Friday, May 10, 2013 — DT 27111

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27111
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27111]
Big Dave's Review Written By Deep Threat
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 is a pangram — a puzzle in which every letter of the alphabet is found at least once in the solution.

Introduction

The puzzle today is a rather gentle challenge. I did fairly well, but a knowledge of British railway stations would certainly have helped. One reader of Big Dave's Crossword Blog thought the setter might be Shamus (Philip Marlowe) — possibly based on the fact that the puzzle is a pangram, a type of puzzle for which he is known.

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

5a   US soldiers meeting pensioner to get dope (3,4)

Joe Soap^[10] is British slang for a person who is regarded as unintelligent and imposed upon as a stooge or scapegoat. In the US, Joe^[10] is a slang term for a soldier. In Britain, OAP^[5] is the abbreviation for old-age pensioner.

7a   In the morning, around ten after ten, in truth (5)

9a   An evergreen's required? Try elm, incorrectly (6)

10a   Canned beer and cigs for cold, unemotional types (8)

I would think that the rationale for using "canned" as an anagram indicator comes from the connotation of 'packaged'.

11a   Stop one about a line in magazine (10)

13a   Shrewd tramp, not married (4)

The syndicated puzzle uses the clue which appeared in the print edition of The Daily Telegraph. In the online edition of the paper, the clue was modified to read:

• Roguish tramp, not married (4)

14a   Barrister from New York borough getting Eastern consul off (6,7)

A Queen's Counsel^[5] (or, during the reign of a king, a King's Counsel^[5]) is a senior barrister appointed Counsel to the Crown on the recommendation of the Lord Chancellor [the highest officer of the Crown, responsible for the efficient functioning and independence of the courts].

16a   Device used for raising  a flag (4)

17a   Powerful men meet leaving station (5,5)

King's Cross railway station^[7] is a major London railway terminus, opened in 1852. It is located on the northern edge of central London.

19a   Rings about ending in 'Esther' and a trio performing in 'Deborah', say (8)

As usually is the case, the quotation marks which appeared in the UK have vanished before reaching North America.

Esther^[7] is an oratorio by German-born British Baroque composer George Frideric Handel (1685 – 1759) and is generally acknowledged to be the first English oratorio. The work was originally composed in about 1718, but was heavily revised into a full oratorio in 1732.

Deborah^[7] is another oratorio by George Frideric Handel. One of Handel's very early oratorios, it received its premiere performance in 1733.

20a   Chatter with minister, leader in temple (6)

In Britain, rabbit^[5] is an informal term meaning to talk at length, especially about trivial matters ⇒ stop rabbiting on, will you, and go to bed!. It is also used as a noun meaning a conversation ⇒ we had quite a heated rabbit about it.

The origin of this expression is rabbit and pork, rhyming slang for 'talk' [where I would assume that 'talk' must be pronounced so as to rhyme with 'pork' in the Cockney area of East London].

22a   Weapon that gives clean wound (5)

23a   Male not in to send out shipment (7)

I would say that transit^[5] is used in the sense of the action of passing through or across a place  ⇒ Guatemala is to have freedom of transit across Belize.

Down

1d   Relish visiting Devizes today (4)

Devizes^[7] is a town in Wiltshire, England.

2d   Greek god mysteriously poisoned (8)

In Greek mythology, Poseidon^[5] is the god of the sea, water, earthquakes, and horses, son of Cronus and Rhea and brother of Zeus. He is often depicted with a trident in his hand.

3d   Ring about last letters from brave English nurse (6)

Mount Edith Cavell, Jasper National Park

Edith Cavell^[7] (1865 – 1915) was a British nurse and patriot. She is celebrated for saving the lives of soldiers from all sides without distinction and in helping some 200 Allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Belgium during World War I, for which she was arrested. She was subsequently court-martialled, found guilty of treason and sentenced to death. Despite international pressure for mercy, she was shot by a German firing squad. Her execution received worldwide condemnation and extensive press coverage. In 1916, a mountain in Canada's Jasper National Park was named in her honour.

4d   Arsonist springing out of tree, one wearing rubber (4-6)

In Britain, a rubber^[5] is a piece of rubber used for erasing pencil or ink marks ⇒ a pencil with a rubber at the end.

In Britain, an arsonist is known as a fire-raiser^[5].

5d   Novelist's delight over church (5)

James Joyce^[5] (1882 – 1941) was an Irish writer. One of the most important writers of the modernist movement, he made his name with Dubliners (short stories, 1914). His novel Ulysses (1922) revolutionized the structure of the modern novel and developed the stream-of-consciousness technique. Other notable novels: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1914–15) and Finnegans Wake (1939).

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.

6d   Albert, for example, arranged prison concert (6,7)

Prince Albert^[5] (1819 – 1861) was consort to Queen Victoria and prince of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

8d   Charming wise men, mostly quiet (7)

12d   Takes off, engaged in topping sport (3-7)

In the surface reading, topping^[5] is dated British slang meaning excellent ⇒ that really is a topping dress.

14d   Question ruler abroad about a row (7)

15d   Ahead, master swimming against the current (8)

17d   Essential part of service in lower part of ship (6)

The Royal Navy (abbreviation RN)^[5] is the British navy.

18d   Bird flying (5)

21d   Try hard to support graduates (4)

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