Wednesday, November 20, 2013 — DT 27251

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27251
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, August 8, 2013
Setter RayT (Ray Terrell)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27251]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Big Dave
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 needed some help from my electronic assistants to complete this puzzle. Not only did it contain a few words that I had not encountered previously, but I was distracted by my ongoing computer issues.

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   Way of life after getting into the habit? (11)

10a   Tenor with power covering Queen. Idiot ... (5)

The regnal ciphers (monograms) of British monarchs are initials formed from the Latin version of their first name followed by either Rex or Regina (Latin for king or queen, respectively). Thus, the regnal cipher of Queen Elizabeth is ER^[5] — from the Latin Elizabetha Regina.

11a   ... halfwit revealed by design or amusement (9)

12a   Every other bird in a former embrace (9)

13a   Greek character, goddess embodying first of Titans (5)

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

In Greek mythology, the Titans^[5] are the older gods who preceded the Olympians and were the children of Uranus (Heaven) and Gaia (Earth). Led by Cronus, they overthrew Uranus; Cronus' son, Zeus, then rebelled against his father and eventually defeated the Titans.

In Greek mythology, Theia^[7] (sometimes written Thea or Thia), also called Euryphaessa was one of the female Titans.

14a   Broad giving needle in silence (6)

16a   Lops head off plant (8)

Asphodel^[5] is a Eurasian plant of the lily family, typically having long slender leaves and flowers borne on a spike.

18a   'On the Beach' is prosaic for the audience (8)

I fully expected that there would be quotation marks in the British edition of the puzzle — and I was not disappointed.

On the Beach^[7] (1959) is a post-apocalyptic drama film directed by Stanley Kramer and written by John Paxton, based on Nevil Shute's 1957 novel of the same name and starring Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire and Anthony Perkins.

Littoral^[5] is an adjective meaning relating to or situated on the shore of the sea or a lake ⇒ the littoral states of the Indian Ocean.

20a   Sailor is catching case of dengue and survives (6)

In the Royal Navy, able seaman (abbreviation AB)^[5], is a rank of sailor above ordinary seaman and below leading seaman.

Abide^[5] (with respect to a feeling or memory) means to continue without fading or being lost ⇒ at least one memory will abide.

23a   River Test finally divided (5)

The setter gives us one river in the clue but is looking for another in the solution.

The River Test^[7] is a river in Hampshire, England having a total length of 40 miles (64 km). Its upper reaches are renowned for the excellent quality of its fly fishing for trout.

The Trent^[5] is the chief river of central England, which rises in Staffordshire and flows 275 km (170 miles) generally north-eastwards, uniting with the River Ouse 25 km (15 miles) west of Hull to form the Humber estuary.

24a   Terrible shower seek solutions, losing head (9)

26a   Standard of France in ruined memorial (9)

The International Vehicle Registration (IVR) code for France is F^[5]. 

An oriflamme^[5] is the sacred scarlet banner of St Denis, given to early French kings by the abbot of St Denis on setting out for war.

27a   Pile of stones roughly hard, not old (5)

28a   Harmful French article, 'Females almost embracing depressions' (11)

In French, un^[8] is the masculine singular form of the indefinite article.

Down

2d   Open's settled on tee (5)

3d   Unending craving for drug (7)

4d   Ethnic test about Britain (6)

5d   Ocean swirls over first one in kayak (8)

I have never considered a kayak to be a canoe, but I am surprised to discover that most dictionaries do.

6d   Tax  period (7)

7d   Throttling, giving a signal to turn around (13)

8d   Single politician's over getting threatened (8)

In many Commonwealth countries (including Britain and Canada), a member of the House of Commons or similar legislative body is known as a Member of Parliament^[10] (or MP^[5] for short).

9d   Foundation stone in Blenheim sat askew (13)

A stone^[5] (abbreviation st^[5]) is a British unit of weight equal to 14 lb (6.35 kg) ⇒ I weighed 10 stone.

Blenheim^[5] (also Blenheim Palace) is the Duke of Marlborough’s seat at Woodstock near Oxford, a stately home designed by Vanbrugh (1705). The house and its estate were given to the first Duke of Marlborough in honour of his victory at Blenheim, a battle in 1704 in Bavaria, near the village of Blindheim, in which the English, under the Duke of Marlborough, defeated the French and the Bavarians.

Foundation^[5] is used in the sense of the action of establishing an institution or organization ⇒ the foundation of a civil service college.

15d   Pedestrian way state overturned poor (8)

17d   Disapprove of endlessly strong husband grabbing rear (8)

19d   Bird in Sun a lot, rolling over (7)

An ortolan^[5] (Emberiza hortulana) is a small Eurasian songbird that was formerly eaten as a delicacy, the male having an olive-green head and yellow throat.

21d   Halves portions, taking little time (7)

22d   Ring around ring's centre like part of conifer (6)

Pineal is an adjective that means resembling a pine cone.

25d   Drug of poppy in use medicinally, initially (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