Wednesday, September 18, 2013 — DT 27206

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27206
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, June 17, 2013
Setter Rufus (Roger Squires)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27206]
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

Today, I stumbled on the final hurdle and needed to take a peek at Gazza's review in order to finish.

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   Loses wicket but doesn't declare (5,2)

In cricket, to lose a wicket^[5] (said of the batting side) is to have a batsman dismissed. Play on^[5] is also a cricket term and means to hit the ball into one's own wicket [one of several grounds by which a batsman may be dismissed].

In cricket, a team continues to bat until ten of the eleven players on the team have been dismissed, unless the captain of a batting team declares the innings closed prematurely (the rationale for doing so is explained below). In the event that the captain declares the innings closed, his team takes the field and the opposing team bats. If the captain does not declare, the teams would "play on" (in the general sense of 'continue to play' the innings that is already in progress).

The primary objective of each team in cricket^[7] is to score more runs than the opposing team. However, in Test cricket (a match between national teams), it is not only necessary to score the most runs but also to dismiss the opposition twice in order to win the match, which would otherwise be drawn. Therefore, the captain of a batting team which has built up a large lead may declare the innings closed prematurely in order to allow the opposition to bat (and thus gain an opportunity to dismiss them). As a captain, the key to victory is picking the right time to declare. Should he declare too early, the other team may score more runs than his team has amassed and thereby win. On the other hand, if he were to declare too late, the match may end before his team can dismiss the other team (resulting in a draw, even though his team may have a substantial lead in runs).

5a   Whig can get involved in informal chat (7)

Chinwag^[5] is an informal British term for a chat ⇒ it was time they got together for a good old chinwag.

Historically, in Britain, a Whig^[10] was a member of the English political party or grouping that opposed the succession to the throne of James, Duke of York, in 1679–80 on the grounds that he was a Catholic. The Whigs provided the core of the Liberal Party. Today, the term refers to a conservative member of the Liberal Party in Great Britain.

9a   Deck or dock (5)

10a   Observer  Magazine (9)

This very clue was used by Jay in DT 26951 [The Daily Telegraph (2012-08-22) and the National Post (2012-11-06)].

This double definition type clue plays on the names of two British publications — ones with widely divergent views. The Observer^[7], the world's oldest Sunday newspaper, is a sister paper to the daily The Guardian^[7] and takes a similar liberal or social democratic line on most issues while The Spectator^[7] is a conservative-leaning weekly British magazine owned by the same people who publish The Daily Telegraph^[7].

In Jay's version of the clue, the word "magazine" was not capitalized. However, he was able to capitalize the word "observer" by placing it at the beginning of the clue, thus making it appear to be the name of a publication (rather than just an ordinary noun). As a result, the surface reading would tend to direct the solver's attention to the left-leaning Sunday newspaper, whereas the solution is actually the right-leaning current affairs magazine from a rival publisher.

In today's clue from Rufus, the word "Magazine" is capitalized which adds a further dimension to the clue. A magazine by the name of Observer Magazine is included each week with The Observer.

11a   They hold the news cuttings together? (5,5)

In Britain, an article or other piece cut from a newspaper or periodical is called a cutting^[5] ⇒ an archive of newspaper cuttings. In North America, it would be called a clipping.

12a   Religious instruction's wearing to a small group (4)

The abbreviation for religious instruction is RI^[10]. According to an article in Wikipedia, "In secular usage, religious education^[7] is the teaching of a particular religion (although in England the term religious instruction would refer to the teaching of a particular religion, with religious education referring to teaching about religions in general) and its varied aspects — its beliefs, doctrines, rituals, customs, rites, and personal roles."

14a   A case for arms limitation? (12)

18a   Stewed pears now sold in ounces (4,8)

21a   Yes! About to grab parking spot (4)

22a   The arms of formidable females (6-4)

25a   Skinny artist who has designs on his clients (9)

26a   Think of love and languish (5)

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.

27a   Swell acting one's seen in the theatre (7)

... the operating theatre, that is.

28a   Military dance (7)

Gazza identifies this clue as a double definition. However, I would think that it is a cryptic definition since the word lancer — despite having military overtones — is hardly a synonym for "military".

Lancers^[5] is a quadrille [a type of square dance] for eight or sixteen pairs.

Down

1d   It helps an actor to have fun in small part (6)

2d   A Pole's strangely showing a certain inclination (6)

3d   Please try a new version, one at a time (10)

4d   Alan's wrong to be nosy (5)

5d   Shakespearean role may make actor leap about (9)

Antony and Cleopatra^[5] is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, first printed in 1623, which follows the relationship between Cleopatra and Mark Antony from the time of the Sicilian revolt to Cleopatra's suicide during the Final War of the Roman Republic.

6d   This nation's rise and fall, in speech (4)

Here I must diverge slightly from Gazza's review. While his explanation is basically sound, I would not describe "rise and fall, in speech" as being the definition.

The clue indicates that a charade of the solution (represented by the pronoun "this") plus NATION is ('s) INTONATION (rise and fall in speech).

7d   Risk a wet capsizing to do sport (5-3)

8d   Assassinate or target revolutionary (8)

13d   A family habit? (4-2-4)

15d   Love a girl, sadly not one to be embraced (9)

16d   Material not to be made light of? (8)

17d   Company lacking any true organising may benefit from one (8)

19d   Remove from duty (6)

20d   Capital for a ship holding company (6)

In Crosswordland, a ship is rarely anything other than a steamship (abbreviation SS^[5]).

23d   Unqualified  to sum up (5)

24d   Roof party -- I object below (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