Tuesday, December 17, 2013 — DT 27272

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27272
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, September 2, 2013
Setter Rufus (Roger Squires)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27272]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog 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

As usual, Rufus delivers a very enjoyable puzzle. I needed a bit of help from my electronic assistants as I had forgotten about the piece of furniture at 15a and I didn't immediately twig to the cryptic definition at 22a. The reference to Greek mythology at 28a required a fair amount of research to decipher.

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   Show badly in need of female entertainer (10)

Show^[5] is used in the sense of to arrive for an appointment ⇒ her date failed to show.

9a   State and church, together in prosperity (4)

10a   Introduces new price cuts (10)

11a   Ragged child may be old city feature (6)

Ur^[5] is an ancient Sumerian city that formerly existed on the Euphrates, in southern Iraq. It was one of the oldest cities of Mesopotamia, dating from the 4th millennium BC, and reached its zenith in the late 3rd millennium BC.

12a   Press it, being resolved (7)

My interpretation differs from that offered by Libellule in his review. I would say that this is an & lit. (all-in-one) clue. The entire clue provides the definition as well as the wordplay (although in accordance with different interpretations). In the definition, press^[5] is used in the sense of to forcefully put forward (an opinion, claim, or course of action) ⇒ Rose did not press the point. The wordplay is an anagram (being resolved) of PRESS IT where resolve^[5] is used in the sense of (with respect to something seen at a distance) to turn into a different form when seen more clearly ⇒ the orange light resolved itself into four roadwork lanterns.

15a   Settles in courts (7)

A settle^[5] is a wooden bench with a high back and arms, typically incorporating a box under the seat.

16a   Embarrassed after some hesitation -- got it wrong (5)

17a   It's wrong to be retiring (4)

Definitions are usually found as either the first or last element of a clue. However, this is not the case in this clue as — for cryptic effect — the setter has chosen to use an unnatural word order. However, if one were to rephrase the clue in its natural word order, it would read "To be retiring is wrong" — placing the definition at the end of the clue.

18a   Famous ship lacks note initially for freight (4)

In Greek mythology, the Argo^[7] was the ship on which Jason and the Argonauts sailed from Iolcos to retrieve the Golden Fleece. It was named after its builder, Argus.

19a   Language used in telling off? (5)

21a   Feeling I will get on pursuing return of large volume (7)

22a   Take a liberty (7)

24a   Boil -- the spot comes first (6)

27a   Fixed new date for back garden to get makeover (10)

28a   Stygian fare? (4)

Stygian^[5] is an adjective that means relating to the River Styx in Greek mythology. In Greek mythology, the River Styx^[7] formed the boundary between Earth and the Underworld, over which Charon ferried the souls of the dead. Charon's obol^[7] is an allusive term for the coin placed in or on the mouth of a dead person before burial in several ancient cultures. Greek and Latin literary sources specify the coin as an obol, and explain it as a payment or bribe for Charon, the ferryman who conveyed souls across the river that divided the world of the living from the world of the dead. An obol^[5] is an ancient Greek coin worth one sixth of a drachma.

29a   Daughter is accused, but let off (10)

Down

2d   Allowing admission for ring enclosure (4)

3d   Ducks, or half duck, served up in jellied eels (6)

4d   Strained to define decimal point (7)

5d   Refusal to give the go-ahead for retreat (4)

6d   Aim is to keep safe, that's guaranteed (7)

In a rare lapse, Libellule — while having the wordplay correct — seems to have transformed "sure" into a verb in his explanation. The wordplay is END (aim) containing (to keep) SURE (safe). Sure^[5] is actually an adjective used in the sense of reliably stable or secure ⇒ on a sure footing.

7d   I'd hip and heart replaced in serious illness (10)

8d   Imitation gem made from nine others (10)

12d   Stress follows before making claim (10)

13d   One may charge you for refining Cornish ore (10)

Cornish^[5] is an adjective that means relating to Cornwall or its people or language. Cornwall^[5] is a county occupying the extreme south-western peninsula of England; county town, Truro.

14d   School  crocodile (5)

In Britain, a line of schoolchildren walking in pairs is known as a crocodile^[5]. A train^[3] is a long line of moving people, animals, or vehicles.

15d   Some climb Eiger to get a tan (5)

Eiger^[5] is a mountain peak in the Bernese Alps of Switzerland, which rises to 3,970 m (13,101 ft).

19d   Looked angry being let down (7)

20d   In this world, or possibly another (2,5)

23d   One making an advance on his own, we hear (6)

25d   Girl's not top of form (4)

In Britain, a form^[5] is a class or year in a school, usually given a specifying number. Thus the fifth form would be the counterpart to the fifth grade in North America and Form One would be like saying Grade One.

26d   Qualifying for an attendance mark in the register (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