Monday, September 23, 2013 — DT 27209

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27209
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, June 20, 2013
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27209]
Big Dave's Review Written By   Falcon
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

It gradually dawned on me that I had seen this puzzle before. Nevertheless, it was not a write-in. The time required to complete it today equaled the time I spend on many puzzles I have not seen before. I note from my review on Big Dave's Blog that I found it difficult the first time around. At least today I completed it without electronic help — unlike the first time, where lots of electronic assistance was used.

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. The underlined portion of the clue is the definition.

Across

5a   Firm set of lips getting gloss? (3-3)

As I indicated in a comment on Big Dave's site, I "couldn’t quite connect the dots between gloss (over) meaning a superficial treatment of an issue and cop-out being the avoidance of a responsibility." I thought there may be some British usage with which I was unfamiliar. But, apparently not. Even several of the Brits were as equally baffled as myself. One writer explains it thus, "if you gloss over something it means you leave out a lot of the details, hence it is a cop out."

8a   Completely put under water, it has no chance of success (4,4)

9a   Out-of-order urinals surrounded by water (7)

10a   Heading off trouble is not the same (5)

11a   Second senior citizen with time after work creating regular drama (4,5)

In Britain, OAP^[5] is an abbreviation for old-age pensioner.

13a   Avoid hammering despite letting in soft header (8)

14a   Keep in mind wet weather holding Lawrence back (6)

T. E. Lawrence^[5] (1888 – 1935) was a British soldier and writer; full name Thomas Edward Lawrence; known as Lawrence of Arabia. From 1916 onwards he helped to organize the Arab revolt against the Turks in the Middle East, contributing to General Allenby’s eventual victory in Palestine in 1918. Lawrence described this period in The Seven Pillars of Wisdom (1926).

17a   Organ repairs now and then (3)

19a   Longing for money (3)

The yen^[5] (abbreviation Y^[5]) is the basic monetary unit of Japan.

20a   What he said was right about a million being wrongly convicted (6)

"Right Said Fred" is a comic song recorded in 1962 by English character actor, voice-over artist and musical comedian Bernard Cribbins^[5]. The song concerns the struggle by three workmen to move a heavy grand piano.

23a   Umpiring decision’s correct in total (8)

26a   She offers advice a guy cannot somehow without crying at first (5,4)

I thought that the surface reading was awkward in June, and it certainly hasn't improved with age.

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.

28a   'Herald' making someone upset? (5)

Perhaps a reference to the Daily Herald^[7], a British daily newspaper that was published in London from 1912 to 1964 (although it was weekly during the First World War). It ceased publication when it was relaunched as The Sun.

29a   More macabre claiming North's a laugh (7)

30a   Idiot in Japanese car losing rear end turned killer (8)

31a   Resounding approval for rise (6)

Down

1d   Hateful and tiresome wanting two starters and getting nothing (6)

2d   Each dot could be seen in old TV technology (7)

3d   One's written to tackle drugs (9)

E^[5] is an abbreviation for the drug Ecstasy or a tablet of Ecstasy ⇒ (i) people have died after taking E; (ii) being busted with three Es can lead to stiff penalties.

4d   Search cut short over Home Counties for northerner (6)

The Home Counties^[5] are the counties in the SE of England surrounding London, into which London has extended. They comprise chiefly Essex, Kent, Surrey, and Hertfordshire. 

In the UK, Scouse^[5] is an informal term for (1) the dialect or accent of people from Liverpool ⇒ the man turned on him in Scouse or (2) short for Scouser^[5], a person from Liverpool.

5d   Work together with Spanish summit (8)

Con^[8] is a Spanish preposition meaning with.

6d   Somewhat overweight for 12 (5)

To complete this clue, replace the number "12" (a cross-reference indicator) with the solution to clue 12d.

7d   Stubbs: fine artist associated with fish and game (8)

Una Stubbs^[7] is an English actress and former dancer who has appeared on British television and in the theatre, and less frequently in films. Among the roles for which she is particularly well-known is that of  Aunt Sally in the British children's television series Worzel Gummidge.

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.

12d   Choose Pop-Tarts with no bits on (3)

15d   Banker retiring in exotic Neath making an impressive leap (9)

In Britain, a supposedly certain bet is known as a banker^[5] ⇒ the horse should be a banker for him in the Members' race — or a cert^[5].

Neath^[5] is an industrial town in South Wales on the River Neath; population 46,800 (est. 2009).

In ballet, an entrechat^[5] is a vertical jump during which the dancer repeatedly crosses the feet and beats them together.

16d   'Pirates of Penzance'? Endless cheese by Gilbert and Sullivan (8)

The Pirates of Penzance^[7] is a comic opera in two acts, with music by English composer Arthur Sullivan (1842 – 1900) and libretto by English dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836 – 1911). The opera premiered in New York City in December 1879 and in London in April 1880.

18d   A good conclusion with German agreement on EU money getting close (8)

The German word for yes is ja^[8]. A cent^[5] is one hundredth of a euro.

21d   Drama's over, sweetie (3)

Noh^[5] (also No) is traditional Japanese masked drama with dance and song, evolved from Shinto rites.

22d   Not keen on having stove in south-east wings (7)

Aga^[5] is a British trademark for a type of heavy heat-retaining stove or range used for cooking and heating.

24d   Custom doesn't regularly last (6)

25d   Bully's empty attempt to harangue (6)

27d   Specialist tucked into macaroni cheese (5)

Macaroni cheese^[5] is the British term for a savoury dish of macaroni in a cheese sauce — a meal that I would refer to as macaroni and cheese.

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