Monday, December 5, 2011 - DT 26655

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26655
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, September 12, 2011
Setter Rufus
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26655]
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 26654 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, September 10, 2011

Introduction

There were not a lot of Briticisms or difficult words in today's puzzle. While I did call on my electronic assistants in a couple of cases (10a and 3d), they only needed to give me a very gentle nudge to put me on the right path.

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.

15a   Composer born, I do recall, in the 1830s (7)

Russian composer Alexander Borodin^[7] was born in 1833. I would say that the clue is a semi & lit. (or, as Big Dave prefers to call this type of clue, a semi-all-in-one). The entire clue serves to identify the Russian musician who is its subject. The wordplay is supplied by a part of the clue ("born, I do recall in").

18a   Sunny with strong wind (4)

In music, forte^[5] (abbreviation f^[5]) is a direction meaning loud (adjective) or loudly (adverb).

19a   Trouble with the throat or back of a horse (5)

This meaning for croup^[5] (the rump or hindquarters, especially of a horse) was new to me.

27a   One breaking art’s rules in bizarre fashion (10)

I think we have a true & lit. clue here. The entire clue serves as both the definition as well as the wordplay, with the latter being I ([Roman numeral for] one) contained in (breaking) an anagram (in bizarre fashion) of ARTS RULES.

28a   Live up to a wicked description (4)

I think this was born to be a down clue [see Libellule's comment, as well].

29a   With fair agreement, quits board (6,4)

In this clue, we encounter a couple of more or less unusual usages - neither of which appear to be specifically British. First, in the cryptic reading, one must interpret quits^[5] as an adjective in the sense of on an equal footing or even, especially where money is concerned. This usage is most often seen in the expression call it quits meaning to agree to stop quarrelling or arguing, etc and accept that the outcome is even or to agree that a situation, etc is even • Just give me a fiver and we'll call it quits. Second, deal^[3] is a fir or pine board cut to standard dimensions.

2d   One upper-class twit (4)

In Britain, U^[5] is used informally as an adjective with respect to language or social behaviour meaning characteristic of or appropriate to the upper social classes (U manners). The term, an abbreviation of  upper class, was coined in 1954 by Alan S. C. Ross, professor of linguistics, and popularized by its use in Nancy Mitford's Noblesse Oblige (1956). Also, in Britain, nit^[5] is an informal term for a foolish person (short for nitwit, according to Collins).

8d   Tender after getting the stick? One may treat you (5,5)

In Britain, a sister (often Sister)^[5] is a senior female nurse, typically in charge of a ward and a staff nurse^[5] is an experienced nurse less senior than a sister or charge nurse^[5] (a nurse in charge of a ward in a hospital).

26d   Like to get first-class return for the continent (4)

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.

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