Monday, November 21, 2011 - DT 26643

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26643
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, August 29, 2011
Setter Rufus
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26643]
Big Dave's Review Written By Libellule
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - ★★	Enjoyment - ★★★
Falcon's Performance ┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐ ███████████████████████████████████ └────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘ 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 █ - unsolved or incorrect prior to visiting Big Dave's blog █ - reviewed by Falcon for Big Dave's blog
Notes The National Post has skipped DT 26642 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, August 27, 2011

Introduction

As was the case for many of the Brits, it was the northwest corner where I needed some help. Once I got 5d with help from my Tool Chest, 1a became clear.

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.

6a   Contempt when party leader’s on platform (6)

The crucial step here is to separate the definition ("platform") from the wordplay (the remainder of the clue). The wordplay tells us that the solution is a word meaning "contempt" with the leading letter of "party" added to it. It is left to us to figure out that this letter must be added at the front and not the rear.

9a   Breaking a leg, has to play on without pause (6)

The wordplay is a hybrid - part anagram and part charade. We start with an anagram (breaking) of A LEG, to which we append TO (explicit in the clue) with "has" serving as a charade indicator.

10a   Sense there’s no alternative among the crew (8)

In the sport of rowing, an eight^[5] is an eight-oared rowing boat or its crew.

11a   Drink, long and light (8)

 A flip^[5] may be either a drink of heated, sweetened beer and spirit or another term for eggnog.

13a   Remedy for one who has become distressed? (4,8)

Here we have one example of a typical cryptic crossword flight of fancy. Surely, if dismembered means to have one's arms and legs chopped off, then distressed must mean to have one's hair cut off.

24a   Second largest European currency (6)

And here we have another cryptic crossword flight of fancy. The setter uses "currency" to mean something that has a current - i.e., a river. Other similarly fanciful expressions for river include flower (something that flows) and banker (something that has banks).

3d   Way for a politician to indicate annoyance (5)

In countries with parliamentary systems of government, a representative of the voters to a parliament is known as a Member of Parliament (or MP for short). In countries such as the United Kingdom and Canada, which have bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house.

4d   Love on the dole is trouble (9)

Here is another clue where the key to finding the solution is to parse it correctly (somewhat like 6a). The definition is "love" and the wordplay "on the dole is trouble" is just a rather convoluted way of saying "trouble is on the dole".

15d   Drawback getting sufficient space for naval officers on board (8)

Wardroom^[4] can mean either the quarters assigned to the officers (except the captain) of a warship or the officers of a warship collectively, excepting the captain.

17d   Soldiers without officers run into action, as commanded (7)

In the British armed forces, other ranks (OR)^[5] is a term for all those who are not commissioned officers.

18d   Get wise to doctor breaking law (6)

Rumble^[5] is an informal British expression meaning to discover an illicit activity or its perpetrator ("it wouldn’t need a genius to rumble my little game").  In Britain, the degree needed to practice medicine is a Bachelor of Medicine (abbreviated MB^[5], from Latin Medicinae Baccalaureus). A British MB is the equivalent of a North American Doctor of Medicine (MD, from Latin Medicinae Doctor).

20d   Took the part of another (5)

This type of clue appears cryptic only if one takes the bait. In this case, the setter intends for us to fall into the trap of thinking that this clue refers to a rivalry in the acting profession. If that was not the first thought to come to mind, the clue might not appear cryptic at all.

References: 
^[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)

Signing off for today - Falcon