Wednesday, September 17, 2014 — DT 27476

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27476
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, April 17, 2014
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27476]
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

Gazza characterises this as "a fairly typical Tuesday puzzle with nothing too tricky to keep you from the business of the rest of the day". For the most part, I would agree, although there were several new British expressions (11a, 16d, and 20d) that made it a bit more challenging on this side of the pond.

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   Follow a daughter during demonstration (6)

5a   Charge made by model after I married (6)

10a   Unsuitable home, small apartment (5)

11a   Mad place for colours? (2,3,4)

Up the pole^[5] is an informal British expression meaning mad [insane] ⇒ taxes can be enough to drive you up the pole.

12a   Touch of sickness developed, so got into bed (7)

The trick to solving this clue is to realize that the verb "got" is being used non-reflexively — that is, (someone) got (someone other than themself) into bed.

Educe^[5] is a formal term meaning to bring out or develop (something latent or potential) ⇒ out of love obedience is to be educed.

13a   Extremist spoke about onset of change (7)

14a   Lethargy caused by us? Details confused (9)

17a   Church always provides festive food and drink (5)

18a   Spree, for example, writer recalled (5)

19a   Awkward choice ahead of important game (3,6)

A timely clue, what with training camps about to open.

21a   Summon worker to leave spectacular ceremony (7)

Performing the operation indicated by the wordplay will result in (leave [one with]) the solution.

23a   Various sources used to find wealthy king (7)

Croesus^[5] (6th century BC) was the last king of Lydia circa 560–546 BC. Renowned for his great wealth, he subjugated the Greek cities on the coast of Asia Minor before being overthrown by Cyrus the Great.

Lydia^[5] was an ancient region of western Asia Minor, south of Mysia and north of Caria. It became a powerful kingdom in the 7th century BC but in 546 its final king, Croesus, was defeated by Cyrus and it was absorbed into the Persian empire. Lydia was probably the first realm to use coined money.

25a   Pop art genius giving autograph (9)

As an anagram indicator, pop is used in the sense of to burst (a balloon, for instance).

26a   Early invader's particular way of approaching a problem (5)

The Angles^[5] were a Germanic people, originally inhabitants of what is now Schleswig-Holstein, who came to England in the 5th century AD. The Angles founded kingdoms in Mercia, Northumbria, and East Anglia and gave their name to England and the English.

27a   Female wearing round cap is grief- stricken (6)

Bereft^[5] (said of a person) means sad and lonely, especially through someone’s death or departure ⇒ his death in 1990 left her bereft.

28a   Rather small-minded? That's about right (6)

Down

2d   Difficult getting round in store (5)

3d   Copper's flawed, having little time for female (9)

4d   Hurt where one has twisted (5)

The phrase "where one has" serves as a link showing equivalence between the two definitions. Think of it as a very concise way of expressing the idea "where one finds oneself with a word meaning".

5d   Mediate -- in tribunal, initially decree differently (9)

6d   Quietly go ahead and appeal (5)

Piano^[3,5] (abbreviation p^[5]), is a musical direction meaning either (as an adjective) soft or quiet or (as an adverb) softly or quietly.

7d   Random inspection carried out by acne sufferer? (4,5)

8d   Book young woman, a learner driver (6)

The cryptic crossword convention of L meaning learner or student arises from the L-plate^[7], a square plate bearing a sans-serif letter L, for learner, which must be affixed to the front and back of a vehicle in various countries (including the UK) if its driver is a learner under instruction.

A missal^[5] is a book containing the texts used in the Catholic Mass throughout the year.

9d   The person to give one a hand? (6)

15d   Pronounced wickedness, curious in religious building (9)

16d   Form of investment that may give one confidence (4,5)

Unit trust^[5] is the British name for a mutual fund^[10] — a trust formed to manage a portfolio of stock exchange securities, in which small investors can buy units.

17d   Food available in bars? (9)

18d   Ignore alternative route (6)

20d   Poodles son brought into country (3-3)

Poodle^[5] is a British term for a person or organization who is overly willing to obey another ⇒ the council is being made a poodle of central government.

22d   Stagger out of a jungle (5)

23d   Mean man conserving energy (5)

24d   Spot spot in speech (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