Monday, November 14, 2011 - DT 26637

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26637
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, August 22, 2011
Setter Rufus
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26637]
Big Dave's Review Written By Libellule
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
Notes The National Post has skipped DT 26636 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, August 20, 2011

Introduction

I got off to a slow start with the first read-through generating only a handful of solutions. However, having established that foothold, the solutions then started to fall quickly into place. A few solutions (including 11a, 13a, and 18a) went in without understanding the wordplay which required a bit of research to track down.

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.

10a   Speech from ‘Love on the Dole’? (7)

For those new to cryptic crosswords, love⁵ is a tennis term meaning a score of zero (which, of course, looks like the letter O).

11a   Poor visibility — beginnings of rain and light wind (7)

Note that the wordplay calls for the beginning letters of "Rain And Light" and not merely "Rain" and "Light".

13a   Cleric who may have a prior appointment (5)

An abbot⁵ is a man who is the head of an abbey of monks while a prior⁵ is the man next in rank below an abbot.

17a   Athletes naturally full of beans? (7)

Runner bean⁵ is a British name for what I know as the scarlet runner bean. According to Wikipedia⁷ (which also aligns with my experience in Canada), " In the UK, the flowers are often ignored, or treated as an attractive bonus to cultivating the plant for the beans, whereas in the US the scarlet runner is widely grown for its attractive flowers by people who would never think of eating it."

18a   Brunel’s realm? (7)

Isambard Kingdom Brunel⁷,  FRS (1806 – 1859), was a British civil engineer who built bridges and dockyards including the construction of the first major British railway, the Great Western Railway; a series of steamships, including the first propeller-driven transatlantic steamship; and numerous important bridges and tunnels. His designs revolutionised public transport and modern engineering.

26a   Lacking lustre, sailor is after doctor (4)

An able seaman⁵ (abbreviated AB) is a rank of sailor in the Royal Navy above ordinary seaman and below leading seaman.

4d   Large volume of transport? (7)

In addition to being a volume containing several books previously published separately, an omnibus⁵ is a dated name for a bus. In Britain, though not in today's puzzle, an omnibus may be a single edition of two or more consecutive television or radio programmes previously broadcast separately ("Coronation Street’s rival EastEnders was boosted by a weekend omnibus").

6d   This month in Westminster (4)

Instant is a dated expression used in formal correspondence to indicate 'of the present month'. It is a postpositive adjective (i.e., it follows the noun it modifies) and almost always appears as an abbreviation (inst). Thus, one might write "In reference to your letter of the 7th inst ...".

7d   Broken-hearted, but protected from shock (7)

The British term for grounded (referring to an electrical device or system which is connected with the ground) is earthed⁵.

9d   Not everyone sees the fun in this party game (9,4)

Blindman's buff⁷ is another (and actually the original) name for the children's game, a variant of tag,  that I have always heard referred to as blindman's bluff. The traditional name of the game is "blind man's buff", wherein the word buff is used in its older sense of a small push. The game later also became known as "blind man's bluff"; it is possible that this name is a linguistic corruption, or it may originate from an older sense of bluff meaning to blindfold.

15d   The last competitors try to be first in this event (5)

Believe it or not, this is the clue where I needed help. I thought the solution might be some sort of British term for a repêchage⁵, a contest (in rowing and other sports) in which the runners-up in the eliminating heats compete for a place in the final. I would have fared much better had I stayed on track.

21d   Garments appear dishevelled on student (7)

In the UK (among other jurisdictions), a vehicle driven by a student driver must display (both front and rear) an L-plate⁷ - a square plate bearing a letter L.

22d   Fruit of theatrical conversation (7)

In British theatre, the term rhubarb⁵ is used to describe the noise made by a group of actors to give the impression of indistinct background conversation, especially by the random repetition of the word ‘rhubarb’.

23d   New moral we found in old writer (7)

Christopher Marlowe⁷ (circa 1564 – 1593) was an English dramatist, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. As the foremost Elizabethan tragedian, next to William Shakespeare, he is known for his blank verse, his overreaching protagonists, and his mysterious death.

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