Wednesday, June 17, 2020 — DT 29209

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 29209
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, November 15, 2019
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29209]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Deep Threat
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

A very pleasant solve today with Giovanni having injected a bit of humour into the puzzle.

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	Drink /in/ bed in school (6)

What did he say?
In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Deep Threat describes the bed as one a small child may have Cot[5] is the British name for a crib[5], a small bed with high barred sides for a baby or very young child.

4a	Bashing /with/ a bit of power when stuck in grass (8)

Grass^[5] is an informal British term meaning:

• (noun) a police informer
• (verb, often grass on or grass up) to inform the police of someone’s criminal activities or plans ⇒ (i) someone had grassed on the thieves; (ii) she threatened to grass me up.

This expression may derive from rhyming slang (grasshopper being rhyming slang (show explanation ) for 'copper').

Rhyming slang^[5] is a type of slang that replaces words with rhyming words or phrases, typically with the rhyming element omitted. For example, butcher’s, short for butcher’s hook, means ‘look’ in Cockney rhyming slang.

hide

9a	Strong // temporary accommodation established by river (6)

The Po^[7] is a river that arises in the Cottian Alps and flows eastward across northern Italy entering the Adriatic Sea through a delta near Venice.

10a	Fibre /shown by/ female, one getting keen (8)

11a	Dishevelled hobo ate with us /in/ home by bank maybe (9)

13a	Orchestra /in/ assembly room finishing with Beethoven's Third (5)

The Hallé^[7] is an English symphony orchestra based in Manchester, England.

Scratching the Surface
Ludwig van Beethoven[5] (1770–1827) was a German composer who, despite increasing deafness, produced nine symphonies, thirty-two piano sonatas, sixteen string quartets, the opera Fidelio (1814), and the Mass in D (the Missa Solemnis, 1823).

14a	Nonsense talked in Brussels? // Something perhaps at the breakfast table (7,6)

Here and There

The word waffle has a different meaning in the UK than it does in North America. To Brits, waffle[5] means: (verb) to speak or write at length in a vague or trivial manner ⇒ he waffled on about his problems (noun) lengthy but vague or trivial talk or writing ⇒ we've edited out some of the waffle To North Americans, waffle[5] means: (verb) to fail to make up one's mind ⇒ Joseph had been waffling over where to go (noun) a failure to make up one's mind ⇒ his waffle on abortion

17a	Noisy clamour spreading out around India // in bitter manner (13)

"India " = I [NATO Phonetic Alphabet]

In what is commonly known as the NATO Phonetic Alphabet^[7]*, India^[5] is a code word representing the letter I.

---

^* officially the International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet

hide

21a	Tease us about /making/ money (5)

Sugar^[10] is a rare slang word for money.

23a	A canny one turning into // a nuisance (9)

24a	Drink? // A fairy gets it knocked back, loudly (8)

In Persian mythology, a peri^[5] is a mythical superhuman being, originally represented as evil but subsequently as a good or graceful genie or fairy.

"loudly " = F [music notation]

Forte^[5] (abbreviation f^[5]) is a musical direction meaning (as an adjective) loud or (as an adverb) loudly.

hide

25a	Walk /from/ house, love getting healthy (4,2)

"house " = HO

Although not found in most of the dictionaries I consulted, ho.^[10] is the abbreviation for house.

hide

"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).

hide

26a	Having bad effect on // mother, a drink, little good (8)

"little 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

Scratching the Surface
Mother's ruin[5] is British slang for gin. The name may derive from the reputed ability of gin, if consumed in large quantity, to induce abortion in pregnant women. An eye-opening account of the effects of gin-drinking on English society in the mid-eighteenth century can be found here.

27a	Publicity provided by alliance /for/ accepted custom (6)

In general terms, an axis^[5] is an agreement or alliance between two or more countries that forms a centre for an eventual larger grouping of nations ⇒ the Anglo-American axis. More specifically, the Axis^[5] was the alliance of Germany and Italy formed before and during the Second World War, later extended to include Japan and other countries ⇒ the Axis Powers. 

---

Praxis^[5] denotes accepted practice or custom ⇒ patterns of Christian praxis in Church and society.

Down

1d	Ancient Greek female // has pop disturbed (6)

Sappho^[5] (early 7th century BC) was a Greek lyric poet who lived on the island of Lesbos. Many of her poems express affection and love for women, and have given rise to her association with female homosexuality.

2d	Be more than // relatively stupefied, unconscious at the start (9)

3d	Study what sounds like marine mammal/'s/ hide (7)

"study "= CON

Con^[5] is an archaic term meaning to study attentively or learn by heart (a piece of writing)  ⇒ the girls conned their pages with a great show of industry.

hide

5d	Put on paper // as something deemed to have lost value (7,4)

6d	Airway /with/ skill being set up, mostly inexpensive (7)

7d	Bride always keeps // so perfect (5)

8d	Assembled // to be picked up (8)

12d	Attitude // that is not heartless evident in speech (11)

15d	Bat /seen in/ one side of Oxford? (6,3)

It took more than a little cogitation to figure out the wordplay here. This is an inverse wordplay (or, should you prefer, reverse wordplay) clue^*. "One side of Oxford" consists of the letters OXF which happens to be an anagram of FOX — a transformation that a cryptic crossword compiler might clue as "flying fox".

---

^* As the holder of a degree in mathematics, I see a strong parallel between this cryptic crossword construction and the concept of inverse mathematical functions. However, you will find that most — if not all — other observers refer to this as reverse wordplay. In a normal anagram clue, the anagram indicator and anagram fodder are found in the clue with the result appearing in the solution. However, in clues such as this, the situation is inverted (or reversed) as the the anagram indicator and anagram fodder appear in the solution with the result being found in the wordplay.

A flying fox^[5] is any of several species of large fruit bat with a foxlike face, found in Madagascar, southeast Asia, and northern Australia.

16d	One may have a number of bowlers not being used (8)

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^*.

---

^* 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?

18d	Indicating // ruler faced with ruin (7)

19d	Jane, for one, // certainly upset before lament's cut short (7)

Jane Seymour^[5] (c.1509–1537) was the third wife of Henry VIII and mother of Edward VI. She married Henry in 1536 and finally provided the king with the male heir he wanted, although she died twelve days afterwards.

20d	Fights /in/ beastly homes about nothing (3-3)

A sett^[5] (also set) is the underground lair or burrow of a badger.

22d	In short match the French // shine (5)

"the French " = LE

In French, the masculine singular form of the definite article is le^[8].

hide

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