Monday, July 12, 2021 — DT 29658 (Published Saturday, July 10, 2021)

Puzzle at a Glance
Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph DT 29658
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph Saturday, April 24, 2021
Setter Unknown
Link to full review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29658 – Hints] Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29658 – Review]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by Tilsit (Hints) Rahmat Ali (Review)
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, July 10, 2021 edition of the National Post. As this was a Saturday "Prize Puzzle" in Britain, there are two entries related to it on Big Dave's Crossword Blog — the first, posted on the date of publication, contains hints for selected clues while the second is a full review issued following the entry deadline for the contest. The vast majority of reader comments will generally be found attached to the "hints" posting with a minimal number — if any — accompanying the full review.

Introduction

We start the week with a gentle puzzle containing very few obscurities.

The setter of the puzzle is not identified. The two heavy favourites among the betting crowd—Cephas (Peter Chamberlain) and Chalicea (Shirley Curran)—visit Big Dave's Crossword Blog to deny responsibility.

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	Help // a relative into position (10)

6a	Plug // vessels the wrong way (4)

9a	Animal // cold in Shanghai, say? (10)

Shanghai^[5] is a city on the east coast of China, a port on the estuary of the Yangtze. (show more )

Opened for trade with the west in 1842, Shanghai contained until the Second World War areas of British, French, and American settlement. It was the site in 1921 of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party.

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10a	Understand // refusal to hear? (4)

12a	A flat, say, turned over /in/ school (4)

"school " = ETON

Eton College^[7], often informally referred to simply as Eton, is an English independent boarding school for boys located in Eton, Berkshire, near Windsor. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor". It is one of ten English schools, commonly referred to as public schools, regulated by the Public Schools Act of 1868.

Here and There

In Britain, an independent school[10] is a school that is neither financed nor controlled by the government or local authorities; in other words, an independent school[2] is not paid for with public money and does not belong to the state school system.  In Britain, a public school[2] is a particular category of independent school, namely a secondary school, especially a boarding school, run independently of the state and financed by a combination of endowments and pupils' fees. Another category of independent school is the private school[2,5] which is a school run independently by an individual or group, especially for profit and supported wholly by the payment of fees. What we in North America would call a public school[2], is known in the UK as a state school[5] or a maintained school*. * In England and Wales, a maintained school[5] is a school that is funded by a local education authority.

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13a	Drone accompanying bell perhaps, // amazing thing (9)

15a	Abducted by alien in ET, I estimate /for/ ten years (8)

Scratching the Surface
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial[7] (often referred to simply as E.T.) is a 1982 American science fiction film co-produced and directed by Steven Spielberg.

16a	Penning nothing, horribly tired // journalist (6)

18a	Evident // father needs temporary accommodation (6)

20a	Hellish // nan playing with rifle (8)

Scratching the Surface
Nan[5] is an informal British term for one's grandmother.

23a	Difficult /to get/ credit, one broke (9)

24a	Ultimately silent, private // borough perhaps (4)

26a	Silly person, // proceed? (4)

27a	Racecourse built // somewhere in Paris (5,5)

Sacré-Coeur^[7] is a Roman Catholic basilica in Paris, France. Located at the summit of the butte Montmartre, the highest point in the city, it is the second-most visited monument in Paris.

28a	Cheesy // nibbles as finger food for starters (4)

Naff^[5] is an informal British term that denotes lacking taste or style.

29a	A benefit, after shave possibly /for/ young person (10)

Down

1d	Rainbow possibly // mysterious (4)

2d	Bird touching // cheese (7)

The stilt^[5] is a long-billed wading bird with predominantly black and white plumage and very long slender reddish legs.

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Stilton^[5] (trademark) is a kind of strong rich cheese, often with blue veins, originally made at various places in Leicestershire.

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Origin: So named because it was formerly sold to travellers at a coaching inn in Stilton (now in Cambridgeshire, England).

3d	Best // one puts on more weight? (6-2-4)

4d	Mischievous lad, eight, // stepped down (8)

5d	Post // topical piece in newspaper (6)

7d	Difficult carrying on // later today (7)

8d	Boring thing // might exercise (5,5)

11d	Orchestral instrument remains -- // blow it! (12)

Blow^[5] is a British euphemism for damn ⇒ (i) ‘Well, blow me’, he said, ‘I never knew that.’; (ii) I'm blowed if I want to see him again.

14d	Plant // photograph on domineering person (10)

17d	Tearing forms, fifty // complete (8)

19d	Mark wrong /in/ lecture (4,3)

Here and There
Across the pond, the term "tick off" has quite a different meaning than it does in North America. Whereas, here, to tick someone off[5] means to make someone annoyed or angry ⇒ Jefferson was a little ticked off, but he’ll come around, in Britain it means to reprimand or rebuke someone ⇒ (i) he was ticked off by Angela; (ii) he got a ticking off from the magistrate.

21d	Lost, new hero // impossible to find? (7)

22d	Fantastic // magician (6)

Wizard^[5] is a dated informal British term meaning wonderful or excellent ⇒ I've just had a wizard idea.

25d	In short, beginning to reduce // horse's pace (4)

Short^[5] (noun) is a British term for a drink of spirits served in a small measure^* or, as Collins English Dictionary puts it, a short^[10] is a drink of spirits as opposed to a long drink such as beer.

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^* A measure^[5] is a container of standard capacity used for taking fixed amounts of a substance.

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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