Tuesday, January 24, 2012 - DT 26703

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26703
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, November 7, 2011
Setter Rufus
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26703]
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 The National Post has skipped DT 26702 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, November 5, 2011

Introduction

This puzzle may have been a touch more difficult than a typical offering from Rufus. I definitely required a bit of assistance from my electronic aids to complete it.

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   Proverbially it implies madness (3,2,5)

Some sayings are just so well known that a speaker may not even have to finish them for the listener to know what is meant. Such is the case with today's proverb. A speaker might say merely "Out of sight, ...", assuming that the listener would automatically complete the thought with the implied completion "... out of mind". Of course, "out of mind" could also suggest madness (insanity).

9a   Sweet kid (4)

In Britain, one meaning of sweet^[5] is a pudding or dessert. A fool^[5] (chiefly a British term) is a cold dessert made of puréed fruit mixed or served with cream or custard.

10a   Hold up close to Cork (10)

The capitalization of "Cork" is a bit of misdirection by the setter who would like to mislead us into thinking of the city in Ireland.

15a   Opposed to profits at outset (7)

The wordplay is GAINS (profits) with AT (from the clue) outside of it (outset). The wording in Big Dave's hint amounts to the same thing, but is perhaps less clear.

17a   This way for a place as a head (4)

In Britain, an each-way^[5] bet is one divided into two equal wagers, one backing a horse or other competitor to win and the other backing it to finish in the first three. Place^[5] is a betting term. In Britain,  it means any of the first three or sometimes four positions in a race (used especially of the second, third, or fourth positions). In North America, on the other hand, place refers specifically to the second position (or to a finish no worse than second) and show refers to third place (or a finish no worse than third). Thus (in North America) a bet on a horse to place pays off if the horse finishes in the top two, while a bet on a horse to show would pay off if the horse finished in the top three. Thus, a bet on a horse to place at a British track would be equivalent to a bet for it to show in North America.

29a   China’s sovereign race (5,5)

The Royal Crown Derby Porcelain Company^[7] is a porcelain manufacturer, based in Derby, England. The company, particularly known for its high-quality bone china, has produced tableware and ornamental items since approximately 1750. I presume that the name is commonly shortened to Crown Derby.

4d   Earring found on the railway (7)

A sleeper^[5] is a ring or post worn in a pierced ear to keep the hole from closing. Although the Oxford Dictionary of English characterises this term as British^[5] and the Collins English Dictionary as chiefly British^[4], for some reason the term did not sound particularly foreign to me - so the term may possibly be used in Canada.

5d   A horse for Lady Jane (4)

Lady Jane Grey^[7] (1536/1537 – 1554), also known as The Nine Days' Queen, was de facto monarch of England from 10 July until 19 July 1553. She was the great-grandaughter of Henry VII by his younger daughter Mary, and a first-cousin-once-removed of King Edward VI.

In February 1553, at age 15, Edward VI fell ill. When his sickness was discovered to be terminal, he and his Council drew up a "Devise for the Succession", attempting to prevent the country being returned to Catholicism. Edward named his cousin Lady Jane Grey as his heir and excluded his half sisters, Mary and Elizabeth. However, this was disputed following Edward's death and Jane was queen for only nine days before Edward's half-sister, Mary, was proclaimed Queen (and Lady Jane was imprisoned in the Tower of London).

She was convicted of high treason in November 1553, though her life was initially spared. Wyatt's rebellion in January and February 1554 against Queen Mary's plans of a Spanish match led to her execution at the age of 16 or 17, and that of her husband.

6d   Proceeds to give thanks to college (7)

Takings^[5] would appear to be the British equivalent to what would be called earnings in North America, the amount of money earned by a business from the sale of goods or services • the big test for the shop’s new look is whether it’ll boost takings. In Britain, apparently, a worker or investor may have earnings^[5] but a company has takings. When you think about it, does it not seem to reflect a very socialistic mindset!

In Britain, ta^[5] is an informal way to say thank you.

7d   Gent’s upset about tonight’s riot in the city (10)

Bufo (to whom reference is made by Big Dave in his hint) is one of the bloggers who contribute to Big Dave's site. His produces reviews of the Toughie (another - typically more difficult - cryptic crossword puzzle that appears in the Daily Telegraph) on roughly a once per week basis.

14d   Brush a fur coat (5)

A sable^[2] is an artist's paintbrush made of sable fur [that I found only in Chambers].

15d   This may cause a number to take up weapons (5)

In cryptic crosswords, expressions such as "a number" (or, as I have more often seen, "a large number" or "a great many") indicate a Roman numeral (usually a large one). The particular Roman numeral is not specified, so the solver must select the appropriate one from all of those available. See also 25d.

19d   Top-quality work produced by Form 1C (7)

In Britain, a form^[5] is a class or year in a school, usually given a specifying number. Thus the fifth form would be the linguistic counterpart to the fifth grade in North America and Form 1C would be like saying Grade 1C.

25d   Large number seen in a doctor’s rounds (4)

We are looking for a doctor in the military, a Medical Officer (MO)^[5]. Similar to what we saw in 15d, "large number" refers to a large Roman numeral.

Key to Reference Sources: 

^[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