Monday, January 13, 2014 — DT 27293

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27293
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, September 26, 2013
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27293]
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 █ - yet to be solved

Introduction

I can add nothing to what Big Dave had to say about this puzzle — and he said very little.

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   Cleaning clothes with this used to be hard, however spun (7)

As Big Dave points out, this is a semi & lit. clue. In fact, it is a particular type of semi & lit. clue — one that scchua (who regularly writes the Wednesday blog for Big Dave's Crossword Blog) likes to call a WIWD (wordplay intertwined with definition). The entire clue constitutes the definition, while the latter part of the clue ("used to be hard, however spun") provides the wordplay.

I suppose, at a stretch, one might interpret the first part of the clue ("cleaning clothes with this") to be the definition. However, one really needs to add the latter part of the clue to complete the thought.

H^[5] is the abbreviation for hard, as used in describing grades of pencil lead ⇒ a 2H pencil.

5a   Where one finds meat, yet that's expensive in France (7)

In French, cher^[8] is the masculine, singular form of an adjective meaning expensive.

9a   Bird, flapping, rose to top of redwood (7)

In this clue, top^[5] means not the highest point but rather the beginning, as in the expression "they rehearsed Act One from the top".

10a   A stone thrown to catch king in act of this? (7)

Rex^[5] (Latin for king, abbreviation R^[5]) denotes the reigning king, used following a name (e.g. Georgius Rex, King George) or in the titles of lawsuits (e.g. Rex v. Jones, the Crown versus Jones — often shortened to R. v. Jones).

11a   Arrogant male with flower -- almost perfect (9)

12a   Sanctimonious talk over piece of music (5)

In cricket, an over^[5] (abbreviation O^[5]) is a division of play consisting of a sequence of six balls bowled by a bowler from one end of the pitch, after which another bowler takes over from the other end.

In music, canto^[10] is another word for cantus^[10], the highest part in a piece of choral music. [The definition would clearly seem to indicate that a canto is not a piece of music, but a part in music.]

13a   Someone in uniform runs off with wife, finally (5)

15a   Mo, with ace running, gets win? Pardon? (4,5)

17a   Plot to clear studio that's out of action (9)

I would have solved this clue much sooner had the final letter of 4d not looked like an O. [Note to self: in future, print letters more carefully]

19a   Second person's no good offspring (5)

The abbreviation G^[10] for good likely comes from its use in rating school assignments or tests.

22a   Wild mare left locked in field (5)

23a   Inferior bun, molars chewed (9)

25a   One going by Lancaster, perhaps, travelling through following a hill (7)

The Avro Lancaster^[7] is a British four-engined Second World War heavy bomber designed and built by Avro for the Royal Air Force (RAF). The "Lanc", as it was affectionately known, was the most famous and most successful of the Second World War night bombers. It first saw active service with RAF Bomber Command in 1942 and, as the strategic bombing offensive over Europe gathered momentum, it became the main heavy bomber used by the RAF, the RCAF, and squadrons from other Commonwealth and European countries serving within the RAF.

Of course, Lancaster^[5] is also a city in NW England, the county town of Lancashire, on the estuary of the River Lune; population 44,500 (est. 2009).

The wordplay parses as {VIA (travelling through) after (following) A (from the clue)} + TOR (hill).

26a   Maybe like vegetables tend to be cooked -- in alcohol (2,5)

The solution is a cooking term, usually associated with pasta, but one that apparently could also be applied to vegetables.

27a   Trashy equipment's placed in front of church? Yes (7)

28a   Continue  to complain (5,2)

Down

1d   Women with strange mark on hand (7)

2d   Spoons thrown right back (7)

3d   Credit -- it helps to cover rent (5)

The Chambers Dictionary defines tithe^[1] (in part) as (1) the tenth of the produce of land and stock taken originally as a tax for church purposes or (2) rent charged in lieu of this.

4d   Shameless British are confronted (9)

5d   Leaf from book starts to explain the Ethiopian language (5)

Betel^[5] is the leaf of an Asian evergreen climbing plant (Piper betle), which in the East is chewed as a mild stimulant.

6d   There are laws here for God's sake (9)

7d   Hearts so uplifted over girl's exclamation of praise (7)

H^[1] is an abbreviation for hearts, a suit in a deck of cards.

8d   Gone to the dogs to control first of Dalmations now barking (3-4)

14d   Hard to understand it came mixed with gin (9)

Possibly the clue is an allusion to the use, in the UK, of it^[5] as an informal, dated term for Italian vermouth ⇒ he poured a gin and it [a cocktail containing gin and Italian vermouth].

16d   Developing tan on climb, one left mountain (4,5)

Mont Blanc^[5] is a peak in the Alps on the border between France and Italy, rising to 4,807 m (15,771 ft). It is the highest peak in the Alps and in western Europe.

17d   Demonstrate against Obama, embracing leader of Republicans (7)

In Britain, barrack^[5] means to jeer loudly at (someone performing or speaking in public) in order to express disapproval or to distract them ⇒ opponents barracked him when he addressed the opening parliamentary session.

Barack Obama^[5] is an American Democratic statesman who has been the 44th President of the US since 2009. He was the first African American to be elected to the presidency, and was re-elected in 2012 for a second term. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009.

18d   Writer I attack going up street (7)

20d   United Nations generally forgetting Italy's timid (7)

The International Vehicle Registration (IVR) code for Italy is I^[5].

21d   Powerful wind, crossing lake on old boat (7)

A galleon^[5] is a sailing ship in use (especially by Spain) from the 15th to the 18th centuries, originally as a warship, later for trade. Galleons were typically square-rigged and had three or more decks and masts.

23d   Abandoned skate at end of street (5)

24d   Command terrier perhaps to let go of bishop (5)

A Border terrier^[5] is a small terrier of a breed with rough hair, originating in the Cheviot Hills [a range of hills on the border between England and Scotland].

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