Friday, December 9, 2011 - DT 26659

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26659
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, September 16, 2011
Setter Giovanni
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26659]
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

Introduction

Libellule, in a rare Friday appearance at Big Dave's blog, comments that he thought the puzzle was "harder than normal". However, it was definitely considerably easier than the strenuous test with which we found ourselves confronted yesterday. I needed to engage the services of my electronic assistants on 2d (some rather tricky wordplay) and 25d (a composer I had never heard of).

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   Corrective final word offered by US lawyer to politician (10)

Not only do we encounter a US lawyer in the clue, but Collins categorizes amendatory^[4] as a US word meaning corrective.

12a   Learner, trouble-maker being slack (4)

The cryptic crossword convention of L meaning learner or student arises from the L-plate^[7], a square plate bearing a sans-serif letter L, for learner, which must be affixed to the front and back of a vehicle in many countries if its driver is a learner under instruction.

16a   Man’s entering Greek city (where not all speak Greek!) (6)

The "desperate man" to whom Libellule refers in his hint is Desperate Dan^[7], a wild west character in the British comic The Dandy (who also makes regular appearances in the DT Cryptic). He is apparently the world's strongest man, able to lift a cow with one hand. Even his beard is so tough he has to shave with a blowtorch.

20a   Companion goes to little woman carrying garment material (8)

As usual, companion indicates Companion of Honour (abbreviation CH), a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour^[7], an order of the Commonwealth realms^[7] founded by King George V in June 1917 as a reward for outstanding achievements in the arts, literature, music, science, politics, industry or religion.

24a   One of the family has a superior set of books (4)

In Britain, U^[5] is used informally with respect to language or social behaviour as an adjective meaning characteristic of or appropriate to the upper social classes (U manners). The term, an abbreviation of  upper class, was coined in 1954 by Alan S. C. Ross, professor of linguistics, and popularized by its use in Nancy Mitford's Noblesse Oblige (1956). In cryptic crossword clues, "books" (or, in this case, "set of books") often means either OT (Old Testament) or NT (New Testament).

27a   Workers given honour, see, in generous manner (10)

In the UK, the Order of Merit (OM)^[5] is an order founded in 1902, for distinguished achievement, with membership limited to twenty-four people. A see^[5] is the place in which a cathedral church stands, identified as the seat of authority of a bishop or archbishop. The Diocese of Ely^[5] is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury, headed by the Bishop of Ely, who sits at Ely Cathedral in Ely.

29a   Loud song by good canon may give family entertainment (10)

Forte (f)^[5] is a musical direction which may either be an adjective meaning loud or an adverb meaning loudly. Good (G) is a mark or grade that might be received on a test or assignment at school.

1d   Month in which drama academy is set up (4)

The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA)^[7] is a drama school located in London, United Kingdom. It is generally regarded as one of the most renowned drama schools in the world, and is one of the oldest drama schools in the United Kingdom, having been founded in 1904.

2d   The first person set free, having climbed fencing (7)

Fence^[5] is used in the sense to conduct a discussion or argument in an evasive way.

4d   Playing a sort of sound that’s exciting for O’Reilly? (8)

This clue is premised on the way that an Irishman (or Jean Chrétien) might pronounce the word 'thrilling'.

19d   More than one vehicle is still, including old Rolls-Royce (7)

In the UK, trucks are known as lorries^[5].

22d   Capital providing volunteers to go round country (6)

In the UK, the Territorial Army (TA)^[5] is a volunteer force locally organized to provide a reserve of trained and disciplined manpower for use in an emergency.

25d   Composer produced a rough sound for us to hear (4)

William Byrd^[7] (1539/1540 – 1623) was an English composer of the Renaissance. With respect to burr^[3], the American Heritage Dictionary says it is a trilling of the letter r, usually made with the tip of the tongue and characteristic of Scottish speech [and not the Irish pronunciation of "thrill" seen in 4d].

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