Wednesday, September 16, 2015 — DT 27770

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27770
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, April 8, 2015
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27770]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By 2Kiwis
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

I found today's puzzle to be a fairly stiff challenge. However, I would say that it sits toward the lower end of the three star difficulty range as I was eventually able to solve it unaided — albeit over the course of several solving sessions.

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   Annoyed // Britain had turned? (7,3)

Brown off^[3] is chiefly British slang meaning to make angry or irritated.

6a   Advantage /given by/ most of soft luxurious fabric (4)

10a   Bored // FBI agent, dupe at heart? (3,2)

Fed^[5] is an informal US term for a federal agent or official, especially a member of the FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation] ⇒ I don’t think he has any friends since he grassed to the Feds.

11a   Specially planned meals if in // later stage of competition (9)

12a   Artist/'s/ record held by criminal courts (8)

13a   Give up the ghost on popular // music genre (5)

Indie^[5] is indie music regarded as a genre where the adjective indie^[5] (used in reference to a pop group, record label, or film company) denotes:

1. not belonging or affiliated to a major record or film company; or
2. characteristic of the deliberately unpolished or uncommercialized style of small independent pop groups.

Surprisingly, this term has been around since the 1920s (first used with reference to film production).

Note that Jay has respected the "A on B" convention (show explanation ) which was discussed in yesterday's blog.

By convention, in an across clue, the construction "A on B" is used to clue B + A.

The rationale for this practice is that in order for A to be placed on B, B must already exist (i.e., already have been written). Since the English language is written from left to right, this means that B must come first and A is then appended to it.

In the above clue, DIE (give up the ghost) corresponds to A and IN (popular) corresponds to B. Thus, according to the convention, DIE on IN produces INDIE.

Notwithstanding the above, a solver must always be vigilant for setters who flout convention.

hide explanation

15a   Booster /from/ European work jaunt (3-4)

17a   Affected by illness // after fifty, help will be falling short (4,3)

19a   Orders nothing new /for/ shops (5,2)

Shop^[5] is an informal British term meaning to inform on (someone) ⇒ she shopped her husband to bosses for taking tools home.

21a   Mate, say, /making/ a fuss (7)

Palaver^[5] means prolonged and tedious fuss or discussion ⇒ mucking around with finances and all that palaver.

22a   Sort of grease // left in English dish unfinished? (5)

24a   Glosses over // clothes that are worn out? (8)

In DT 27758 (published in the National Post on September 4, 2015), started a paint job (Clue 13d) which he completes today.

As a noun, a gloss^[5] (also gloss paint) is a type of paint which dries to a shiny surface ⇒ the undercoat is applied, followed by two coats of gloss.

As a verb, gloss^[5] means to apply a glossy substance to ⇒ the pebble-dash of the walls was glossed stickily white.

As a noun, overcoat^[5] means a top, final layer of paint or a similar covering.

None of the dictionaries that I consulted show overcoat as being a verb — although I think it could conceivably be used as such ⇒ after applying the undercoat, overcoat with a gloss paint.

The 2Kiwis show the first part of the clue as being the definition. However, I would say that the latter part is definitely a definition with the first part possibly being a definition (depending on whether overcoat can be a verb).

If overcoat cannot not be a verb, then "glosses" must be a noun meaning overcoats and it would seem that "over" would then have to be a link word (an idea that I find less than compelling). In this case, the clue would parse as:

• 24a   Glosses /over/ clothes that are worn out? (8)

27a   Leader // suffering ordeal -- it must consume one (9)

Leader^[5] is a British term for a leading article in a newspaper.

28a   Heading /for/ the championship? (5)

29a   Substantial // order (4)

30a   Escort said to be working // in Coventry (10)

Send (someone) to Coventry^[5] is a chiefly British expression meaning to refuse to associate with or speak to someone ⇒ some people ignore and send to Coventry individuals they disapprove of.

Down

1d   Altogether // a knowledgeable enthusiast (4)

2d   Traditional // tie may follow this (3-6)

Old school tie is a British term for a necktie with a characteristic pattern worn by the former pupils of a particular school, especially a public school [i.e., private school]. (show explanation )

 In the UK, a public school^[5] is a private fee-paying secondary school, especially one for boarders ⇒ his precise English public-school accent. [Note: In Britain, "public schools" are a special class of private school; what North Americans would call public schools are referred to in Britain as state schools.]

hide explanation

3d   Friend from north-east // state (5)

A "friend from north-east" might also be referred to as a "NE friend".

4d   PC // unhappily posted to protect king (7)

"king" = K (show explanation )

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

hide explanation

5d   Wild about doctor // concerned with thigh (7)

7d   Creased // up in denial, with no answer (5)

8d   Rivals were involved /in/ trophies (10)

9d   Refuse to accept former chemical company /being/ authorised (8)

Imperial Chemical Industries^[7] (ICI) was a British chemical company, the subject of a takeover completed in 2008 by AkzoNobel, a Dutch conglomerate. In its heyday, ICI was the largest manufacturing company in the British Empire, and commonly regarded as a "bellwether of the British economy".

14d   Payment agreed /from/ small outpost (10)

16d   Carpenter's requirement /is/ opening up, going over assorted woes (8)

Rosewood^[5] is close-grained tropical timber with a distinctive fragrance, used particularly for making furniture and musical instruments.

18d   Picks oneself up? (9)

20d   Terrible twins grabbing computers, etc, /and/ mugs (7)

Mug^[5] is an informal British term for a stupid or gullible person ⇒ they were no mugs where finance was concerned.

21d   Common // tree found around west of Urals (7)

Scratching the Surface
The Ural Mountains[5] (also the Urals) is the name of a mountain range in Russia, extending 1,600 km (1,000 miles) from the Arctic Ocean to the Aral Sea in Kazakhstan, and rising to 1,894 m (6,214 ft) at Mount Narodnaya. It forms part of the conventional boundary between Europe and Asia.

23d   Front // line in tie (5)

The Chambers Dictionary defines front^[1] as a cover or disguise for secret or disreputable activities. I suppose that this is broad enough to encompass a blind (after all, hunters are attempting to keep their activities secret from their quarry — though hunters may bridle at having their endeavours characterized as disreputable). Other dictionaries clarify that the term applies to a person or organization. For instance the Chambers 21st Century Dictionary defines front^[2] as slang for an organization or job used to hide illegal or secret activity ⇒ The corner shop was just a front for drug dealing.

Blind^[5] is a North American term for a camouflaged shelter used for observing or hunting wildlife ⇒ a duck blind.

25d   What might measure the spirits // of the viewer? (5)

Optic^[5] is a British trademark for a device fastened to the neck of an inverted bottle for measuring out spirits.

What did he say?
In their review, the 2Kiwis comment you might well find [such a device] in Miffypops’ establishment. Miffypops, who reviews the puzzles which appear in The Daily Telegraph on Mondays, is the proprietor of The Green Man, a pub in Long Itchington, Warwickshire, England.

26d   Fix // term's ultimate objective (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