Friday, October 4, 2013 — DT 27218

Note: This entry was posted on Sunday, October 6, 2013 but backdated to maintain the proper sequence of puzzles.

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27218
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, July 1, 2013
Setter Rufus (Roger Squires)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27218]
Big Dave's Review Written By Libellule
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

I nearly forgot that I hadn't written a blog entry for this puzzle.

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

1a   Loyalty is required, say, in union (10)

9a   Type of opera that evokes flattery (4)

Soap^[4] is slang for flattery or persuasive talk (esp in the phrase soft soap).

10a   Spare site I developed, providing party fare (10)

A patisserie^[11] is a shop where pastry, especially French pastry, is made and sold.

11a   An attractive bar (6)

12a   Went quietly to give inside information to editor (7)

15a   Avenger about to give chase (7)

Chase^[5] is a verb meaning to engrave (metal, or a design on metal), although it is most often seen in the form of a past participle used as an adjective ⇒ a miniature container with a delicately chased floral design.

RayT employed a similar clue in DT 27036 [The Daily Telegraph, 2012-11-29; National Post, 2013-02-18]. It read:

• 26a   New Avenger giving chase (7)

The Avengers^[7] is a spy-fi British television series that ran from 1961 until 1969. A sequel, called The New Avengers^[7], appeared in 1976 and 1977.

16a   Gave everyone a hand (5)

17a   University course right for employer (4)

18a   Car gives way for pedestrians (4)

The second definition seems a bit misleading, as the solution could equally well be a way for vehicles — a ford^[5] being a shallow place in a river or stream allowing one to walk or drive across.

19a   Understood one to be in diplomacy (5)

21a   Awful house in conversion (7)

22a   A nominal attachment (4-3)

24a   She brings company into line, possibly (6)

27a   Opening match in early morning (5,5)

28a   Punish student  spectators (4)

In Britain, gate^[5] means to confine (a pupil or student) to school or college ⇒ he was gated for the rest of term.

29a   Final choice for a holiday destination? (4,6)

Down

2d   Work not for bread alone (4)

I suppose that a loaf is "bread alone" — as opposed to, for instance, a sandwich.

3d   Draw out information that sounds illegal (6)

4d   I may get nursed badly but that will be covered (7)

5d   England invader lacking an accepted standard (4)

A Norman^[5] is a member of a people of mixed Frankish and Scandinavian origin who settled in Normandy from about ad 912 and became a dominant military power in western Europe and the Mediterranean in the 11th century. The clue refers to the Norman Conquest^[5], the conquest of England by William of Normandy (William the Conqueror) after the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

6d   Component that defies analysis (7)

Analysis^[5] is the process of separating something into its constituent elements. A chemical element^[5] is one of more than one hundred substances that cannot be chemically broken down into simpler substances and are primary constituents of matter. Thus a chemist cannot analyze an element — but a physicist most certainly could!

7d   Ride in which the first half may be a twelfth of the second (10)

In Britain, roundabout^[3,4,11] is another name for a merry-go-round.

8d   Pudding is seen to follow after (7,3)

Spotted dog^[5] (another name for spotted dick^[5]) is a British dessert. It is a suet pudding^[2] [a type of boiled or steamed pudding that has a suet-based crust and a sweet or savoury filling] containing currants.

12d   Make contact and start being close (5,3,2)

13d   Bet policies will need to change, none the less, in referendum (10)

14d   A number upset wise man and artist (5)

Terms such as "a number", "a large number", or "a great many" are often indicators that a Roman numeral is required.

Edgar Degas^[5] (1834 – 1917) was a French painter and sculptor. An impressionist painter, Degas is best known for his paintings of ballet dancers.

15d   Spritely -- that's the Spanish and French conclusion (5)

In Spanish, the masculine singular form of the definite article is el^[8]. The French word for end is fin^[8].

19d   Melodic way of having fun with lute (7)

20d   Drunkenly set trap for the barman (7)

Tapster^[4] is a rarely used term for a barman.

23d   Some poured diesel into troubled waters (6)

25d   Girl puts one over teacher being sent up (4)

It is apparently common practice for British school students to call their male teachers "Sir", as in To Sir, with Love^[7], a 1967 British drama film starring Sidney Poitier that deals with social and racial issues in an inner-city school.

26d   Burn or brew? (4)

In Britain, tea may informally be called char (or cha or chai)^[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