Wednesday, January 7, 2015 — DT 27558

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27558
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Saturday, August 2, 2014
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27558 – Hints] Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27558 – Review]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Big Dave (Hints) crypticsue (Review)
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
Notes
As this was a Saturday "Prize Puzzle" in Britain, there are two entries related to it on Big Dave's Crossword Blog — the first, posted on the date of publication, contains hints for selected clues while the second is a full review issued following the entry deadline for the contest. The vast majority of reader comments will generally be found attached to the "hints" posting with a minimal number — if any — accompanying the full review.

Introduction

Not surprisingly, today's puzzle is not overly difficult — it having been a Saturday prize puzzle in the UK. These are usually fairly easy to encourage more entries and thus the collection of more addresses to be used for marketing purposes. I did find some of the wordplay to be a bit on the tenuous side.

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. Explicit link words and phrases are enclosed in forward slashes (/link/) and implicit links are shown as double forward slashes (//). Definitions presented in blue text are for terms that appear frequently.

Across

1a   Acknowledging defeat /in/ underwater operation (10)

6a   Sticks around /being/ sanctimonious (4)

Gum^[3] is used in the sense of to fix in place with gum.

10a   Come down // stairs, missing the first (5)

11a   Such a course // concerning new student? Yes and no (9)

I didn't fully grasp the import of "Yes and no" until I read crypticsue's explanation.

Fresher^[5] is an informal British term for freshman.

12a   Sent back fish, king rejected // shellfish (7)

Is the pollack the same as a pollock? Like the previous clue, yes and no.

The pollack^[5] (plural pollack or pollacks) or pollock (plural pollock or pollocks) is an edible greenish-brown fish (Pollachius pollachius) of the cod family, with a protruding lower jaw. Found in the northeastern Atlantic [that is, European coastal waters], it is popular with anglers. It would appear that pollack is the preferred British spelling, while pollock is the preferred North American spelling.

Two other species of fish are also known as pollock in North America. The first is the coalfish^[10] (Pollachius virens) which is also known in the UK as the saithe^[10] or coley^[10]. To confuse matters even more, in Canada the sablefish^[7] (Anoplopoma fimbria) is also known as the coalfish.

The second is the Alaska pollock^[7] or walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma), an important food fish of the North Pacific. The Alaska pollock is said to be "the largest remaining source of palatable fish in the world." Alaska pollock is the world's second most important fish species in terms of total catch. The Norwegian pollock (Theragra finnmarchica), a rare fish of Norwegian waters, is likely the same species as the Alaska pollock.

No wonder our fisheries are in such a mess. We can't even agree on what to call the fish.

K^[5] is an abbreviation for king that is used especially in describing play in card games and recording moves in chess.

13a   Stocking up with booze, say, precluding a // being abed late (5,2)

14a   Hunter: I'd do so with organisation (4,2,6)

This is an &lit.^[7] clue (sometimes called an all-in-one clue). The entire clue (when read one way) is the definition, but under a different interpretation takes on the role of wordplay.

The wordplay is easy enough to see. As a definition, I think it takes a bit of mind-bending.

18a   Clue for police // to identify criminal makes an impression (12)

21a   Constable, perhaps, // represented by a penetrating playwright (7)

Harold Pinter^[5] (1930–2008) was an English dramatist, actor, and director. His plays are associated with the Theatre of the Absurd and are typically marked by a sense of menace. Notable plays: The Birthday Party (1958), The Caretaker (1960), and Party Time (1991). Nobel Prize for Literature (2005).

John Constable^[5] (1776–1837) was an English painter. Among his best-known works are early paintings such as Flatford Mill (1817) and The Hay Wain (1821), inspired by the landscape of his native Suffolk.

23a   A superior // person giving encouragement (7)

24a   Still absorbing first // fact (9)

25a   The woman embraced by an // Irish leader once (5)

Bertie Ahern^[5] is an Irish Fianna Fáil statesman, Taoiseach (Prime Minister) 1997–2008; full name Patrick Bartholomew Ahern.

26a   Business leader // out of the City (4)

This clue requires a long explanation which some readers have likely seen before.

The City^[5] is short for the City of London^[5] (not to be confused with the city of London).

The City of London^[7] is a city and ceremonial county within London. It constituted most of London from its settlement by the Romans in the 1st century AD to the Middle Ages, but the conurbation has since grown far beyond the City's borders. The City is now only a tiny part of the metropolis of London, though it remains a notable part of central London. It is one of two districts of London to hold city status, the other being the adjacent City of Westminster.

It is widely referred to simply as the City (often written as just "City" and differentiated from the phrase "the city of London" by capitalising "City") and is also colloquially known as the Square Mile, as it is 1.12 sq mi (2.90 km²), in area. Both of these terms are also often used as metonyms for the United Kingdom's trading and financial services industries, which continue a notable history of being largely based in the City. This is analogous to the use of the terms Wall Street and Bay Street to refer to the financial institutions located in New York and Toronto respectively.

In the clue, the setter uses "the City" as a surrogate for for the EC postcode which serves the City of London [postcode being the British counterpart of the Canadian postal code or American zip code]. The EC (Eastern Central) postcode area^[7] (also known as the London EC postcode area) is a group of postcode districts in central London, England. It includes almost all of the City of London as well as parts of several other London boroughs.

27a   Bad-tempered fellow /from/ Scottish shire with penny in bag (10)

Shire^[5] is a British term for a county, especially in England. Historically, a shire was an administrative district in medieval times ruled jointly by an alderman and a sheriff.

Ross^[7] is a region of Scotland and a former mormaerdom, earldom, sheriffdom and county.

The title of Mormaer^[7] designates a regional or provincial ruler in the medieval Kingdom of the Scots. In theory, although not always in practice, a Mormaer was second only to the King of Scots, and the senior of a toisech.

If you would like a spectacular — not to mention white-knuckle — drive, I suggest you try the Wester Ross Coastal Trail. This is a single track road that at one point makes a very steep ascent through a series of hairpin turns up the vertical side of a mountain. I don't recall this sign — perhaps it is new since my visit. Despite the warning, tour buses apparently use the route on a regular basis!

In Britain's current decimal currency system, a penny^[5] (plural pennies [for separate coins] or pence [for a sum of money]) is a bronze coin and monetary unit equal to one hundredth of a pound. The abbreviation for penny or pence is p^[5].

Down

1d   Page penned by hack /is/ prominent news item (6)

In the surface reading, hack^[4] is used in the sense of a person who produces mediocre literary or journalistic work.

Splash^[5] is an informal term for a prominent or sensational news feature or story ⇒ a front-page splash.

2d   Scrounger/'s/ urge to be in pub (6)

3d   Eggheads /with/ terribly elitist leaning (14)

4d   Frittered paper cash /getting/ a lot of rubbish (9)

5d   Saxon King left // poor-quality meat (5)

Offa^[5] (died 796) was king of Mercia 757–96. He organized the construction of Offa’s Dyke.

Mercia^[5] was a former kingdom of central England. It was established by invading Angles in the 6th century AD in the border areas between the new Anglo-Saxon settlements in the east and the Celtic regions in the west.

Offa's Dyke^[5] is a series of earthworks marking the traditional boundary between England and Wales, running from near the mouth of the Wye to near the mouth of the Dee, originally constructed by Offa in the second half of the 8th century to mark the boundary established by his wars with the Welsh.

7d   Wood // old golfer used in springtime (8)

Ben Hogan^[5] (1912–1997) was an American golfer. His many victories include winning the US Open, the US Masters, and the British Open in 1953, together with three other victories in the US Open, and one in the US Masters.

8d   Awful quality of Colosseum performance /with/ singer so squiffy (8)

Squiffy^[5] is an informal British term meaning (1) slightly drunk ⇒ I feel quite squiffy or (2) askew or awry ⇒ the graphics make your eyes go squiffy.

Colosseum^[5] is the the name since medieval times of the Amphitheatrum Flavium, a vast amphitheatre in Rome, begun circa 75 AD.

The Colosseum was used to host a variety of popular entertainments^[7], including bloody gladiatorial combats, wild animal hunts, and executions carried out in the form of the portrayal of an episode from mythology in which the hero of the story – played by a condemned person – was killed in one of various gruesome but mythologically authentic ways, such as being mauled by beasts or burned to death.

9d   Product of light rubber that can provide what’s wanted (5,2,3,4)

I second crypticsue's nomination of this clue as today's favourite.

As is usual in definitions starting with the word "that", mentally insert the word "something" at the beginning of the definition.

The phrase "light rubber" refers to someone who rubs a light — a magic lamp to be specific.

Aladdin^[7] is a Middle Eastern folk tale. It is one of the tales in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights ("The Arabian Nights"), and one of the best known, although it was actually added to the collection in the 18th century by Frenchman Antoine Galland. In the story, Aladdin (an impoverished young ne'er-do-well) comes into possession of a magic lamp from which, when the lamp is rubbed, a powerful genie appears who is bound to do the bidding of the person holding the lamp. With the aid of the genie of the lamp, Aladdin becomes rich and powerful and marries Princess Badroulbadour, the Emperor's daughter.

One Thousand and One Nights^[7] (often known in English as the Arabian Nights) is a collection of West and South Asian stories and folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. The work was collected over many centuries by various authors, translators, and scholars across West, Central, South Asia and North Africa. The tales themselves trace their roots back to ancient and medieval Arabic, Persian, Indian, Egyptian and Mesopotamian folklore and literature.

Some of the stories of The Nights, particularly "Aladdin's Wonderful Lamp", "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves", and "The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor", while almost certainly genuine Middle Eastern folk tales, were not part of The Nights in Arabic versions, but were added into the collection by Antoine Galland and other European translators.

15d   They wrought rich goals (9)

By now, regular readers will know that I do not buy into the idea of pronouns standing alone as definitions.

In my view, the entire clue is intended to serve as the definition (one that would seem to be more than a little forced) while the portion of the clue marked with the dashed underlining constitutes the wordplay making this a semi-&lit. (semi-all-in-one) clue.

16d   Spite could be result of being this // far from the beaten track (3-5)

The wordplay is an inverse anagram. That is, the solution OFF-PISTE can be interpreted as an anagram (OFF) of PISTE producing the word "spite" which is found in the wordplay. Having the anagram indicator and fodder in the solution and the anagram result in the wordplay is the inverse of the normal situation in which the anagram indicator and fodder appear in the wordplay and the anagram result appears in the solution.

A piste^[1] is a beaten track, especially a ski trail in the snow.

17d   Filling in alien visa generally /needs/ picture (8)

19d   Make declaration // in top cricket match (6)

The wordplay is AT (in) + TEST (top cricket match).

Here, it is likely that at^[10] is being used in the sense of engaged in ⇒ children at play while in^[10] is used in the sense of concerned or involved with, especially as an occupation ⇒ in journalism.

A Test^[5] (short for Test match)^[5] is an international cricket or rugby match, typically one of a series, played between teams representing two different countries ⇒ the Test match between Pakistan and the West Indies.

The surface reading alludes to bit of cricket strategy.

In cricket, a team continues to bat until ten of the eleven players on the team have been dismissed (batsmen always appear in pairs and once ten players have been dismissed there are not enough players left to form a pair), unless the captain of a batting team declares the innings closed prematurely (the rationale for doing so is explained below). In the event that the captain declares the innings closed, his team takes the field and the opposing team bats.

The primary objective of each team in cricket^[7] is to score more runs than the opposing team. However, in Test cricket (a match between national teams), it is not only necessary to score the most runs but also to dismiss the opposition twice in order to win the match, which would otherwise be drawn. Therefore, the captain of a batting team which has built up a large lead may declare the innings closed prematurely in order to allow the opposition to bat (and thus gain an opportunity to dismiss them). As a captain, the key to victory is picking the right time to declare. Should he declare too early, the other team may score more runs than his team has amassed and thereby win. On the other hand, if he were to declare too late, the match may end before his team can dismiss the other team (resulting in a draw, even though his team may have a substantial lead in runs).

20d   Meal /for/ group about right (6)

22d   Turner that looks the same hung upside-down (5)

The clue is a cryptic definition of of a palindrome that turns.

The surface reading alludes to a work by English painter J. M. W. Turner^[5] (1775–1851); full name Joseph Mallord William Turner. He made his name with landscapes and stormy seascapes, becoming increasingly concerned with depicting the power of light by the use of primary colours, often arranged in a swirling vortex. Notable works: Rain, Steam, Speed (1844); The Fighting Téméraire (1838).

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