Tuesday, July 30, 2013 — DT 27170

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27170
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, May 6, 2013
Setter Rufus (Roger Squires)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27170]
Big Dave's Review Written By Libellule
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

My downfall today was a wrong entry at 10a. As usual, Rufus offers up some very entertaining fare. Not only does he stretch our powers of lateral thinking, he utilises a number of whimsical cryptic crossword conventions — some of which I was able to detect.

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   Wave to ship from high fairground attraction (13)

As a charade indicator, the word to^[5] appears in the sense of indicating that two things are attached or linked — as one finds in the expressions "put one's shoulder to the wheel" or "have one's nose to the grindstone".

10a   Compensate for being out of line? (7)

I carelessly put in ADDRESS instead of REDRESS.

I would have to say that this is an all-in-one clue that is also a double definition. The entire clue can be read as a definition to produce either of the two results set forth in Libellule's review.

11a   Rent-a-party? It's a wind-up (7)

In British English, wind-up^[5] [with wind used in the sense of coil or twist]  is an attempt to tease or irritate someone ⇒ surely this was a wind-up. I would expect that is how it is meant to be read in the surface reading. In the cryptic reading, it presumably must be read as "wind up" [with wind used in the sense of the movement of air].

12a   In extremities they can be accommodating (4)

13a   Shakespeare's theatre in the round? (5)

The Globe Theatre^[5] was a theatre in Southwark, London, erected in 1599, where many of Shakespeare’s plays were first publicly performed. The theatre’s site was rediscovered in 1989 and a reconstruction of the original theatre was opened in 1997.

14a   Is featured in current record (4)

17a   Complaint I will put to head (7)

Usually found in place names, ness^[5] means a headland or promontory ⇒ Orford Ness.

18a   Regretted planting tree in shade (7)

Although the meaning given for repine^[10] is to be fretful or low-spirited through discontent, the list of synonyms listed in Collins English Dictionary includes the word grieve. One meaning of regret^[10] is to bemoan or grieve the death or loss of.

19a   Preparing cheese  grill? (7)

22a   Big drop in Canadian and American currency (7)

Here the setter employs the word currency in a whimsical cryptic crossword sense of something having a current.

24a   Love girl's curved shape (4)

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. 

25a   Something wicked about 'Nothing to declare'? (5)

26a   Musicians forbidden to speak (4)

29a   The opposite of praise?  Well, no! (3-4)

30a   It dispels pain, sir (7)

I think that "dispels" is intended to be interpreted whimsically as dis-spells (spells incorrectly).

31a   Yet  it's neither sooner or later (2,3,4,4)

Down

2d   No cardinal's spoken about noise (7)

The definition here is more implied than explicit. The clue tells us that the solution is not cardinal (a type of number) — leaving us to surmise that it must therefore be a different of number.

3d   I was first to grasp being misrepresented (4)

4d   Consequences of Ulster's rebuilding (7)

5d   O to be in credit for one month! (7)

6d   Sounds like one bound for the crest of a wave (4)

7d   Family member losing head in high spirits (7)

8d   Home fixture exhausting directors (8,5)

I was done in by the error at 10a.

9d   Compulsory grounding for an aviator (6,7)

15d   Start being involved (5)

16d   Fish traps put out (5)

The sprat^[3,4,11] is a small marine food fish (Clupea sprattus) of the northeast Atlantic Ocean and North Sea that is eaten fresh or smoked and is often canned in oil as a sardine. Also called brisling.

20d   Not a word for a win on the way (7)

21d   Reasons for sediment (7)

22d   Such a bonus for drivers leads to a reduced cover charge (2-5)

Cover^[5] (in reference to insurance) means to protect against a liability, loss, or accident involving financial consequences ⇒ your contents are now covered against accidental loss or damage in transit. While the same verb form is used in both Britain and North America, we use a different form of the noun on this side of the pond. In the UK, the word cover^[5] is used to denote protection by insurance against a liability, loss, or accident ⇒ your policy provides cover against damage by subsidence. This is equivalent to the North American term coverage^[5] meaning the amount of protection given by an insurance policy ⇒ your policy provides coverage against damage by subsidence.

23d   Sue is of use (7)

Q. What is "sue" of "use"?
A. Sue is an anagram of use.

27d   Ring up Winnie? (4)

Winnie-the-Pooh^[7] (or, as Disneyfied, Winnie the Pooh) is a fictional bear appearing in a series of children's stories by English author A. A. Milne (1882 – 1956).

28d   See post is sorted (4)

Post is the British term for mail. I have always thought it ironic that the Royal Mail delivers the post in Britain and Canada Post delivers the mail in Canada!

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