academic result]

The abbreviation G^[a] for good comes from its use in education as a grade awarded on school assignments or tests.

---

^[a] Collins English to Spanish Dictionary

hide

---

Here and There
The Brits use the spelling program[5] only in a computing context*. Otherwise they use the spelling programme[5] and consider program to be a US spelling. * it would appear that computer code can either be a program or a programme

24a	Sandwich /and/ wine consumed in part of golf club (7)

Asti^[7] (formerly known as Asti Spumante) is a sparkling white Italian wine (show more ).

Asti is produced throughout southeastern Piedmont but production 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.

show less

The toe^[5] is the tip of the head of a golf club, furthest from the shaft.

---

Toastie^[5] is an informal British term for a toasted sandwich or snack.

26a	Swimmer /is/ one taking over from ace in team (5)

"ace " = A [playing card]

A^[5] is an abbreviation for ace (in card games).

hide

27a	Secretly // chummy with soldier (2,7)

28a	Too keen // again, agree to change (9)

29a	Visitor // shot short host at the end (5)

Down

1d	Islanders // endlessly paid to fill preserve containers (9)

2d	Cut // peel of squash and beetroot (5)

Beetroot^[2] (adjective) is a colloquial British term used to describe someone's complexion: deep or rosy red, especially as a result of embarrassment or exertion.

Here and There

Beetroot is the British term for the edible root that North Americans would simply call a beet. To Brits, the term 'beet' encompasses beetroot together with all other types of beet. (show more ) Beetroot[5] is a chiefly British term for: the edible dark-red spherical root of a kind of beet, eaten as a vegetable the variety of beet (Beta vulgaris subspecies vulgaris) which produces beetroots From a British perspective, beet[5] means: any of several subspeciies of a herbaceous plant (Beta vulgaris) widely cultivated as a source of food for humans and livestock, and for processing into sugar. Some varieties are grown for their leaves and some for their swollen nutritious root. North American term for beetroot hide

3d	Inflated // wheel, oddly, to go in wheel-less conveyance (7)

4d	Herbs // beginning to cause rash (6)

5d	Near agreement to set up // retirement drink (8)

6d	Hates // concerning learner beset by struggles (7)

"learner " = L [driver under instruction]

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

Automobile displaying an L-plate

7d	Yearlong travels around Italy /for/ soldier (9)

"Italy " = I [IVR code]

The International Vehicle Registration (IVR) code for Italy is I^[5] [from Italian Italia].

hide

Italian Licence Plate

(The IVR code is on the left below the EU flag emblem)

---

A legionnaire^[5] is a member of a legion, in particular an ancient Roman legion or the French Foreign Legion^*.

---

^* The Foreign Legion^[5] is a military formation of the French army founded in the 1830s to fight France’s colonial wars. Composed, except for the higher ranks, of non-Frenchmen, the Legion was famed for its audacity and endurance. Its most famous campaigns were in French North Africa in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

8d	Produce // that is left in yard (5)

14d	Lucerne redeveloped to house very big // arena (9)

"very big " = OS [clothing size]

The sizes of clothing that North Americans would describe as plus-size^[7] (or often big and tall in the case of men's clothing) would be called outsize (abbreviation OS^[5]) in Britain.

hide

Scratching the Surface
Lucerne[5] is a  resort on the western shore of Lake Lucerne, in central Switzerland.

16d	Most caring // figure starts to drop everything and relax (9)

17d	Holding // outdoor activity around lake (8)

19d	Trim // graduate climbing hill-range (7)

I'm not sure why there is a hyphen in the clue. I did not find the term "hill-range" listed in any of several dictionaries that I consulted. I concluded that it may merely be what I would have written 'hill range'; i.e., a range of hills.

21d	Mother possessed by a spirit /that's/ wicked (7)

22d	Daze /from/ port drunk with us (6)

Scratching the Surface
Port[5] (also port wine) is a strong, sweet dark red (occasionally brown or white) fortified* wine, originally from Portugal, typically drunk as a dessert wine. The name is a shortened form of Oporto, a major port from which the wine is shipped. * having had spirits added

23d	Sauce/ is/ something unwelcome on duck (5)

"duck " = O [cricket term]

In cricket, a duck^[5] (short for duck's egg) is a batsman’s score of nought [zero] ⇒ he was out for a duck. This is similar to the North American expression goose egg^[5] meaning a zero score in a game.

In British puzzles, "duck" is used to indicate the letter "O" based on the resemblance of the digit "0" to this letter.

hide

25d	Craft /in/ English river capsized (5)

The River Dart^[7] is a river in Devon, England which rises high on Dartmoor, and releases to the sea at Dartmouth. Its valley and surrounding area is a place of great natural beauty.

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