Wednesday, June 18, 2014 — DT 27409

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27409
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, February 10, 2014
Setter Rufus (Roger Squires)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27409]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Miffypops
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 was a fairly gentle exercise today, despite a minor stumble on a bit of British church jargon.

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   Knock down price -- motto of rival trader? (10)

6a   Some leg of beef (4)

10a   Vessel that's found in the kitchen bin, perhaps (5)

11a   French gear manufacturer (9)

Gear^[5] is used in the sense of clothing, especially of a specified kind ⇒ designer gear.

Couturier^[5], a word adopted from French, means a fashion designer who manufactures and sells clothes that have been tailored to a client’s specific requirements and measurements ⇒ clothes of luxurious fabrics, cut by top couturiers to fit them to perfection.

12a   Well held! (8)

13a   Stitch holding in tendon (5)

15a   Frank goes to discuss outside (4-3)

The wordplay parses as OPEN (frank) + (goes to; a charade indicator) AIR (discuss).

17a   Being at home, possibly greet a number (7)

19a   It helps to secure temporary accommodation (3-4)

21a   Coppers must accept an imposed punishment (7)

Pence^[5] is a plural form of penny^[5], a British bronze coin and monetary unit equal to one hundredth of a pound.

Both pence and pennies have existed as plural forms of penny since at least the 16th century. The two forms now tend to be used for different purposes: pence refers to sums of money (five pounds and sixty-nine pence) while pennies refers to the coins themselves (I left two pennies on the table). The use of pence rather than penny as a singular (the chancellor will put one pence on income tax) is not regarded as correct in standard English.

22a   When to see stars near the end of August (5)

... or, for that matter, at any other time of the year.

24a   Two music-makers dance (8)

27a   Harmonics could be obvious ones (9)

28a   Ship, possibly a drifter (5)

The word "possibly" indicates that we need a particular type of ship.

29a   A sporting investment aid (4)

30a   It provides food with tea, milk etc free (4,6)

Down

1d   Mount for a revolver (4)

2d   Where there's some order in retreat (9)

3d   A breeding place for high fliers (5)

4d   Immigrant proceeds right (7)

Incomer^[5] is a British term for a person who has come to live in an area in which they have not grown up, especially in a close-knit rural community ⇒ an English incomer to Orkney.

5d   Oedipus complex God's work? (4,3)

In Freudian theory from the field of psychoanalysis, Oedipus complex^[5] refers to the complex of emotions aroused in a young child, typically around the age of four, by an unconscious sexual desire for the parent of the opposite sex and wish to exclude the parent of the same sex. (The term was originally applied to boys, the equivalent in girls being called the Electra complex.)

In the Christian Church, opus Dei^[5] [from medieval Latin, literally 'work of God'] is liturgical worship regarded as humankind’s primary duty to God. Opus Dei^[5] (trademark) is a Roman Catholic organization of laymen and priests founded in Spain in 1928 with the aim of re-establishing Christian ideals in society.

7d   Tall story accepted by an outsider (5)

8d   Put on guard from a combination of fear and wonder (10)

9d   Keeps emphasising that's how one applies liniment (4,2,2)

14d   Awful woman novelist that has blue veins (10)

A gorgon^[5] is a fierce, frightening, or repulsive woman. In Greek mythology, the gorgons were three sisters, Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa, with snakes for hair, who had the power to turn anyone who looked at them to stone. Medusa was killed by Perseus.

Émile Zola^[5] (1840–1902) was a French novelist and critic. His series of twenty novels collectively entitled Les Rougon-Macquart (1871–93), including Nana (1880), Germinal (1885), and La Terre (1887), attempts to show how human behaviour is determined by environment and heredity.

Gorgonzola^[5] is a type of rich, strong-flavoured Italian cheese with bluish-green veins.

16d   He's lost faith in a teapot's brewing (8)

18d   Crew on board may have come across it (9)

20d   Hence an adjustment is made to improve things (7)

21d   A shady put-up job (7)

23d   Land of the living? (5)

In British church use, living^[5] means a position as a vicar or rector with an income or property ⇒ he was offered the living of St Katherine’s.

Historically, a glebe^[5] was a piece of land serving as part of a clergyman’s benefice and providing income ⇒ the rich vicarage of Churcham had no glebe at all.

A benefice^[5] is a permanent Church appointment, typically that of a rector or vicar, for which property and income are provided in respect of pastoral duties.

25d   Sort of dish of cooked tripe (5)

26d   Ends up in bird's place in front of the fire? (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