Saturday, March 30, 2013

Saturday, March 30, 2013 — Jest Jokin'

Introduction

Today, the National Post serves up a triple dose of cryptic crosswords — one to solve today, one to occupy our time on Monday, and one to do yesterday. If we don't succumb to the chocolate left by the Easter Bunny, we just may overdose on puzzles. You might say that today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon — that arrives a couple of days early for April Fool's Day — is a barrel of laughs that will have you rolling in the aisles.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

Legend: "*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed
"( )" letters inserted; "_" letters deleted; "†" explicit in the clue

Across


1a   THIGH-SLAPPER* — anagram (changed) of LIGHT PERHAPS

10a   H(AN)OVER — HOVER (wait expectantly) containing (around) AN (†)
The House of Hanover[7] succeeded the House of Stuart as monarchs of Great Britain and Ireland in 1714 and held that office until the death of Queen Victoria in 1901. Queen Victoria was the last British monarch of the House of Hanover; her son King Edward VII belonged to the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the line of his father, Prince Albert.
11a   AD(MI|RE)D — {MI ([a musical] note) + RE ([another musical] note)} contained in (in) ADD (total; as a verb)

12a   WISECRACK* — anagram (tossed) of CREW A SICK

13a   D(ITT)O — DO (hairstyle) containing (worn by) ITT (Addams Family cousin)
The Addams Family[7] is a group of fictional characters created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. The Addamses are a satirical inversion of the ideal American family; an eccentric, wealthy clan who delight in the macabre and are unaware that people find them bizarre or frightening. They originally appeared as an unrelated group of 150 single panel cartoons, about half of which were originally published in The New Yorker [magazine] between 1938 and Addams's 1988 death. They have since been adapted to other media, including television series (both live and animated), films, video games and a musical.

Cousin Itt[7] is a fictional character in the Addams Family series. Unlike the other characters, Cousin Itt was not originally created by cartoonist Charles Addams, but by David Levy [the producer of the television series], though he did appear as an unnamed character in Addams's cartoons.
14a   VI|SAGE — SAGE (pundit) following (after) VI ([Roman numeral for] six)

16a   ON|E-L|IN|ER — ON (about; concerning) + EL (the Spanish; word meaning 'the' in the Spanish language) + IN (†) + ER (E.R.; emergency room)
ER[7] is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from 1994 to 2009. ER follows the inner life of the emergency room (ER) of fictional County General Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, and various critical issues faced by the room's physicians and staff. The show ran for 15 seasons with a total of 331 episodes, becoming the longest-running primetime medical drama in American television history.

I can't explain why the setters chose to put periods in "E.R.".
19a   REPARTEE* — anagram (excited) of PEAR TREE

21a   {BONS|A}|I — reversal (returned) of {A (†) + SNOB (superior sort)} + I ([Roman numeral for] one)

24a   BURRO~ — sounds like (heard) BOROUGH (town)

25a   PUN|C(H)LINE — PUN (groaner) + (by) CLINE (Patsy) containing (about) H (hot)



27a   G|AMBLER — G (gravity) + (and) AMBLER (stroller)

28a   PAR(APE)T — PART (†) containing (confining) APE (primate)

29a   SID(E-SP)LITTER — ESP (gift) contained in (found in) SID (Caesar) + (and) LITTER (Cleopatra's conveyance)
I initially thought that a Caesar (salad) was a SIDE (dish), which certainly made it difficult to explain the SP!

Sid Caesar[7] is an Emmy Award-winning American comic actor and writer best known for the 1950s television series Your Show of Shows and Caesar's Hour, and to younger audiences for his role as Coach Calhoun in Grease and Grease 2.

Down


2d   _H|AVOC_ — hidden (inside) eacH AVOCado

3d   GERM|AN — GERM (origin) + (followed by) AN (article)

4d   S|PARKING — S (small) + PARKING (offering from a lot)

5d   A|RM|A|D(ILL)O — ILL (I'll) contained in (put in) {A (†) + RM (room) + (with) A (†) + DO (party)}

6d   PURITAN* — anagram (chopped) of A TURNIP

7d   R(AD)IO — AD (spot) contained in (in) RIO (carnival town; Rio de Janeiro[7], Brazil)

8d   C(HEW) OVER — HEW (cut) contained in (in) COVER (blanket)

9d   ON|USES — ON (borne by) + USES (handles)

15d   G|ARG(O)YLES — O (old) contained in (wearing) {G (green) + ARGYLES (patterned socks)}

17d   R(AIM)ENTS — AIM (goal) contained in (in) RENTS (monthly expenses)
Raiments[5] is not the plural of raiment but, rather, is an alternate spelling. They both mean clothing or garments.
18d   TEMPORAL* — anagram (arranged) of PROM LATE

20d   P|YR|AMID — P (pass; an academic result in a pass/fail system) + YR (year) + AMID (in the centre of)

22d   SK(IMP)Y — IMP (little devil) contained in (in) SKY (heaven)

23d   S(NA)P AT — NA (North American) contained in (in) SPAT (argument)

24d   {B(OG)US}< — reversal (turning around) of {GO (ride) contained in (in) SUB (underwater vessel)}

26d   H(ART)E — HE (the guy) containing (has) ART (skill)
Bret Harte[7] (1836 – 1902) was an American author and poet, best remembered for his accounts of pioneering life in California.
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)
[11] - TheFreeDictionary.com (Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary)
Signing off for today — Falcon

Friday, March 29, 2013

Friday, March 29, 2013 — DT 27079

Puzzle at a Glance
Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 27079
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Setter
Unknown
Link to Full Review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27079 - hints]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27079 - review] 
Big Dave's Review Written By
Big Dave (hints)
crypticsue (review)
BD Rating
Difficulty - ★★ Enjoyment - ★★★
Falcon's Experience
┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐
██████████████████████████████████
└────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘
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 review was posted on Sunday, March 31, 2013 but backdated to maintain proper sequence.

This puzzle appears on the Friday Diversions page in the Saturday, March 30, 2013 edition of the National Post.

Introduction

The National Post has very thoughtfully published this puzzle in the Saturday edition of the paper so that we might enjoy solving it on Friday!

This having been a Saturday prize puzzle in Britain, we get two postings concerning it on Big Dave's Crossword Blog — the first by Big Dave on the day of publication containing hints for a few selected clues as well as a second, by crypticsue, containing a full review of the puzzle following the closing deadline for the contest.

Judging by the comments on Big Dave's site (many of which dealt with 10a and 3d), many of the Brits seem to have had a hard time getting their teeth into this puzzle. By the way, if you like to read the comments from the British solvers, for "Saturday" puzzles (such as this) they are predominantly found with the "hints" posting rather than the "review" posting.

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.

Across


1a   Macabre kill unravelled -- he threatens to expose offender (11)

9a   I am a success in perfect form (5)

In entomology, imago[5] means the final and fully developed adult stage of an insect, typically winged. However, in the field of psychoanalysis, it denotes an unconscious idealized mental image of someone, especially a parent, which influences a person’s behaviour. I knew very well the first usage, but was not at all familiar with the second and needed to verify my answer in the dictionary.

10a   Working contract for stylish gnashers? (9)

Gnashers[4,5] is British slang for teeth, especially false ones.

11a   Musical style of Rice perhaps in vogue (7)

Tim Rice[7] (Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice) is a British lyricist and author. An Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Tony Award and Grammy Award-winning lyricist, Rice is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, and additional songs for the 2011 West End revival of The Wizard of Oz, and for his work for Walt Disney Studios with Alan Menken (Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, King David), Elton John (The Lion King, Aida) and Ennio Morricone.

12a   Rainforest inhabitant got back round bank, right (4,4)

14a   Regular performer let round team (8)

I failed to find this usage of resident in any of a number of dictionaries. However, in Britain, resident[5] can mean a guest in a hotel who stays for one or more nights the hotel restaurant is open to residents and guests of residents — and one can easily imagine this meaning being carried over to the entertainers who perform at the hotel.

15a   A politician's sound equipment (4)

In Britain — or in Canada, for that matter, an MP[5] is a Member of Parliament.

17a   Indication to look elsewhere in document for leak (7)

Departing from what crypticsue indicates, I would think that this is a double definition.

19a   Native-American dance leading to onset of inundation (4)

The Hopi[5] are a Pueblo Indian people living chiefly in NE Arizona.

20a   One lacking belief in Italy's foremost composer (8)

Since I[5] is the International Vehicle Registration (IVR) code for Italy, one often sees "Italy" used to code the letter I. However, the setter today chooses to use a different device — coding I as "Italy's foremost" (i.e., the first, or foremost, letter of Italy).

21a   Entertainer to fool around TV etc (8)

23a   Keeps checks restricting irregular soldiers (7)

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.

25a   Penny has to be keen about old apartment (9)

In Britain's current decimal currency system, a penny[5] is a bronze coin and monetary unit equal to one hundredth of a pound (and is abbreviated p). In the system formerly used, a penny was equal to one twelfth of a shilling or 240th of a pound (and was abbreviated d, for denarius).

The definition in this clue would likely be a bit more meaningful for a British solver than for one from North America. What we know as an apartment on this side of the Atlantic would be called a flat in Britain. Brits reserve the word apartment[5] for a certain specific type of flat — typically one that is well appointed or used for holidays [seemingly either an upscale flat or one used for temporary occupancy]. Thus penthouse would seem to fit the British concept of apartment very well.

26a   High position -- Jane holds one (5)

Jane Eyre[7] (originally published as Jane Eyre: An Autobiography) is a novel by English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published in 1847 under the pen name "Currer Bell".

To an American, eyrie[3] is a variant spelling of aerie whereas to a Brit, aerie[4] is a variant spelling of eyrie.

27a   Assassinated President -- heinous act -- needs initially lots of lawyers (7'1,3)

Abraham Lincoln[7] (1809 – 1865) was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865.

The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn[7] is one of four Inns of Court [see below] in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. It is believed to be named after Henry de Lacy, 3rd Earl of Lincoln.

The Inns of Court in London are the professional associations for barristers in England and Wales. All such barristers must belong to one such association. They have supervisory and disciplinary functions over their members. The Inns also provide libraries, dining facilities and professional accommodation. Each also has a church or chapel attached to it and is a self-contained precinct where barristers traditionally train and practise, although growth in the legal profession, together with a desire to practise from more modern accommodation caused many barristers' chambers to move outside the precincts of the Inns of Court in the late 20th century.

Down


2d   Succession followed by monarch such as Queen Mary (5)

RMS Queen Mary[7] is a retired ocean liner that sailed primarily in the North Atlantic Ocean from 1936 to 1967 for the Cunard Line (known as Cunard-White Star when the vessel entered service). The Queen Mary was officially retired from service in 1967 and is now permanently moored in Long Beach, California, United States where she serves as a tourist attraction featuring restaurants, a museum, and hotel.

R[5] is the abbreviation for Regina or Rex (Latin for queen or king, respectively).

3d   They'll make champs toast including women (7)

Champ[4] in the sense of to to munch (food) noisily like a horse. In Britain (unlike North America, judging by the dictionary entries), champ is used in this sense as a noun as well as a verb. As a noun it means the act or noise of champing.

4d   Provide with engine needing short time to get up (8)

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

5d   Totter up gets sly look (4)

6d   Desiring changes, this gives a good view (8)

7d   Platform setting out team’s info (9)

8d   Spy on headquarters, providing interference (11)

12d   It shifts cargo from errant ports at sea (11)

A transporter[10] is a crane which transports objects, as for loading and unloading ships.

13d   Illustration showing mostly favourable quality about Greek character (7)

Phi[5] is the twenty-first letter of the Greek alphabet (Φ, φ).

16d   Heartless clique upset a politician producing intense discomfort (9)

17d   Submitted before the Spanish guard (8)

In the Spanish language, the masculine singular form of the definite article is el[8].

18d   Weapon gathered aluminium alloy (8)

"Gathered" used in the sense of assembled (as a group of people might do). Aluminium[5] is the British spelling of the chemical element aluminum, the symbol for which is Al[5].

19d   Ghastly house I'd renovated (7)

22d   Priest beheaded for serious crime (5)

The term priest is used in both the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church, while the term parson is used in the Church of England and other Protestant churches. The only church which seems to use to use both terms is the Church of England. A priest[5] is an ordained minister of the Catholic, Orthodox, or Anglican Church, authorized to perform certain rites and administer certain sacraments. Although the term parson[5] is applied informally to any member of the clergy, especially a Protestant one, formally the term means a beneficed member of the clergy; a rector or a vicar. A benefice[5] is a permanent Church appointment, typically that of a rector or vicar, for which property and income are provided in respect of pastoral duties. In the Church of England, a rector[5] is the incumbent of a parish where all tithes formerly passed to the incumbent, whereas a vicar[5] is an incumbent of a parish where tithes formerly passed to a chapter or religious house or layman. The terms rector and vicar are also used in the Roman Catholic Church, but with a different meaning in each case.

24d   Drive  bowling of Swann? (4)

In cricket, spin[5] (with reference to a ball) means to move or cause to move through the air with a revolving motion [no object] the ball spun in viciously; (ii) [with object] they had to spin the ball wide. Off spin[5] is a type of spin bowling that causes the ball to deviate from the off side [of the field, see below] towards the leg side [of the field, see below] after pitching the skipper’s off-spin did the trick.

Graeme Swann[7] is an English international cricketer. He is primarily a right-arm offspinner, and also bats right-handed and often fields at slip [see below].

In cricket, slip[5] is (1) a fielding position (often one of two or more in an arc) close behind the batsman on the off side [of the field, see below], for catching balls edged by the batsman ⇒ (i) he was caught in the slips for 32; (ii) King is at first slip or (2) a fielder at slip. Note that the slip is positioned behind the batsman. Unlike baseball, which has a 90 degree field of play, cricket has a 360 degree field of play. Thus there are fielders completely encircling the batsman.

The off side[5]  (also called simply the off) is the half of the field (as divided lengthways through the pitch) towards which the batsman's feet are pointed when standing to receive the ball.  The other side of the field is known either as the leg[5] (also leg side) or on (also on side).
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)
[11] - TheFreeDictionary.com (Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary)
Signing off for today — Falcon

Friday, March 29, 2013 — Happy Easter

Introduction

As there is no edition of the National Post today and yesterday's paper did not include the customary holiday Diversions page, crossword junkies are left without their daily fix.
Update: The editors at the National Post seem to have twigged to the fact that they neglected to include the Friday Diversions page in the Thursday edition of the paper and have inserted it into the Saturday edition. See the following posting for a review of the "Friday" puzzle.
Enjoy your holiday.


Signing off for today — Falcon

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Thursday, March 28, 2013 — DT 27078

Puzzle at a Glance
Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 27078
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph
Friday, January 18, 2013
Setter
Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27078]
Big Dave's Review Written By
Gazza
BD Rating
Difficulty - ★★ Enjoyment - ★★★
Falcon's Experience
┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐
███████████████████████████████████
└────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘
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

Today we get yet another gentle offering — this time from Giovanni. For once, I was aware that today is the day before a holiday on which there will be no edition of the National Post. Thus I took extra care to ensure that I did not hurriedly plunge into the first puzzle I happened to stumble upon — to avoid the situation that I have found myself in, on past occasions, of solving the wrong puzzle first. Today, there was no need of such caution as the National Post has not followed its usual practice of publishing an extra Diversions page to cover the holiday.

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.

Across


1a   Refinement of sailor when meeting soldiers in high spirits (11)

In the Royal Navy, able seaman (abbreviation AB)[5], is a rank of sailor above ordinary seaman and below leading seaman. In the British armed forces, other ranks (abbreviation OR)[5] refers to all those who are not commissioned officers.

10a   Expression of dismay in a county town when mother goes missing (5)

Armagh[5] is the chief town of the county of Armagh, one of the Six Counties of Northern Ireland.

11a   Son, member of family with double hesitation as slow walker (9)

12a   Like some tennis shots -- how dad gets troubled with net! (3-6)

13a   Wizard publication given American backing (5)

14a   Old king returning to country, a legendary fighter (6)

Rex[4] (Latin for king, abbreviated as R[5]) is part of the official title of a king, now used chiefly in documents, legal proceedings, and inscriptions on coins. It may be used following a name (e.g. Georgius Rex, or GR, for King George[5]) or in the titles of lawsuits, e.g. Rex v. Jones: the Crown versus Jones[5] (which would often be written simply as R. vs Jones). 

Roland[5] was the most famous of Charlemagne’s paladins[7] [sometimes known as the Twelve Peers, they were the foremost warriors of Charlemagne's court], hero of the Chanson de Roland (12th century). Roland was killed at the Battle of Roncesvalles in 778 .

16a   Old character in first half of play, the French girl (8)

In the French language, the feminine singular form of the definite article is la[8]. Prunella Scales[7] (appearing in Gazza's review) is an English actress, known for her role as Basil Fawlty's wife Sybil in the British comedy Fawlty Towers.

18a   Being anonymous is indescribable (8)

20a   Burn the midnight oil maybe in period of residence at uni? (4,2)

Uni[4,5] is a [seemingly British] informal term for university he planned to go to uni [when have we seen this before — ah yes, yesterday]. In Britain, up[5] means at or to a university, especially Oxford or Cambridge they were up at Cambridge about the same time

23a   Continue in the same line and race ahead (3,2)

It seems that "continue in the same line" is a printing term. I had supposed that it might mean to continue talking on a matter long after the audience had grown tired of the topic. Well, at least it got me to the right answer!

24a   Bishop's place is in a mess with work coming in (9)

Note that the definition is "bishop's" (of a bishop) making the solution an adjective. In the field of music, Op. (also op.)[5] is an abbreviation meaning opus (work). It is used before a number given to each work of a particular composer, usually indicating the order of publication.

26a   Moralist upset by new serious transgression (6,3)

27a   Like some architecture I love -- pleasant, not English (5)

In tennis, squash, and some other sports, love[5] is a score of zero or nil love fifteen. The resemblance of a zero written as a numeral (0) to the letter O leads to the cryptic crossword convention of the word "love" being used to clue this letter.

28a   Competitions set to run with man well organised (11)

Down


2d   Musical movement has some particular goal (5)

In music, largo[5] is used as an adverb or adjective to mean (especially as a direction) in a slow tempo and dignified in style. As a noun, it denotes a passage, movement, or composition marked to be performed in this way.

3d   Island's reaction to unwanted wet weather? (7)

Bahrain[5] is a sheikhdom consisting of a group of islands in the Persian Gulf; population 728,700 (est. 2009); official language, Arabic; capital, Manama. Ruled by the Portuguese in the 16th century and the Persians in the 17th century, the islands became a British protectorate in 1861 and gained independence in 1971. Bahrain’s economy is dependent on the refining and export of oil.

4d   Live with uncontrollable desire (6)

5d   Earth under you? The core is rumbling ferociously (8)

6d   Seat of empire? (7)

The Ottoman Empire is the Turkish empire, established in northern Anatolia by Osman I at the end of the 13th century and expanded by his successors to include all of Asia Minor and much of SE Europe. After setbacks caused by the invasion of the Mongol ruler Tamerlane in 1402, Constantinople was captured in 1453. The empire reached its zenith under Suleiman in the mid 16th century; it had greatly declined by the 19th century and collapsed after the First World War.

7d   Baseball player and satirical editor -- destructive types in combination (9,4)

This is one of those rare instances where the definition does not appear at the beginning or end of the clue — at least, not explicitly. The sense of the clue is 'Destructive types produced by baseball player and satirical editor in combination' (which implicitly puts the definition at the beginning of the clue).

Richard Ingrams[7] is an English journalist, a co-founder and former editor of the British satirical magazine Private Eye, and now editor of The Oldie, a monthly humorous lifestyle and issues magazine mainly aimed at the older generation.

8d   Rag fully recycled -- when one acts thus? (8)

As Gazza points out, this is a semi-all-in-one clue. The entire clue forms the definition while a portion of the clue ("rag fully recycled") constitutes the wordplay. Our fellow blogger, scchua, likes to call this type of clue a WIWD (wordplay intertwined with definition).

9d   Weep on stand, hugging dad -- fantastic football team! (7,6)

Crystal Palace Football Club[7] is an English Football league club based in South Norwood, London that currently competes in the second tier of English Football, The Championship. The team was formed in 1905 by workers at The Crystal Palace[7], a cast-iron and plate-glass building originally erected in Hyde Park, London, England, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851.

15d   Learner, university girl, entertaining trendy celebrity (8)

The cryptic crossword convention of L meaning learner or student arises from the L-plate[7], a square plate bearing a sans-serif letter L, for learner, which must be affixed to the front and back of a vehicle in various countries (including the UK) if its driver is a learner under instruction.

17d   Nincompoops getting so little right, legal adviser found (8)

An assessor[3,4,11] is defined in various American and British dictionaries as (1) an assistant to a judge or magistrate, usually selected for special knowledge in a particular area; (2) a person with technical expertise called in to advise a court on specialist matters; and (3) an adviser or assistant to a judge.

19d   Wish to have a board game is far in the past (4,3)

Go[7] is a board game for two players that originated in China more than 2,500 years ago (from whence it spread, first to Korea and Japan, and then worldwide). The game is noted for being rich in strategy despite its relatively simple rules. According to chess master Edward Lasker: "The rules of Go are so elegant, organic, and rigorously logical that if intelligent life forms exist elsewhere in the universe, they almost certainly play Go." The name Go is derived from the Japanese name of game "igo".

21d   Touching performance in hat (7)

Tile[10] is old-fashioned British slang for a hat. Gazza tells us the expression arises from the fact that "it’s something that goes over-head" — alluding to roofing tiles.

22d   Unknown pub, one with a showy garden feature (6)

25d   Wine or beer? There's nothing in it (5)

Pinot[5] is a wine made from Pinot grapes, any of several varieties of wine grape, especially the chief varieties Pinot Noir, a black grape, and Pinot Blanc, a white grape.
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)
[11] - TheFreeDictionary.com (Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary)
Signing off for today — Falcon

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Wednesday, March 27, 2013 — DT 27077

Puzzle at a Glance
Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 27077
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Setter
Unknown
Link to Full Review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27077]
Big Dave's Review Written By
Tantalus (and Mrs T) — with Big Dave
BD Rating
Difficulty - ★★ Enjoyment - ★★
Falcon's Experience
┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐
███████████████████████████████████
└────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘
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

We are served up another rather gentle offering today. A few went in quickly and then I was able to work systematically through the puzzle, with each solution found providing a foothold to reach the next. I did notice that we seem to spend a fair amount of time in the theatre today.

Today's review on Big Dave's blog is — for the main part — a rather whimsical unsolicited contribution from American readers Tantalus and Mrs T (with the gaps being filled in by Big Dave). Be on the lookout for anagrams of ANAGRAM and other similar devices sprinkled through the review.

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.

Across


1a   A chart devised about origin of rheumatic cold (7)

5a   People out for traditional breakfast fare (7)

Kip[5] is British slang which (as a noun) denotes a sleep or nap (i) I might have a little kip; (ii) he was trying to get some kip and (as a verb) means to sleep he can kip on her sofa. Thus a kipper would be someone who is sleeping.

A kipper[7] is a whole herring that has been split in butterfly fashion along the dorsal ridge, gutted, salted or pickled, and cold smoked over smouldering woodchips (typically oak). In the United Kingdom they are often eaten for breakfast.

9a   Regular pair of educational settings? (7)

Uni[4,5] is a [seemingly British] informal term for university he planned to go to uni. In Britain, a form[5] is a class or year in a school, usually given a specifying number. Thus the fifth form would be the counterpart to the fifth grade in North America and Form One would be like saying Grade One.

10a   Botanist's first walk for pleasure to get prickly plant (7)

11a   Titled figure heard with driver, say, in place of entertainment (9)

12a   Old US VP taking in grand valley (5)

Al Gore[7] is an American politician, advocate and philanthropist, who served as the 45th Vice President of the United States (1993–2001), under President Bill Clinton.

13a   Section in highly prestigious battle site (5)

Ypres[7] is a Belgian city located in the Flemish province of West Flanders. During World War I, Ypres was the centre of intense and sustained battles between the German and the Allied forces.

There were five Battles of Ypres[7] during World War I:
  • First Battle of Ypres (October 19 – November 22, 1914)
  • Second Battle of Ypres (April 22 – May 15, 1915)
  • Battle of Passchendaele (July 31 – November 6, 1917) also known as the Third Battle of Ypres
  • Battle of the Lys (1918) (April 9 – April 29, 1918), also known as the Battle of Estaires or the Fourth Battle of Ypres
  • Fifth Battle of Ypres (September 28 – October 2, 1918) was the informal name given to the Battle of Ypres 1918.
15a   A house study? (9)

17a   A padre is troubled about proceeds initially getting to vanish (9)

19a   Model in studio maybe creating difficulty (5)

22a   Cease working in part of theatre (5)

While the dictionaries can't get together on the precise definition of a stall, they do at least agree that the term is British. The American Heritage Dictionary says that a stall is a seat in the front part of a theater, the Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary has it as a chairlike seat in a theater, especially one in the front section of the parquet [see following], and Collins English Dictionary defines it as a seat in a theatre or cinema that resembles a chair, usually fixed to the floor. In the plural, stalls is variously defined as the seats on the ground floor in a theatre[5] (Oxford Dictionaries Online), the seats on the ground floor of a theatre or cinema[2] (Chambers 21st Century Dictionary), the area of seats on the ground floor of a theatre or cinema nearest to the stage or screen[7] (Collins English Dictionary).
  • the parquet is the front part of the main floor of a theater, opera house, etc., between the musicians' area and the parterre [see following] or, especially in the U.S., the entire main-floor space for spectators
  • the parterre, also called the parquet circle, is the rear section of seats on the main floor of a theater, opera house, etc., under the balcony
23a   Person touring university with revolutionary French composer in street (9)

Maurice Ravel (1875 – 1937) was a French composer whose works are somewhat impressionistic in style, employing colourful orchestration and unresolved dissonances. Notable works: the ballets Daphnis and Chloë (1912) and Boléro (1928) and the orchestral work La Valse (1920).

25a   Supplier of joint and bar associated with singer (7)

Cher[7] (born Cherilyn Sarkisian) is an American singer and actress. A significant popular culture figure for more than five decades, she has been called the Goddess of Pop.

26a   Force one's way into ground ruined around rear of district (7)

27a   Where one might raise small issue? (7)

28a   Set aside weapon carried by English vessel (7)

Down


1d   Relish small dwelling, mostly new, found in county borders (7)

2d   Activate theatre's opening with theatrical employee (7)

The Chambers Dictionary defines rigger[1] as someone who puts up and looks after the scaffolding and lifting apparatus, etc. that is used for building operations and theatrical and musical productions, etc.

3d   Place to sit retained by hero ostentatiously (5)

4d   Smell I may associate with dog reared close to home? Shame (9)

In British and Irish slang, hum can be a verb meaning to smell unpleasant when the wind drops this stuff really hums[5,10] or (2) a noun meaning a bad smell[2] or an unpleasant odour[10].

5d   King getting dish brought up, a meat dish (5)

Rather than sitting on the throne, this king would be found on a chess board — or in a deck of cards.

6d   Quiet song by band for a toddlers' institution (9)

Piano[3,5] (abbreviation p[5]), is a musical direction meaning either soft or quiet (as an adjective) or softly or quietly (as an adverb).

7d   Doctor interrupting faculty activity getting ban (7)

In Britain, the degree required to practice medicine is a Bachelor of Medicine[7] (MB, from Latin Medicinae Baccalaureus), which is equivalent to a North American Doctor of Medicine (MD, from Latin Medicinae Doctor). The degree of Doctor of Medicine also exists in Britain, but it is an advanced degree pursued by those who wish to go into medical research. Physicians in Britain are still addressed as Dr. despite not having a doctoral degree.

8d   Maybe, flat screen should be shifted by yard (7)

In the theatre, a flat[4] is a rectangular wooden frame covered with painted canvas, etc., used to form part of a stage setting. The Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary lists y.[11] as an abbreviation for yard — as does The Chambers Dictionary (together with y).

14d   Tomb left in university church defended by doddery peers (9)

With Easter nearly upon us, this proves to be a very timely clue. A peer[5] is a member of the nobility in Britain or Ireland, comprising the ranks of duke, marquess, earl, viscount, and baron hereditary peers could still dominate the proceedings of the House of Lords. Perhaps the setter intends the word to be interpreted in this way — and, then again, perhaps not.

16d   Our quest when relaxing around island to find shade (9)

17d   Bits strewn inside brown household receptacle (7)

Dustbin[4] is the British term for a garbage can or trash can.

18d   Broadcast namely by striking figure with book coming out (7)

The "striking figure" would seem to be a baseball player as a member of a cricket side would be referred to as a batsman. The Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary lists b. or B.[11] as abbreviations for book — while you will find b or b. in the The Chambers Dictionary.

The adverb scilicet[5] (abbreviation sc.[5]) means that is to say or namely (introducing a word to be supplied or an explanation of an ambiguity).

20d   Utensil plus a tag not good for ordering (7)

21d   Hillbilly concerned with dress around North (7)

While some rednecks may be hillbillies and some hillbillies may be rednecks, I wouldn't say that the two terms are necessarily synonymous. However, both terms do tend to be primarily associated with the South.

23d   Fruit in NW town picked up (5)

Bury[7] [pronounced berryalthough not by the locals according to Gazza (in a recent review on Big Dave's blog)] is a town in Greater Manchester, England.

24d   Record time kept by upcoming Frenchman (5)

Big Dave makes reference to the fictional René Artois[7], the main character in the BBC sitcom 'Allo 'Allo!, which ran from 1982 to 1992. Artois (usually referred to as René, but codenamed Nighthawk by the Resistance) is the owner of the Café René in the occupied French town of Nouvion during World War II. In the series, René is often caught in the arms of another woman by his wife, to whom he responds with the line "You stupid woman!" This would be followed by a convoluted explanation, which she would always believe.
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)
[11] - TheFreeDictionary.com (Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary)
Signing off for today — Falcon

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Tuesday, March 26, 2013 — DT 27076

Puzzle at a Glance
Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 27076
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Setter
Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27076]
Big Dave's Review Written By
scchua
BD Rating
Difficulty - ★★ Enjoyment - ★★★
Falcon's Experience
┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐
███████████████████████████████████
└────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘
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

Today's puzzle, unmistakably crafted by Jay, did not give me too much trouble — once I had sorted out a bit of an issue in the northwest quadrant.

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.

Across


1a   Odd drink sent back causes uproar (6)

Rum[5] is dated British slang meaning odd or peculiar. As a verb, sup[5] is a dated or Northern English term meaning to take (drink or liquid food) by sips or spoonfuls (i) she supped up her soup delightedly; (ii) he was supping straight from the bottle. As a noun, it means (1) a sip of liquid he took another sup of wine or (2) in Northern England or Ireland, an alcoholic drink the latest sup from those blokes at the brewery.

5a   Undergo suspension during church alteration (6)

Unlike in the following clue, here we need a very specific religious denomination. The Church of England (CE)[10] is the reformed established state Church in England, Catholic in order and basic doctrine, with the Sovereign as its temporal head.

10a   Expression of denial surrounding a church's food from abroad (5)

11a   Car from queue running over tailless rodent on island (9)

12a   Gets used to airs after a time (7)

13a   Mostly natter about otherwise capital area (7)

Chelsea[7] is an affluent area of central London, England. It is an upmarket neighbourhood equivalent to that of New York's Upper East Side, Los Angeles' Beverly Hills or the 16th arrondissement of Paris.

14a   A fog covering river, and the effect of freezing means a ceasefire (9)

17a   Cute  working partnership without kids (5)

In Britain, dinky[5] is an informal term that means (with respect to an object or place) attractively small and neat a dinky little restaurant. In North America, on the other hand, the term denotes disappointingly small or insignificant I can’t believe the dinky salaries they pay here.

Dinky[5] is also a slang term for a partner in a well-off working couple with no children. It is formed from the acronym DINK (double income, no kids), on the pattern of yuppy.

18a   Makes money from sweets (5)

In Britain, a sweet[5] can be a small shaped piece of confectionery made with sugar a bag of sweets [known as candy[5] in North America]. Another British meaning for a sweet is a dessert.

19a   Composure required, but drags on if suffering (9)

21a   Forbid access -- bit of hair not in place! (4,3)

23a   Disgusted with horse's accommodation on ship (4,3)

25a   Vessel from small island carrying post (9)

26a   Trio working around new opening (5)

27a   Put off cricketer's transport with runners (6)

Sledge[5] is a chiefly British term for a vehicle on runners for conveying loads or passengers over snow or ice, often pulled by draught animals a dog sledge; (ii) [as modifier] a sledge journey. In North America, such a vehicle would be called a sled[5].

Should you be puzzled by the former entry defining sledge as a toboggan, you should be aware that in Britain a toboggan[5] is a long, light, narrow vehicle, typically on runners, used for sliding downhill over snow or ice. You will find that the Brits apply the term toboggan to almost any type of sled used for sliding downhill. I suppose that the phrase "typically on runners" leaves enough wiggle room to allow a 'true toboggan' (which has no runners) to fit within the definition.

In the not so gentlemanly game of cricket, sledge[5] means (for a fielder) to make offensive remarks to (an opposing batsman) in order to break their concentration (i) they will be remembered for their sledging as much as for their skill; (ii) he had resorted to sledging Stewart. In North America, one would use the term trash talk[5], meaning to make boastful or insulting remarks in order to demoralize or humiliate a sporting opponent (i) Westering’s players do not swear or tussle or trash-talk; (ii) [with object] people were going to trash-talk us until we started to win; (iii) [as adjective trash-talking] trash-talking foreign junk-bond dealers; (iv) [as noun] he heard more trash talk from the Giants before the game than during the game.

The illustration in scchua's review is of Sister Sledge[7], an American musical group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, formed in 1971 and consisting of four sisters: Kim, Debbie, Joni and Kathy Sledge. The group is likely best known for their hit song "We Are Family".

28a   Batsman gets duck -- fellow takes name (6)

In cricket, a duck[5] is a batsman’s score of nought [zero] ⇒ he was out for a duck. In cryptic crossword puzzles, duck is used to indicate the letter "O" based on the resemblance of the digit "0" to this letter.

Also in cricket, an opener[5] is a batsman who opens the batting. Since there are always two batsmen
on the field, the opener is (in scchua's words) "one of the two starting batsmen".

Fellow[5] is used in the sense of a person in the same position, involved in the same activity, or otherwise associated with another he was learning with a rapidity unique among his fellows.

Down


2d   Rough share given to international organisation (5)

3d   Go on press trips to get forecasts (9)

4d   People with briefs -- kind found on board ship (5)

In Crosswordland, a ship rarely fails to be a steamship (abbreviation SS[5]).

In British legal circles, a brief[5] is a summary of the facts and legal points in a case given to a barrister to argue in court. In Britain, silk[5] is an informal term for a Queen’s (or King’s) Counsel [so named because of the right accorded to wear a gown made of silk]. A Queen's Counsel[5] (or, during the reign of a king, a King's Counsel[5]) is a senior barrister appointed on the recommendation of the Lord Chancellor [the highest officer of the Crown, responsible for the efficient functioning and independence of the courts].

Barristers and solicitors are two classes of lawyer. However, the distinction between them varies in different jurisdictions around the world. The following attempt to differentiate the two classes is likely highly oversimplified.
The UK has a split legal profession in which barristers and solicitors have separate and distinct roles. Solicitors are attorneys which means they can act in the place of their client for legal purposes. However, a solicitor is not a member of the bar and is therefore cannot speak on behalf of a client in court. A barrister is not an attorney and is usually forbidden, either by law or professional rules or both, from "conducting" litigation. This means that while the barrister speaks on the client's behalf in court, he or she can do so only when instructed by a solicitor or certain other qualified professional clients, such as patent agents.

In the US and Canada (with the exception of Quebec), there is generally no legal or regulatory distinction between a barrister and a solicitor - with any qualified lawyer being entitled to practice in either field. In the US, most lawyers call themselves attorneys while in Canada, lawyers will adopt different titles depending on the type of legal practice on which they choose to concentrate (barrister, solicitor, or barrister and solicitor). [read more]
Thus, in the UK, it would seem that the brief would be prepared by one lawyer (a solicitor) to be used by another lawyer (a barrister) to argue the case in court.

5d   Arrive cold and thin, and admit error (4,5)

6d   A delightful sort of accent (5)

7d   Player's sliding scale? (9)

Depending on the instrument being used, certain aspects of the musical term glissando[10] would seem to be almost diametrically opposite in meaning. On the harp or piano, it is a rapidly executed series of notes, each note of which is discretely audible. On the violin, viola, etc. it is another name for a portamento[10], a smooth slide from one note to another in which intervening notes are not separately discernible.

8d   Capital invested in bank? A racket! (6)

Ankara[5] is the capital of Turkey since 1923; population 3,763,600 (est. 2007). Prominent in Roman times as Ancyra, it later declined in importance until chosen by Kemal Atatürk in 1923 as his seat of government. Its former name (until 1930) was Angora.

9d   What's left by supporter? A country with no heart (6)

15d   'City knocked out in Cup' -- Mail (9)

The clue is crafted to look like a headline from the sports pages of a British newspaper. The Daily Mail[5] is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper which is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The SunManchester City F. C.[7] (often referred to as simply City), an English Premier League football [soccer] club based in Manchester, England. In all likelihood, Cup refers to The Football Association Challenge Cup[7], commonly known as the FA Cup, a knockout cup competition in English football that is the oldest association football competition in the world.

16d   Poor Titania's on Ecstasy and unable to get enough (9)

Titania[5] is the name of the queen of the fairies in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. E[5] is an abbreviation for the drug Ecstasy or a tablet of Ecstasy (i) people have died after taking E; (ii) being busted with three Es can lead to stiff penalties.

17d   Copper getting fellow in to replace loss of temperature -- it's not working properly (9)

F[2] is the abbreviation for Fellow (of a society, etc).

18d   Hostility from African country clubs witnessed by European (6)

Mali[5] (much in the news lately) is a landlocked country in West Africa, south of Algeria; population 13,443,200 (est. 2009); capital, Bamako. Its former name (until 1958) was French Sudan.Conquered by the French in the late 19th century, Mali became part of French West Africa. It became a partner with Senegal in the Federation of Mali in 1959 and achieved full independence a year later, on the withdrawal of Senegal.

20d   Right-wing turns up to support doctor with housing problem (3,3)

22d   Looked and searched the internet with the first couple going missing (5)

23d   Suppose son has love for authority! (3-2)

In tennis, squash, and some other sports, love[5] is a score of zero or nil love fifteen. The resemblance of a zero written as a numeral (0) to the letter O leads to the cryptic crossword convention of the word "love" being used to clue this letter.

24d   Lost heat after start of brief swim (5)
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