DT 30527 (full review)

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30527

A full review by Rahmat Ali

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This puzzle was published on 3^rd Feb 2024

BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ****

Greetings from Kolkata. A gentle and straightforward Saturday puzzle from NY Doorknob that I enjoyed solving and thereafter writing a review of the same for your kind perusal and valuable feedback.

Brummel’s horse, part of the wordplay to the clue of 7d, handed over to Spooner by the setter to provide the nosebag for his horse, made an interesting reading. However, a visit to the net to find more about George Bryan Brummell and, more particularly, how he lost an ‘l’ to his name led me to rather discover that in June 1794, Brummell joined the 10^th Light Dragoons, later the Tenth Royal Hussars, as a cornet, the lowest rank of commissioned officer and soon after had his nose broken by a kick from a horse. From his early years, Brummell paid great attention to his dress. At Eton, where he was sent to school and was extremely popular, he was known as ‘Buck Brummell’. He was deemed the leader of fashion at the beginning of the nineteenth century. From 1830 to 1832, he was British Consul at Caen in France. In 1835, his long-unpaid Calais creditors forced him into debtors’ prison, but his friends came to his rescue and provided him with a small income. Brummell soon lost all his interest in dress; his personal appearance became slovenly and dirty and he began to live fantasies in the past. In 1837, after two attacks of paralysis, shelter was found for him in the charitable asylum of ‘Le Bon Sauveur’ on the outskirts of Caen, where he spent his final years till his death in 1840. The earliest reference of ‘Brummel’, i.e. Brummell without an ‘l’ that we find is in a painting done during 1781-1982 by Sir Joshua Reynolds entitled ‘The Brummel Children’, in which George and his elder brother have been depicted. More than a century later, in the United States, Brummell’s life was dramatised in an 1890 stage play, ‘Beau Brummel: A Play in Four Acts’ by Clyde Fitch with Richard Mansfield as Brummell. This, in turn, was adapted for 1924-American silent historical drama film, ‘Beau Brummel’, starring John Barrymore and Mary Astor. Brummell’s name became associated with style and good looks and was, therefore, borrowed for a variety of products or alluded to in songs and poetry. One example was the paint colour ‘Beau Brummel Brown’, used exclusively on the 1931 Oldsmobile. In 1928, there were several ‘Beau Brummel’ styles from the Illinois Watch Company and in 1948, LeCoultre marketed a ‘Beau Brummel Watch’ with a minimalist design and no numbers. Various bands also adopted his name, beginning with ‘Zack Whyte and His Chocolate Beau Brummels’, a jazz-style dance band that toured between 1924 and 1935. During the 1960s, there was the rock band named ‘The Beau Brummels’ from San Francisco.

I further learnt from the net that the Native American people, ‘Arapaho’, the answer to the clue of 20d, were historically inhabiting eastern Colorado and southeast Wyoming and were close allies of the Cheyenne tribe and loosely aligned with the Lakota and Dakota. By the 1850s, Arapaho bands formed two tribes, viz. the Northern Arapaho and Southern Arapaho. Since 1878, the Northern Arapaho have been living with the Eastern Shoshone on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming and are federally recognised as the Arapahoe Tribe of the Wind River Reservation. The Southern Arapaho live with the Southern Cheyenne in Oklahoma. Together, their members are enrolled as the federally recognised Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes.

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Across

1a    Aid reduced by church body (7)
CHASSIS: Not all of the letters (reduced) of ASSIS[T] (aid) as to give usually supplementary support or aid to someone preceded by or coming after (by) CH (church) as the abbreviation for church takes to the definition of a jocularly slang term for a woman’s body

5a    Soft soap and face cloth (7)
FLANNEL: Double nounal definition; the first denoting flattery, soft soap or words intended to hide one’s ignorance and the second referring to a face cloth or a small piece of towelling for washing the face

9a    Fairy cake! (7)
BROWNIE: Double nounal definition; the first being a drudging domestic goblin or a good-natured elf who secretly helps at night with household chores and the second referring to a kind of rich, cherry chocolate cake, containing nuts

10a    Awful strain besets atomic technician (7)
ARTISAN: An anagram (awful) of STRAIN goes around (besets) A (atomic) as the abbreviation for atomic, leading to the definition of a handicraftsman, technician or mechanic or a skilled manual worker

11a    Does it make Arran wet, distributed round island? (9)
RAINWATER: An anagram (distributed) of ARRAN WET placed about (round) I (island) as the abbreviation for island makes the definition of water that falls or has fallen as or been obtained from rain in an all-in-one clue

12a    What was tender of Italians welcoming British stars? (5)
LIBRA: LIRA (what was tender of Italians) as the basic monetary of Italy until 2002 taking inside (welcoming) B (British) as the abbreviation for British leads to the definition of a small faint zodiacal constellation between Virgo and Scorpius on the ecliptic or a group of stars said to look like a pair of weighing scales

13a    Nancy’s very small plait (5)
TRESS: A charade of TRÈS (very) as the French word denoting ‘very’ as they say in the French city Nancy, for example, ‘très bien’ meaning ‘very good’ and S (small) as the abbreviation for small guides to the definition of a plait or braid of the hair of the head

15a    Bubbly Victor Mature embracing knight? (9)
CHAMPAGNE: CHAMP (Victor) as a slang term and a short form for champion who is a victor followed by AGE (mature) as a verb meaning to mature or grow old taking in (embracing) N (knight) as the abbreviation for knight in chess notation leads to the definition of a bubbly white wine that people often drink to celebrate happy occasions

17a    Avert corrosion in submarine brought to loch (9)
UNDERSEAL: The definition of a verb meaning to coat exposed parts of the underside of a motor vehicle with corrosion-resisting substance is arrived at from a charade of UNDERSEA (submarine) as an adjective meaning submarine or situated, occurring or done below the sea or the surface of the sea and (brought to) L (loch) as the abbreviation for Loch

19a    1,000 passing through change for Slough (5)
SWAMP: M (1,000) as the Roman numeral for thousand getting inside (passing through) SWAP (change) as to change location or commute or to give to, and receive from, one another takes to the definition of a marshland or wetland often partially or intermittently covered with water

22a    Einstein hit hard on head (5)
BRAIN: Double definition; the first being a noun referring to a person who is having exceptional intellectual ability and originality and the second a verb meaning to hit someone hard on the head with an object

23a    Device for drawing level after tennis games? (3,6)
SET SQUARE: The definition of a right-angled triangular drawing instrument is arrived at from SQUARE (level) as to make straight, level or even placed after or following (after) SET (tennis game) as a group of games counting as a unit towards a match as in tennis, darts and other games

25a    Serious tea-user reformed (7)
AUSTERE: An anagram (reformed) of TEA-USER guides to the definition of an adjective meaning serious, severe or strict in manner or attitude

26a    Move abroad to oust grand government (7)
EMIRATE: EMI[G]RATE (move abroad) as to leave one’s own country in order to settle permanently in another to drive out or remove (oust) G (grand) as the abbreviation for Grand as GM in Grand Master or GP in Grand Prix leads to the definition of the government, jurisdiction or territory of an emir who is a dynastic Arab monarch

27a    Test shaft on returning chopper (7)
EXAMINE: The definition of a verb meaning to test or check the condition or health of a patient or to test the knowledge or skill of a candidate in a subject or activity by written or oral question is arrived at from MINE (shaft) as an underground system of holes and passages where people dig out coal or other minerals placed after (on) AXE (chopper) as a chopper or a tool with a bladed, usually heavy head mounted crosswise on a handle, used for felling trees or chopping wood that is seen coming back (returning) as a reversal in the across clue

28a    Learned book about backward female pair (7)
TWOSOME: TOME (learned book) as a learned book, especially a large, heavy, scholarly one placed around (about) SOW (female) as an adult female swine coming back (backward) as a reversal in the across clue takes to the definition of a group of two or a pair of people considered together

Down

1d    Persian perhaps takes in nude show (7)
CABARET: CAT (Persian perhaps) as a small domesticated mammal with soft fur, a short snout and retractable claws, an example of which is the Persian cat that is a cat with long, silky hair and bushy tail welcomes inside (takes in) BARE (nude) as naked or without any clothes or not covered by anything guides to the definition of a show or entertainment at a nightclub or restaurant, made up of performances by singing, dancing, comedians etc

2d    Worry is stopping a good individual (7)
AGONISE: The definition of a verb meaning to undergo great mental anguish through worrying about something is obtained from IS from the clue that is interrupting by getting inside (stopping) a combo of A from the clue, G (good) as the abbreviation for good and ONE (individual) as an indefinitely specified individual

3d    Succeeded with wine brewed for strength (5)
SINEW: S (succeeded) as the abbreviation for succeeded and (with) an anagram (brewed) of WINE takes to the definition of a noun meaning solid resilient strength or power

4d    Some respect a clever public show (9)
SPECTACLE: Part of or hidden inside (some) [RE]SPECT A CLE[VER] yields the definition of a public show or display, especially on a large scale

5d    Faculty even-handed bringing in Liberal (5)
FLAIR: The definition of a faculty for nosing out is reached from FAIR (even-handed) as even-handed, impartial, just or without favouritism or discrimination, inserting (bringing in) L (Liberal) as the abbreviation for Liberal, a member of the Liberal Party

6d    Bounders seen as worker goes off to match? (9)
ANTELOPES: The definition of the plural of a swift-running deerlike ruminant with smooth hair and upward-pointing horns, of a group native to Africa and Asia that often bounds around and that includes the impalas and elands is arrived at from a charade of ANT (worker) as a social insect working together in groups and ELOPES (goes off to match) as a verb in the present tense third person singular form denoting escapes privately, especially with a lover to get married

7d    What could feed Brummel’s horse, according to Spooner? (7)
NOSEBAG: A combo of BEAU’S (Brummel’s) as belonging to Brummell, i.e. George Bryan Brummell, an important figure in Regency England and an arbiter for British men’s fashion whose nickname Beau Brummel was much associated with style and good looks and NAG (horse) as a horse, especially one that is old or in poor health is subject to an utterance by Spooner (according to Spooner) as referring to William Archibald Spooner, the Oxford don and ordained minister who had the habit of transposing the initial sounds or letters of two or more words, often to humorous effect, that unfolds the definition of a bag for holding food that is hung around a horse’s head

8d    Eagle in uncontrolled descent (7)
LINEAGE: An anagram (uncontrolled) of EAGLE IN guides to the definition of an abstract noun meaning direct descent from a particular ancestor

14d    Cultivated green site in African National Park (9)
SERENGETI: An anagram (cultivated) of GREEN SITE takes to the definition of a large national park, stretching over 14,763 square km, in northern Tanzania in Africa that was established in 1940 and is well known for the largest annual animal migration in the world 

16d    Share in growing concern? (9)
ALLOTMENT: Double nounal definition; the first meaning a share, quota or ration and the second referring to a plot of land rented by an individual and used for growing vegetables or flowers

17d    Universal anger about doctor giving offence (7)
UMBRAGE: U (universal) as the abbreviation for universal and RAGE (anger) as violent uncontrollable anger placed around (about) MB (doctor) as the doctor referred to holding the degree for MB that is also the abbreviation for Bachelor of Medicine, providing the definition of a noun meaning offence or annoyance

18d    Very bottom bottomless in lowest lake! (4,3)
DEAD SEA: DEAD (very) as an informal term for an adverb denoting ‘very’ followed by SEA[T] (bottom) as referring to a person’s buttocks that is devoid of its lowest letter (bottomless) in the downward clue bringing in the definition of a landlocked salt lake in southwestern Asia that has the lowest elevation and is the lowest body of water on the surface of earth

20d    Native American artist parking in two areas by house (7)
ARAPAHO: The definition of a member of a Native American people formerly inhabiting eastern Colorado and southeast Wyoming, with present-day populations in Oklahoma and central Wyoming is reached from a combo of RA (artist) as the abbreviation for Royal Academician, denoting a practising artist of the Royal Academy of Arts and P (parking) as the abbreviation for parking placed inside (in) AA (two areas) as cryptically referring to two areas viz. A and A, where A is the abbreviation for area having alongside (by) HO (house) as the abbreviation for house

21d    Lead Conservative into deeper mess? (7)
PRECEDE: C (Conservative) as the abbreviation for Conservative, a supporter or member of the Conservative Party placed inside (into) an anagram (mess) of DEEPER guides to the definition of a verb meaning to lead or move ahead of others in time or space

23d    Garbo for one married in South East (5)
SWEDE: WED (married) as a verb in the past tense meaning married placed inside (in) SE (South East) as the abbreviation for South East takes to the definition of a native or inhabitant of Sweden, or a person of Swedish descent, an example of which is Greta Garbo, the Swedish-American actress of the yesteryears

24d    Depart Oman’s capital — for this one? (5)
QUITO: QUIT (depart) as to abandon, depart or leave a place, usually permanently followed by the capital letter (capital) of O[MAN] (Oman’s) leads to the definition of another city that is the capital of Ecuador

Some of the clues that I liked in this puzzle were 5a, 13a, 15a, 23a, 23, 6d, 7d, 8d and 24d; 7d being the best of the lot. My prayers to the Almighty for the eternal rest and peace of BD and my thanks to NY Doorknob for the entertainment and to Gazza for the assistance. Looking forward to being here again. Have a nice day.