Monday, September 16, 2013 — DT 27204

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27204
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, June 14, 2013
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27204]
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

Like Gazza, I found this to be a puzzle of two halves. However, whereas he found the top half to be more difficult than the bottom half, for me it was the right-hand side which proved to be more of a challenge than the left-hand side.

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

4a   Most quiet end to this match -- it's bad getting caught (8)

My downfall here was due to becoming fixated on the mistaken ideas that "it's bad" must signify an anagram (bad) of ITS and that  "getting caught" would indicate that C (caught in cricket) is contained in the solution.

A Test (short for Test match)^[5] is an international cricket or rugby match, typically one of a series, played between teams representing two different countries ⇒ the Test match between Pakistan and the West Indies.

8a   A refusal by cleric to go round Italian city (6)

Verona^[7] is a city straddling the Adige river in Veneto, northern Italy. Three of Shakespeare's plays are set in Verona: Romeo and Juliet, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, and The Taming of the Shrew.

9a   Brood at home -- one of the youngsters took food (8)

10a   Roof needs seemingly 45 minutes group work (8)

Another way to say "45 minutes" would be '3/4 of an hour'.

In music, Op. (also op.)^[5] is an abbreviation meaning opus (work). It is used before a number given to each work of a particular composer, usually indicating the order of publication.

11a   Constructed a spoken message requesting assistance (6)

Make sure to pronounce "a" as a long vowel rather than a short one.

12a   Sir John is given a flower by workforce (8)

Sir John Falstaff^[7] is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare: the two Henry IV plays and The Merry Wives of Windsor.

In the whimsical dialect of Crosswordland, a flower is something that flows, in other words a river. The River Fal^[7] flows through Cornwall, England, rising on Goss Moor and reaching the English Channel at Falmouth.

13a   A traditional way to get the traveller's money? (8)

Although the term turnpike is very much in current use in the US, it is apparently an historical term in the UK. Between the mid-16th and late 19th centuries, a turnpike^[4] was (1) gates or some other barrier set across a road to prevent passage until a toll had been paid or (2) a road on which a turnpike was operated.

16a   There's a place for bangers at an outdoor party? (8)

Banger^[5] is British slang that can mean either (1) a sausage ⇒ bangers and mash [mashed potatoes] or (2) a loud explosive firework ⇒ these fireworks are no longer bangers but more like explosives.

19a   It's good to get into seat with middle of stadium crowded (8)

21a   Concert performance's beginning on time, on the dot (6)

In Britain, as well as being a short form for promenade^[5] (a paved public walk), prom (also Prom)^[5] is short for promenade concert ⇒ the last night of the Proms; a promenade concert^[5] being a concert of classical music at which a part of the audience stands in an area without seating, for which tickets are sold at a reduced price. The most famous series of such concerts is the annual BBC Promenade Concerts (known as the Proms), instituted by Sir Henry Wood in 1895. By the way, the word paved^[5] in the preceding definition would likely mean covered with with flat stones or bricks rather than covered with asphalt.

23a   After end of pain I am fortunate to be most active (8)

24a   Heather -- primarily type that will catch fire easily? (8)

Ling^[5] is the common heather (Calluna vulgaris), a purple-flowered Eurasian heath that grows abundantly on moorland and heathland.

25a   Time to squash doctrine producing consternation (6)

26a   One always rolls over then starts to look lively eventually -- when it's given? (8)

Down

1d   Judge had robe altered (7)

Deborah^[5] was a biblical prophet and leader who inspired the Israelite army to defeat the Canaanites (Judges 4-5). The ‘Song of Deborah’, a song of victory attributed to her, is thought to be one of the oldest sections of the Bible. Here judge^[5] is used in the sense of a leader having temporary authority in ancient Israel in the period between Joshua and the kings. Judges^[5] is the seventh book of the Bible, describing the conquest of Canaan under the leaders called ‘judges’ in an account that is parallel to that of the Book of Joshua and is probably more accurate historically. The book includes the stories of Deborah, Jael, Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson.

2d   Silly poets' egos may be seen in peculiar gait (5,4)

The anagram indicator "silly" gives us an additional hint as it is often paired with the word 'goose'.

3d   Religious writings in brown with upsetting pictures? (6)

Tantra^[5] refers to a Hindu or Buddhist mystical or magical text, dating from the 7th century or earlier.

4d   When agitated, he got spiteful, no mistake! (4,2,3,6)

5d   One way of saying artist entered to reveal secret (2,6)

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

6d   Type of delivery adjacent to reception area (5)

In cricket, a lob^[5] is a ball bowled [delivered] with a slow underarm action. I must admit that I thought of tennis rather than cricket — perhaps due to all of the recent Davis Cup coverage.

I also hampered my efforts in the upper right-hand quadrant by initially (and mistakenly) writing in what I thought to be a brilliant deduction — EARLY. It seemed to be a perfect fit, "early delivery" being a baby arriving before the due date and "early" being a whimsical cryptic crossword term denoting 'in the vicinity of (adjacent to) the ear (reception area)'.

7d   Sort of problem not in the foreground (7)

14d   Lacking purpose and unable to score (9)

15d   Hint of fog and competitor losing heart? It makes for a bad test! (8)

17d   I'm irate about how long programme goes on for (7)

18d   A cat for each and every Welsh woman? (7)

Siân^[7] (also Sian, Shân, and Shan) is a Welsh feminine given name, equivalent to the English Jane, Scottish Sheena or Irish Siobhán.

20d   Dear me -- that's wrong -- it must be done again! (6)

22d   Using some venom, I'd get small insect (5)

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