Thursday, August 1, 2013 — DT 27172

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27172
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27172]
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

After a slow start, I was able to progress through the puzzle in a methodical fashion to completion.

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   He'd argue if forced out for one fronting the organisation (10)

6a   Feature of street in stockbroker belt (4)

Kerb^[5] is the British spelling of curb^[5], a stone edging to a pavement^[5] [British term for sidewalk^[5]] or raised path.

9a   Member of family of the majority of top chess players (7)

10a   Despatch by returning setter, say, is a stroke of good fortune (7)

Despatch^[4] is a less common spelling of dispatch.

12a   Dissolute son with joint left failing organisation (9,4)

While I was aware that dissolute^[5] means (of a person or a way of life) overindulging in sensual pleasures ⇒ unfortunately, his heir was feckless and dissolute, it took some effort to match this to the correct meaning of abandoned^[5], namely unrestrained or uninhibited ⇒ a wild, abandoned dance.

14a   Compound transforming some paint without sulphur (8)

Ptomaine^[5] is any of a group of amine compounds of unpleasant taste and odour formed in putrefying animal and vegetable matter and formerly thought to cause food poisoning.

The symbol for the chemical element sulphur is S^[5].

15a   Go through wood on the way back, finding shrub (6)

17a   Whipped, getting cut (6)

According to Oxford Dictionaries Online, nick^[5] is an informal Australian and New Zealand expression meaning to go quickly or surreptitiously ⇒ they nicked across the road.

19a   Noted eccentric being given honour and buried (8)

The honour referred to is the lowest class of this British order of chivalry.

The Order of the British Empire^[5] is an order of knighthood instituted in 1917 and divided into five classes, each with military and civilian divisions. The classes are: Knight or Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE), Knight or Dame Commander (KBE/DBE), Commander (CBE), Officer (OBE), and Member (MBE). The two highest classes entail the awarding of a knighthood.

Foreign recipients are classified as honorary members of the Order they receive, and do not contribute to the numbers restricted to that Order as full members do. Awards in the Order of the British Empire in the Commonwealth Realms were discontinued with the establishment of national systems of honours and awards such as the Order of Australia, the Order of Canada and the New Zealand Order of Merit. The Order of the British Empire is the most junior of the British orders of chivalry, and the largest, with over 100,000 living members worldwide.^[7]

21a   Off home during the morning, heading off risk from a seasonal song (4,2,1,6)

24a   The shape of accountant shot in study (7)

In his review, scchua refers to the Institute of Accountants. I believe he is likely referring to the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW)^[7], a professional body established by Royal Charter in 1880. Many of the predecessor local associations that amalgamated to form this organization had the phrase "Institute of Accountants" in their names, for instance the Institute of Accountants in London and the Manchester Institute of Accountants.

25a   King grew less severe, becoming lubricated (7)

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 — and that of King George was GR^[5] — from the Latin Georgius Rex.

26a   State assistance finally provided cheer in Spain (4)

27a   Scrap EEC by developing international links (10)

Achieving European Union appears to have been a three-step process.

Step 1: EEC^[5] is the abbreviation for European Economic Community^[5], an institution of the European Union, an economic association of western European countries set up by the Treaty of Rome (1957). The original members were France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. 

Step 2: The European Community^[5] is an economic and political association of certain European countries, incorporated since 1993 in the European Union. The European Community was formed in 1967 from the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the European Economic Community (EEC), and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom); it comprises also the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the European Court of Justice. Until 1987 it was still commonly known as the EEC. The name ‘European Communities’ is still used in legal contexts where the three distinct organizations are recognized.

Step 3: The European Union^[5] is an economic and political association of certain European countries as a unit with internal free trade and common external tariffs. The European Union was created on 1 November 1993, with the coming into force of the Maastricht Treaty. It encompasses the old European Community (EC) together with two intergovernmental ‘pillars’ for dealing with foreign affairs and with immigration and justice. The terms European Economic Community (EEC) and European Community (EC) continue to be used loosely to refer to what is now the European Union. The European Union consists of 27 member states, 16 of which use the common currency unit, the euro.

Down

1d   Works hard for heartless families hoarding silver (4)

Fag^[5] is an informal British term meaning to work hard, especially at a tedious task ⇒ he didn’t have to fag away in a lab to get the right answer.

The symbol for the chemical element silver is Ag^[5].

2d   Bird droppings covering a cold creature from the Andes (7)

3d   The reality of an obscene call in the morning? (4,9)

4d   Saving  a place for notices (8)

5d   Romeo is in endless pain, due to gas (5)

Romeo^[5] is a code word representing the letter R, used in radio communication.

7d   I heard and fired in range (7)

I initially put in ELEMENT and did not catch my error until I finally twigged to the solution to 12a (my last one in).

My original entry was based on I being the symbol for the chemical element iodine and an element also being part of a cook stove. Of course, I had no real explanation for the word "heard" and "fired in range" was rather sketchy as a definition for an element. Not to mention the fact that British ranges — as I understand it — don't have elements.

The Brits think of a range quite a bit differently than do North Americans. On this side of the Atlantic, a range can be a cooking stove using any type of fuel (wood, coal, oil, gas, electricity, etc.). However, in Britain, a range^[4] is specifically a large stove with burners and one or more ovens, usually heated by solid fuel. A cooking device that does not use solid fuel (such as one using gas or electricity) would be known over there as a cooker^[5]. Thus a cooker would have elements — but a range would not.

8d   They may be laid on for midnight feasts (10)

11d   Mother's partner yearns to grab stage and fly (5-4-4)

13d   Exposed cards used without us being generous (4-6)

16d   Make complicated but disastrous net approach (8)

18d   Fortune left for section of church (7)

20d   Person supplying drink advocates one's expression of gratitude (7)

Ta^[5] is an informal British exclamation signifying thank you ⇒‘Ta,’ said Willie gratefully.

22d   PA system with no time to bug (5)

To me, Tannoy is well-known for its speakers but not for its PA systems. However, it seems that in the UK tannoy^[5] is as synonymous with PA systems as kleenex is with facial tissues.

Tannoy Ltd^[7] is a Scotland-based manufacturer of loudspeakers and public-address (PA) systems. It became a household name as a result of supplying PA systems to the armed forces during World War II, and to Butlins and Pontins holiday camps [British term for a site for holidaymakers with accommodation, entertainment, and leisure facilities] after the war.

23d   Tool for cutting commercials on the radio (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