Tuesday, October 13, 2015 — DT 27793

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27793
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, May 5, 2015
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27793]
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
Notes
The National Post has skipped DT 27792 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Monday, May 4, 2015.

Introduction

Today we are presented with a relatively easy offering to ease us back into shape following the long holiday weekend. Of course, those of you who visited this site yesterday had the opportunity to engage in a bit of mental exercise to keep you sharp.

There are a number of references among the comments on Big Dave's Crossword Blog to Princess Charlotte of Cambridge^[7], the daughter of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge. Although she had been born three days before this puzzle appeared in the UK, her name had only been announced the previous day.

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

3a   Bonus // for each is accepted by all (10)

Quite doesn't quite strike me as a word meaning "all", but I guess it does.

Quite^[10] is an adverb meaning to the greatest extent; completely or absolutely ⇒ (i) you're quite right; (ii) quite the opposite.

8a   Arrived ahead of artist, // producer of pictures (6)

"artist" = RA (show explanation )

A Royal Academician (abbreviation RA^[5]) is a member of the Royal Academy of Arts^[5] (also Royal Academy), an institution established in London in 1768, whose purpose is to cultivate painting, sculpture, and architecture in Britain. 

hide explanation

9a   Delicious food /in/ bar? I am so mistaken (8)

Ambrosia^[5] is something very pleasing to taste or smell ⇒ the tea [afternoon or evening meal rather than drink] was ambrosia after the slop I’d been suffering. In Greek and Roman mythology, ambrosia^[5] is the food of the gods.

10a   Following each one // in spite of everything (5,3)

11a   Meet in battle /and/ swear to marry? (6)

12a   More or less // charming mineral spring (6,4)

14a   Patriotic song, // Arne air Butlin's broadcast (4,9)

"Rule, Britannia!"^[5,7] is a British patriotic song, originating from the poem "Rule, Britannia" by Scottish poet James Thomson (1700–1748) and set to music by English composer Thomas Arne (1710–1778) in 1740. The song — strongly associated with the Royal Navy, but also used by the British Army — frequently used to be sung on public occasions in Britain and its colonies. The song originally celebrated a new British identity following the Act of Union between England and Scotland of 1707.

Scratching the Surface

Thomas Arne[7] (1710–1778) was an English composer, best known for the patriotic song Rule, Britannia!. He also wrote a version of God Save the King, which became the British national anthem, and the song A-Hunting We Will Go. Arne was the leading British theatre composer of the 18th century, working at Drury Lane and Covent Garden. Butlins[7] (also Butlin's) is a chain of large holiday camps in the United Kingdom. Holiday camp[5] is a British term for a site for holidaymakers [vacationers] with accommodation, entertainment, and leisure facilities.

20a   Wife with male, more attractive in retirement, /in/ the fashionable place to be (5,3,2)

22a   Told stories recalled about volunteers, // soldiers given a special task (6)

"volunteers" = TA (show explanation )

In the UK, Territorial Army^[5] (abbreviation TA^[5]) was, at one time, the name of a volunteer force founded in 1908 to provide a reserve of trained and disciplined military personnel for use in an emergency. Since 2013, this organization has been called the Army Reserve.

hide explanation

23a   Weight // of importance? No end, since eating Italian (8)

"Italian" = IT (show explanation )

This clueing can be explained in a couple of ways:

• It.^[10] is an abbreviation for Italian or Italy.


• Italian^[10] is another name for Italian vermouth. It^[5] is an informal, dated British term for Italian vermouth ⇒ he poured a gin and it.

hide explanation

24a   Where's the penthouse suite // of the highest office? (3-5)

25a   Musical composition // person at auditorium includes (6)

A sonata^[5] is a composition for an instrumental soloist, often with a piano accompaniment, typically in several movements with one or more in sonata form.

26a   This may help protect castle /in/ game following stalemate (10)

Down

1d   Consider more passable, say, /for/ traveller (8)

2d   Pals teed off /in/ base (8)

3d   Father's breaking fast /in/ pope's office (6)

Pacy^[5] (also pacey) [conspicuously absent from American dictionaries] is an adjective meaning moving or progressing quickly ⇒ a pacy thriller.

4d   Genuine // old coin, Spanish (4)

The real^[5] was a former coin and monetary unit of various Spanish-speaking countries.

5d   What may have been held up if 'Rain stopped play'? (8)

6d   Cast off, // beginning to sail on Irish lake (6)

Lough^[10] [pronounced identical to the Scottish word loch^[10]] is an Irish word meaning lake.

7d   Article close to my // doodah (6)

Doodah^[5] is an informal British expression (North American doodad^[5]) used to refer to something that the speaker cannot name precisely ⇒ from the poshest potpourri to the humblest dangly doodah.

Thingy^[5] is another term for thingummy^[2,5] (also thingamy, thingummyjig, thingummybob; North American thingamajig^[2,11], thingumajig^[2,11], thingamabob^[2], or thingumabob^[2]), a person or thing whose name one has forgotten, does not know, or does not wish to mention ⇒ one of those thingummies for keeping all the fire tools together.

Casting the Net Wider
If the above should provide an insufficient selection from which to choose, one might also opt for doohickey, doojigger, gimmick, gismo, gizmo, gubbins, thingmabob, thingmajig, whatchamacallit, whatchamacallum, whatsis, or widget.[WordNet 3.0]

13d   Best // English, low in calories (5)

15d   Astound // boyfriend, said partner in affair (4,4)

16d   In tune, possibly, about right time /to/ give a nourishing substance (8)

17d   Olympic Games host accommodating a // fast runner (8)

The 1996 Summer Olympics^[7], known officially as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and unofficially as the Centennial Olympics, took place in Atlanta, Georgia from July 19 to August 4, 1996.

In Greek mythology, Atalanta^[5] is a huntress who would marry only someone who could beat her in a foot race. She was beaten when a suitor threw down three golden apples which she stopped to pick up.

18d   In US wedding centre, Irish // artist (6)

Reno^[5] is a a city in western Nevada; population 217,016 (est. 2008). It is noted as a gambling resort and for its liberal laws enabling quick marriages and divorces.

"Irish" = IR (show explanation )

Ir.^[10] is the abbreviation for Ireland or Irish.

hide explanation

Auguste Renoir^[5] (1841–1919) was a French painter. An early impressionist, he developed a style characterized by light, fresh colours and indistinct, subtle outlines. Notable works: Les Grandes baigneuses (1884-7).

19d   Everything eaten by female elephant /is/ green (6)

In addition to being the name given to the mature female of any species of cattle, especially domesticated cattle, cow^[10] is also the term used for the mature female of various other mammals, such as the elephant, whale, and seal.

21d   Go by // the Spanish church recess (6)

"the Spanish" = EL (show explanation )

In Spanish, the masculine singular form of the definite article is el^[8].

hide explanation

23d   Good boy, // eager (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