Tuesday, August 31, 2021

Tuesday, August 31, 2021 — DT 29705


Puzzle at a Glance
Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29705
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Friday, June 18, 2021
Setter
Zandio
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29705]
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

It's Zandio today—so, clearly a day for lateral thinking.

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 Interpret // two bits of text (10)

Para[5] is a short form for paragraph ⇒ While I thought it was a big scoop the news desk didn't, and gave it two paras on an inside page.

6a Feeble // learner, mischievous child (4)

"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.

Automobile displaying an L-plate

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9a Old-fashioned // bridge clubs with interior first-rate (7)

"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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10a Insist on // piece of chicken for celebration (7)

12a Frank talking // away, gave address west of Northern Cape (13)

"cape " = NESS

Ness[5] (a term usually found in place names) means a headland or promontory Orford Ness.

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14a Annoying being // part of cult? (6)

15a Erase ink smudges, /getting/ more shady (8)

17a Cheer /is/ loud -- two letters in a row written about it (8)

19a SOS vet broadcast /for/ cooking equipment (6)

22a Having reformed a school, Philip // resigned (13)

24a Breakfast food boss /ffers/ Einstein (7)

25a Loot // not well concealed by sheet (7)

26a Trick // of the French to forego training (4)

In French, du[8] is the masculine singular form of the partitive article meaning 'of the'.

"training " = PE [physical education]

PE[5] is an abbreviation* for physical education.

* In my experience, phys ed[3][11][12][14] is the more common shortened form in North America.

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27a It may cause scoffing /and/ make Yankee shoot (6,4)

"Yankee " = Y [NATO Phonetic Alphabet]

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

* officially the International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet

hide



Brandy snap[5] is a British term for a crisp rolled gingerbread wafer, usually filled with cream.

Down

1d Oppose // petition, swapping sides (4)

2d Nuclear plants lacking atomic // mass conductors? (7)

A[1] is the abbreviation for atomic, as in A-bomb.



Mass[5] is the celebration of the Christian Eucharist*, especially in the Roman Catholic Church.

* Eucharist[5] (also known as Communion[5]) is the Christian service, ceremony, or sacrament commemorating the Last Supper, in which bread and wine are consecrated and consumed.

A rector[5] is a member of the clergy, although the meaning of the term varies among religious denominations (show more ):
  • in the the Church of England, an incumbent of a parish where all tithes formerly passed to the incumbent
  • in other Anglican Churches, a member of the clergy who has charge of a parish
  • in the Roman Catholic Church, a priest in charge of a church or of a religious institution
hide

3dTrick from a card you'd rather not be dealt? (9,4)

In this cryptic definition, card us used in the sense of a joker or trickster and the solution is a trick of his (or hers) that you would not want to be the butt of.

4d On and coming up, kind of movie // guide (6)

5d Working as lecturer, perhaps, // son going to a summit (8)

"son " = S [genealogy]

In genealogies, s[5] is the abbreviation for son(s) m 1991; one s one d*.

* married in 1991; one son and one daughter.

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7d Middle Easterner // is famously mad ruler, twisted one (7)

King Lear*[7] is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The title character descends into madness after disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all.

* Lear[5], a legendary early king of Britain, is mentioned by the 12th century Welsh chronicler Geoffrey of Monmouth in his Historia Regum Britanniae (circa 1139; first printed in 1508), an account of the kings of Britain.

8d Upturn after papers united in force (10)

Pressurise[5] (an alternative British spelling* of pressurize) is used here in a British sense meaning to attempt to persuade or coerce (someone) into doing something ⇒ don't let anyone pressurize you into snap decisions.

* While British dictionaries show the preferred spelling of words such as pressurize as ending in -ize [note the spelling used by Lexico (Oxford Dictionaries) in the usage example], many Brits will argue vehemently that this is an American spelling and the word should end in -ise. As I understand it, such words come from Greek and that is where the z originates—not America. The -ise spelling comes from French, so perhaps this British propensity to use it is a long-lasting carry over from the Norman invasion of 1066.

11d Cat sat, finally tumbling /in/ well (13)

13d Extra seconds with last of soup dipped into -- /it's/ common! (10)

In cricket, an extra[5] is a run scored other than from a hit with the bat, credited (in most cases) to the batting side rather than to a batsman. The types of extra[7] are no ball, wide, bye, leg-bye, and penalty runs.

16d Witness // seized by Ethelred -- lo, he begs to get up (8)

Scratching the Surface
Ethelred[5] is the name of two English kings:
  • Ethelred I (died 871), king of Wessex and Kent 865–71, elder brother of Alfred. His reign was marked by the continuing struggle against the invading Danes. Alfred joined Ethelred's campaigns and succeeded him on his death.
  • Ethelred II (c.969–1016), king of England 978–1016; known as Ethelred the Unready. Ethelred's inability to confront the Danes after he succeeded his murdered half-brother St Edward the Martyr led to his payment of tribute to prevent their attacks. In 1013 he briefly lost his throne to the Danish king Sweyn I.

18d Mention // turnover of local housing syndicate (5,2)

Local[5] is an informal British term for a pub convenient to a person’s home ⇒ had a pint in the local.

20d One's base: // Roman building, all the rage (7)

21d Composer // about to be supported by board (6)

"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.

hide



Frédéric Chopin[5] (1810–1849) was a Polish-born French composer and pianist. Writing almost exclusively for the piano, he composed numerous mazurkas and polonaises inspired by Polish folk music, as well as nocturnes, preludes, and two piano concertos (1829; 1830).

23dLook to go north or south (4)

I think of a clue such as this as being a cryptic definition with an embedded precise definition.

The latter part of  the clue does not provide a second independent route to the solution but, rather, it cryptically provides additional information (cryptic elaboration) concerning a characteristic of the solution—namely that it is a palindrome.



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 )



Signing off for today — Falcon

Monday, August 30, 2021

Monday, August 30, 2021 — DT 29704 (Published Saturday, August 28, 2021)


Puzzle at a Glance
Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29704
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Thursday, June 17, 2021
Setter
Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29704]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
Miffypops
BD rating
Difficulty - ★★★Enjoyment - ★★★
Falcon's experience
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███████████████████████████████████
└────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘
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, August 28, 2021 edition of the National Post.

Introduction

Judging by the comments on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, the consensus would seem to be that this crossword is a fair bit more difficult than the reviewer's rating might indicate.

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 Lives quietly at first /and/ sits in chair? (8)

"quietly " = P [music notation (piano)]

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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5a Show respect for // nineteenth eleven, as you might say? (6)

Eleven[5] (often appearing as a Roman numeral XI) is the number of players in* a cricket[7] side [team] or an Association football[7] [soccer] team — and is frequently used as a metonym for such a team ⇒ at cricket I played in the first eleven.

* Note that, in Britain, the words "side" and "team" are synonymous and a player is said to be "in a side" or "in a team" rather than "on a team" as one would say in North America.

8a Lord settled in US city? // Not quite (6)

A lord[10] is a male member of the nobility, especially in Britain. An earl[5] is a British nobleman ranking above a viscount and below a marquess [in other words, the third highest of the five ranks of British nobility — duke, marquess, earl, viscount, and baron].

9a Pair wandering around Iran having accident // by river (8)

Riparian[5] is a legal term meaning relating to or situated on the banks of a river.

10a Endless work to get information on // certain animals (8)

Chordata[2] is the phylum of the animal kingdom which includes all animals that possess a notochord at some stage of their development.

* A notochord[2] is a flexible rod-like structure, which strengthens and supports the body in the embryos and adults of more primitive animals. In vertebrates it is replaced by the spinal column before birth.

11a Welshman heading off with group /for/ broadcast (6)

Dai[7] is a Welsh masculine given name, a diminutive form of Dafydd (David).

12a Successful in life? Not American // fellow stranded on island (8)

Prospero[7] is a fictional character and the protagonist of William Shakespeare's play The Tempest. Prospero is the rightful Duke of Milan, whose usurping brother, Antonio, had put him (with his three-year-old daughter, Miranda) to sea on a "rotten carcass" of a boat to die, twelve years before the play begins. Prospero and Miranda had survived and found exile on a small island.

13a Rabbit // found in train at terminus (6)

Rabbit[5] is an informal British term meaning:
  • (noun) a conversation ⇒ we had quite a heated rabbit about it
  • (verb) to talk at length, especially about trivial matters ⇒ stop rabbiting on, will you, and go to bed!
The term rabbit[5] (meaning talk) is Cockney rhyming slang arising from the expression "rabbit and pork"[5]. (show more )

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.

In Cockney rhyming slang, a word (in this case, "talk") is replaced by a phrase with which it rhymes (in this case, "rabbit and pork"). Although the entire rhyming phrase may sometimes be used, it is more often the case that the rhyming word (in this case, "pork") is dropped leaving the slang word (in this case, "rabbit"). Thus, through this process, "talk" becomes "rabbit".

The word "pork" , when pronounced in a non-rhotic accent* typical of dialects found in many parts of Britain (especially southeastern England), more or less rhymes with "talk" .

* Non-rhotic accents omit the sound &lt; r &gt; in certain situations, while rhotic accents generally pronounce &lt; r &gt; in all contexts. Among the several dozen British English accents which exist, many are non-rhotic while American English (US and Canadian) is mainly rhotic. This is, however, a generalisation, as there are areas of Britain that are rhotic, and areas of America that are non-rhotic. For more information, see this guide to pronouncing < r > in British English.

As for the expression "rabbit and pork", apparently it is common practice to combine these two meats in a dish (as a Google search for 'rabbit and pork recipe' will quickly prove). One recipe I found sheds some light on why these meats often appear together: "Rabbit can be dry some times so here it is cooked with belly pork and cyder [archaic spelling of cider] to create a warming substantial casserole".

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15a Pole that is restricting a // traveller (6)

18a Stop with gold and meet // authorised receiver (8)

"gold " = OR [heraldic tincture]

Or[5] is gold or yellow, as a heraldic tincture.

In heraldry, a tincture[5] is any of the conventional colours (including the metals and stains, and often the furs) used in coats of arms.

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20a Geese /in/ high wind to keep going in extremis (6)

21a Capital city // in Caribbean containing pub with little spirit (8)

WI[5] is the abbreviation for West Indies.

Peg[5] is an Indian term for a measure of spirits ⇒ have a peg of whisky.

23a Trick /that's/ bad played on us -- I'll get caught (8)

24a They go out /in/ pursuit when leader's gone missing by river (6)

The River Exe[7] rises on Exmoor in Somerset, 8.4 kilometres (5 mi) from the Bristol Channel coast, but flows more or less directly due south*, so that most of its length lies in Devon. It reaches the sea at a substantial ria, the Exe Estuary, on the south (English Channel) coast of Devon.

* and, thus, away from the Bristol Channel



The term exeunt[5] (Latin 'they go out') is used as a stage direction in a play to indicate that a group of actors leave the stage.

25a Anger? /It's/ that bad before peace finally comes (6)

I think a linguist would say that this clue is written in subject-object-verb[7] (SOV) style instead of the standard English style of subject-verb-object (SVO).

* Although not Yoda-speak, it sounds as foreign—if not more foreign—than Yoda-speak which employs an object-subject-verb[7] (OSV) order.

The first step in solving this clue is to replace the word "that" by its antecedent "anger". Thus the wordplay is "anger bad before peace finally comes". Now, restate the wordplay in standard English SVO style instead of SOV sequence to get "anger bad comes before peace finally" which parses as an anagram of (bad) ANGER preceding (comes before) E (peace finally; final letter of peacE).

What did he say?
In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Miffypops writes The word anger is doing double duty here as anagram fodder and definition.
Yes, "anger" is both the definition and part of the anagram fodder. However, I don't consider the word "anger" to be doing "double duty" (a definite no-no) as the pronoun "that" essentially represents a second instance of the word "anger" in the clue. Perhaps a subtle distinction, but—in my judgment—it justifies the clue.

26a Boy gets confused -- last requirement for actor /or/ performer (8)

Down

1d Fear /of/ pagan deity in charge (5)

In Greek mythology, Pan[5] is a god of flocks and herds, typically represented with the horns, ears, and legs of a goat on a man's body. His sudden appearance was supposed to cause terror similar to that of a frightened and stampeding herd, and the word panic is derived from his name.

"in charge " = IC

The abbreviation i/c[2,5] can be short for either:
  • (especially in military contexts) in charge (of) ⇒ the Quartermaster General is i/c rations
  • in command (of) ⇒ 2 i/c = second in command.
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2d Gentleman rated highly said to be // astonished (9)

3d 24-hour protection needed? // This help isn't available overnight (3,4)

4dAct as a proud bird might /and/ find new things to do (6,4,5)

A double definition, the first a bit cryptic.

5d No longer obvious // what one must do to make things clear (7)

6d Title is special -- // does one ignore ordinary folk? (7)

7d Beasts /in/ a good lake descended on by soldiers (9)

"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

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12d Bird // erring badly when diving into water (9)

One would certainly want to avoid diving into this water!

14d Quality of slow service /with/ sailor needing to eat on ship (9)

"sailor " = TAR

Tar[5] is an informal, dated nickname for a sailor. The term came into use in the mid 17th century and is perhaps an abbreviation of tarpaulin, also used as a nickname for a sailor at that time.

hide

"ship " = SS

In Crosswordland, a ship is almost invariably a steamship, the abbreviation for which is SS[5] the SS Canberra.

hide

16dBy no means resembling a rounded character (7)

I guess this is a (not very) cryptic definition.

17d Recluse /has/ some productive time reflecting when standing on head (7)

An eremite[5] is a Christian hermit or recluse.

19d Unlimited desire to enter fellow/'s/ place of confinement (7)

At Oxford and Cambridge universities, a fellow[10] is a member of the governing body of a college who is usually a member of the teaching staff.

A don[10] is a member of the teaching staff at a university or college, especially at Oxford or Cambridge.

22d Toothy beast // jumping at oranges -- only some taken (5)



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 )



Signing off for today — Falcon

Saturday, August 28, 2021

Saturday, August 28, 2021 — Horsing Around

Introduction

Today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon is one for horse enthusiasts.

I invite you to leave a comment to let us know how you fared with the puzzle.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

Falcon's experience
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└────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘
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
- yet to be solved

Symbols and Markup Conventions
  •  "*" - anagram
  • "~" - sounds like
  • "<" - indicates the preceding letters are reversed
  • "( )" - encloses contained letters
  • "_" - replaces letters that have been deleted
  •  "†" - indicates that the word is present in the clue
  • "//" - 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 the symbols and markup conventions used on this blog.

Across

1a Horse // moved into Act I (8)

CITATION* — anagram of (moved) INTO ACT I

Citation[7] was the eighth winner (1948) of the American Triple Crown of horse racing*. He won 16 consecutive stakes races and was the first horse in history to win US$1 million.

* victories in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes

5a Run into a fake // retreat (6)

A|SH(R)AM — R (run; baseball term) contained in (into) {A (†) + SHAM (fake)}

10a Northern // meal starting late (5)

_UPPER — [S]UPPER (meal) with the initial letter removed (starting late)

For those who questioned upper being synonymous with northern, from a geographical perspective upper[3] means situated on higher ground (upper regions), lying farther inland (the upper Nile), or northern (the upper Midwest).

11a A site for experimenting with flower // vase material (9)

A|LAB|ASTER — A (†) + LAB (site for experimenting) + (with) ASTER (flower)

12a Create a stir playing // “Horse” (11)

SECRETARIAT* — anagram of (playing) CREATE A STIR

Secretariat[7] was the ninth winner (1973) of the American Triple Crown, setting and still holding the fastest time record in all three races. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest racehorses of all time. His record-breaking victory in the Belmont Stakes, which he won by 31 lengths, is widely regarded as one of the greatest races in history.

Scratching the Surface
The surface reading may be a reference to H-O-R-S-E[7], a variation of the game of basketball that can be played by two or more players.

13a Fuss // first of all with haircut (3)

A|DO — A (first [letter] of All) + (with) DO (haircut)

14a Fight // me and Spike (5)

ME|LEE — ME (†) + LEE (Spike; American film director Spike Lee[7])

15a One bit of advice about // culinary course (9)

AN|TIP|AS|TO — AN (one) + TIP (bit of advice) + AS TO (about)

17a Defective Pilot pens // burst (5,4)

{SPLIT OPEN}* — anagram of (defective) PILOT PENS

Scratching the Surface
Pilot Corporation[7] is a Japanese pen manufacturer based in Tokyo, Japan.

19a Piano next to a blobby, half-finished // Picasso (5)

P|A|BLO_ — P (piano; musical direction to play softly) + (next to) A (†) + BLO[BBY] with the latter half removed (half-finished)

Pablo Picasso[5] (1881–1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, and graphic artist, resident in France from 1904. Regarded as one of the most influential artists of the 20th century, he is known (among other things) for co-founding the Cubist movement.[7] (more )

Picasso’s prolific inventiveness and technical versatility made him the dominant figure in avant-garde art in the first half of the 20th century. Following his Blue Period (1901-4) and Rose Period (1905-6), Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907) signalled his development of cubism (1908–14). In the 1920s and 1930s he adopted a neoclassical figurative style and produced semi-surrealist paintings using increasingly violent imagery, notably The Three Dancers (1935) and Guernica (1937).

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21a Computer memory // crash (3)

RAM — double definition; the first being an acronym for random access memory

22a Come to a legal understanding about a felled // horse (7,4)

SE(A)TTLE| SLEW — SETTLE (come to a legal understanding) containing (about) A (†) + SLEW (felled)

Seattle Slew[7] was the tenth winner (1977) of the American Triple Crown. He is one of only two horses to have won the Triple Crown while been undefeated in any previous race; the second was Justify who won the Triple Crown in 2018 and is descended from Seattle Slew.

25a Someone who is pushy // but can slide downhill (9)

BUT|TIN|SKI — BUT (†) + TIN (can; metal container) + SKI (slide downhill)

26a Conferring approval on // Love Champion (5)

O|KING — O (love; nil score in tennis) + KING (champion)

27a Arcaro and Day // went in a whirl (6)

EDDIE|D — EDDIE (Arcaro) + (and) D(ay)

Eddie Arcaro[7] (1916–1997) won more American classic horse races than any other jockey in history and is the only rider to have won the U.S. Triple Crown twice (including aboard Citation in 1948).

28a Bananas I fed farm // horse (8)

AFFIRMED* — anagram of (bananas) I FED FARM

Affirmed[7] was the eleventh winner of the American Triple Crown. After Affirmed won the Triple Crown, there was a 37-year wait until American Pharoah* swept the series in 2015, more than a quarter of a century later.

* this spelling is 'correct' as the horse's owner misspelled the word on the horse's registration papers

Down

1d Chicago team gets 50 // bats (5)

C(L)UBS — CUBS (Chicago [National League baseball] team) containing (gets) L ([Roman numeral] 50)

2d Currently pertinent // to type size Large (7)

TO|PICA|L — TO (†) + PICA (type size) + L (large; clothing size)

3d Breaking tape there, // win yet again? (9)

THREEPEAT* — anagram of (breaking) TAPE THERE

To win again is to repeat; to win yet again is to threepeat.

Were one to extend the boundaries of the theme to encompass three victories rather than merely Triple Crown winners, then one might shoehorn this clue into the mix. I don't believe winning the Triple Crown constitutes a threepeat which is the third consecutive victory in a single major sports championship whereas the Triple Crown involves winning three different events a single time each (for a horse*). While a jockey could achieve a threepeat, none have done so. The closest to accomplishing the feat was Eddie Arcaro who rode two horses to Triple Crown victories.

* the Triple Crown races are for three-year olds, so a horse is eligible to compete only once in its life

4d Horse // in from a hayride (5)

OM|A|HA — hidden in (in) frOM A HAyride

Omaha[7] was the third winner (1935) of the American Triple Crown.

6d Begin // Celebrity Tea’s debut (5)

STAR|T — STAR (celebrity) + T (Tea's debut [initial letter])

7d Brown hue seen in rodent’s // palms (7)

RAT(TAN)S — TAN (brown hue) contained in (seen in) {RAT (rodent) + S ('s)}

8d Globetrotter // shot cola promo (5,4)

{MARCO POLO}* — anagram of (shot) COLA PROMO

Marco Polo[5] (c.1254–c.1324) was an Italian traveler. With his father and uncle he traveled to China and the court of Kublai Khan via central Asia (1271–75). He eventually returned home (1292–95) via Sumatra, India, and Persia. His account of his travels spurred the European quest for the riches of the East.

9d Ontario city // hotel chain accommodating in the morning (8)

H(AM)ILTON — HILTON (hotel chain) containing (accommodating) AM (in the morning)

14d Rebel’s aim: awful // bad (9)

MISERABLE* — anagram of (awful) REBELS AIM

15d Cheers // a brief break taking place (8)

A|P(PL)AUSE — A (†) + PAUSE (brief break) containing (taking) PL (place; abbreviation found on street signs)

16d Pizza topping // tossed on preppie (9)

PEPPERONI* — anagram of (tossed) ON PREPPIE

18d Confined // pest inside cover (7)

LI(MITE)D — MITE (pest) contained in (inside) LID (cover)

20d Big mule roaming // country (7)

BELGIUM* — anagram of (roaming) BIG MULE

22d Tree behind small ridge (5)

S|PINE — PINE (tree) following (behind) S (small; clothing size)

23d Article about one failing burglar (5)

TH(I)E|F — THE ([definite] article) containing (about) I ([Roman numeral] one) + F (failing [grade on an exam])

24d Conducted, /as/ war with elderly (5)

W|AGED — W (war, as in WWI and WWII) + (with) AGED (elderly)

Epilogue

The puzzle focuses on the US Triple Crown. Virtually every nation where horse racing exists has its own Triple Crown. However, I wonder how many could name a Canadian Triple Crown winner?

The Canadian Triple Crown consists of the Queen's Plate, the Prince of Wales Stakes, and the Breeders' Stakes and the last Triple Crown winner was Wando in 2003.



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 )



Signing off for today — Falcon