Monday, December 26, 2011 - DT 26676

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26676
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, October 6, 2011
Setter Ray T
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26676]
Big Dave's Review Written By Big Dave
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 This puzzle appears on the Monday Diversions page in the National Post edition of Friday, December 23, 2011

Introduction

This is another catch-up posting, filling in the gap that occurred over the Christmas period. Today's puzzle has traces of Ray T's unmistakable fingerprints, in particular 11a (a bit tame by his standards) and 8d (the virtually obligatory reference to Queen).

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.

5a   Fat one crying? (7)

The setter has exercised a modicum of cryptic license here (as indicated by the question mark). Blubber^[5] is a noun meaning (formally) the fat of sea mammals, especially whales and seals and (informally) excessive human fat. Blubber^[5] is also a verb meaning to cry noisily and uncontrollably or sob. However, as a noun meaning someone who is crying, it seems to be an invention of the compiler of the puzzle which he has derived from the British slang expression blub^[4], a verb meaning to blubber. By logical extension from similar constructs, someone who blubs would be called a blubber, would they not?

11a   Strokes embracing hem of satin knickers (5)

Knickers^[5] is the British term for panties while pants^[5], in the UK, means either underpants^[5] (referring, especially, to an undergarment for men or boys) or knickers (an undergarment for women or girls). While pants could be used to mean underpants in North America, this usage would likely only occur where the context made the meaning unambiguous. Generally the term underpants (or any of a multitude of alternative terms) would be used. The outer garment that is known as pants in North America would be called trousers in Britain. Thus, when extending an invitation to a British woman, a North American should be careful. If she happens to ask what she should wear, the answer probably should not be "It going to be a very informal affair. Just throw on some pants." For an example of how the Brits view pants, take a gander at the image that Big Dave uses to illustrate this clue.

12a   Model’s cold before interior shot (9)

It took me forever to solve this clue, but I loved it once the penny finally dropped. I think its juxtaposition with the previous clue added to the misdirection.

13a   Policeman’s dispatched to check identity for protester (9)

A detective inspector (DI)^[5] is a senior police officer in the UK.

Within the British police, inspector^[7] is the second supervisory rank. It is senior to that of sergeant, but junior to that of chief inspector. Plain-clothes detective inspectors are equal in rank to their uniformed counterparts, the prefix 'detective' identifying them as having been trained in criminal investigation and being part of or attached to their force's Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

17a   Sweetheart in bloke’s way (5)

Bloke^[5] is British slang for a man.

25a   Airhead bird hit out off and on (5)

The phrase "off and on" indicates that we are to use the even-numbered letters in the fodder (bird hit out). Basically, the instruction tells us to turn off the odd-numbered letters and turn on the even-numbered letters (bIrD hIt OuT). Had the clue read "on and off", we would have used the odd-numbered letters instead.

28a   A compiler’s taking refuge showing mercy (7)

It is a cryptic crossword convention that the words setter or compiler (and I have even seen author used in this way) must be replaced by a first person pronoun, such as I or me. In this case, we have a possessive (compiler's), so we must employ a possessive pronoun (my).

1d   Caught drunk and given a hand (7)

When Big Dave suggests that lapped means "drunk or quaffed", I believe he is referring to a figurative use of the word. Literally, lap^[5] means (referring to an animal) to take up (liquid) with quick movements of the tongue. However, it can also be used in a figurative sense meaning to take in greedily or readily (The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition).

2d   Nothing published including leader of Guardian newspaper (5)

The Guardian^[7], formerly known as The Manchester Guardian (founded 1821), is a British national daily newspaper. It is a sister paper to The Observer (British Sunday paper) and The Guardian Weekly (an edition aimed at the international market).

3d   Halfway through schooner, surrounded by drink? (9)

A schooner^[5] may be either (1) a sailing ship with two or more masts, typically with the foremast smaller than the mainmast, or (2) a glass for drinking alcoholic beverages. In the latter sense, Brits would expect to be served a large measure of sherry, whereas North Americans, Australians and New Zealanders would receive a large glass of beer. The clue is intended to make us think of the latter meaning, whereas the real meaning is a ship in the middle of the ocean (drink).

4d   Macbeth, I concede, has principles (5)

Dare I contradict Big Dave? I believe that the definition is "principles" having the solution ETHIC (an ethic^[5] being a set of moral principles). The word "has" is the hidden word indicator.

5d   With dominant playing, bowled over for game (9)

The surface reading is all about cricket. An over^[5] is a division of play in cricket 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. The cryptic reading relies on the use (as found on cricket scorecards) of b. as as abbreviation for "bowled".

6d   Beeb, having lost head, is free (5)

In the UK, Beeb^[5] is an informal name for the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation), as is Auntie^[5].

7d   Good man in difficulty, legal sort (9)

Barristers and solicitors are two classes of lawyer. However, the distinction between them varies in different jurisdictions around the world. The following attempt to differentiate the two classes is likely highly oversimplified.

The UK has a split legal profession in which barristers and solicitors have separate and distinct roles. Solicitors are attorneys which means they can act in the place of their client for legal purposes. However, a solicitor is not a member of the bar and is therefore cannot speak on behalf of a client in court. A barrister is not an attorney and is usually forbidden, either by law or professional rules or both, from "conducting" litigation. This means that while the barrister speaks on the client's behalf in court, he or she can do so only when instructed by a solicitor or certain other qualified professional clients, such as patent agents.

In the US and Canada (with the exception of Quebec), there is generally no legal or regulatory distinction between a barrister and a solicitor - with any qualified lawyer being entitled to practice in either field. In the US, most lawyers call themselves attorneys while in Canada, lawyers will adopt different titles depending on the type of legal practice on which they choose to concentrate (barrister, solicitor, or barrister and solicitor). [read more]

Regardless of the details, a barrister is a legal sort in any jurisdiction.

16d   Craft, about new, put about a river (9)

Thankfully, I was able to solve the clue (mainly from the definition) without knowing the English river. The Tamar^[7] is a river in South West England, that forms most of the border between Devon (to the east) and Cornwall (to the west).

21d   Painter’s no single person of importance (5)

Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio (c. 1488/1490 – 1576), known in English as Titian^[7], was an Italian painter, the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school.

24d   Syrup’s added to small drinks (5)

I concluded that "syrup" had to have some meaning beyond the obvious. Sure enough, syrup^[5] is Cockney rhyming slang for a wig. It derives from syrup of figs^[5], a laxative syrup made from dried figs, typically with senna^[5] (a laxative prepared from the dried pods of the cassia tree) and carminatives^[5] (drugs that relieve flatulence). [In case you are wondering why I claim not to have used assistance, I consider it fair game to look up words in the clue - especially when they are as obscure as this one.]

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