Tuesday, October 8, 2013 — DT 27220

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27220
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27220]
Big Dave's Review Written By scchua
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 stalled for the longest time with two clues remaining to be solved. However, after taking a break to rake leaves and mow the lawn, I was able to crack these two holdouts.

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   Studies a quiet run on credit (5,6)

Course^[5] is used as a verb in the sense of to flow ⇒ tears were coursing down her cheeks.

9a   Opener from county second team? (9)

Cork^[5] is a county of the Republic of Ireland, on the south coast in the province of Munster [population 190,384 (2006)].

10a   Shrink from cold, getting more depressed with no hat (5)

11a   Son rejected by new coolest cat (6)

12a   Soldiers needing jig, say, to secure new heavy weaponry (8)

In the British armed forces, the term other ranks (abbreviation OR)^[5] refers to all those who are not commissioned officers.

13a   Extract allowable by right of licence (6)

15a   Useless personnel from a musical stage, in parts? (4,4)

While I was able to find the correct solution from the checking letters and definition, the wordplay was a mystery to me. Even after reading scchua's review, it took extensive searching to track down the film and musical to which he alludes in his hint.

I discovered from Pioneer Tales from the Oregon Trail and Jefferson County, published in 1912, "Perhaps the most historic stagecoach in existence is the famous Deadwood coach, which was carried for many years by Buffalo Bill in his Wild West shows all over America and Europe." This led me to focus on Annie Get Your Gun^[7], a 1946 Broadway musical starring Ethel Merman and 1950 MGM film starring Betty Hutton, in which Buffalo Bill Cody appears as a character. The story is a fictionalized version of the life of Annie Oakley (1860 – 1926), a sharpshooter who starred in Buffalo Bill's Wild West show, and her romance with sharpshooter Frank Butler (played by Howard Keel in the film). However, that brilliant idea turned out to be a dud.

The reference is actually to Calamity Jane^[7], a 1953 film starring Doris Day that explores an alleged romance between Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok (also played by Howard Keel). The film was devised by Warner Brothers in response to the success of Annie Get Your Gun. In this case, the stage musical followed in 1960.

A song from the film is titled The Deadwood Stage (Whip-Crack-Away!)^[7]. Deadwood is not so much the name of the stagecoach, as it is the destination of the stagecoach — Deadwood, South Dakota.

18a   Classes of marine trained on board ship (8)

One soon discovers that a ship in Crosswordland is rarely anything other than a steamship (abbreviation SS^[5]).

19a   Agree to differ on millions being inadequate (6)

21a   Take away some land on reserve (8)

In Britain, a reserve^[4] is a member of a team who only plays if a playing member drops out; in other words, a substitute.

23a   Pronouncement from investigators turning stomach (6)

The Criminal Investigation Department (seemingly better known by its abbreviation CID^[2]) is the detective branch of the British police force.

Tum^[4] is an informal or childish word for stomach. I am not surprised that this word is absent from The American Heritage Dictionary. I would expect North Americans to say either tummy or tum-tum rather than tum.

26a   Finally losing tail in the hills of Africa (5)

The Atlas Mountains^[5] are a range of mountains in North Africa extending from Morocco to Tunisia in a series of chains.

27a   Admirers left one covered by dodgy dossier (9)

28a   Singer's evening at home bit of a blow (11)

Down

1d   Ride around working for twister (7)

Methinks there may be a bit of a faux pas here. Twister^[5] is a North American term for a tornado — not a cyclone.

2d   Marry an ecologist, giving up name (5)

Marry^[5] is used in the sense of to blend or combine with something ⇒ most Chardonnays don’t marry well with salmon.

3d   In short, a revolutionary must welcome independent academic (9)

4d   Blades or Owls against Reading, surprisingly taking the leaders (4)

Sheffield United Football Club^[7], nicknamed 'The Blades', is an English professional football [soccer] club based in the city of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, that plays in League One, the third tier of the English Football League System.

Sheffield Wednesday Football Club^[7], nicknamed 'The Owls', is an English professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, that competes in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English Football League System.

Reading Football Club^[7], nicknamed 'The Royals', is an English professional football club, based in Reading, that also plays in the Championship.

Reading (who rank 7th in the Championship) are currently leading the Owls (who rank 22nd). The Blades aren't even in the same league as the other two teams.

5d   Given compensation, considered taking in wife for good (8)

The abbreviation for good is G^[10] — a result one might receive on a school assignment or test.

6d   Old fool -- one whose time is over (2-3)

7d   Signal left on board and stop (7)

This was my second last clue to solve. My failing was trying to make signal be a noun, rather than a verb.

8d   Penchant for separation, perhaps, in final performance (8)

This is a clue where the solver must employ the "lift and separate" technique — something that Jay generously points out in the clue. The solution requires that "penchant" be separated into two words, "pen" and "chant" which become the fodder of a charade.

14d   The compiler's on phone, getting static (8)

It is a common cryptic crossword convention for the creator of the puzzle to use terms such as compiler, setter, author, writer, or this person to refer to himself or herself. To solve such a clue, one must generally substitute a first person pronoun (I or me) for whichever of these terms has been used in the clue. Today, Jay has made the scenario slightly more complicated by combining "compiler" with the verb "to be" producing "compiler's" (compiler is) which must be replaced by "I'm" (I am).

16d   Eccentric initiated as expert in nutrition (9)

17d   Turning into the wind across river, and following (8)

18d   South American volunteers with popular support (7)

In the UK, the Territorial Army (TA)^[5] is a volunteer force locally organized to provide a reserve of trained and disciplined manpower for use in an emergency.

20d   Line dismissed by travelling salesmen as a group (2,5)

22d   Extract from legislature's inquiry (5)

24d   Cheers supporting article and letter from abroad (5)

Cheers^[5] is a chiefly British exclamation expressing gratitude or acknowledgement for something ⇒ Billy tossed him the key. ‘Cheers, pal.’ This versatile exclamation can also be used to (1) express good wishes before drinking  ⇒ ‘Cheers,’ she said, raising her glass or (2) good wishes on parting or ending a conversation  ⇒ ‘Cheers, Jack, see you later.’.

Ta^[5] is an informal British exclamation signifying thank you ⇒‘Ta,’ said Willie gratefully.

Theta^[5] is the eighth letter of the Greek alphabet (Θ, θ).

25d   Gun supplied by company officer (4)

Colt^[10] is a type of revolver named after American inventor Samuel Colt (1814 – 1862).

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