DT 30623 (full review)

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30623

A full review by Rahmat Ali

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This puzzle was published on 25^th May 2024

BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****

Greetings from Kolkata. A pleasant and straightforward Saturday puzzle from Cephas that I enjoyed solving and thereafter writing a review of the same for your kind perusal and important feedback.

I was very eager and enthusiastic to know the origin of the idiom ‘over-the-top’, the answer to the clue of 3d, and so explored the net. ‘Over the top’ or ‘going over the top’ is used to describe someone making an effort that is excessive or more than is required to accomplish a task. It is also used sometimes to denote an action that is judged to be dramatic, foolhardy or needlessly perilous. The first documented instance of using the idiom is by the British troops of World War I, when they exclaimed it to describe the moment they emerged from the trenches to charge out over open land and attack the enemy. Soldiers did not look forward to this moment, and certainly many of them regarded it as a significant risk of life and limb. However, the earliest example in print comes from ‘The War Illustrated’ in 1916 that highlighted, “Some fellows asked our captain when we were going over the top.” It is assumed that returning veterans may have kept using the phrase when they returned home from war is reasonable. It is also probable that at this point it became a way to describe civilian actions as irresponsible and hazardous, perhaps overdone, exaggerated or comically outrageous. Another early example in print comes from ‘The Letters of Lincoln Steffens’ in 1938 that stated, “I had come to regard the New Capitalism as an experiment till, in 1929, the whole thing went over the top and slid down to an utter collapse.” The idiom is now so common that its abbreviated acronym, OTT, is widely understood to describe any action that is outrageous or extreme.

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Across

1a          Profile of Charlie taking trip overseas perhaps (7)
CONTOUR: The definition of a profile or a varied and sharply defined outline against a lighter background is arrived at from C (Charlie) as the letter represented by Charlie in the NATO phonetic alphabet followed by ON TOUR (taking trip overseas perhaps) as a phrase meaning travelling or on a journey abroad especially by a sports team for playing a series of matches in different venues

5a          Quick inspection from king in lavatory, lots of water reported (4-3)
LOOK-SEE: The definition of an informal term for a brief look or inspection is obtained from K (king) as the abbreviation for king in chess notation placed inside (in) a combo of LOO (lavatory) as a colloquial term for a lavatory and a homophone heard by the audience (reported) of SEA (lots of water) as the great mass of salt water covering the greater part of the earth’s surface or any great expanse of water

9a          Open-mouthed, commander exercises (5)
AGAPE: The definition of an adjective meaning wide open in surprise or wonder, especially of a person’s mouth is reached from a charade of AGA (commander) as a military commander of the Ottoman Empire and PE (exercises) as the abbreviation for physical education that is taught in schools that involves physical exercises

10a        Unofficial enforcer leaving it in a mess (9)
VIGILANTE: The definition of a person who tries in an unofficial way to prevent crime especially because they do not think that official organisations, such as the police, are controlling crime effectively is attained after LEAVING IT is subject to an anagram (in a mess)

11a        Replace vessel, having found all but the first two? (10)
SUBSTITUTE: The definition of a verb meaning to take the place of another or to put or use a person or thing in place of another is reached from SUB (vessel) as the colloquial term for a submarine that is a submersible vessel, especially for warfare and [IN]STITUTE (found) as a verb meaning to set up, establish, lay the groundwork for or to formally bring into existence having the exclusion of (all but) I and N as its first two letters (the first two)

12a        Lady married son of Arkwright! (4)
SHEM: A charade of SHE (lady) as used to refer to a woman, girl or any female previously mentioned or easily identified and M (married) as the genealogical abbreviation for ‘married’ leads to the definition of one of the sons of Noah in the Bible, who was the first Arkwright, cryptically the builder of the Ark that resembled a gargantuan chest or coffer that could be closed at the top to protect the voyagers from rain and storm

14a        Hierarchical structure of people kissing? (7,5)
PECKING ORDER: A cryptic definition of the order of kissing, e.g. ‘The little girl kissed firstly her parents then her siblings before she went to bed’, whereby ORDER (people) is referred to people or a group of people united in a particular aim or purpose and PECKING (kissing) is kissing in a quick or cursory manner or movement, that is ORDER of PECKING or, precisely, PECKING ORDER

18a        Quietly angry with a gopher, somehow Schofield finally snapped (12)
PHOTOGRAPHED: P (quietly) as a written abbreviation for piano in music indicating that the piece should be played quietly, HOT (angry) as violent, raging or angry and (with) an anagram (somehow) of A GOPHER followed by the final or terminal letter (finally) of [SCHOFIEL]D takes to the definition of a verb in the past tense meaning snapped or took a shot or picture of someone or something

21a        Underground feature that may be square? (4)
ROOT: Double nounal definition; the first referring to the part of a plant which attaches it to the ground or to a support, typically underground, conveying water and nourishment to the rest of the plant via numerous branches and fibres and the second denoting a short term for square root in mathematics that is a number or quantity that when multiplied by itself gives a specified number or quantity that is denoted as a square

  

22a        Film course for unstable person (10)
PSYCHOPATH: A charade of PSYCHO (film) as referring to the celebrated 1960 American horror movie produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock and PATH (course) as the course or direction in which a person or thing is moving leads to the definition of a mentally unstable person or a person afflicted with a personality disorder that is characterised by a tendency to commit antisocial and sometimes violent acts and a failure to feel guilt for such acts

25a        Bring shame on Diane’s integrity (9)
DISHONOUR: The definition of a verb meaning to bring shame or disgrace on or upon someone is derived from a charade involving DI’S (Diane’s) as belonging to Di, one of the nicknames of Diane that is a variant of Diana and HONOUR (integrity) as the quality of knowing and doing what is morally right

26a        In mag, Lowestoft is gleaming (5)
AGLOW: Part of or hidden inside (in) [M]AG, LOW[ESTOFT] guides to the definition of an adjective meaning gleaming or glowing with light or colour

27a        Heat unit Claire rebuilt with nothing inside (7)
CALORIE: The definition of a unit of energy or heat is got from an anagram (rebuilt) of CLAIRE having (with) O (nothing) as the letter representing naught or nothing brought inside (inside)

28a        Stage from which one might be transported (3,4)
BUS STOP: A cryptic definition of the beginning or end of a stage that is a division of a journey on passenger bus routes for which there is a fixed fare

Down

1d          Reason to accept large part of sentence (6)
CLAUSE: CAUSE (reason) as a reason for an action or condition to take inside (accept) L (large) as the abbreviation for large that is usually referred to the large size of shirt or other clothing, guiding to the definition of a group of words that includes a subject and a verb and forms a sentence or part of a sentence.

2d          Tight times could be close (6)
NEARBY: A charade of NEAR (TIGHT) as an adjective meaning mean, stingy or miserly and BY (times) as referring to the number of times as that specified by the second number as in multiplication leads to the definition of an adjective meaning close at hand, not far away or located a short distance away

3d          Too much of article included in open work (4-3-3)
OVER-THE-TOP: The definition of an informal idiom used to describe an adjective meaning excessive, too much or going too far is obtained from THE (article) as the definite article in the English language placed inside (included in) OVERT (open) as an adjective meaning open to view or knowledge and not concealed and followed by OP (work) as the abbreviation for opus that refers to work, especially a musical composition in which one is numbered in order of publication

4d          Fasten stand with top missing (5)
RIVET: The definition of a verb meaning to join or fasten plates of metal with a short metal pin or bolt is attained from [T]RIVET (stand) as a metal stand that one puts on a table to protect its surface from hot dishes or pans having (with) its topmost or the leading letter in the down clue (top) not present or gone away (missing)

5d          Regularly jumpy after match in Paris? Relax! (7,2)
LIGHTEN UP: The regular or alternate letters (regularly) of [J]U[M]P[Y] preceded by or placed after (after) a combo of LIGHT (match) as a match or device used to produce a spark or flame and EN (in Paris) as the French word for the preposition ‘in’, as could be heard in Paris, the French capital leads to the definition of a phrase used to ask someone to become more relaxed and less serious

6d          Just nothing on lake in New York (4)
ONLY: The definition of an adverb denoting merely, only, just or no more than is reached from O (nothing) as the letter representing naught or nothing placed upon (on) L (lake) as the abbreviation for Lake as used in geographical atlas getting inside (in) NY (New York) as the abbreviation for New York in the down clue

7d          Cooler overhead (8)
SUNSHADE: A cryptic definition of a parasol, awning or any other device that is held over one’s head as protection from the heat of the sun

8d          Eternally growing (8)
EVERMORE: The definition of an adverb denoting for all time to come or eternally is reached from the phrase EVER MORE (growing) as growing or continually increasing

13d        Happen to arrive at mountain route (4,2,4)
COME TO PASS: The definition of an expression indicating to happen is arrived at from a charade of COME (to arrive) as to arrive at a specified place, TO (at) as a preposition denoting ‘towards’ or ‘at’ and PASS (mountain route) as a route over or through mountains

15d        Repaired broken set, it’s found by the way (9)
KERBSTONE: An anagram (repaired) of BROKEN SET takes to the definition of one of a series paving stones that help to form a kerb along a street pavement

16d        Crops Dai scattered occasionally at intervals (8)
SPORADIC: An anagram (scattered) of CROPS DAI guides to the definition of an adjective meaning occurring occasionally, singly or in irregular or random instances

17d        No profit in fuel that’s enormous (8)
COLOSSAL: LOSS (no profit) as no profit as the amount by which the cost of goods or services exceeds the selling price placed inside (in) COAL (fuel) as a hard black substance that is extracted from the ground and burned as fuel takes to the definition of an adjective meaning enormous, gigantic or extraordinarily great in size, extent or degree

19d        Hammer crude metal left inside (6)
MALLET: The definition of a wooden hammer with a long handle used in sports such as croquet and polo is arrived at from an anagram (crude) of METAL having inside L (left) as the abbreviation of left

20d        Embarrass when performance finished (4,2)
SHOW UP: The definition of a colloquial phrase for a verb meaning to embarrass or to put to shame occurs when SHOW (performance) as a play or other stage performance, especially a musical and UP (finished) as denoting finished or closed form a charade

23d        About to plunder chocolate 11 (5)
CAROB: A charade of CA (about) as a written abbreviation of the Latin word circa meaning ‘about’ and ROB (to plunder) as an informal term for a verb meaning to steal leads to the definition of an edible powder or flour made from the pods of the carob tree, having a peanut butter flavour and used as a substitute for chocolate, especially to feed the dogs

24d        Low river seen in high ground (4)
MOOR: A charade of MOO (low) as the characteristic deep call of cattle and R (river) as the written abbreviation for River, used especially on maps takes to the definition of a wide expanse of uncultivated land, especially upland, often covered with heath and having a poor, peaty soil

The clues that I liked in this puzzle were 5a, 12a, 14a, 18a, 21a, 22a, 13d and 24d; 14a being the topper. My thanks to Cephas for the entertainment and to Gazza for the assistance. The day when this review goes for publication, it would be one year since BD my friend, philosopher and guide in the crossword world had left me and all others for his heavenly abode.  As usual, I pray to the Almighty for the eternal rest and peace of the departed kind soul. Looking forward to being here again. Have a nice day.