Wednesday, November 25, 2015 — DT 27830

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27830
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27830]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By 2Kiwis
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

I thought that Jay served up a fairly gentle undertaking today.

Good news. Big Dave's site appears to be back on line today.

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.

Primary indications (definitions) are marked with a solid underline in the clue; subsidiary indications (be they wordplay or other) are marked with a dashed underline in all-in-one (&lit.) clues, semi-all-in-one (semi-&lit.) clues and cryptic definitions. Explicit link words and phrases are enclosed in forward slashes (/link/) and implicit links are shown as double forward slashes (//). Definitions presented in blue text are for terms that appear frequently.

Across

1a   Hurried across central London, /getting/ pinched (6)

The West End of London^[7] (more commonly referred to as simply the West End) is an area of Central London containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings and entertainment venues (including the commercial West End theatres). The West End is largely contained within the City of Westminster (one of the 32 London boroughs).

The boundaries of the West End coincide closely with those of the W1 postcode area^[7] [postcode being the British counterpart of the Canadian postal code or American zip code].

5a   Enter, then leave females // getting high (5,3)

"Getting high" in the sense of becoming rancid.

9a   How a boxer might win agreement to divorce? (5,8)

A split decision^[5] is a decision based on a majority verdict rather than on a unanimous one, especially as to the winner on points of a boxing match ⇒ his title reign ended on a split decision to Daniel Jimenez.

10a   Daughter with independent attitude /and/ degree of separation (8)

"independent" = I (show explanation )

I^[1] is the abbreviation for independent, likely in the context of a politician with no party affiliation.

hide explanation

11a   Eccentric // maids oddly in good shape (6)

12a   Tate's first Young British Artist /showing/ desire (6)

The Tate Gallery^[5] (commonly known simply as the Tate) is a national museum of art in London, England founded in 1897 by the sugar manufacturer Sir Henry Tate (1819–1899) to house his collection of modern British paintings, as a nucleus for a permanent national collection of modern art. It was renamed Tate Britain in 2000, when the new Tate Modern gallery opened. [It would seem that by that time the original collection could no longer be considered "modern".]

Damien Hirst^[5] is  English painter and sculptor. He is chiefly known for using the bodies of dead animals in his work; perhaps his most famous piece is The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living (1991), which consists of a shark in a tank of preserving fluid.

He is the most prominent member of the group known as the Young British Artists (or YBAs), who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s. He is internationally renowned, and is reportedly the United Kingdom's richest living artist, with his wealth valued at £215m in the 2010 Sunday Times Rich List.^[7]

14a   Lures // offenders, welcoming pressure (8)

"pressure" = P (show explanation )

In physics, the symbol p^[5] is used to represent pressure.

hide explanation

As a fishing term, spinner^[5] (also spinnerbait) means:

1. a lure designed to revolve when pulled through the water; or
2. a type of fishing fly, used chiefly for trout.

16a   Crosses // sailors, full of anger (8)

A saltire^[5] is a diagonal cross as a heraldic ordinary [such as the Saint Andrew's cross on the flag of Scotland].

19a   Reticent about strange // woollen material (6)

Shoddy^[5] is an inferior quality yarn or fabric made from the shredded fibre of waste woollen cloth or clippings : the production of shoddy and mattress stuffing.

21a   Young reporters covering article /for/ islanders (6)

23a   Take steps, concerned with // such a victory (8)

Over^[10] is used in the sense of on the subject of or about ⇒ an argument over nothing.

The term walkover^[3] may well originate in horse racing where it refers to a race with only one horse entered, won by the mere formality of walking the length of the track.

25a   Enjoyable city work /is/ a deception (5,8)

Despite not being capitalized, "city" may possibly be a reference to the City of London — London's financial district.

The City of London^[7] is a city and ceremonial county within London. It constituted most of London from its settlement by the Romans in the 1st century AD to the Middle Ages, but the conurbation has since grown far beyond the City's borders. The City is now only a tiny part of the metropolis of London, though it remains a notable part of central London. It is one of two districts of London to hold city status, the other being the adjacent City of Westminster.

It is widely referred to simply as the City (often written as just "City" and differentiated from the phrase "the city of London" by capitalising "City") and is also colloquially known as the Square Mile, as it is 1.12 sq mi (2.90 km²), in area. Both of these terms are also often used as metonyms for the United Kingdom's trading and financial services industries, which continue a notable history of being largely based in the City. This is analogous to the use of the terms Wall Street and Bay Street to refer to the financial institutions located in New York and Toronto respectively.

26a   Bursary about to expire /for/ degree in banking (8)

27a   Acquisitive // editor in dull surroundings (6)

Down

2d   Irritable // desire to eat snake (7)

Waspish^[5] is an adjective denoting readily expressing anger or irritation ⇒ he had a waspish tongue.

3d   Flier/'s/ hypocritically virtuous crowd (5)

Pi^[5] is an informal British short form for pious^[5] — used here in the sense of making or constituting a hypocritical display of virtue ⇒ his pious platitudes.

4d   One sets off // to trade on explosive (9)

5d   Blokes /making/ good for France in cold stores? (7)

"good" = G (show explanation )

The abbreviation G^[10] for good likely relates to its use in grading school assignments or tests.

hide explanation

"France" = FR (show explanation )

Fr.^[10] is the abbreviation for France.

hide explanation

Bloke^[5] is an informal British term for a man ⇒ he’s a nice bloke.

6d   Expression /of/ one gloomy about love? (5)

"love" = O (show explanation )

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 explanation

7d   Lass doing badly /gets/ instruction for playing (9)

In music, glissando^[5] denotes a continuous slide upwards or downwards between two notes.

8d   More elaborate // lover (7)

13d   Coach in rush // taught new skills (9)

15d   Offensive // sign -- until redesigned (9)

17d   Answer question on fire raging /in/ water- bearing rock! (7)

18d   What's left of deal after cut? (7)

In Britain, deal^[5] means:

1. fir or pine wood as a building material; or
2. a plank made of fir or pine wood [what we in North America would commonly refer to as lumber]. 

Apparently, this meaning of deal^[3,11] also exists (or once existed) in North America, but I would think that it is very rarely used now — especially by the general public.

By the way, in Britain, lumber^[5] has a totally different meaning than it does in North America, being articles of furniture or other household items that are no longer useful and inconveniently take up storage space.

20d   Doctor sees chaotic day // with bandages (7)

22d   Video call /from/ broadcaster on Pope that requires no work (5)

Sky plc^[7] [private limited company] is a British-based pan-European satellite broadcasting, on-demand Internet streaming media, broadband and telephone services company headquartered in London, with operations in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Austria and Italy. Sky is Europe's biggest and leading media company and the largest pay-TV broadcaster in Europe, with over 20 million subscribers.

"work" = OP (show explanation )

In music, an opus^[5] (plural opuses or opera) is a separate composition or set of compositions.

The abbreviation Op.^[5] (also op.), denoting opus, is used before a number given to each work of a particular composer, usually indicating the order of publication. The plural form of Op. is Opp..

Opus^[5] can also be used in a more general sense to mean an artistic work, especially one on a large scale ⇒ he was writing an opus on Mexico.

hide explanation

Skype^[10] means to communicate using Skype®, a software application that allows users to make voice and video calls over the internet.

24d   Plant /requiring/ a bovine point of view? (2-3)

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 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)

Signing off for today — Falcon

Tuesday, November 24, 2015 — DT 27829

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27829
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27829]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Gazza
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

Today's setter delivers a reasonably gentle mental workout.

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

Technical Issues At Big Dave's Site

Big Dave's Crossword Blog has been offline since at least last evening due to severe technical problems at the data centre hosting his site. As a contingency in the event that this outage continues through the day, I have included a full parsing of the clues in today's review. In the parsing, the symbol "†" is used to indicate that the word is found "as is" in the clue.

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.

Primary indications (definitions) are marked with a solid underline in the clue; subsidiary indications (be they wordplay or other) are marked with a dashed underline in all-in-one (&lit.) clues, semi-all-in-one (semi-&lit.) clues and cryptic definitions. Explicit link words and phrases are enclosed in forward slashes (/link/) and implicit links are shown as double forward slashes (//). Definitions presented in blue text are for terms that appear frequently.

Across

1a   Part of roof subsided? /Must be/ monitored (12)

EAVES|DROPPED — EAVES (part of roof) + DROPPED (subsided)

9a   That's all right // at the moment, wagons failing to start (2,7)

NO W|_ORRIES — NOW (at the moment) + [L]ORRIES (wagons) with its initial letter removed (failing to start)

A wagon^[10] is any of various types of wheeled vehicles, ranging from carts to lorries, especially a vehicle with four wheels drawn by a horse, tractor, etc, and used for carrying crops, heavy loads, etc.

The vehicle known in North America as a truck^[5] would commonly be called a lorry^[5] in the UK [despite Oxford Dictionaries defining a lorry as being a truck and a truck as being a lorry].

10a   Sound /made by/ Virginia with pan's separate cover? (5)

VA|LID — VA (Virginia; abbrev.) + (with) LID (pan's separate cover)

"Virginia" = VA (show explanation )

There are a couple of possible explanations for this clueing:

• The abbreviation for Virginia is Va^[5].


• In official postal use, the abbreviation for Virginia is VA^[5].

hide explanation

11a   Song /and/ dance, to a degree (6)

BALL|A|D — BALL (dance) + (to) A (†) + D (degree; abbrev.)

As a charade indicator, the word "to" is used in the sense of "pressed against"—as in expressions such as "shoulder to the wheel" or "nose to the grindstone".

The abbreviation for degree is d^[2].

12a   Headache /caused by/ rig collapsing in US state (8)

M(IGR*)AINE — anagram (collapsing) of RIG contained in (in) MAINE (US state)

13a   Plantation /in/ eastern part of federation (6)

E|STATE — E (eastern; abbrev.) + STATE (federation)

15a   Parisian institute, // sensitive about German university (8)

SOR(BONN)E — SORE (sensitive) containing (about) BONN (German university)

The University of Bonn^[7] (German: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, Germany. Founded in its present form in 1818, as the linear successor of earlier academic institutions, the University of Bonn is today one of the leading universities in Germany.

The Sorbonne^[5] is the seat of the faculties of science and literature of the University of Paris.

18a   Pelt, after revolution, // one who changed sides (8)

TURN|COAT — COAT (pelt) following (after) TURN (revolution)

19a   Throw // aunts, nervous about ending in 'Marnie' (6)

UNS(E)AT* — anagram (nervous) of AUNTS containing (about) E (ending [final letter] in 'MarniE')

"Throw" is used in the sense of a horse throwing a rider.

Scratching the Surface

Marnie[7] is an English novel first published in 1961 which was written by Winston Graham. It is about a young woman who makes a living by embezzling from her employers, moving on, and changing her identity. She is finally caught in the act by one of her employers, a young widower named Mark Rutland, who blackmails her into marriage. Two shocking events near the end of the story send the troubled woman to the brink of suicide and she eventually must face the trauma from her past which is the root cause of her behavior. It was the basis for Alfred Hitchcock's suspense film Marnie (1964), where the setting was changed from England to the United States, details of the story were changed, and the ending was changed to a more optimistic one.

21a   Sluggish, // one inhabitant having caught cold (8)

I|NA(C)TIVE — {I ([Roman numeral for] one) + NATIVE (inhabitant)} containing (having caught) C (cold; abbrev.)

23a   Composition // from Bliss on at auditorium (6)

_S|ON|AT|A_ — hidden in (from) BlisS ON AT Auditorium

A sonata^[5] is a composition for an instrumental soloist, often with a piano accompaniment, typically in several movements with one or more in sonata form.

Scratching the Surface
Sir Arthur Bliss[5] (1891–1975) was an English composer. He moved from the influence of Stravinsky, in works such as A Colour Symphony (1922), to a rich style closer to Elgar, as in his choral symphony Morning Heroes (1930).

26a   Furry creature, // small in every detail (5)

S|TO|A|T — S (small; abbrev.) + TO A T (in every detail; the description fit her to a T)

The stoat^[5] (also known as the ermine, especially when in its white winter coat) is a small carnivorous mammal (Mustela erminea) of the weasel family which has chestnut fur with white underparts and a black-tipped tail. It is native to both Eurasia and North America and in northern areas the coat turns white in winter. In North America, it is known as the short-tailed weasel.

27a   Italian, in Indian state, left individual // to proceed without help (2,2,5)

GO (IT) A|L|ONE — IT (Italian; abbrev.) contained in (in) GOA (Indian state) + L (left; abbrev.) + ONE (individual)

"Italian" = IT (show explanation )

This clueing might be explained in a couple of ways:

• It.^[10] is an abbreviation for Italian or Italy.


• Italian^[10] is another name for Italian vermouth. It^[5] is an informal, dated British term for Italian vermouth ⇒ he poured a gin and it.

hide explanation

Goa^[5] is a state on the west coast of India; capital, Panaji. Formerly a Portuguese territory, it was seized by India in 1961. It formed a Union Territory with Daman and Diu until 1987, when it was made a state.

28a   Crowd largely out of control /in/ area set aside for reporters (5,7)

PRESS |GALLERY* — PRESS (crowd) + anagram (out of control) of LARGELY

Down

1d   Greek leaving French city having received new // honour (7)

_EN(N)OBLE — {[GR]ENOBLE (French city) with GR (Greek; abbrev.) removed} containing (having received) N (new; abbrev.)

Gr.^[2] is the abbreviation for Greek.

Grenoble^[7] is a city in southeastern France, at the foot of the French Alps where the river Drac joins the Isère. It was the site of the 1968 Winter Olympic Games.

2d   This could be a // pledge by the Spanish (5)

VOW|EL — VOW (pledge) + EL (the Spanish; Spanish definite article)

"the Spanish" = EL (show explanation )

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

hide explanation

3d   Mocking // actors in Indian dress, beginning to chant (9)

SAR(CAST)I|C — CAST (actors) contained in (in) {SARI (Indian dress) + C (beginning [initial letter] to Chant}

A sari^[5] (also saree) is a garment consisting of a length of cotton or silk elaborately draped around the body, traditionally worn by women from South Asia.

4d   Charge // head of racket, and assistant, from what we hear (4)

R|AID~ — R (head [initial letter] of Racket) + (and) AID {sounds like (from what we hear) AIDE (assistant)}

5d   Act I put on /for/ Greek god (8)

POSE|I|DON — POSE (act) + I (†) + DON (put on)

In Greek mythology, Poseidon^[5] is the god of the sea, water, earthquakes, and horses, son of Cronus and Rhea and brother of Zeus. He is often depicted with a trident in his hand.

6d   Young fish // perpetually circling lake (5)

E(L)VER — EVER (perpetually) containing (circling) L (lake; abbrev.)

7d   Everyone intended getting rid of female /in/ partnership (8)

ALL|_IANCE — ALL (everyone) + [F]IANCE (intended; fiancé) with its initial letter removed {getting rid of F (female; abbrev.)}

8d   Stick // notice at this point (6)

AD|HERE — AD (notice; advertisement) + HERE (at this point)

14d   Herb /found in/ most of Spanish province (8)

TARRAGON_ — TARRAGON[A] (Spanish province) with its final letter removed (most of)

Tarragona^[7] is a province of eastern Spain, in the southern part of the autonomous community of Catalonia. The province's population is 888,895 (2008), of whom about one-fifth live in the capital Tarragona. The province includes several World Heritage Sites and is a popular tourist destination.

Tarragon^[5] is a perennial plant (Artemisia dracunculus) of the daisy family, with narrow aromatic leaves that are used as a culinary herb.

16d   Just the building for a house-hunter? (5,4)

BINGO HALL — cryptic definition

In Britain, house^[5] is old-fashioned term for bingo. Therefore, a Brit looking for a game of house would go to a bingo hall.

Delving Deeper

The British version of bingo[7] bears very little resemblance to the North American game of the same name (or one might say that they are about as similar as cricket and baseball). The British game (formerly called housey-housey) and the North American version both involve matching numbers drawn at random to those on tickets (Britain) or cards (North America). However, the format of British tickets is totally different from that of North American cards — and, consequently, so are the winning combinations. In Britain, it is common for winners to yell "House!" (rather than "Bingo!") when a winning combination is attained.

17d   Star hooked by young woman /in/ gambling centre (3,5)

LAS (VEGA)S — VEGA (star) contained in (hooked by) LASS (young woman)

Vega^[10] is the brightest star in the constellation Lyra and one of the most conspicuous in the  northern hemisphere.

Las Vegas^[5] is a city in southern Nevada; population 558,383 (est. 2008). It is noted for its casinos and nightclubs.

18d   Long // crumpled T-shirt (6)

THIRST* — anagram (crumpled) of TSHIRT

20d   Essay about old // play -- 'King Lear', perhaps (7)

TR(AGED)Y — TRY (essay) containing (about) AGED (old)

King Lear^[7] is a tragedy by English playwright William Shakespeare (1564-1616). 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.

22d   Teacher // tickled trout (5)

TUTOR* — anagram (tickled) of TROUT

As an anagram indicator, the setter may have intended tickle to be interpreted in the sense of to play as in tickle the ivories^[5] (play the piano).

Scratching the Surface
Tickle[5] means to catch (a trout) by lightly rubbing it so that it moves backwards into the hand ⇒ the skill of a poacher tickling a trout. Collins English Dictionary defines tickle[10] as to catch (a fish, especially a trout) by grasping it with the hands and gently moving the fingers into its gills.

24d   A note about // worship (5)

A|DO|RE — A () + DO ([musical] note) + RE (about; concerning)

I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to parse this clue with the musical note being re^[5]. Doh! How stupid was that!

Do is a variant spelling of doh^[5] which, in solmization, is:

1. the first and eighth note of a major scale in tonic sol-fa; or
2. the note C in the fixed-doh system.

25d   Call // round (4)

RING — double definition

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 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)

Signing off for today — Falcon

Monday, November 23, 2015 — DT 27828

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27828
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, June 15, 2015
Setter Rufus (Roger Squires)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27828]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Kitty
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 Diversions page editor at the National Post has reverted to his fast ball, electing not to skip any puzzles today.

Today's offering is a typically gentle Rufus creation.

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.

Primary indications (definitions) are marked with a solid underline in the clue; subsidiary indications (be they wordplay or other) are marked with a dashed underline in all-in-one (&lit.) clues, semi-all-in-one (semi-&lit.) clues and cryptic definitions. Explicit link words and phrases are enclosed in forward slashes (/link/) and implicit links are shown as double forward slashes (//). Definitions presented in blue text are for terms that appear frequently.

Across

1a   Rose // taken from the garden? (3,3,2,3)

9a   Type that's rarely in bar seat (9)

10a   Chap goes to base /for/ permit (5)

11a   Home brewing accessory (6)

12a   Happy-go-lucky // benefit of the welfare state? (8)

13a   Bold // prosecutor takes on cartel (6)

In the US, a district attorney^[5] (abbreviation DA) is a public official who acts as prosecutor for the state in a particular district.

15a   Elgar's composed finish is about /to be/ made bigger (8)

Scratching the Surface
Sir Edward Elgar[5] (1857–1934) was an English composer who is known particularly for the Enigma Variations (1899), the oratorio The Dream of Gerontius (1900), and for patriotic pieces such as the five Pomp and Circumstance marches (1901–30).

18a   A domestic potboiler? (8)

19a   A personage of good address (6)

21a   Needles /for/ decoration on artificial silks (8)

"order" = OBE (show explanation )

OBE^[5] is the abbreviation for Officer of the Order of the British Empire.

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire^[7] is the "order of chivalry of British democracy", rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations and public service outside the Civil Service. It was established in 1917 by King George V, and comprises five classes, in civil and military divisions, the most senior two of which make the recipient either a knight if male, or dame if female. There is also the related British Empire Medal, whose recipients are affiliated with, but not members of, the order.

The classes are: Knight or Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE), Knight or Dame Commander (KBE/DBE), Commander (CBE), Officer (OBE), and Member (MBE).

Appointments to the Order of the British Empire were at first made on the nomination of the self-governing Dominions of the Empire, the Viceroy of India, and the colonial governors, as well as on nominations from within the United Kingdom. As the Empire evolved into the Commonwealth, nominations continued to come from the Commonwealth realms, in which the monarch remained head of state. These overseas nominations have been discontinued in realms which have established their own Orders, such as the Order of Australia, the Order of Canada, and the New Zealand Order of Merit, but members of the Order are still appointed in the British Overseas Territories.

hide explanation

23a   When to tell all? (6)

According to Oxford Dictionaries, tell^[5] is an archaic term meaning to count (the members of a group) ⇒ the shepherd had told all his sheep. Collins English Dictionary reveals that tell^[10] can mean to count (votes). From The American Heritage Dictionary and the Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, we learn that tell^[3,11] can mean to enumerate or count ⇒ (i) telling one's blessings; (ii) 16 windows, all told.

And, of course, as the 2Kiwis point out in Comment #4 on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, the most common usage that remains today is surely bank employees whose job it is to count money.

26a   It was in the church's interest (5)

27a   No longer with the directors, // taken to drink? (9)

The wordplay parses as OVER (no longer) + (with) BOARD (the directors).

28a   Watches // conductors (11)

Down

1d   Gifted, // admittedly (7)

2d   Savings scheme /gives/ rising financial advantage (5)

In the UK, the acronym TESSA^[5] (also Tessa) denotes a Tax-Exempt Special Saving Account allowing savers to invest a certain amount in a bank or building society with no tax to pay on the interest, provided that the capital remained in the account for five years (replaced in 1999 by the ISA [Individual Savings Account]).

3d   Dressed or nude and // natural (9)

4d   Has // grown strangely partial (4)

5d   Cheap items // don't allow profits (8)

6d   Sea-going duck (5)

Sir Francis Drake^[5] (circa 1540–1596) was an English sailor and explorer. He was the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe (1577–80), in his ship the Golden Hind. He played an important part in the defeat of the Spanish Armada.

7d   Neat attendant (7)

Neat^[5] is an archaic term for a bovine animal or, as a mass noun, cattle.

I initially plumped for RANCHER which caused me all kinds of difficulties in the northeast corner until I discovered my error.

8d   Perfect exam performance -- /or/ just fair? (3,5)

14d   Gambling game /using/ rent in the course of journey (8)

Let^[5] is a chiefly British term meaning to allow someone to have the use of (a room or property) in return for regular payments ⇒ (i) she let the flat [apartment] to a tenant; (ii) they’ve let out their house. [I doubt this word is as British as Oxford Dictionaries would have us believe.]

16d   Willing? /That's/ nice (9)

17d   Devourer of knowledge (8)

18d   One of the toasts that may be offered with a meal (7)

The clue specifies "one of the toasts" since a hostess would almost certainly never offer only one to a guest.

20d   Lives /in/ dress -- i.e. being slovenly (7)

22d   It holds the unloved Emperor // motionless (5)

"The unloved Emperor" is "the Emperor without love".

Nero^[5] (AD 37-68) was Roman emperor 54-68; full name Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus. Infamous for his cruelty, he wantonly executed leading Romans. His reign witnessed a fire which destroyed half of Rome in 64.

"love" = O (show explanation )

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 explanation

24d   What most men have to do /in/ quiet way (5)

25d   Yank // that's involved in weightlifting (4)

In weightlifting, the term jerk^[5] denotes the raising of a barbell above the head from shoulder level by an abrupt straightening of the arms and legs, typically as the second part of a clean and jerk.

The clean and jerk^[5] is a weightlifting exercise in which a weight is raised above the head following an initial lift to shoulder level.

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 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)

Signing off for today — Falcon

Saturday, November 21, 2015 — Arts and Entertainment

Introduction

Today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon is a rather entertaining one with all manner of diversions making an appearance. There is something for virtually everyone, whether you are an opera, theatre or film buff, enjoy painting or reading poetry, or like fishing, baseball, or just perusing a comic book.

It put up more of a fight than I have been accustomed too — and I thereby derived an extra degree satisfaction from completing it.

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 ┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐ ███████████████████████████████████ └────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘ 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

Legend:	"*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed
	"( )" letters inserted; "_" letters deleted; "†" explicit in the clue
	Primary indications (definitions) are marked with a solid underline in the clue; subsidiary indications (be they wordplay or other) are marked with a dashed underline in all-in-one (& lit.) clues, semi-all-in-one (semi-& lit.) clues and cryptic definitions. Explicit link words and phrases are enclosed in forward slashes (/link/) and implicit links are shown as double forward slashes (//).

Across

1a   Rich Little’s final // destiny (4)

FAT|E — FAT (rich) + E (littlE's final [letter])

Scratching the Surface
In the deceptively capitalized surface reading, {content}

Rich Little^[7] is a Canadian-American impressionist and voice actor, nicknamed "The Man of a Thousand Voices" by voice actor Mel Blanc.

3a   Beer-lover vocally imitated // Batman (5,5)

{BRUCE WAYNE}~ — sounds like (vocally imitated) {BREW (beer) + SWAIN (lover)}

Batman^[7] is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman's secret identity is Bruce Wayne, an American billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, and owner of Wayne Enterprises.

9a   Kurosawa film about a crazy // month of fasting (7)

R(A|MAD)AN — RAN (Kurosawa film) containing (about) {A (†) + MAD (crazy)}

Akira Kurosawa^[7] (1910–1998) was a Japanese filmmaker. Regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, Kurosawa directed 30 films in a career spanning 57 years.

Ran^[7] (Chinese and Japanese for "chaos", "rebellion", or "revolt", or to mean "disturbed" or "confused") is a 1985 Japanese-French jidaigeki [period drama] epic film directed and co-written by Akira Kurosawa.

Delving Deeper

The film stars Tatsuya Nakadai as Hidetora Ichimonji, an aging Sengoku-era warlord who decides to abdicate as ruler in favor of his three sons. The story is based on legends of the daimyo Mōri Motonari, as well as on the Shakespearean tragedy King Lear. Ran was Kurosawa's last epic. With a budget of $12 million, it was the most expensive Japanese film ever produced up to that time. The film was hailed for its powerful images and use of color—costume designer Emi Wada won an Academy Award for Costume Design for her work on Ran. The distinctive Gustav Mahler–inspired film score, written by Toru Takemitsu, plays in isolation with ambient sound muted.

Ramadan^[10] (or Rhamadhan or Ramazan) is:

1. the ninth month of the Muslim year, lasting 30 days, during which strict fasting is observed from sunrise to sunset; or
2. the fast itself.

A Journey Down the Garden Path

Not being familiar with the Japanese film, I invented one of my own, surmising that the wordplay might be an anagram (crazy) of {DARMAN [or some other permutation of those letters] containing (about) A (†)}. When a search for a suitable Kurosawa film came up dry, it was back to the drawing board. In hindsight, the idea was a bit far-fetched as — for the clue to satisfy my invented wordplay — the wording would presumably have had to be: Kurosawa film crazy about a // month of fasting (7)

11a   Woman in The Tempest // cast in drama (7)

MIRANDA* — anagram (cast) IN DRAMA

Miranda^[7] is one of the principal characters of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest. She is the only female character to appear on stage during the course of the play and is one of only three women mentioned.

12a   Fellow holding sweetie’s middle // tight (5)

CH(E)AP — CHAP (fellow) containing (holding) E (sweEtie's middle [letter])

13a   Outside narrow lane, we // perch (7)

W(ALLEY)E — WE (†) containing (outside) ALLEY (narrow lane)

Walleye^[7] (Sander vitreus, formerly Stizostedion vitreum) is a freshwater perciform [perch-like] fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern United States. A member of the family Percidae (the perch family), it is a North American close relative of the European pikeperch. In some parts of its range, the walleye is known as the walleyed pike, colored pike, yellow pike or pickerel (especially in English-speaking Canada), although the fish is not related to other species of pikes which are members of the family Esocidae.

15a   Studied // first of shots fired (7)

S|CANNED — S (first [letter] of Shots) + CANNED (fired; dismissed from employment)

16a   Pant // to employer about end of career (7)

T(R)O|USER — {TO (†) + USER (employer)} containing (about) R (end [letter] of careeR)

18a   Catch sight of buddy flipping // computers (7)

{LAP|TOPS}< — reversal (flipping) of {SPOT (catch sight of) + PAL (buddy)}

21a   Poet // might blab about heroin coming back (7)

{K(H)AY|YAM}< — reversal (coming back) of {MAY (might) + YAK (blab) containing (about) H (heroin)}

H^[10] is a slang term for heroin.

Omar Khayyám^[10] (?1050–?1123) was a Persian poet, mathematician, and astronomer, noted for the Rubáiyát, a collection of quatrains, popularized in the West by Edward Fitzgerald's version (1859).

23a   Breaking oath, wed // blonde (7)

TOWHEAD* — anagram (breaking) of OATH WED

25a   Had // drunk quickly after the first (5)

_OWNED — [D]OWNED (drunk quickly) with the initial letter omitted (after the first)

27a   Loan the bum // some fuel (7)

ETHANOL* — anagram (bum) of LOAN THE

28a   Pry knot loose /for/ gas (7)

KRYPTON* — anagram (loose) of PRY KNOT

Krypton^[10] is an inert gaseous element occurring in trace amounts in air and used in fluorescent lights and lasers. Symbol: Kr; atomic no: 36.

29a   Greek lady/’s/ greyish-blue ring (10)

PERSE|PHONE — PERSE (greyish-blue) + PHONE (ring)

Perse^[10] is a dark greyish-blue colour.

In Greek mythology, Persephone^[10] is a daughter of Zeus and Demeter, abducted by Hades and made his wife and queen of the underworld, but allowed part of each year to leave it.

30a   Greek lady // in therapy (4)

_HERA_ — hidden in (in) tHERApy

In Greek mythology, Hera^[10] (or Here) is the queen of the Olympian gods and sister and wife of Zeus.

Down

1d   Deck // the Parisian after prediction (10)

FORECAST|LE — LE (the Parisian; masculine form of the French definite article) following (after) FORECAST (prediction)

The forecastle^[10] (or fo'c's'le or fo'c'sle) is the part of a vessel at the bow where the crew is quartered and stores, machines, etc, may be stowed.

2d   Paint // office worker at certain age (7)

TEMP|ERA — TEMP (office worker) + (at; next to) ERA (certain age)

Tempera^[11] is a water paint in which an emulsion consisting of water and pure egg yolk or a mixture of egg and oil is used as a binder or medium, characterized by its lean film-forming properties and rapid drying rate.

4d   Magritte was married /and/ made young again (7)

RENE|WED — RENE (Magritte; Belgian artist) + WED (was married)

René Magritte^[7] (1898–1967) was a Belgian surrealist artist. He became well known for a number of witty and thought-provoking images that fall under the umbrella of surrealism. His work is known for challenging observers' preconditioned perceptions of reality.

5d   Storied kingdom // reached by fortune (7)

CAME|LOT — CAME (reached) + (by) LOT (fortune)

Come (past came) is used in the sense of to extend or reach ⇒ she comes up to my shoulder.

6d   Inferior // horse swapping the lead for win (5)

[W]ORSE — [H]ORSE (†) with the initial letter replaced by (swapping the lead for) W (win)

Another Journey Down the Garden Path
I initially tried to find a synonym for "horse" to use as a starting point. I eventually discovered that I was looking into the mouth of a gift horse provided by the setters.

7d   Look for no returning // American Leaguers (7)

{YAN|KEES}< — reversal (returning) of {SEEK (look for) + NAY (no)}

The New York Yankees^[7] are an American professional baseball franchise based in the Bronx borough of New York City that competes in Major League Baseball (MLB)'s American League (AL) East division.

With all the checking letters in place, the first team to come to mind was the Texas RANGERS.

8d   Kind of cheese // manufactured the wrong way (4)

EDAM< — reversal (the wrong way) of MADE (manufactured)

Edam^[5] is a round Dutch cheese, typically pale yellow with a red wax coating.

10d   Take a bit from // spotted pony behind Diana (3,4)

DI|P INTO — PINTO (spotted pony) following (behind) DI ([diminutive for] Diana)

14d   Proper notice on North American // opera star (5,5)

PRIM|A D|ON|NA — PRIM (proper) + AD (notice) + ON (†) + N (North) + A (American)

In parsing the clue, I have split "North American" into its component parts as all the dictionaries that I consulted show NA as being the abbreviation for North America but not for North American.

A prima donna^[10] is a female operatic star; a diva.

17d   Skill of a preacher // or a Conservative (7)

OR|A|TORY — OR (†) + A (†) + TORY (Conservative)

19d   Irritation in each // half of a battery (7)

P(ITCH)ER — ITCH (irritation) contained in (in) PER (each)

In baseball, a battery^[4] is a pitcher and catcher considered as a unit.

20d   Busted the last // covert movement (7)

STEALTH* — anagram (busted) of THE LAST

21d   Family taking down runner/’s/ glove material (7)

KI(D|SKI)N — KIN (family) containing (taking; ingesting) {D (down; in a crossword puzzle} + SKI (runner)}

Yet Another Journey Down the Garden Path
I initially tried to construct a solution involving KIDD'S KIN (family of Canadian runner Bruce Kidd) without D (down).

22d   In confusion, get zany // Chinese flower? (7)

YANGTZE* — anagram (in confusion) of GET ZANY

Flower is used in the whimsical cryptic crossword sense of something that flows — in other words, a river.

The Yangtze^[5] is the principal river of China, which rises as the Jinsha in the Tibetan highlands and flows 6,380 km (3,964 miles) southwards then generally eastwards through central China, entering the East China Sea at Shanghai.

24d   Holding cup, drink /and/ grimace (5)

WIN(C)E — WINE (drink) containing (holding) C (cup; abbrev.)

26d   Go on, // look in the opposite direction (4)

KEEP< — reversal (in the opposite direction) of PEEK (look)

"Keep" and "go on" are synonymous as in ⇒ Whatever happens, keep smiling.

Epilogue

The title of today's review was inspired by numerous clues scattered throughout the puzzle.

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 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)

Signing off for today — Falcon