Friday, April 11, 2014 — DT 27359

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27359
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, December 12, 2013
Setter RayT (Ray Terrell)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27359]
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 █ - 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

Today's puzzle from RayT is not overly taxing, but enjoyable nonetheless.

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.

Definitions are underlined in the clue, with subsidiary indications being marked by means of a dashed underline in semi-all-in-one (semi-& lit.) clues and cryptic definitions.

Across

1a   Advent prayer almost organised by Church (10)

This was a rather timely clue in the UK, with the puzzle appearing on December 12 — right in the midst of Advent.

Advent^[5] is the first season of the Church year, leading up to Christmas and including the four preceding Sundays.

6a   Information a little back to front (4)

9a   Bit of stuff found in immorality? Grand! (10)

10a   Hand’s good, holding spades (4)

12a   Cretin foolishly taking dope (4)

13a   Above top of pate’s growing less (9)

15a   University sensitive about good French name (8)

Bon^[8] is the masculine, singular form of the French adjective meaning good.

The Sorbonne^[10] is a part of the University of Paris containing the faculties of science and literature: founded in 1253 by Robert de Sorbon as a theological college; given to the university in 1808.

16a   Stretched, one hears, getting disciplined (6)

Discipline^[10] is used in the sense of to improve or attempt to improve the behaviour, orderliness, etc, of by training, conditions, or rules.

18a   Timid female wearing a sack (6)

20a   Govern party with comrade keeping popular (8)

In Britain, mate^[5] is an informal term (1) for a friend or companion ⇒ my best mate Steve or (2) used as a friendly form of address between men or boys ⇒ ‘See you then, mate.’.

23a   Tackle part embracing old lady for performance (9)

24a   One out of shape, losing heart (4)

26a   Singer left before ‘Posh’, twice! (4)

Here we encounter a couple of British female singers. In the surface reading, we have Victoria Beckham^[7] (née Adams), a member of the the all-female 90s pop group Spice Girls, who was dubbed Posh Spice by the British pop music magazine Top of the Pops.

The solution is Scottish singer Lulu^[7] who is internationally identified, especially by North American audiences, with the song "To Sir With Love" from the film of the same name and with the title song to the James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun.

In Britain, U^[5] is used informally as an adjective (in respect to language or social behaviour) meaning characteristic of or appropriate to the upper social classes ⇒ U manners. The term, an abbreviation of  upper class, was coined in 1954 by Alan S. C. Ross, professor of linguistics, and popularized by its use in Nancy Mitford's Noblesse Oblige (1956). In Crosswordland, it is frequently clued by words denoting the upper class such as posh or superior.

27a   Disparaging past Socialist turned Conservative (10)

28a   Starts to exchange useless, redundant old currency? (4)

29a   Rake produces neater edge perhaps (10)

Down

1d   Transgression without leader in section of church (4)

2d   Less decorated praline confection (7)

3d   Massive, Queen in action almost endlessly wild (12)

Regina^[5] (abbreviation R^[5]) [Latin for queen] denotes the reigning queen, used following a name (e.g. Elizabetha Regina, Queen Elizabeth) or in the titles of lawsuits (e.g. Regina v. Jones, the Crown versus Jones — often shortened to R. v. Jones).

4d   Drug for operation complicated, deprived of oxygen once (8)

Atropine^[5] is a poisonous compound found in deadly nightshade and related plants. It is used in medicine as a muscle relaxant, e.g. in dilating the pupil of the eye.

5d   Transport criminal incredibly lacking right (6)

7d   Helping to hold bay’s head in stable (7)

8d   Completely nude? (10)

11d   Repeat of cup tie at ‘Real’ broadcast (12)

Real Madrid Club de Fútbol^[7] (Royal Madrid Football Club), commonly known as Real Madrid — or even,simply, Real, is a professional football [soccer] club based in Madrid, Spain.

I believe that tie^[5] is being used in a British sense meaning a sports match between two or more players or teams in which the winners proceed to the next round of the competition ⇒ Swindon Town have gained themselves a third round tie against Oldham. The foregoing usage example does not mean — as a North American would presume — that Swindon Town and Oldham played to a draw in the third round. Rather, it means that Swindon Town defeated their opponent in the second round and will move on to face Oldham in the third round.

14d   Paid seller exorbitantly for some footwear (10)

An espadrille^[5] is a light shoe with a canvas upper, especially with a braided cord sole.

17d   Between France and England US state’s already settled (8)

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

The setter uses E as an abbreviation for England. This is not based on IVR codes as E^[5] is the code for Spain (from Spanish España).

Supposedly, The Chambers Dictionary is the authoritative source for The Daily Telegraph puzzle. Although E is given as an abbreviation for English, it is not shown as a short form for England in The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition but perhaps it has made its way into the 12th Edition.

19d   Professional soldier’s orderly (7)

21d   Song about unending region in US state (7)

22d   Present company’s first to get stick (6)

25d   Build up hunky exterior with exercise (4)

PE^[5] is the abbreviation for physical education (or Phys Ed, as it would likely be called by most school kids).

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