Friday, September 19, 2014 — DT 27478

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27478
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, May 1, 2014
Setter RayT (Ray Terrell)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27478]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By archy and mehitabel
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

RayT shows us his gentle side today. The few British terms he uses are likely ones that most solvers will have seen many times before.

I invite you to leave a comment to let us know how you fared with the puzzle.

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   Noticed train replaced coach (12)

8a   Keep umpire before shower (7)

Keep from^[5] (or keep something from) is a phrasal verb meaning to avoid (or cause someone to avoid) doing something ⇒ Dinah bit her lips to keep from screaming.

9a   A French monsieur of French team turned straight (7)

French class now begins.

In French, the masculine singular form of the indefinite article is un^[8].

In French, monsieur^[8] (abbreviation M^[8]) means 'gentleman' or 'man'.

In French, de^[8]is a preposition meaning 'of''.

Class now breaks for sports.

Eleven^[5] is the number of players on a cricket^[7] side or an Association football^[7] [soccer] team — and is often used as a metonym for such a team ⇒ at cricket I played in the first eleven.

11a   Simple stone surrounded by gold before (7)

A stone^[5] (abbreviation st^[5]) is a British unit of weight equal to 14 lb (6.35 kg) ⇒ I weighed 10 stone.

The symbol for the chemical element gold is Au^[5] (from Latin aurum).

12a   Urgent court session's start for ushers (7)

13a   Impulsive grass crossing good man (5)

14a   One adds extra weight to ass (9)

16a   Laces a gin cocktail relieving pain (9)

19a   Declare money reserve (5)

21a   Pub drink, say, for one of us (7)

23a   Least quiet at rear of car (7)

Mini^[7] is an automobile brand, currently owned by BMW, but originally introduced as a model under the Austin and Morris marques by the British Motor Corporation (BMC).

24a   Most grisly wounds ringing one toreador's head (7)

A toreador^[5] is a bullfighter, especially one on horseback.

25a   Embraced by lover, ranger's overwhelmed (7)

26a   Corsican with Etna erupting over the sea (12)

Mount Etna^[5] is a volcano in eastern Sicily, rising to 3,323 m (10,902 ft). It is the highest and most active volcano in Europe.

Sicily^[5] is a large Italian island in the Mediterranean, off the south-western tip of Italy; capital, Palermo. It is separated from the Italian mainland by the Strait of Messina and its highest point is the volcano Mount Etna.

Corsica^[5] is a mountainous island off the west coast of Italy, forming an administrative region of France; population 273,000 (est. 2004); chief towns, Bastia (northern department) and Ajaccio (southern department). It was the birthplace of Napoleon I.

Down

1d   Brews provided, drinking in new works (7)

2d   Covering music by Queen in empty display (7)

Clearly, archy has inadvertently landed on the wrong keys. I'm sure he meant to finish his hint as "...the usual Queen inserted (in) into DY (empty DisplaY)".

If you are unfamiliar with how archy the cockroach types, see my blog from August 11, 2014.

3d   Criminal suspect almost supported by American agreement (9)

To expand on archy's comment "... the usual abbreviation for America [(as a noun) or American (as an adjective)]".

4d   Slice right on using new driver initially (5)

Round^[5] is a British name for a slice of bread ⇒ two rounds of toast.

5d   Nearly dead on time with large figure (7)

6d   Conveyance of burden in charge of sailor (7)

The abbreviation i/c^[5] (especially in military contexts) is short for in charge of ⇒ the Quartermaster General is i/c rations.

In the Royal Navy, able seaman^[5] (abbreviation AB^[5]), is a rank of sailor above ordinary seaman and below leading seaman.

7d   Spectacular that explodes in disintegration (12)

In his review, archy asks "Doesn’t the word mean disintegratING?" It can (when used as a verb), but used as a noun it means disintegratION.

10d   Emerge in sad shambles with time difference (12)

15d   Break down code some altered penning page (9)

17d   In case of accidents more secure with him? (7)

Strictly speaking, this is a semi-all-in-one (rather than an all-in-one). The entire clue is the definition, while the first part (with the dashed underlining) is the wordplay.

18d   Researched turning up information about old fish (7)

Gen^[5] is an informal British term for information ⇒ you’ve got more gen on him than we have.

The gudgeon^[5] is a small edible European freshwater fish (Gobio gobio), often used as bait by anglers.

19d   Is youth able to drink bottle? (7)

20d   Scam -- bricklayer's pinching material (7)

Cambric^[5] is a lightweight, closely woven white linen or cotton fabric.

22d   Real tailor oddly giving proportion (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