Tuesday, January 29, 2013 - DT 27022

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27022
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27022]
Big Dave's Review Written By gnomethang
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

Introduction

After seeing the reaction of the Brits to this puzzle, I was more than satisfied with my performance today. I only had one unsolved clue when I called in my electronic support team, although I did have a half dozen clues with question marks beside them indicating that I did not fully understand the wordplay. Of those, only one turned out to be incorrect.

No one at Big Dave's site hazards a guess as to the setter beyond gnomethang's cryptic statement "I suspect I know who the setter is ...". Personally, I would guess it might be Petitjean (John Pidgeon) based on some of the cultural references.

There is one clue (28a) where the clue published in the National Post differs from what appeared in The Daily Telegraph (at least in the online version of The Daily Telegraph). Sometimes the clue appearing on the website gets changed at the last minute after the paper has already been printed. In such cases, we often get the clue that appeared in the paper (even when there is an error in the clue). In a quick scan of the comments at Big Dave's site, I did not find any mention that the clues differed between the printed and online editions of The Daily Telegraph. I can't imagine that the change was done to cater to an overseas audience, as the abbreviation that was retained (TA) is by far less well known on this side of the Atlantic than the one that was removed (TT).

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.

10a   Sue is so proper (7)

This was the first of my questionable solutions — and I discovered from gnomethang's review that my attempt fell short of the mark. My entry here was POLITIC which I think can be construed as meaning "proper"; politic^[5] being defined as (with respect to an action) seeming sensible and judicious in the circumstances ⇒ [with infinitive] I did not think it politic to express my reservations. Of course, I was at a loss to explain the remainder of the clue.

Sue^[5] is used in the formal sense of to appeal formally to a person for something ⇒ the rebels were forced to sue for peace.

11a   Lump welcomes lunchtime -- he likes to fill his face (8)

I have observed that the Brits — at least those who dwell in Crosswordland — seem to prefer a 1:00 PM lunch.

12a   Buffet with beer (6)

This was the site of my second question mark — and here my guess turned out to be correct. In Britain, wallop^[5] means alcoholic drink, especially beer ⇒ an endless supply of free wallop. Buffet, in this clue, is a verb.

13a   This gets carelessly misplaced -- perhaps too carelessly (10)

In his review, gnomethang refers to apostrophe's being "misplaced by greengrocers [a British term for retailers of fruit and vegetables]". In Britain, the misuse of apostrophes with plural nouns is known as the ‘greengrocer’s apostrophe’ because of its association with the prices of fruit and vegetables displayed in shops, as in banana’s 65p per kilo and lovely, ripe tomatoe’s.

In Canada, we also have issues with apostrophes, with Québec's Office de la langue française^[7] engaged in a campaign to eradicate the possessive apostrophe within the boundaries of the province, it being seen as a threat to the survival of the French language.

15a   Ashmolean regularly reviewed charitable donations (4)

The Ashmolean^[10] (or, in full, Ashmolean Museum) is a museum, attached to Oxford University and founded in 1683, noted for its paintings and archaeological collections. It is named after Elias Ashmole (1617 – 1692), an English antiquary who donated the first collection.

16a   Are they boring to do this pop trios like? (6,3)

I don't share gnomethang's reservations about the definition here. He seems to focus on the word "they" leading him to expect the solution to be a noun representing those ("oil strikers") performing the action (which would be a subject). I would have to think that the key words in the definition are "to do this" for which the result is phrase comprising a verb and an object (STRIKE OIL).

However, I was troubled by the surface reading of the clue, which initially seemed totally nonsensical to me. After reading and rereading the clue several times, I concluded that it must mean 'Are they boring because they perform this pop [music] that trios like?'.

21a   All right to uncork wine? (4)

Tokay^[5] is a sweet aromatic wine, originally made near Tokaj in Hungary.

22a   Generous care of two French gentlemen provoking hatred (10)

Monsieur^[8] (abbreviation M) is the French word meaning gentleman.

25a   Individually do something with no chance of success (4,4)

This was another clue with a question mark, but my solution proved to be correct. My uncertainty stemmed largely from the more restrictive meaning of the solution on this side of the Atlantic. In North America, a dead duck is one doomed to failure or to death^[3] but, in Britain, it is a person or thing doomed to death, failure, etc., especially because of a mistake or misjudgment^[4].

 I failed to understand the wordplay until I read gnomethang's review. The individual letters forming the word "do" mean DEAD (d) and DUCK (o).

In cricket, a duck^[5] is a batsman’s score of nought [zero] ⇒ he was out for a duck. The term is short for duck's egg, used for the figure 0 because of its similar outline. In North America, the counterpart to this term is goose egg^[5] (which, I am quite sure, we would never shorten to goose).

28a   Ragged volunteers times were wrong not right (8)

The clue appearing in the National Post differs considerably from that which appeared in The Daily Telegraph where it was:

• 28a   Volunteers not drinking before start of dinner, getting ragged (8)

The wordplay in today's clue is TA (volunteers) + T ([first] time) + T ([second] time) + ER[R]ED (were wrong) with R (right) deleted (not right).

In the UK, the Territorial Army (TA)^[5] is a volunteer force locally organized to provide a reserve of trained and disciplined manpower for use in an emergency.

2d   'Rocky' a bad role inspiring great affection (8)

This clue marks a rate occurrence — a pair of quotation marks that has survived the journey across the Atlantic.

Rocky^[7] is a 1976 American sports drama film written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It tells the rags to riches American Dream story of Rocky Balboa, an uneducated but kind-hearted debt collector for a loan shark in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Rocky starts out as a club fighter who later gets a shot at the world heavyweight championship.

3d   Close broadcast with no current issue (8)

Another rarity, a homophone which has survived the trip across the ocean.

4d   Perfect referee to control Northern Ireland and Austria heading for draw (10)

A^[5] is the International Vehicle Registration (IVR) code for Austria. As alluded to by gnomethang in his review, in cricket (as in baseball) an official who rules on the playing of a game is known as an umpire^[10].

5d   It's nonsense some characters in Branagh's 'Othello' are upset (4)

It looks like the string of good fortune has ended. The quotation marks here seem to have perished during the crossing.

Sir Kenneth Branagh^[7] is an actor and film director from Northern Ireland. He has directed and/or starred in several film adaptations of William Shakespeare's plays including Henry V (1989) (for which he was nominated for the Academy Awards for Best Actor and Best Director), Much Ado About Nothing (1993), Othello (1995), Hamlet (1996) (for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay), Love's Labour's Lost (2000), and As You Like It (2006).

Tosh^[5] is British slang meaning rubbish or nonsense ⇒ it’s sentimental tosh.

7d   Bound to be hot below opening either side of chimney (7)

Galumph^[10] means to to leap or move about clumsily or joyfully. The word was coined by Lewis Carroll, probably as a blend of gallop + triumph.

In the Scottish and Northern English dialects, lum^[5] is a chimney.

8d   Born in chirpy milieu of East London (7)

The definition is "of East London" making the solution an adjective. The word né^[5] means originally called or born (used before the name by which a man was originally known) ⇒ Al Kelly, né Kabish. While I am familiar with née (or nee)^[10] being used in a similar sense for a woman, I don't recall ever having seen né used in English (which precipitated another question mark on my answer sheet).

East London is the northeastern part of London, United Kingdom. Although without an official definition, it is generally considered to include all of Greater London east of the City of London and north of the River Thames. The East End of London, also known simply as the East End, is a subset of East London, corresponding to areas close to the the medieval walled City of London.

A cockney^[5] is a native of East London [specifically the East End], traditionally one born within hearing of Bow Bells (the bells of St Mary-le-Bow^[7] church). Cockney is also the name of the dialect or accent typical of cockneys, which is characterised by dropping the H from the beginning of words and the use of rhyming slang^[5].

11d   See business routinely being as regular as this? (9)

Another question mark here, as I was not aware that, to the Brits, clock^[5] means to notice or watch ⇒ I noticed him clocking her in the mirror.

I wrestled with the question of how much of the clue makes up the definition. I finally concluded that technically the entire clue is a cryptic definition (which happens to have some wordplay embedded in it). On the other hand, gnomethang has indicated that the definition is "being as regular as this". My first thought was that "being" would be a link word. However, I could not convince myself that "as regular as this" (or even "being as regular as this") stood on its own as a complete definition.

14d   One could make strides with this  drill possibly (10)

I think this clue elicited more than a single question mark. I was vaguely aware of the meaning of drill and successfully guessed the meaning of strides and trousering. Strides^[5] is British slang for trousers. Trousering^[1] is material for trousers [which, judging by its notable absence from most dictionaries, seems to be a rare commodity]. Drill^[5] is a coarse twilled cotton or linen fabric ⇒ (i) sturdy clothes in drill, denim and linen; (ii) top quality cotton drill with reinforced seams.

Thus one might interpret the clue (as did I) to be a double definition with the definitions being "one could make strides with this" and "drill possibly".

However, according to gnomethang, there may be another possibility. He equates drill^[10] with punishment, although I could not find it strictly defined as such, with the nearest meanings being (1) [military] training in procedures or movements, as for ceremonial parades or the use of weapons and (2) strict and often repetitious training or exercises used as a method of teaching. I had even less success in finding a source to substantiate his assertion that trousering also means punishment (so I guess we will have to accept his word that the British use it in that way).

17d   Reluctant air settled over gigolo (8)

Loth^[3,4] is a variant spelling of loath. In cricket, an over (abbreviation O)^[5] is a division of play consisting of a sequence of six balls bowled by a bowler from one end of the pitch, after which another bowler takes over from the other end. The word settled^[2] is used as an anagram indicator, presumably in the sense of to make or become securely, comfortably or satisfactorily positioned or established. Presumably, taken in their original order, the letters forming the word "air" where either not secure, not comfortable, or (most likely) not satisfactorily positioned.

19d   Detective stifled by a town's bitterness (7)

A detective inspector (DI)^[5] is a senior police officer in the UK. Within the British police, inspector^[7] is the second supervisory rank. It is senior to that of sergeant, but junior to that of chief inspector. Plain-clothes detective inspectors are equal in rank to their uniformed counterparts, the prefix 'detective' identifying them as having been trained in criminal investigation and being part of or attached to their force's Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

20d   Mike interrupting garbled patois that's laid on thick (7)

In art, impasto^[5] is (1) the process or technique of laying on paint or pigment thickly so that it stands out from a surface or (2) paint applied thickly. Mike^[5] is a code word representing the letter M, used in radio communication.

23d   Twerps docked point -- or lots (6)

Twerp^[4] is slang for a silly, weak-minded, or contemptible person. A noodle^[4] is a simpleton.

26d   'Three Men In A Boat' perhaps vaunted (4)

There may be three men in the boat but the quotation marks appear to have gone overboard. Three Men in a Boat^[7] [full title: Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)], published in 1889, is a humorous account by English writer Jerome K. Jerome of a boating holiday on the Thames between Kingston and Oxford.

Vaunt^[5], which usually appears as an adjective vaunted, means to boast about or praise (something), especially excessively ⇒ the much vaunted information superhighway. Crew is a part tense of crow^[5] meaning to express great pride or triumph, especially in a tone of gloating satisfaction. Since I would have said crowed, this clue occasioned my final question mark.

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