Wednesday, June 11, 2014 — DT 27404

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27404
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27404]
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 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

It is a fairly gentle puzzle today — although there are one or two British references that will undoubtedly trip up many North Americans.

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.

Primary indications (definitions) are marked with a solid underline in the clue; subsidiary indications (be they wordplay or other) are marked with a dashed underline in all-in-one (& lit.) clues, semi-all-in-one (semi-& lit.) clues and cryptic definitions.

Across

1a   Rubbish ballad finally turned down (7)

5a   Exhausted European member of parliament changed diet (7)

In many Commonwealth countries (including Britain and Canada), a member of the House of Commons or similar legislative body is known as a Member of Parliament^[10] (or MP^[5] for short).

9a   Hippopotamus I captured holding rock, perhaps (5)

10a   The same one with depression? I almost cry (9)

11a   Some turned out great -- or dreadful (10)

12a   Caught after Sid's criminal record (4)

On cricket scorecards, the abbreviation c^[5] denotes caught (by).

14a   Doctor Sam on this hospital dept creating surprise (12)

The busiest section of the Crosswordland Hospital continues to be the ear, nose and throat (ENT^[2]) department.

18a   Sizes of certain players in foreign teams (12)

21a   Watch the man had heard (4)

22a   Without thinking, start to comment: 'Are the French sneaky?' (10)

In French, the masculine singular form of the definite article is le^[8].

25a   The meaning of words initially shifting? This setter's flipping tricks! (9)

It is a common cryptic crossword convention for the creator of the puzzle to use terms such as compiler, setter, author, writer, or this person to refer to himself or herself. To solve such a clue, one must generally substitute a first person pronoun (I or me) for whichever of these terms has been used in the clue.

26a   John is after one good place to stay in the far north (5)

Loo^[5] is an informal British term for a toilet.

The abbreviation G^[10] for good may relate to its use in grading school assignments or tests.

27a   Small and secure thing to use in a flood (7)

Bag^[10] is used in an informal British sense meaning to to reserve or secure the right to do or to have something ⇒ he bagged the best chair.

28a   It's designed to detain criminal longer, I'll be bound (3-4)

Down

1d   Station manager? (6)

2d   Bolt's very quick and keen on a regular basis (6)

The surface reading suggests Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt^[5]. At the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing he won gold medals in the 100 metre and 200 metre races, setting a new world record time for each. He defended his Olympic titles in 2012, winning gold in the 100 metre and 200 metre races.

3d   Awful fuss with clues, limiting compiler's first flourishing (10)

4d   Perished surrounding river -- showing lack of water (5)

5d   Kill around four of those in management? (9)

If the definition were "those in management"— that is, a noun — then I think that the solution would necessarily have to be plural (EXECUTIVES). Therefore, given that the solution is EXECUTIVE, I conclude that the the solution is an adjective with the definition being "of those in management".

6d   Something spread on bread or crumpet (4)

Crumpet^[5] is an archaic, informal term for a person's head.

Pate^[5] is an archaic or humorous term for a person's head.

7d   Given description of the tower of Pisa? (8)

8d   Polite place to buy savouries, cold, to get consumed (8)

13d   Chewing the fat, the cat's upset by call (10)

15d   Controlling Aida, perhaps, with the sound of a bell (9)

Aida^[7] is an opera by Italian  composer Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901) which was first performed in 1871.

16d   Some temp has Israeli accent (8)

17d   Who flogs beer carried by ship? One on board (8)

19d   Give him a nag in the inn? (6)

Different versions of this clue appeared in the printed and online puzzles in the UK. The clue published in the National Post is the one from the printed edition of The Daily Telegraph. The online clue was:

• 19d   Stage hand with stable employment? (6)

20d   Coy? Not fantastic word to describe Lord Sugar (6)

Lord Sugar would appear to be Britain's answer to Donald Trump. Alan Sugar, Baron Sugar^[7] is an English business magnate, media personality, and political advisor. Sugar appears in the BBC TV series The Apprentice, which has been broadcast annually since 2005 and is based upon the popular US television show of the same name, featuring the American entrepreneur Donald Trump.

23d   Calm lake -- good place for a picture (5)

24d   One shows arrogance from heads of state? Not one bit (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