Friday, April 4, 2014 — DT 27354

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27354
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, December 6, 2013
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27354]
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

When I headed off to the gym this morning, I had completed the top half but had made precious little progress in the bottom half. Upon my return, I managed to single-handedly conquer the southwest quadrant, but reluctantly called in my electronic assistants to subdue the southeast.

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   Set down amount of medicine with record entered (6)

An EP^[10] is an extended-play single, one of the formats in which music is sold, usually comprising four or five tracks.

4a   Personality outside church spoke affectedly (6)

I searched several dictionaries before finding a listing showing mind to be synonymous with personality. Here is how The Chambers Dictionary defines it:

mind n the state of thought and feeling; wits, right senses, sanity; consciousness; intellect; that which thinks, knows, feels, and wills; inclination; attention; direction of the will; soul; personality; ...

The Church of England^[10] (abbreviation CE^[10]) is the reformed established state Church in England, Catholic in order and basic doctrine, with the Sovereign as its temporal head.

8a   Ace American full of zest offers patronage (8)

10a   Outside American university observe Arab maybe (6)

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology^[5] (abbreviation MIT) is a US institute of higher education, famous for scientific and technical research, founded in 1861 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

A Semite^[5] is a member of any of the peoples who speak or spoke a Semitic language, including in particular the Jews and Arabs. How ironic that one often hears claims of Arabs being "anti-Semitic"!

11a   Knocking back beer is a mistake (4)

Depending on the source that one consults, Pils is a type of lager-like beer^[10], a type of lager beer similar to Pilsner^[5], any lager beer similar to Pilsener^[2], or merely a shortened form of one of the several variant spellings of Pilsner (the others being Pilsener or Pilsen)^[7].

12a   Acknowledged God, sincere in action (10)

13a   They could be under boss at head of institution (12)

Although I arrived at the correct solution from the definition, I failed to spot the anagram — at least, in part, due to carelessness. I had marked the clue to revisit later and then neglected to do so before looking at Deep Threat's review.

16a   Little devil, beast in Home Counties group without professional cook? (4-8)

The Home Counties^[5] are the counties in SE England surrounding London, into which London has extended. They comprise chiefly Essex, Kent, Surrey, and Hertfordshire.

20a   Severely criticises, possible expressions of sorrow not being considered (5,5)

21a   One of two storytellers said to be dismal (4)

Jacob Grimm (1785–1863) and Wilhelm Grimm (1786–1859) were German philologists and folklorists who are known as the Brothers Grimm^[5]. In 1852 the brothers jointly inaugurated a dictionary of German on historical principles, which was eventually completed by other scholars in 1960. They also compiled an anthology of German fairy tales, which appeared in three volumes between 1812 and 1822.

22a   The old man with receding locks is a person shunned (6)

23a   Support brought by knight in second battle (8)

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'].

24a   An outburst outside university when students are down? (6)

In Britain, down means away from a university, especially Oxford or Cambridge ⇒ he was down from Oxford.

25a   Boy’s story enthralling tot (6)

Down

1d   Couple bend over laughing? (6,2)

"Couple" is used as a verb.

2d   Like a kid’s book Dad takes amiss (3-2)

3d   Tethered dog tucked into fruity bit (7)

5d   Visible awareness (7)

6d   USSR official giving order to girl in vehicle (9)

The Order of Merit^[7] (abbreviation OM^[5]) is a dynastic order recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by King Edward VII, admission into the order remains the personal gift of its Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, and is limited to 24 living recipients at one time from these countries plus a limited number of honorary members. The current membership includes one Canadian (former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien).

7d   Little woman taking time, the woman to tremble (6)

A new sense of the word to me, dither^[10] means to tremble, as with cold.

9d   Sponsor Conservative female not in the top group (6-5)

14d   Looking at old boy working in restaurant? (9)

In Britain, an old boy^[5] (abbreviation OB^[2])  is (1) a former male student of a school or college ⇒an old boy of Banbury County School or (2) a former male member of a sports team or company ⇒the White Hart Lane old boy squared the ball to present an easy chance from 12 yards. It is also a chiefly British affectionate form of address to a boy or man ⇒ ‘Look here, old boy,’ he said.

15d   Appoint new leader of ecclesia? This one’s not approved (8)

In formal Church usage, ecclesia^[10] signifies a congregation. Historically, it was the name for the assembly of citizens of an ancient Greek state. 

An antipope^[10] is a rival pope elected in opposition to one who has been canonically chosen.

17d   Controls in business agreements restricting hospital (7)

18d   Giant beginning to intimidate a fairy (7)

In Greek mythology, the Titans^[7] were a primeval race of powerful deities, descendants of Gaia (Earth) and Uranus (Sky), that ruled during the legendary Golden Age. They were immortal giants of incredible strength and were also the first pantheon of Greek gods and goddesses.

Titania^[7] is a character in the play A Midsummer Night's Dream by English playwright William Shakespeare (1564-1616). In the play, she is the queen of the fairies. Due to Shakespeare's influence, later fiction has often used the name "Titania" for fairy queen characters.

In traditional folklore, the fairy queen has no name. Shakespeare took the name "Titania" from Ovid's Metamorphoses, where it is an appellation given to the daughters of Titans.

19d   Last character, English granny, to be found in women only accommodation (6)

In India and Iran, zenana^[5] is the name for the part of a house for the seclusion of women.

21d   Having a barrier makes one irritated — not right (5)

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