Friday, November 25, 2011 - DT 26647

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26647
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, September 2, 2011
Setter Giovanni
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26647]
Big Dave's Review Written By Gazza
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - ★★★	Enjoyment - ★★★★
Falcon's Performance ┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐ ███████████████████████████████████ └────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘ 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 █ - unsolved or incorrect prior to visiting Big Dave's blog █ - reviewed by Falcon for Big Dave's blog

Introduction

I placed a question mark beside 13d, needing to research the political party referenced there. The setter, on the other hand, inserted a half-dozen question marks into the puzzle. The question marks in 5a and 25a  signal that the clues are cryptic definitions, while those in 9a, 7d and 20d indicate that the solution is an example of the definition (or vice versa). The question mark at 13d may also fall into this latter category.

I suffered a real mental block at 5d, where even though I had correctly figured out the "opening initially" and "reddish-brown" parts of the wordplay, I still failed to get the solution without using a word finder tool.

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.

1a   It’s a sort of bird, we affirm (6)

The weaver^[5] (also weaver bird) is a finch-like songbird of tropical Africa and Asia, related to the sparrows and building elaborately woven nests.

9a   Yokelish drama excited visitors to the seaside pier? (13)

In the UK, a holidaymaker^[5] is a person on holiday away from home (or, as we would say in North America, on vacation).

10a   Hurried to far end of valley to grab one plant (8)

The valerian^[5] is a Eurasian plant belong to the family Valerianaceae which typically bears clusters of small pink or white flowers. There are several species, in particular common valerian (Valeriana officinalis), a valued medicinal herb, and the Mediterranean red valerian (Centranthus ruber), grown for its spurred flowers which attract butterflies.

14a   Obscure group of women beginning to laugh coming in drunk (8)

Twilight^[5] can mean a period or state of obscurity, ambiguity, or gradual decline. Usage examples of this sense of the word are (as a noun) "he was in the twilight of his career" and (as a nounal adjective) "a twilight world of secrecy".

19a   Single maiden with name for being poker-faced (6)

In cricket, a maiden, also known as a maiden over, (abbreviation M)^[5] is an over in which no runs are scored. An over^[5] is a division of play consisting of a sequence of six balls bowled by a bowler from one end of the pitch, after which another bowler takes over from the other end.

25a   Opposition group kept slightly in the dark? (6,7)

The Shadow Cabinet^[7] is a senior group of opposition spokespeople in the Westminster system of government (the style of parliamentary democracy used in the United Kingdom and most Commonwealth countries, including Canada) who together under the leadership of the Leader of the Opposition form an alternative cabinet to the government's, whose members shadow each individual member of the official cabinet. It is the Shadow Cabinet's responsibility to pass criticism on the current government and its respective legislation, as well as offering alternative policies.

2d   I’m happier somehow, having abandoned pious biblical tribe (7)

Pi^[5] is an informal British short form for pious.

6d   Part of New Zealand’s collection of books in the past (5)

Otago^[5] is a region of New Zealand, on the SE coast of the South Island. In cryptic crossword clues, "books" often means either OT (Old Testament) or NT (New Testament).

7d   Time to study philosopher? It’s routine drudgery (9)

In the UK, read^[5] means to study an academic subject at a university (I’m reading English at Cambridge). John Stuart Mill (1806–73) was an English philosopher and economist. Mill is best known for his political and moral works, especially On Liberty (1859), which argued for the importance of individuality, and Utilitarianism (1861), which extensively developed Bentham’s theory.

13d   Copy political party with untruth about woman being nasty? (9)

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP)^[5] is an extreme Loyalist political party in Northern Ireland, co-founded by Ian Paisley in 1972.

15d   All right for getting covered, wearing fur around old city (9)

In cryptic crossword clues, "old city" often refers to Ur^[5], an ancient Sumerian city formerly on the Euphrates, in southern Iraq. It was one of the oldest cities of Mesopotamia, dating from the 4th millennium bc, and reached its zenith in the late 3rd millennium bc.

18d   Expert concealing old company’s shortfall (7)

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

20d   Maiden has upset cat? A blunder (7)

For a change, maiden is not a cricket term (see note for 19a). We are also treated, as a novelty, to a solution from this side of the Atlantic. According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, misstep^[5] is a North American term for a mistake or blunder, although Gazza waffles a bit saying only that is "mainly North American".

References: 
^[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)

Signing off for today - Falcon