Tuesday, January 14, 2014 — DT 27294

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27294
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, September 27, 2013
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27294]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog 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 █ - solved but without fully understanding the wordplay or definition █ - unsolved or incorrect prior to visiting Big Dave's blog █ - reviewed by Falcon for Big Dave's blog █ - yet to be solved

Introduction

After finishing without calling upon my electronic assistants, I was a bit surprised when I saw that Gazza had awarded this puzzle three stars for difficulty. Perhaps I just managed to tune in to the right wavelength today. I did miss bits of the wordplay in a couple of clues, for which I needed Gazza's explanations — and, in one case, to alert me to the fact that I had failed to grasp the wordplay. Should you notice a new colour code appearing today, it indicates a clue for which I found the correct solution but did not understand at least some of the wordplay or definition,

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   Returning soldiers will go here  the wrong way round (4,2,5)

7a   Stuff at sea -- it floats around (7)

I eventually arrived at the correct solution — but not before getting distracted by FLOTSAM and, after getting a few checking letters, SALVAGE.

8a   Boys and tot featuring in stories (7)

10a   Restriction certainly needed for cover again (8)

11a   Return to base and make an impression (2,4)

Like several people commenting on Big Dave's blog, my first effort here was GO DOWN.

Even after correcting myself, the second definition in this clue did not register with me. There would have been no problem at all had the setter used hit (or strike) home^[5]. Instead, however, he has chosen a variant that I could find only in The Chambers Dictionary which defines go (or strike) home as meaning (of a remark, etc) to impress itself duly on the mind of the person addressed^[1].

13a   Seaweed carried by coastal gatherers (4)

14a   I am brought into English establishment for assessment (10)

16a   Blasted trick discovered by someone on the paper (10)

18a   Run into street? Careful! (4)

The setter may have had cricket in mind, but the clue should be equally solvable by baseball fans. On cricket scorecards, the abbreviation R^[5] denotes run(s).

21a   Word of prayer choking army officer in expression of grief (6)

22a   Aggressive style of Scot -- the male's male, nothing more! (8)

24a   Sort of growth that could bring elation (7)

25a   Not 'urt --- or partially limbless? (7)

26a   What you may see in these conditions in a flash! (5,6)

In 11a, I knew that I was missing something. Here, I only discovered that I had overlooked something when I read Gazza's review.

The solution is hidden in (what you may see in) theSE CONDitions — namely, a "split second".

Down

1d   In dry home in secure environment (7)

The definition is "in". In cricket, in^[5] means batting ⇒ which side [team] is in?.

TT^[5] is the abbreviation for teetotal (or teetotaller).

Bag^[5] is used as a verb in the sense of succeed in securing (something) ⇒ (i) we’ve bagged three awards for excellence; (ii) get there early to bag a seat in the front row.

The word "environment", together with the word "in", forms the containment indicator. The phrase "in secure environment" is equivalent to saying "surrounded by secure". 

2d   In the auditorium gets hold of a few words (6)

3d   Ignore this stupid speculating (10)

4d   What shepherd has  to close down (4)

5d   Fussy person losing heart would moan terribly (3,5)

6d   After journey I look up a city in Africa (7)

Lo^[5] is an archaic exclamation used to draw attention to an interesting or amazing event ⇒ and lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them.

Tripoli^[5] is the capital and chief port of Libya, on the Mediterranean coast in the north-west of the country; population 1.065,400 (est. 2006). Founded by Phoenicians in the 7th century BC, its ancient name was Oea.

7d   Knight going out with no care still (3,8)

In Arthurian legend, Lancelot^[5] is the most famous of Arthur’s knights, lover of Queen Guinevere and father of Galahad.

9d   Demonic killer with wrongly directed longing, outwardly amiable -- strange! (7,4)

Sweeney Todd^[5] is a barber who murdered his customers, the central character of a play by George Dibdin Pitt (1799–1855) and of later plays.

12d   I utter real drivel -- it gets published (10)

As an anagram indicator, drivel^[5] is used as a noun denoting nonsense ⇒ don’t talk such drivel!. It took a while for me to see how the wordplay works, but I think I finally have it. In the same way that a metal table is a table made of metal and a plastic bag is a bag made of plastic, an "I utter real" drivel is drivel (nonsense) made of "I UTTER REAL" — in other words, a rearrangement of the letters forming this phrase.

15d   Crop bound to be found in county (8)

Cornwall^[5] is a county occupying the extreme south-western peninsula of England; county town, Truro.

17d   Book 4 -- or maybe 1,2,3! (7)

Numbers^[5] is the fourth book of the Bible, relating the experiences of the Israelites in the wilderness after Moses led them out of Egypt.

19d   Understood to be fake (7)

20d   Inferior collection displayed in company (6)

23d   Conspiracy in bed? (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