National Post Cryptic Crossword Forum: Thursday, September 24, 2020

Puzzle at a Glance
Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph DT 29280
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, February 7, 2020
Setter proXimal (Steve Bartlett)
Link to full review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29280]
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

The setter of today's puzzle is proXimal (pseudonym of Steve Bartlett). For a time he was setting puzzles on alternate Thursdays in The Daily Telegraph; puzzles in which his hallmark was an X-less pangram (a puzzle containing at least one instance of every letter in the alphabet except X). When he moved to setting Friday puzzles, his new hallmark became the inclusion of four instances of the letter X in every puzzle. Today there appears to be no X in the puzzle. However, look more closely: in 1a, we have "by" cluing times (or the multiplication sign X); in 24a, we have KISS (often represented by the symbol X); and in 7 down, we have DOUBLE CROSS (XX). Count them up and we have the requisite four Xs!

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	New York location // that's busy by nine, perhaps (5,6)

Times Square^[5] is an intersection in New York City formed by the juncture of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street in midtown Manhattan. Long noted as a center of the city's entertainment district, it is the site of annual New Year's Eve celebrations.

7a	Home in which unopened chest's stuck // tight (7)

8a	Progress /from/ practice finally, after unrehearsed act (7)

10a

Cockney's quiet before the Queen/'s/ attendant (5)

Cockneys^[5,10], the natives of that part of East London known as the East End^[5], speak a dialect (also known as cockney) that is characterised by dropping the aitch (H) from the beginning of words as well as the use of rhyming slang (show explanation ).

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.

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"the Queen " = ER [regnal cipher of Queen Elizabeth]

The regnal ciphers (monograms) of British monarchs are initials formed from the Latin version of their first name followed by either Rex or Regina (Latin for king or queen, respectively). Thus, the regnal cipher of Queen Elizabeth is ER^[5] — from the Latin Elizabetha Regina.

^* A cipher^[5] (also cypher) is a monogram^[5] or motif of two or more interwoven letters, typically a person's initials, used to identify a personal possession or as a logo.

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11a

Profitable // cure vital to be developed (9)

12a

Sparing // space within rocky inlet (7)

In printing, the en^[5] is a unit of measurement equal to half an em and approximately the average width of typeset characters, used especially for estimating the total amount of space a text will require.

14a

Dodgy // American quietly infiltrating group (7)

"quietly " = P [music notation]

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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15a

Prisoner with sensitivity /is/ touching (7)

While contact^[5] is defined as the state of physical touching, I initially could not think of an example where I could directly substitute the words. Every instance that came to mind required "touching" to be replaced by "in contact with". I eventually found the following ⇒ Lice are wingless and they cannot jump, unlike fleas, but instead they spread through physical contact.

18a

Boat docked and king carried in first-rate // car (7)

"king " = R [Rex]

In the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms^*, Rex^[5] (abbreviation R^[5]) [Latin for king] denotes the reigning king, used following a name (e.g. Georgius Rex, King George — often shortened to GR) or in the titles of lawsuits (e.g. Rex v. Jones, the Crown versus Jones — often shortened to R. v. Jones).

^* A Commonwealth realm^[7] is a sovereign state that is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and shares the same person, currently Elizabeth II, as its head of state and reigning constitutional monarch, but retains a crown legally distinct from the other realms. There are currently sixteen Commonwealth realms, the largest being Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom with the remainder being smaller Caribbean and Pacific island nations.

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"first-rate " = AI [ship classification (A1)]

A1^[4]^[5] or A-one^[3] meaning first class or excellent comes from a classification for ships in The Lloyd's Register of Shipping where it means equipped to the highest standard or first-class.

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Ferrari^[7] is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy that was founded by Italian motor racing driver and entrepreneur Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939.

20a

Overwhelm // unfashionable figure (9)

21a

Fuss about a // section of flight (5)

22a

Small winged insects covering old // planes (7)

"small " = S [clothing size]

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

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"old " = O [linguistics]

In linguistics, O^[12] is the abbreviation for Old ⇒ (i) OFr [Old French]; (ii) OE [Old English].

However, a second entry from this same source shows o (lower case) meaning old (not capitalized) suggesting that the use of this abbreviation may not necessarily be confined to the field of linguistics.

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23a

Weapons stock /in/ farm our youngsters uncovered (7)

24a

Do shake fist about // cause of failure (4,2,5)

The phrase kiss of death^[5] denotes an action or event that causes certain failure for an enterprise ⇒ it would be the kiss of death for the company if it could be proved that the food was unsafe.

Down

1d	Jerk bagging duck, with another fowl /making/ brace (7)

"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.

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2d	Builder // regularly ignored bad knee in his address (5)

The phrase "his address" is to be interpreted as a form of address for an adult male.

3d	Tolerate having grass on that // garment (7)

The pronoun "that" refers back to the word "tolerate"; thus, the wordplay tells us to start with a word meaning "tolerate" and then to place a synonym for "grass" in front of (on top of in a down clue) that word.

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').

Sing^[10] is mainly US slang^* meaning to confess or act as an informer.

^* a fact that makes Brian's hackles rise on Big Dave's Crossword Blog

4d	Five siblings consuming case of choice // fruit (7)

Here and There
Quin^[10] is the British equivalent to the North American term quint, short for quintuplet (in the sense of one of five offspring born at one birth).

5d	One estimates // broken spa repair (9)

6d	Upcoming book -- this writer's // controversial (7)

"this writer's " = IVE

It is a common cryptic crossword convention for the creator of the puzzle to use terms such as (the or this) compiler, (the or this) setter, (the or this) speaker, (this) author, (this) writer, or this person to refer to himself or herself. To solve such a clue, one must generally substitute a first person pronoun (I or ME) for whichever of these terms has been used in the clue.

Today, the the creator of the puzzle has made the scenario more complicated by combining "this writer" with the verb "to have"^* producing "this writer's" (a contraction of "this writer has") which must be replaced by "I've" (a contraction of "I have").

^* Although in the surface reading "this writer's" is a contraction of "this writer is", in the wordplay it is interpreted as "this writer has".

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7d	Angry after twin/'s/ betrayal (6-5)

9d	Vote I carry rotten // fish (8,3)

The electric ray^[5] (also called torpedo ray) is a sluggish bottom-dwelling marine ray that typically lives in shallow water and can produce an electric shock for the capture of prey and for defence.

13d

Judges // way to turn instruments holding article (9)

16d

With men in Kent, overhauled // computer system (7)

"other ranks " = OR [other ranks]

In the British armed forces, the term other ranks^[5] (abbreviation OR^[5]) refers to all those who are not commissioned officers.

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17d

Sauce // from South Africa; cricketer set up company (7)

SA^[5] is the abbreviation for South Africa.

A bat^[5] is a person batting, especially in cricket; in other words, a batsman ⇒ the team's opening bat.

Tabasco^[5] (also Tabasco sauce) is the trademark for a pungent sauce made from the fruit of a capsicum pepper.

Origin: named after the state of Tabasco in south-eastern Mexico, on the Gulf of Mexico

What did he say?
In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Deep Threat tells us that we need a short form of the word for a cricketer belonging to the side which is in. In cricket, a player who is batting is said to be in^[5]. Conversely, a player who is fielding is said to be out^[5]. If you have not seen it before (or are need of a refresher), you may enjoy reading anexplanation of cricket for a foreigner (which may well leave you unsure whether you are coming or going). CRICKET: AS EXPLAINED TO A FOREIGNER... You have two sides, one out in the field and one in. Each man that's in the side that's in goes out, and when he's out he comes in and the next man goes in until he's out. When they are all out, the side that's out comes in and the side that's been in goes out and tries to get those coming in, out. Sometimes you get men still in and not out. When a man goes out to go in, the men who are out try to get him out, and when he is out he goes in and the next man in goes out and goes in. There are two men called umpires who stay out all the time and they decide when the men who are in are out. When both sides have been in and all the men have been out, and both sides have been out twice after all the men have been in, including those who are not out, that is the end of the game. Simple! Now, should you have not quite followed that explanation, here is my attempt to clarify the "ins" and "outs" of cricket: You have two sides [teams], one out in the field and one in [batting]. Each man that's in the side [in Britain, one says "in a side" rather than "on a team"] that's in [batting] goes out [I believe this means that he forgoes the cucumber sandwiches in the clubhouse in order to go out to the playing area to bat], and when he's out [dismissed] he comes in [returns to the clubhouse for more cucumber sandwiches] and the next man goes in [bats] until he's out [dismissed]. When they are all out [all players (but one) on the batting side are dismissed], the side that's out [fielding] comes in [bats] and the side that's been in [batting] goes out [fields] and tries to get those coming in [to bat], out [dismissed]. Sometimes you get men still in [batting] and not out [Since batsmen must always bat in pairs, the team is dismissed once ten of the eleven players have been dismissed, leaving no partner for the lone remaining player. Although the team is "out" (dismissed), the eleventh played is said to be "not out".]. When a man goes out [from the clubhouse to the playing area] to go in [bat], the men who are out [fielding] try to get him out [dismissed], and when he is out [dismissed] he goes in [returns to the clubhouse] and the next man in [scheduled to bat] goes out [from the clubhouse to the playing area] and goes in [bats]. There are two men called umpires who stay out [on the playing area] all the time [(they never get to eat cucumber sandwiches)] and they decide when the men who are in [batting] are out [dismissed]. When both sides have been in [batted] and all the men have been out [dismissed], and both sides have been out [dismissed] twice after all the men have been in [batted], including those who are not out [the eleventh player who has batted but not been dismissed], that is the end of the game. Note: In cricket, the division of play is called an 'innings', rather than an 'inning' as in baseball. The word "innings' (like the words 'fish' or 'sheep') can be either singular or plural. A cricket match consists of four innings^* (or sometimes two innings) with ten "outs" (dismissals) per innings. In cricket, each team's at bat is called an innings whereas, in baseball, each team's at bat constitutes a half inning. Thus, in baseball, the visiting team bats in the top of each inning and the home team bats in the bottom of each inning. In cricket, one side bats in the first and third innings and the other team bats in the second and fourth innings. Simple! (although the remarks concerning the cucumber sandwiches may not be entirely accurate) hide The "long form" to which Deep Threat alludes is batsman^[5], a player, especially in cricket, who is batting or whose chief skill is in batting.

What did he say?

In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Deep Threat tells us that we need a short form of the word for a cricketer belonging to the side which is in.

In cricket, a player who is batting is said to be in^[5]. Conversely, a player who is fielding is said to be out^[5]. If you have not seen it before (or are need of a refresher), you may enjoy reading anexplanation of cricket for a foreigner (which may well leave you unsure whether you are coming or going).

CRICKET: AS EXPLAINED TO A FOREIGNER...

You have two sides, one out in the field and one in. Each man that's in the side that's in goes out, and when he's out he comes in and the next man goes in until he's out. When they are all out, the side that's out comes in and the side that's been in goes out and tries to get those coming in, out. Sometimes you get men still in and not out.

When a man goes out to go in, the men who are out try to get him out, and when he is out he goes in and the next man in goes out and goes in. There are two men called umpires who stay out all the time and they decide when the men who are in are out. When both sides have been in and all the men have been out, and both sides have been out twice after all the men have been in, including those who are not out, that is the end of the game.

Simple!

Now, should you have not quite followed that explanation, here is my attempt to clarify the "ins" and "outs" of cricket:

You have two sides [teams], one out in the field and one in [batting]. Each man that's in the side [in Britain, one says "in a side" rather than "on a team"] that's in [batting] goes out [I believe this means that he forgoes the cucumber sandwiches in the clubhouse in order to go out to the playing area to bat], and when he's out [dismissed] he comes in [returns to the clubhouse for more cucumber sandwiches] and the next man goes in [bats] until he's out [dismissed]. When they are all out [all players (but one) on the batting side are dismissed], the side that's out [fielding] comes in [bats] and the side that's been in [batting] goes out [fields] and tries to get those coming in [to bat], out [dismissed]. Sometimes you get men still in [batting] and not out [Since batsmen must always bat in pairs, the team is dismissed once ten of the eleven players have been dismissed, leaving no partner for the lone remaining player. Although the team is "out" (dismissed), the eleventh played is said to be "not out".].

When a man goes out [from the clubhouse to the playing area] to go in [bat], the men who are out [fielding] try to get him out [dismissed], and when he is out [dismissed] he goes in [returns to the clubhouse] and the next man in [scheduled to bat] goes out [from the clubhouse to the playing area] and goes in [bats]. There are two men called umpires who stay out [on the playing area] all the time [(they never get to eat cucumber sandwiches)] and they decide when the men who are in [batting] are out [dismissed]. When both sides have been in [batted] and all the men have been out [dismissed], and both sides have been out [dismissed] twice after all the men have been in [batted], including those who are not out [the eleventh player who has batted but not been dismissed], that is the end of the game.

Note: In cricket, the division of play is called an 'innings', rather than an 'inning' as in baseball. The word "innings' (like the words 'fish' or 'sheep') can be either singular or plural. A cricket match consists of four innings^* (or sometimes two innings) with ten "outs" (dismissals) per innings. In cricket, each team's at bat is called an innings whereas, in baseball, each team's at bat constitutes a half inning. Thus, in baseball, the visiting team bats in the top of each inning and the home team bats in the bottom of each inning. In cricket, one side bats in the first and third innings and the other team bats in the second and fourth innings.
Simple! (although the remarks concerning the cucumber sandwiches may not be entirely accurate)

hide

The "long form" to which Deep Threat alludes is batsman^[5], a player, especially in cricket, who is batting or whose chief skill is in batting.

18d

Send on // striker (7)

In soccer [football to the Brits], striker^[10] is an informal term for an attacking player, especially one who generally positions himself or herself near the opponent's goal in the hope of scoring.

19d

Bug dug centrally in timber // if really required (2,1,4)

The phrase at a push^[5] is an informal British expression meaning if absolutely necessary or only with a certain degree of difficulty ⇒ there's room for four people, or five at a push.

21d

Steps taken /from/ singular snake, heading off (5)

"singular " = S [grammar]

To a grammarian, s^[5] is the abbreviation for singular.

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The mamba^[5] is a large, agile, highly venomous African snake.

The samba^[5] is a Brazilian dance of African origin.

Key to Reference Sources:

^[1] - The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition

^[2] - Search Chambers - (Chambers 21st Century Dictionary)

^[3] - TheFreeDictionary.com (American Heritage Dictionary)

^[4] - TheFreeDictionarycom (Collins English Dictionary)

^[5] - Lexico (formerly Oxford Dictionaries Online) (Oxford Dictionary of English)

^[6] - Lexico (formerly Oxford Dictionaries Online) (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

National Post Cryptic Crossword Forum

Thursday, September 24, 2020

Thursday, September 24, 2020 — DT 29280

Introduction

Notes on Today's Puzzle

Across

Down

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