Tuesday, January 3, 2012 - DT 26683

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26683
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, October 14, 2011
Setter Giovanni
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26683]
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

Judging by my performance, I would have to say that today's puzzle is on the gentle side of three stars.

In case anyone is interested, I have finally gotten around to posting blogs on the puzzles for Friday, December 23 and Monday, December 26. It would seem that a little event called Christmas rather interfered with my schedule!

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.

9a   Number classically participating in excursion (6)

I did get the correct solution - but without understanding why. The only possible explanation that I could come up with is that, in the Iliad, Homer writes of Nestor leading a flotilla of ninety ships to the siege of Troy. However, the answer is hiding right before our eyes, with the Roman numeral for ninety forming part of the word eXCursion.

10a   PM has no hesitation going round pub — it adds a bit of spice (8)

The PM of interest is David Cameron^[7], the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the British Conservative Party.

11a   Like many a church notice across, say, Ireland? (6)

For my first attempt, I took the right approach but ended up at the wrong destination. I put SPIED (noticed, failing to notice the improper tense) around R (republic, of which Ireland is an example) to get SPIRED (like many a church). Luckily, an obvious down clue quickly set me straight.

18a   Soldiers getting punished to become improved (7)

The Royal Engineers (RE)^[5] is the name of the field engineering and construction corps of the British army.

20a   Jane providing song for us to hear (4)

Jane Eyre^[7] is a novel by English writer Charlotte Brontë which was published in 1847.

25a   Shrub is hidden behind seaside building (6)

Like Gazza, I had never heard of the shrub referred to in this clue. Pieris^[5] is an evergreen shrub of the heather family, typically having pink or red young leaves and loose clusters of waxy white bell-shaped flowers. It is native to North America and Asia (genus Pieris, family Ericaceae). I must say that I am hard-pressed to see how a pier can be described as a building^[5] (a structure with a roof and walls) - a structure, yes, but a building?

26a   Somehow detain this writer coming in — there’s a medical disorder (8)

As a cryptic crossword convention, the creator of the puzzle will often use terms such as setter, compiler, author, or (in this case) "this writer" to refer to himself or herself. To solve the clue, one must substitute a first person pronoun for the term (I or me). As "somehow detain" clearly indicates an anagram (somehow) of DETAIN, it is quite evident (based on the numeration) that "this writer" must be ME which is contained in (coming in) the anagram.

1d   Job given to character to provide a means of communication (8)

Some people may have difficulty reading the caption on the postcard which Gazza uses to illustrate his hint. The card shows a large woman presenting a baby to a new mother as she lies in bed. The large woman comments "It's so different from yours. Did his father have nice curly hair like this?", to which the new mother replies "I don't know Ma'am, he had his hat on!"

2d  Heather, initially very good, is not very well (6)

Ling^[5] is another name for the common heather of Eurasia.

5d   Sit outside in fine weather — ashen but changing? (8)

Scrote^[5] (used by Gazza in the comment appended to his hint) is an informal British expression meaning a contemptible person (and, yes, as I expected, it does come from scrotum).

By the way, just think what a North American compiler might be able to do with the phrase "ashen butt"! [The term butt^[5] (meaning buttocks) being chiefly a North American expression].

13d   Come to end of line in attempt to expose infidelity (9)

The wordplay is "come to end of line in attempt" and the definition is "infidelity". The phrase "to expose" serves as a link between the wordplay and the definition. The overall sense of the clue is that if one follows the instructions in the wordplay, a synonym of the definition will be exposed or unveiled. The parsing of the wordplay is {REACH (come) + (to) E (end of linE)} contained in (in) TRY (attempt). It is not uncommon to see the word "to" used as a charade indicator, where it is used in the sense of 'pressed against' as in expressions such as "shoulder to the wheel", "nose to the grindstone", "nose to the window", or "cheek to cheek". Compare the use of the link phrase "to expose" in this clue to the use of the word "to" in 21d.

15d   Group of soldier laid up — rest could be this (8)

Like Gazza, I thought that the clue should have started "Group of soldiers ...". The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME; pronounced phonetically as "Reemee")^[7] is a corps of the British Army that has responsibility for the maintenance, servicing and inspection of almost every electrical and mechanical piece of equipment within the British Army from battle tanks and helicopters to dental tools and cooking equipment/utensils. These soldiers are not be confused with those in 18a. The Corps of Royal Engineers^[7], usually just called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the Sappers, is a corps of the British Army that provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces. In Ottawa, we have a prime example of the work of this corps. It was Lt. Colonel John By of the Royal Engineers who supervised the construction of the Rideau Canal in the early 1800s.

16d   Who rears unexpectedly? I’d better not, in battle (8)

I think one is expected to read this clue as if it were spoken by the horse.

17d   One topless garment associated with popular music somewhere in America (8)

Ska^[5] is a style of fast popular music having a strong offbeat and originating in Jamaica in the 1960s, a forerunner of reggae. It is popular both in Jamaica and in crossword puzzles.

21d  Primitive life form to be gobbled up by a bird once (6)

Here the definition is "primitive life form" and the wordplay is "be gobbled up by a bird once". I would say that the word "to" serves the function of a link word between the definition and the wordplay. However, in this role, it does not seem to perform nearly as well as the phrase "to expose" in 13d.

22d   Little son, someone really small, a bit of a pain (6)

Titch^[5] is an informal British term for a small person • the titch of the class.

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