Monday, October 28, 2013 — DT 27234

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27234
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, July 19, 2013
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27234]
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

On my first attempt at this puzzle, I was able to solve most of the right-hand side but very little of the left-hand side. After returning from a workout at the gym, I was able to work my way through the unsolved clues.

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   A treble quaking in Anglican church had finally sung (10)

As an adjective, Anglican^[5] means relating to or denoting the Church of England or any Church in communion with it.

The Church of England (abbreviation CE)^[10] is the reformed established state Church in England, Catholic in order and basic doctrine, with the Sovereign as its temporal head.

6a   Stagehand needs good saw (4)

The abbreviation G^[10] for good may relate to its use in rating school assignments or tests.

9a   Fatty stuff? It's very good having cover to hide it (5)

Having been awarded a G for a good result, you might think that a VG would be awarded for an even better result. However, in this clue, the setter sees "very good" in a different light.

Pi^[5] is an informal British short form for pious.

10a   Bird snare put back on top of roof? (9)

12a   Paper full of stories, it seems? Don't believe them! (1,6,2,4)

Tissue^[5] is used in the sense of an intricate structure or network made from a number of connected items ⇒ such scandalous stories are a tissue of lies.

14a   Coming from home -- letter, something to be digested! (8)

15a   Love part of country, but not one part of USA (6)

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.

17a   Day in town or city? City (6)

Durban^[5] is a seaport and resort in South Africa, on the coast of KwaZulu-Natal; population 3,409,100 (est. 2009). Former name (until 1835) Port Natal.

19a   Performance finished -- how much money has been made? (8)

A turn^[3] is a brief theatrical act or stage appearance.

21a   Queen at the end of pregnancy will be  worrying a great deal (6,7)

A queen^[5] is an adult female cat that has not been spayed. To have kittens^[5] is the British equivalent of the North American expression have a cow^[5].

As noted in a number of comments on Big Dave's blog, this clue was rather timely, as the puzzle appeared in the UK only three days before the birth of Prince George. You may recall that he entered the world a few days later than expected, reportedly causing his great-grandmother, the Queen, to fret about the impact on her holiday plans.

24a   Mark in paper gets excited by winter ale (9)

A waterline^[5] is a linear watermark in paper.

25a   Statistical representation has nothing to offer (5)

In statistics, an ogive^[5] is a cumulative frequency graph.

26a   Fish glowing almost (4)

The rudd^[5] is a European freshwater fish, Scardinius erythrophthalmus, of the carp family with a silvery body and red fins.

27a   What could conjure up the end, all bleak finally (5,5)

Down

1d   Learner gets cross about religious group (4)

The cryptic crossword convention of L meaning learner or student arises from the L-plate^[7], a square plate bearing a sans-serif letter L, for learner, which must be affixed to the front and back of a vehicle in various countries (including the UK) if its driver is a learner under instruction.

2d   French astronomer all excited about origin of proton star (7)

Pierre Simon, Marquis de Laplace^[5] (1749–1827) was a French applied mathematician and theoretical physicist. His treatise Mécanique céleste (1799–1825) is an extensive mathematical analysis of geophysical matters and of planetary and lunar motion.

3d   The way to help someone who needs to be patient? (7,6)

4d   A very quiet old place would be suitable (8)

Pianissimo (abbreviation pp)^[5] is a direction used in music to mean either (as an adjective) very soft or very quiet or (as an adverb) very softly or very quietly.

5d   Always having a poetic style? That is strange (5)

7d   Bird we'd released in arena (7)

Upon the mention of redwing^[5], British readers would likely think of a small migratory thrush, Turdus iliacus, that breeds mainly in northern Europe, with red underwings showing in flight. On the other hand, North American readers would be more likely to picture our red-winged blackbird.

8d   Rustic folk gathered around back of mill for a joke? (10)

11d   Reckon before puzzling to import English encyclopedia maybe (9,4)

13d   It's not hot and dry and gets her old cows suffering (4,6)

16d   Mathematical number not quite worked out (8)

18d   Fascinated, seeing one old American soldier dressed in colour (7)

In Britain, vet^[5] is short for veterinarian (as it is in North America, despite what Oxford Dictionaries Online has to say) but not for veteran. In the UK, a veteran^[5] is a soldier who has seen considerable active service rather than, as in North America, a former member of the armed forces. The use of vet as a short form for veteran also seems to be uniquely North American — thus the use of "old American soldier" to clue VET.

20d   Undergarment I obtain short? Just a bit (7)

In Britain, an undershirt is is known as a vest^[10] (and what North Americans generally think of as a vest would be called a waistcoat).

22d   Liquid upset over iron tool (5)

The symbol for the chemical element iron is Fe^[5].

23d   Spring  satisfactory? Fancy that! (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