Friday, July 12, 2013 — DT 27156

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27156
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, April 19, 2013
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27156]
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

I have discovered that two stars for difficulty does not necessarily mean that I complete puzzles quicker — it merely means if I work on them long enough that I can eventually complete them without resorting to electronic aids.

A problem was discovered in one of the clues in today's puzzle after The Daily Telegraph went to press. In Britain, the clue was revised in the online version of the puzzle and, in a rare occurrence, this revision was also included in the syndicated version of the puzzle carried by the National Post.

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   Word describing acid hermit, no saint (6)

5a   Duty has changed with king being guarded for 24 hours (8)

K^[5] is an abbreviation for king that is used especially in describing play in card games and recording moves in chess ⇒ (i) declarer overruffed with ♦K and led another spade; (ii) 18.Ke2 [which, as I understand it, indicates that on the 18th move of the game, the king moved to the square on the board formed by the intersection of file (column) e and rank (row) 2].

9a   Oxford types eventually giving opportunities to ambitious youngsters? (4,4,5)

Dead men's shoes^[5] [possibly a British expression] refers to property or a position coveted by a prospective successor but available only on a person’s death ⇒ he had fallen into an estate by a series of dead men’s shoes.

10a   Not suitable footwear for office? There may be reversal of policy (4-4)

11a   Article in temporary accommodation? One isn't in one's own home (6)

12a   Sailor with raincoat that may get run over by car (6)

Mac^[5] (or mack) is an informal British name for a mackintosh, a full-length waterproof coat.

14a   Take away area for vehicle to reverse on (8)

16a   Retired Australian natives conducting strange rite (8)

The discussion on Big Dave's Crossword blog indicates that there was an issue with the clue that appeared in the print edition of The Daily Telegraph and that a new clue was later substituted in the online version of the puzzle.Fortunately, the revised clue was also inserted in the syndicated version of the puzzle.

I do, however, note a minor difference in wording between the clue as presented in Gazza's review (see below) and as it appears on The Daily Telegraph website and in the National Post (see above). Is this is merely a transcription error? Or, did the clue change yet again after Gazza viewed it?:

• 16a   Retired Australians conducting strange rite (8) : [version from Gazza's review]
  

Based on comments at Big Dave's site, I have attempted to reconstruct the original clue (or at least the wordplay portion of it) that was printed in The Daily Telegraph. It would seem to have been something along the lines of:

• 16a   Susan collects watch, maybe, when retiring (8)

This would have been intended to be interpreted as a reversal (when retiring) of SUE (Susan) containing (collects) TIMER (watch, maybe). However, that wordplay would produce the result EREMITUS rather than the desired EMERITUS. If my reconstruction is complete, the clue would appear to have been intended to be an all-in-one clue. Of course, my reconstruction may be incomplete and there may well have been a definition in the clue as well.

19a   Religious leader, one installed in new chapel not English (6)

21a   What may give some partners no rest (6)

23a   Some birds showed aggression to others (8)

25a   Repeated noise from ranter, bore I've beaten up! (13)

26a   Most pure little man facing trial (8)

27a   Sportsperson's message against making UK republic (6)

Keeper^[5] is short for goalkeeper (a player in soccer or field hockey [or hockey, for that matter]) or wicketkeeper (a fielding position in cricket).

The ciphers (monograms) of British monarchs are initials formed from the Latin version of their first name followed by either Rex or Regina (Latin for king or queen, respectively). Thus the cipher of Queen Elizabeth is ER^[5] — from the Latin Elizabetha Regina.

Down

2d   Mark called around to entertain this writer (7)

It is a common cryptic crossword convention for the creator of the puzzle to use terms such as compiler, setter, author, or writer to refer to himself or herself. To solve such a clue, one must usually substitute a first person pronoun (I or me) for whichever of these terms has been used  in the clue.

3d   Walk quietly, following vehicle (5)

4d   Firm and politician within the law or sharing guilt? (9)

5d   Worker with little power in time is becoming so much the worse (4,3)

Tant pis^[5] is an exclamation (borrowed from French) meaning so much the worse or the situation is regrettable but now beyond retrieval ⇒ if that was the route to his success, tant pis.

6d   At university group creates disorder (5)

In Britain, up^[5] means at or to a university, especially Oxford or Cambridge ⇒ they were up at Cambridge about the same time. 

7d   Don's cruel, wicked, nasty bit of work (9)

The setter of today's puzzle is Don Manley (who goes by the pseudonym Giovanni) — thus explaining Gazza's comment.

8d   Element that would be disastrous for skin care (not potassium) (7)

The symbol for the chemical element potassium is K^[5].

13d   Foreign noblemen are cemetery vandals maybe! (9)

Margrave^[5] was the hereditary title of some princes of the Holy Roman Empire.

15d   Reverse decision to sponsor part of athletics stadium (9)

17d   Grumble, needing to remove a roguish head of state (7)

18d   It's liable to be a part of the curriculum (7)

Liable (to)^[5] is used in the sense of likely to experience (something undesirable) ⇒ areas liable to flooding.

20d   Religious act of writer joining an established church (7)

22d   Merry frolic of runner in Berlin (5)

Here "runner" turns out to be a whimsical way of referring to a river. The Spree^[7] is a river that flows through parts of the Czech Republic and Germany — including the city of Berlin.

24d   Priest coming down on the heartless people of superior status (5)

In the Bible, Eli^[5] is a priest who acted as a teacher to the prophet Samuel (1 Sam. 1-3).

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