Friday, August 2, 2013 — DT 27173

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27173
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, May 9, 2013
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27173]
Big Dave's Review Written By 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

For myself, this puzzle was definitely more than a double star for difficulty. However, it would undoubtedly be far less of a challenge to someone who was more familiar with some of the Briticisms than am I.

I will away from the blogging desk for the next couple of weeks. I have prepared a series of posts in advance which contain information on the puzzles that I expect to appear each day. However, as always, there is no guarantee that the National Post will not deviate from the current publication pattern.

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   Bumpkin that's cheerful overlooking lake (7)

5a   Greek heroine chosen by academy (7)

In Greek mythology, Electra^[5] is the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. She persuaded her brother Orestes to kill Clytemnestra and Aegisthus (their mother's lover) in revenge for the murder of Agamemnon.

The Royal Academy of Arts^[5] (abbreviation RA^[5]), an institution established in London in 1768, whose purpose is to cultivate painting, sculpture, and architecture in Britain. 

9a   Smell from memory among those on water? (5)

10a   College priest in trips abroad getting source of value? (5,4)

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

11a   Tour a man is running in caring institution (10)

Should you care, this "institution" is a sanatorium^[5] in Britain and a sanitarium^[5] in the US.

12a   Betting in excessive quantity by discontented depressives (4)

I would think that "betting" is used as in the phrase the betting is^[5] meaning it is likely ⇒ the betting is that the company will slash the dividend. or the British expression what's the betting?^[5] used to express a belief that something is likely  ⇒ what’s the betting he’s up to no good?.

The setter uses discontented in a whimsical cryptic crossword sense meaning 'with the contents removed' (patterned after words such as disemboweled).

14a   Criticise heavily speciality shown by little German opportunist (12)

Carpet^[5] is British slang meaning to reprimand severely ⇒ the Chancellor of the Exchequer carpeted the bank bosses.

18a   Entitlement of those with breeding? (5,7)

In the UK, the child benefit^[5] is a regular payment by the state to the parents of a child up to a certain age ⇒ child benefit will go up to £10 a week.

21a   Beef and fish (4)

22a   Drink is seen around select feature of castle (10)

25a   Red wine drunk around party -- it's needed in retirement? (9)

26a   Block taken by clan villagers protected (5)

27a   Performance in Spain occupying chum (7)

The International Vehicle Registration (IVR) code for Spain is E^[5] (from Spanish España).

28a   Proposition more doubtful in wake of article (7)

Down

1d   Parking increase getting approval (6)

2d   Value in source of advice about way of working (6)

In the UK, an agony aunt^[5] (or agony uncle) is a person who answers letters in an agony column^[5] — a column in a newspaper or magazine offering advice on personal problems to readers who write in.

MO^[5] is the abbreviation for modus operandi.

3d   A leading group rated possibly around government becoming innovative (5-5)

The Brits saw two versions of this clue. The one above — which we find today in the National Post — appeared in the print edition of The Daily Telegraph, while an alternate version (below) appeared online.

• 3d   A vehicle unexpectedly rated 'good' to sit in, and 'innovative' (5-5)

4d   Spill wild peat over top of rockery (5)

A spill^[5] is a thin strip of wood or paper used for lighting a fire, candle, pipe, etc. A taper^[5] may be better known as a slender candle, but it can also be a wick coated with wax, used for conveying a flame.

5d   Civilised manners quite variable in character not taking sides (9)

6d   In the past, premier European study (4)

A premier^[5] is a Prime Minister or other head of government, although in Australia and Canada the term is used for the chief minister of a government of a state or province.

Anthony Eden^[5], 1st Earl of Avon (1897 – 1977) was a British Conservative statesman who served as Prime Minister from 1955 to 1957. His premiership was dominated by the Suez crisis of 1956; widespread opposition to Britain’s role in this led to his resignation.

7d   Actress popular with A Bennett with a grand energy, being over 60? (5,3)

Alan Bennett^[7] is an English playwright, screenwriter, actor and author. His output includes ... the series of monologues Talking Heads ... Dame Thora Hird^[7] (1911 – 2003) was an English actress who won BAFTA () Best Actress awards for her roles in two of Alan Bennett's Talking Heads monologues..

8d   Bacon's quality? (8)

Francis Bacon^[7] (1909 – 1992) was an Irish-born British figurative painter known for his bold, graphic and emotionally raw imagery.

13d   Cooking of plain meat cut by university engineer (10)

15d   Call to import more retrograde chemical substance (9)

16d   Basmati, perhaps, not right with very best food (3,5)

17d   Reduced exposure useful for moles? (8)

A microdot^[5] is a microphotograph, especially of a document, that is only about 1 mm across.

19d   Exploitative type's drivel? (6)

Slaver^[5] means to let saliva run from the mouth ⇒ the Labrador was slavering at the mouth. Drivel^[5] has an archaic sense where it means to let saliva or mucus flow from the mouth or nose ⇒ the nurse leaves you to drivel, and never wipes your nose.

20d   A run-down area surrounding yard becoming place of refuge (6)

23d   Belief whichever way you look at it (5)

24d   Female in service held up by retainer wisely (4)

In the UK, a Wren^[5] is a member of the former Women’s Royal Naval Service [originally in the plural, from the abbreviation WRNS].

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