Friday, December 16, 2011 - DT 26665

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26665
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, September 23, 2011
Setter Giovanni
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26665]
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

While overall the puzzle was certainly not too difficult, I did have trouble with 22d. I not only wandered down the wrong path, I went so far that I figuratively ended up in the next county.

You may notice a new feature in today's blog where the clues in the Notes on Today's Puzzle section are colour-coded to match the performance chart in the table above.

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.

7a   Agreement letting worker join group of thirteen women? (8)

Traditional covens have thirteen members. Why? One source suggests that it relates to the thirteen lunar months in a year. Wicca and witchcraft are closely aligned with the moon and its feminine energy; thus, the number thirteen represents the lunar calendar and signifies wholeness. [read more]

10a/24d   Top performer beginning fantastic run (4,4)

Seemingly a British expression, the star turn^[5] is the person or act that gives the most heralded or impressive performance in a programme • he was stopped by the arrival on stage of the star turn • she was the star turn of the night. Turn^[4]. is a chiefly British theatrical term meaning a short theatrical act, especially in music hall, cabaret, etc. - although this sense of the word does appear in the American Heritage Dictionary (a brief theatrical act or stage appearance)^[3].

11a   Prisoner gets to rave in journey by plane in conspicuously offensive way (10)

In British slang, a lag is a person who has been frequently convicted and sent to prison • both old lags were sentenced to ten years' imprisonment.

12a   Ordinary medicinal plant (6)

A simple^[5] is a chiefly historical term for a medicinal herb, or a medicine made from one • the gatherers of simples. It refers to a class of plants (medicinal herbs) or medicines (those made from medicinal herbs) rather than a specific herb or medicine.

15a   Emergence of female monster with a new head (6)

On my first read through, I jotted down MEDUSA as a possible solution. However, the checking letters from the intersecting down clues eventually ruled this out. I needed to use some electronic help to generate a list of words matching the checking letters before I found the correct solution.

17a   Learner, Young Conservative, starts to entertain upper-class morons in college (6)

Unless today is your first day visiting this blog, you will surely recognize "learner" as standing for L (from the L-plate^[7] that must be displayed on vehicles driven by learner drivers in Britain). The Young Conservatives^[7] was the youth wing of the United Kingdom's Conservative Party until the organisation was replaced in 1998 by Conservative Future. To me, the link between college and lyceum seems a bit tenuous but the words may have a closer relationship in British English. According to the Chambers 21st Century Dictionary, a college^[3] is an institution, either self-contained or part of a university, which provides higher education, further education or professional training while a lyceum^[3] is a place or building devoted to teaching, especially literature and philosophy.

25a   Church poles attached to gold banner? (6)

The wordplay is CE (church; Church of England) + N (north [pole]) + S (south [pole]) + OR (gold; heraldic gold tincture).

26a   Nothing right in believer in God who philosophises? (8)

I initially tried to use DEIST in the clue, only to discover that I needed THEIST. The former is a believer in the existence of a supreme being, specifically of a creator who does not intervene in the universe^[5] while the latter is a believer in in the existence of a god or gods, specifically of a creator who intervenes in the universe^[5].

3d   Lottery? Rubbish! (6)

The Oxford Dictionary of English defines raffle^[5] to mean rubbish or refuse • the raffle of the yard below. It characterizes this usage as dialect which is perhaps why Gazza describes it as a usage new to him. It would not seem to be a specifically British term as it also appears in the American Heritage Dictionary^[3].

4d   Dull queen just like a portly old soul? (8)

There was no objectipm from the Brits on the spelling of the first element of this charade, even though the Oxford Dictionary of English gives mat as the American spelling for this word which means (with respect to a surface or colour) dull and flat or without a shine. According to Oxford, the principal spelling is matt with matte (the spelling with which I am familiar) being an alternative • prints are available on matt or glossy paper • a matt black. Regina (abbreviation R)^[5] , the Latin word for Queen, is used in Britain and Commonwealth Realms to denote the reigning queen (used following the name of the monarch or in the titles of lawsuits, e.g. Regina v. Jones, the Crown versus Jones).

18d   Most jolly English bishop cramped by troubled times (8)

The "bishop" here is not a chess piece but the ecclesiastical kind. Right Reverend (abbreviaton RR)^[5] is a title given to a bishop, especially in the Anglican Church.

21d   One queen famously wasn’t a maiden to get exploited (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. 

22d   Swimmer on desperate mission avoiding a bank? (6)

Supposing that "swimmer" must refer to a fish, the only thing that I could come up with was LINGER (LING + ER). A ling is a fish but I had no plausible explanation for the ER part. Gazza has the correct solution which is rooted in Greek mythology.

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)
^[9] - Infoplease (Random House Unabridged Dictionary)

Signing off for today - Falcon