Thursday, April 9, 2020 — DT 29160

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 29160
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, September 19, 2019
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29160]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Kath
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 found this puzzle to be a fairly stiff test, needing to roust the electronic troops out of their barracks to help with several clues in the end.

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

Abbreviations — Part V

Today let's venture into the realm of cartography. The abbreviations found on maps often find their way into puzzles. These include: R(iver), L(ake), I(sland) or I(sle), C(ape), MT (mount or mountain), N(ew), CH (church), PH (public house; formal term for pub), PO (post office), SCH (school), ST (street), AVE (avenue), CT (court), RD (road).

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

8a	Star // among compulsive gamblers (4)

Vega^[10] is the brightest star in the constellation Lyra and one of the most conspicuous in the  northern hemisphere.

9a	Uranium supplied to Royal Navy // vessel (3)

"uranium " = U [chemical symbol]

The symbol for the chemical element uranium is U^[5].

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"Royal Navy " = RN

The Royal Navy^[5] (abbreviation RN) is the British navy. It was the most powerful navy in the world from the 17th century until the Second World War.

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10a	Explanation // senora concocted (6)

Scratching the Surface
Señora[5] is a title or form of address used of or to a Spanish-speaking woman, corresponding to Mrs or madam ⇒ Señora Dolores.

11a	Flowers /for/ Molly and Poldy? (6)

Molly is the wife and Poldy is the nickname of Leopold Bloom^[7], the fictional protagonist and hero of Irish writer James Joyce's Ulysses. His peregrinations and encounters in Dublin on 16 June 1904 mirror, on a more mundane and intimate scale, those of Ulysses/Odysseus in Homer's epic poem the Odyssey.

12a	Empress wrongly claiming India /for/ estate (8)

India^[5] is a code word representing the letter I in the NATO Phonetic Alphabet^[7] (officially the International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet).

13a	Decline to enter a dubious // agreement (7,8)

An entente cordiale^[10] is a friendly understanding between political powers that is less formal than an alliance.

15a	Graduates quickly /finding/ instrument (7)

17a	Figure /provided in/ month before November? (7)

November^[5] is a code word representing the letter N in the NATO Phonetic Alphabet^[7] (officially the International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet).

20a	Event /for/ the Manx people? (5-6,4)

In the second definition, the setter is representing the Manx people (the citizens of the Isle of Man) by the symbol on their flag. It is like calling Canadians the "maple leaf race" or Americans the "stars and stripes race".

The Isle of Man^[5] (abbreviation IOM^[5]) is an island in the Irish Sea (show more ).

The island is a British Crown dependency having home rule, with its own legislature (the Tynwald) and judicial system. It was part of the Norse kingdom of the Hebrides in the Middle Ages, passing into Scottish hands in 1266 for a time, until the English gained control in the early 15th century. Its ancient language, Manx, is still occasionally used for ceremonial purposes.

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Flag of the Isle of Man

For centuries, the island's symbol has been the so-called "three legs of Mann", a triskelion of three legs conjoined at the thigh. Thus the Manx can be considered to be a race of people represented by three legs, or "a three-legged race".

World's Largest Three-legged Race

On May 6, 2013, 649 pairs of runners completed a 200m three-legged race in Douglas, Isle of Man. This event has been certified by Guiness World Records as the world record for the largest three-legged race in a single venue [see: Guinness confirms record set at Isle of Man three-legged race].

23a	Point of no return? (3,5)

A cryptic definition of a point or location where it is not necessary to file a return.

25a	Sponsored youth /in/ gallery performing (6)

The gallery^[5] is the highest balcony in a theatre, containing the cheapest seats.

The gods^[5] is a [presumably British]* theatrical term for the gallery in a theatre ⇒ they sat in the gods.

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^* judging by the absence of the term from American dictionaries

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The definition becomes clear once one understands that a godparent^[10] is a person who stands sponsor to another at baptism.

26a	British monarch keeps bird /in/ hat (6)

Bowler^[5] (also bowler hat) is the British name for a man’s hard felt hat with a round dome-shaped crown. The North American name for this item of apparel is derby^[5] — said to arise from American demand for a hat of the type worn at the Epsom Derby^*.

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^* a prestigious British horse race — not to mention a major event on the British social calendar

The hat in question was a trademark of the comedy duo Laurel and Hardy. I wonder, did Brit Stan Laurel wear a bowler while Yankee Oliver Hardy wear a derby?

27a	Everyone /in/ dining room denied starter (3)

Scratching the Surface
Starter[5] is another name* for an appetizer or the first course of a meal. * although both British dictionaries consider this term to be British[5] (or chiefly or mainly British[4,10,14]), this usage of the word would seem to have become well established in North America and is to be found in American dictionaries[3,12]

28a	First couple unseen in country // garden (4)

Eden^[5] (also Garden of Eden) is the place where Adam and Eve lived in the biblical account of the Creation.

The setter has cleverly worked the term "first couple" into this clue.

Down

1d	Flier // a legendary charmer (6)

The merlin^[5] (Falco columbarius) is a small dark falcon that hunts small birds, found throughout most of Eurasia and North America.

I'm ashamed to admit that I was unaware of the existence of this member of my family.

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In Arthurian legend, Merlin^[5] was a magician who aided and supported King Arthur.

2d	Noblewoman /in/ pub with one's son (8)

The nobility in Britain or Ireland (whose members are known as peers^[5]) comprises the ranks of duke, marquess, earl, viscount, and baron.

A baroness^[5] is the wife or widow of a baron or a woman holding the rank of baron in her own right either as a life peerage or as a hereditary rank.

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Note: Baroness is not used as a form of address, baronesses usually being referred to as ‘Lady’.

3d	Film // spun as bold US venture (6,9)

Sunset Boulevard^[7] is a 1950 American film noir directed and co-written by Billy Wilder, and produced and co-written by Charles Brackett. It was named after the thoroughfare with the same name that runs through Los Angeles and Beverly Hills, California.

The film stars William Holden as Joe Gillis, a struggling screenwriter, and Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond, a former silent-film star who draws him into her demented fantasy world, where she dreams of making a triumphant return to the screen.

Sunset Boulevard was nominated for 11 Academy Awards (including nominations in all four acting categories) and won three. It has been ranked by the American Film Institute as one of the top 20 greatest movies ever made.

4d	Check // page penned by six-footer (7)

"page " = P [publishing]

In textual references, the abbreviation for page is p^[5] ⇒ see p 784.

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"six-footer " = INSECT

Insects^[5] have six legs, and correspondingly, six feet.

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5d	Red uneasy with feelings about possessing wealth? (9,6)

This is a true &lit.^[7] (all-in-one) clue. The entire clue provides both wordplay and definition under different interpretations.

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Friedrich Engels^[5] (1820–1895) was a German socialist and political philosopher. He collaborated with Karl Marx in the writing of the Communist Manifesto (1848) and translated and edited Marx's later work. Engels's own writings include The Condition of the Working Classes in England in 1844 (1845).

6d	Isle that rises to enclose one // Pacific paradise (6)

Tahiti^[5] is an island in the central South Pacific, one of the Society Islands, forming part of French Polynesia. One of the largest islands in the South Pacific, it was claimed for France in 1768 and declared a French colony in 1880.

7d	Daughter regularly taking ecstasy /is/ finished (4)

"daughter " = D [genealogy]

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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"ecstasy " = E [illicit drug]

E^[5] is an abbreviation for the drug Ecstasy^* or a tablet of Ecstasy ⇒ (i) people have died after taking E; (ii) being busted with three Es can lead to stiff penalties.

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^* Ecstasy^[5] is an illegal amphetamine-based synthetic drug with euphoric effects, originally produced as an appetite suppressant. Also called MDMA (Methylenedioxymethamphetamine).

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14d	Student loves // convenience (3)

"student " = 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.

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Automobile displaying an L-plate

"love " = O [nil score in tennis]

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).

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Convenience^[5] is a British — or, at least, chiefly British^[3] — term for a public toilet ⇒ the large council [municipal] car park next to the public conveniences.

Loo^[5] is an informal British term for a toilet [either as a room or a fixture].

16d	Like hard // wood (3)

"hard " = H [grade of pencil lead]

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

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18d	Notice about game /being/ shortened (8)

19d	Centre for refugees with an // African (7)

21d	Prince Henry in river // to breathe out (6)

Prince Hal^[7] is the standard term used in literary criticism to refer to Shakespeare's portrayal of the young Henry V of England as a prince before his accession to the throne, taken from the diminutive form of his name used in the plays almost exclusively by Falstaff.

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.

22d	Necklace // good enough to be possessed by singer (6)

Cher^[7] (born Cherilyn Sarkisian) is an American singer, actress, and television host. Known for her distinctive contralto singing voice, she has been nicknamed the Goddess of Pop.

24d	Long time // taken in Mycenae once (4)

Aeon^[5] is the British spelling of 'eon'.

Scratching the Surface
Mycenae[5] was ancient city in Greece, situated near the coast in the north-eastern Peloponnese, the centre of the late Bronze Age Mycenaean civilization. The capital of King Agamemnon, it was at its most prosperous c.1400–1200 BC; systematic excavation of the site began in 1840.

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