Friday, June 5, 2020 — DT 29201

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 29201
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, November 6, 2019
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29201]
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

I nearly threw in the towel with a couple of clue unsolved. However, one final determined push and they submitted.

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.

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	Fish eater // ordered plaice with starter of nachos (7)

Scratching the Surface
The plaice[5] is a North Atlantic flatfish which is a commercially important food fish.

5a	Lorry /with/ puncture blighted with no illumination (7)

While lorry^[5] is the common name in the UK for the vehicle known in North America as a truck^[5], the word truck is also used in the UK.

9a	Shadow // dance from Cuba runs into fourth place (5)

The rumba^[5] (also rhumba) is a rhythmic dance with Spanish and African elements, originating in Cuba.

"runs " = R [cricket notation]

On cricket scorecards [not to mention baseball scoreboards], the abbreviation R^[5] denotes run(s).

In cricket, a run^[5] is a unit of scoring achieved by hitting the ball so that both batsmen are able to run between the wickets, or awarded in some other circumstances.

hide

10a	Clergyman absorbed by home-improvement // reference book (9)

A rector^[3,4,11] is a member of the clergy in the Anglican, Episcopal, or Roman Catholic churches.

11a	Pause before introduction to bible study, /and/ eat (5,5)

Read^[5] is a British term meaning to study (an academic subject) at a university ⇒ (i) I’m reading English at Cambridge; (ii) he went to Manchester to read for a BA in Economics.

12a	University boss /may find/ answer in study (4)

In a college or university (especially Oxford or Cambridge), a dean^[5] is a senior member of a college, with disciplinary and advisory functions.

14a	Prep dishes? He transformed // this dish (9,3)

18a	Result /of/ macaroni, if it cooks (12)

21a	Most of goo /is/ thin (4)

22a	Warning on vegetables // that sends pulse racing (10)

Hooter^[5] is a British term for the horn of a motor vehicle.

---

Pulse^[5] is the edible seed of a leguminous plant, for example a chickpea, lentil, or bean ⇒ use pulses such as peas and lentils to eke out meat dishes

25a	Silly mistake crossing broken ridge, // what! (4,5)

26a	Fateful day in which learner // does nothing (5)

In the ancient Roman calendar, ides^[5] was a day falling roughly in the middle of each month (the 15th day of March, May, July, and October, and the 13th of other months) from which other dates were calculated.

The Ides of March^[7] was marked by several religious observances and was notable for the Romans as a deadline for settling debts. In 44 BC, it became notorious as the date of the assassination of Julius Caesar which made the Ides of March a turning point in Roman history.

"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

27a	Lad from Bangladesh confused // affair (7)

Shebang^[10] is slang for a situation, matter, or affair (especially in the phrase the whole shebang).

28a	Have doubts about // cult grabbing American power (7)

"power " = P [symbol used in physics]

In physics, P^[10] is a symbol used to represent power [among other things] in mathematical formulae.

hide

Down

1d	Exactly the beginning of Sixties // sounds (6)

2d	Clumsy oaf // left book in taxi (6)

Lubber^[5] is an archaic term for a big, clumsy person.

3d	Rows with female in chat about // feature of transmission (10)

The directions here are precise but far from unambiguous. The wordplay includes two indicators — an insertion indicator (in) and a containment indicator (about) — and must be read as:

• rows with {female in chat} about

To solve the wordplay, first execute the instruction within the curly brackets by placing F(emale) in CHAT producing CHA(F)T; then place this result about RANKS (rows) to give C(RANKS)HA(F)T.

Likewise the Definition

Like the wordplay, the definition also is precise but far from unambiguous; in other words, cryptic. As Ian PP points out in Comment #10 on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, a crankshaft "is part of an engine, not the transmission". However, as RichardW responds later in the thread (although I think he garbles his argument slightly), the crankshaft is a feature of a vehicle whose function is the transmission (and conversion) of reciprocal motion of the pistons into the rotational motion of the driveshaft. Thus in a typical cryptically misleading fashion it can legitimately be described as a "feature of transmission".

4d	In Aberdeen, a dirty // bottom? (5)

Nadir^[5] is the lowest or most unsuccessful point in a situation ⇒ asking that question was the nadir of my career.

Scratching the Surface
Aberdeen[5] is a city and seaport in north-eastern Scotland. It is a centre of the offshore North Sea oil industry.

5d	Company with time to employ a workforce /is/ heaven (9)

6d	Knowing // parade must start late (4)

Take Your Pick

Perhaps arch[10,14] is used in the sense of knowing or superior*. * In a manner that elicits disapproval. In the words of the COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary, "If you say that someone is arch, you are criticizing them for talking or behaving as if they are better or more important than other people" ⇒ Their attempts to be casual have so far just looked arch or patronising. I did not find this sense of the word arch in US dictionaries. On the other hand, arch[2] may be used in the sense of cunning or knowing ⇒ gave an arch look. What did the setter have in mind? Who knows?

7d	Vocally shows disapproval of increases /in/ binges (5-3)

Booze-up^[10] is British, Australian and New Zealand slang for a drinking spree.

8d	Needy son upset // leading ladies (8)

13d	Political theories /needing/ frightfully good lies about case of image (10)

15d	Choosing to accept debt regularly /is/ the action of a striker (9)

16d	Warns /of/ newspapers penning article on the borders of Greece (8)

17d	Being able to take everything in? (8)

Being here is a noun denoting a living creature.

19d	Fight to oust second-class English // PM (6)

Clement Attlee^[5], 1st Earl Attlee (1883–1967) was a British Labour statesman, Prime Minister 1945–51. His term saw the creation of the modern welfare state and the nationalization of major industries.

20d	Arguments in favour of Italian // down the hatch (6)

"Italian " = IT [in reference to either the language or the vermouth]

This cluing might be explained in a couple of ways:

• It.^[10] is an abbreviation for Italy or Italian [language].


• Italian^[10] is another name for Italian vermouth. It^[5] is a dated informal British term for Italian vermouth ⇒ he poured a gin and it.

hide

---

Prosit^[5] (also prost) is a German expression used in drinking a person's health.

23d	Strains /to get/ one foot on board (5)

"on board " = 'contained in SS'

In Crosswordland, you will find that a ship is almost invariably a steamship, the abbreviation for which is SS^[5]. Thus phrases such as "aboard ship" or "on board ship" (or sometimes merely "aboard" or "on board") are Crosswordland code for 'contained in SS'.

hide

24d	City /in/ Algeria regularly ignored (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 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