Monday, June 7, 2021 — DT 29633 (Published Saturday, June 5, 2021)

Puzzle at a Glance
Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph DT 29633
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, March 26, 2021
Setter Zandio
Link to full review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29633]
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
Notes
This puzzle appears on the Monday Diversions page in the Saturday, June 5, 2021 edition of the National Post.

Introduction

I needed to engage electronic help to solve 27a—which seems to have put me in the company of at least half the visitors to Big Dave's Crossword Blog.

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 "wavy underline" - whimsical and inferred definitions
Click here for further explanation and usage examples of markup conventions used on this blog.

Across

1a	Bridge -- one cad played, // church official (10)

In the Church of England, an archdeacon^[2] is a member of the clergy who ranks just below a bishop. 

6a	Spluttered: // 'Hot and cold running over!' (4)

9a	This woman/'s/ bit of caramel is salty (7)

10a	'Trouble and strife' /should get/ album maybe -- or daughter? (7)

"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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Scratching the Surface
Trouble and strife[5] is British rhyming slang for wife ⇒ The rhymers par excellence have been the Cockneys of London, who have developed an elaborate and colourful collection of slang terms based on rhyme, such as trouble and strife for ‘wife’ and mince pies for ‘eyes’.

12a	Where most of us go at five to eleven? (7,6)

14a	The Spanish leading on opening // stretch (8)

"the Spanish " = EL [Spanish definite article]

In Spanish, the masculine singular form of the definite article is el^[8].

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15a	Artist's following arrived, // one holding pictures (6)

"artist " = RA [Royal Academician | Royal Academy]

A Royal Academician (abbreviation RA^[10]) is a member of the Royal Academy of Arts^[5] (also Royal Academy; abbreviation also RA^[10]), an institution established in London in 1768, whose purpose is to cultivate painting, sculpture, and architecture in Britain.

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17a	Six-love, with nothing returned -- // one's played painfully at times (6)

"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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As for the definition, there may be something that I'm missing. However, apparently playing the violin can be a painful experience—as a Google search for "violin pain" quickly reveals.

19a	Naughty niece, imp /wanting/ something for Christmas? (5,3)

21a	Tasty // chops wife devoured with group (13)

Chops^[5] is an informal term for a person's or animal's mouth or jaws.

"wife " = W [genealogy]

The abbreviation for 'wife' is w^[1,2,12] or w.^[3,4,10,11] [although no context is provided, it likely comes from the field of genealogy].

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24a	Extremists on Twitter, wound up, // went viral (7)

25a	Tease about lack of youth /and/ bony frame (7)

"about " = C [circa]

The preposition circa^[5] (abbreviation c^[5], c.^[5], or ca^[5]), usually used preceding a date or amount, means approximately [or about] ⇒ (i) the church was built circa 1860; (ii) Isabella was born c.1759; (iii) he was born ca 1400.

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26a	Instrument /that makes/ money for the listener (4)

27a	A very quick shower? (10)

Down

1d	Prepares to fight // when invaded by marines (4)

"marines " = RM [Royal Marines]

The Royal Marines^[5,10] (abbreviation RM^[5]) is a British armed service (part of the Royal Navy) founded in 1664. It is a corps of soldiers specially trained in amphibious warfare.

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2d	Song // lifted Solo, spy lacking inside (7)

As well as being a genre of music, calypso^[5] can also denote a song of that style ⇒ a man was playing a calypso on a double bass.

3d	Unsettling hint admitted in parts by disguised // noble (13)

4d	A skill to cut delicate material // according to taste (1,2,5)

5d	Sordid play seen off and on -- /or/ ignored in this way? (5)

7d	Egg on // show, sandwiching in order (7)

8d	Massive water rushes (5,5)

This clue is universally described as "not very cryptic" by visitors to Big Dave's Crossword Blog.

I wonder if the clue might have been intended as a double definition:

• Massive // water rushes (5,5)

where, in the first definition, "tidal wave" is used as a modifier. For example, ⇒ Voters gave the party a victory of tidal wave proportions. However, I can find no support for this idea in the dictionaries.

11d	One wants to join another class /and/ do something in the garden (6,7)

"do " = SOCIAL

Do^[5,12] is an informal British^[5] or chiefly British^[12] term^* for a party or other social event ⇒the soccer club Christmas do.

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^* Although one US dictionary (Webster’s New World College Dictionary^[12]) supports the contention by Lexico (Oxford Dictionary of English)^[5] that this usage is at least chiefly British, two other US dictionaries^[3,11] do not.

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A climber^[5] is a climbing plant ⇒ A popular shrub rose that can be trained as a climber is Constance Spry with huge clusters of pale pink blooms.

13d	Some rock /and/ lead, say, // have melted and tamely liquefied (5,5)

This clue is not only a double definition but contains wordplay as well.

16d	One may be tall /and/ long -- stark even, occasionally (4,4)

18d	Wealthy // upper-class fast to support surgeon's work (7)

"upper class " = U [upper class]

In Britain, U^[5] is used informally as an adjective (in respect to language or social behaviour) meaning characteristic of or appropriate to the upper social classes ⇒ U manners.

The term, an abbreviation of  upper class, was coined in 1954 by Alan S. C. Ross, professor of linguistics, and popularized by its use in Nancy Mitford's Noblesse Oblige (1956).

In Crosswordland, the letter U is frequently clued by words denoting "characteristic of the upper class" (such as posh or superior) or "appropriate to the upper class" (such as acceptable).

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Op^[5] is an informal short form for a surgical operation ⇒ a minor op.

20d	Show /involving/ servant and soldier (7)

Page^[5] is used in a historical sense of a man or boy employed as the personal attendant of a person of rank.

"soldier " = ANT

A soldier^[5] is a wingless caste of ant or termite with a large specially modified head and jaws, involved chiefly in defence.

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22d	Make confused // commercial -- not working, missing an intro (5)

23d	Notices // notices put up! (4)

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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)

^[15]   - CollinsDictionary.com (Penguin Random House LLC/HarperCollins Publishers Ltd )

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Signing off for today — Falcon