Monday, July 16, 2012 - DT 26854

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26854
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26854]
Big Dave's Review Written By Gazza
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 This puzzle appears on the Monday Diversions page in the Saturday, July 14, 2012 edition of the National Post.

Introduction

This may have been merely a two-star effort for Gazza, but for me it definitely was well into three-star territory.

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.

5a   Shot a line after private action that backfired? (3,4)

An own goal^[5] (in soccer) is a goal scored when a player inadvertently strikes or deflects the ball into their own team’s goal. In Britain, the term is also used to denote an act that unintentionally harms one’s own interests • government scores own goal by assisting organized crime in London.

9a   Carnival provided retired with free teas (6)

Carnival^[5] is used in the sense of an annual festival, typically during the week before Lent in Roman Catholic countries, involving processions, music, dancing, and the use of masquerade. Carnival, in the sense of a travelling funfair [i.e., fair] or circus, is apparently a North American usage.

10a   First and second entering woodland (8)

In the UK, mo^[5] is an informal term for a short period of time (hang on a mo!) [abbreviation of moment].

11a   Repartee, as such, involving one with banner (10)

A new word to add to my vocabulary, persiflage^[5] is light and slightly contemptuous mockery or banter • an air of persiflage.

13a   Some keep on going, causing a stink (4)

Pong^[5] is British slang. As a noun, it means a strong, unpleasant smell • corked wine has a powerful pong. It can also be used as a verb meaning to smell strongly and unpleasantly • the place just pongs of dirty clothes.

14a   Its inhabitants may be crackers (7,6)

British Biscuit Barrel

Biscuit barrel^[5] is a British term for a small barrel-shaped container for biscuits. In Britain, a biscuit^[5] is a small baked unleavened cake, typically crisp, flat, and sweet (what one would refer to as a cookie^[5] in North America). Thus biscuit barrel would appear to be a British name for a cookie jar^[5]. Crackers^[7] — invented in the United States over 200 years ago — are said by Wikipedia to be "equivalent to savory biscuits in the United Kingdom". However, judging by the wording of the clue, the term cracker must also be known in Britain (assuming that a British cracker and a North American cracker are the same thing — and I could find no evidence to show that they are not). In his hint, Gazza mentions ginger nuts as something else that might be found in a biscuit barrel. A ginger nut is a British name for a hard ginger-flavoured biscuit [cookie] that is also known as a ginger snap (the name by which it goes in North America).

16a   Make eyes at the Spanish turn making a comeback (4)

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

20a   Push through American street (6)

Gazza indicates that thru is "the American way of spelling through". He might better have said that it is a slangy "American way of spelling through".

23a   Careful in plant close to machinery (7)

Thrift^[5] (also called sea pink) is a European plant (Armeria maritima, family Plumbaginaceae) which forms low-growing tufts of slender leaves with rounded pink flower heads, growing chiefly on sea cliffs and mountains.

8d   Football club stadium, around southern end of Clerkenwell (7)

This English football [soccer] club is well even known that it was easy to figure out — once enough checking letters were in place. Arsenal Football Club^[7] is an English Premier League football club based in Holloway, London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA [Football Association] Cups. Clerkenwell^[7] is an area of central London in the London Borough of Islington.

15d   Gap made by a brisk Yorkshire river (8)

The River Ure^[7] is a stream in North Yorkshire, England, approximately 74 miles (119 km) long from its source to the point where it changes name to the River Ouse.

21d   Service at end of Lent produces a large collection (4)

The Royal Air Force (RAF)^[5] is the British air force, formed in 1918 by amalgamation of the Royal Flying Corps (founded 1912) and the Royal Naval Air Service (founded 1914).

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)

Signing off for today – Falcon