Monday, March 3, 2014 — DT 27330

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27330
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, November 8, 2013
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27330]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Deep Threat
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 parsing the clue █ - unsolved or incorrect prior to visiting Big Dave's Crossword Blog █ - solved with aid of checking letters provided by solutions from Big Dave's Crossword Blog █ - reviewed by Falcon for Big Dave's Crossword Blog █ - yet to be solved

Introduction

I was too quick to pat myself on the back for being able to identify the former England cricketer of whom I had never heard. As it turns out, he is but a figment of my imagination.

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

7a   A mister with sitar playing in Indian city (8)

Amritsar^[5] is a city in the state of Punjab in northwest India; population 1,194,700 (est. 2009). It became the centre of the Sikh faith and the site of its holiest temple, the Golden Temple. It was the scene of a riot in 1919, in which 400 people were killed by British troops.

9a   In the auditorium, unsettled by stages (6)

10a   Irish individual, right person for applying pressure (6)

Ir.^[2] is the abbreviation for Ireland or Irish.

11a   New deal required in cargo reception area, there being impasse (8)

12a   Ignoble now, having got drunk? Cease exploding angrily! (7,4,3)

15a   Be sorrowful about knight who cares too much for social standing? (4)

N^[5] is the abbreviation for knight used in recording moves in chess [representing the pronunciation of kn-, since the initial letter k- represents 'king'].

17a   Not like a circle aligned in debate? (5)

19a   Business arrangement for Kent location (4)

Deal^[7] is a town in Kent, England situated on the English Channel eight miles north-east of Dover.

20a   Pampering that gets some people down when not up? (14)

23a   Quiet learner needs a medicine, being without sign of passion (8)

Piano^[3,5] (abbreviation p^[5]), is a musical direction meaning either (as an adjective) soft or quiet or (as an adverb) softly or quietly.

The cryptic crossword convention of L meaning learner or student arises from the L-plate^[7], a square plate bearing a sans-serif letter L, for learner, which must be affixed to the front and back of a vehicle in various countries (including the UK) if its driver is a learner under instruction. 

25a   A right bounder beginning to escape from passageway (6)

Bounder^[3,4] is a British (Collins English Dictionary) or chiefly British (American Heritage Dictionary) term for a cad.

Rotter^[3,4] [appearing in Deep Threat's review] is a British (Collins English Dictionary) or chiefly British (American Heritage Dictionary) term for a worthless, unpleasant, or despicable person or, in other words, a scoundrel.

27a   Be consistent at this place, backing firm (6)

28a   Stalwart Cavalier having changed sides at the outset (8)

A Cavalier^[5] was a supporter of King Charles I in the English Civil War.

A Royalist^[5] was a supporter of the King against Parliament in the English Civil War.

Down

1d   Ruler involved in crimes after revolution (4)

2d   Little person getting cut outside pub (6)

A minnow^[4] is a small or insignificant person.

3d   Help to keep river, having very little water (4)

4d   Drug injected primarily in a poet being dissolute (6)

As an anagram indicator, consider dissolute^[10] to be a synonym for unrestrained.

5d   Gangster must meet fate in bed, it's somehow decided (8)

Al Capone^[5] (1899–1947) was an American gangster, of Italian descent who dominated organized crime in Chicago in the 1920s.

6d   Skipper could be satanic ape unfortunately (3,7)

8d   Violinists, etc in street bands (7)

13d   Poet who would look down on many? (10)

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow^[5] (1807–82) was an American poet. He is known for ‘The Wreck of the Hesperus’ and ‘The Village Blacksmith’ (both 1841) and The Song of Hiawatha (1855).

14d   Stranger given food heading off (5)

16d   Little creatures, busy types, drinking wine (8)

Asti^[7] (formerly known as Asti Spumante) is a sparkling white Italian wine that is produced throughout southeastern Piedmont but is particularly focused around the towns of Asti and Alba. Since 1993 the wine has been classified as a Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) and as of 2004 was Italy's largest producing appellation.

18d   As food allowance is out of this world, recorded in log (7)

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial^[7] (often referred to simply as E.T.) is a 1982 American science fiction film co-produced and directed by Steven Spielberg. It tells the story of a lonely boy who befriends an extraterrestrial, dubbed "E.T.", who is stranded on Earth. He and his siblings help the extraterrestrial return home while attempting to keep it hidden from their mother and the government.

21d   Support in hospital minimal -- leading to bad feeling (6)

The letter H is often clued by the word "hospital" based on the abbreviation commonly seen on road signs. However, in this clue, the setter clues H as "hospital minimal" indicating the first letter of Hospital.

22d   Meek and mild medic joins revolutionary priest (6)

In the Bible, Eli^[5] is a priest who acted as a teacher to the prophet Samuel (1 Sam. 1-3).

24d   Unemotional bowling partner for R. Willis? (4)

Even though I had never heard of either former England cricket player, I thought the clue was easy enough to solve. The answer is obviously C. Alm, is it not? Not!

Robert Willis, known as Bob Willis^[7], is an English former cricketer who played for Surrey, Warwickshire, Northern Transvaal and England. A right-handed and aggressive fast bowler with a notably long run-up, Willis spearheaded several England bowling attacks between 1971 and 1984.

Chris Old^[7] is an English former cricketer who played for Yorkshire, Warwickshire, Northern Transvaal and England. A right-arm fast-medium bowler and lower order left-handed batsman, Old represented England in international competition between 1972 and 1981.

26d   Money shut up after party (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