Monday, February 13, 2012 - DT 26719

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26719
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, November 25, 2011
Setter Giovanni
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26719]
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

I found it very difficult to find an entry point into this puzzle. I don't recall solving any of the across clues on the initial read through. I believe the first clue to be solved was actually the 15-letter compound expression at 5d. This is one of those grids that works like four mini-puzzles. I did manage to complete about three-quarters of the puzzle before calling in the electronic reinforcements to help conquer the very obstinate north-east quadrant.

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   It’s ‘zythum’ — that’s a definitive statement (4,4)

The final entry in The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition is:

• zythum /zīˈthəm/ n a kind of beer made by the ancient Egyptians, highly commended by Diodorus, a writer of 1c BC. [Gr zȳthos]

A couple of other dictionaries that I happen to have on my bookshelf (Webster's New World Dictionary, College Edition (1966) and Funk & Wagnalls Standard Desk Dictionary (1976)) both stopped at zymurgy (noun the branch of chemistry that deals with wine-making, brewing, distilling, and similar processes involving fermentation) which is found two entries before zythum in Chambers, while The Random House Dictionary of the English Language, The Unabridged Edition (1971) continues on as far as Zyrian (noun a member of a people of NE Russia or their Finno-Urgic language; adj of or relating to the Zyrians or their language) which precedes zythum in Chambers. If we ignore the final entries (ZZ, zZ, zz, Zz, zZt, and ZZZ) in The Random House Dictionary, then – based on this limited sample – Chambers does seem to have the last word.

12a   Victor or Michael? (6)

Michael Winner^[7] is a British film director and producer, active in both Europe and the United States, also known as a food critic for the Sunday Times.

13a   Cold can give you unlimited appetite (8)

Apparently, zing can mean appetite, although I really was not able to find a source that supports this meaning. Something with zing could certainly whet one's appetite, or even satisfy one's appetite, but I don't see how the two words are synonyms.

17a   Sound of swirling crowd gathering round (4)

Whether one considers "swirling" to be a reversal indicator (as Gazza chose to do) or as an anagram indicator (as I saw it), the end result is the same.

19a   Shape of infantrymen getting into mess (8)

Sometimes ignorance is a good thing. I assumed that since we have often seen the Royal Artillery, the Royal Engineers and the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers in puzzles, that the Royal Infantry must also exist. But apparently that is not the case - at least not any more (see comment from Giovanni on Big Dave's site). Perhaps it could stand for the Royal Irish Regiment^[7], which is a British infantry regiment^[7]. [Note: From the comments at Big Dave's site, I see that I am not the first to have come up with this possibility – although it does appear that Spindrift's comment seems to have passed virtually unnoticed there.]

24a   Reform movement has endless sort of magnetism — time to get stuck in (8)

Chartism^[5] was a UK parliamentary reform movement of 1837–48, the principles of which were set out in a manifesto called The People’s Charter and called for universal suffrage for men, equal electoral districts, voting by secret ballot, abolition of property qualifications for MPs, and annual general elections.

25a   Bear close by river (6)

The River Ure^[7] is a river in North Yorkshire, England, approximately 74 miles (119 km) long from its source to the point where it changes name to the River Ouse.

2d   Nothing wrong with activity involving tricks — part of the British Establishment! (8)

In Britain, the term Oxbridge^[10] denotes the British universities of Oxford and Cambridge, especially considered as ancient and prestigious academic institutions, bastions of privilege and superiority, etc. It is interesting to note that the definition in the Oxford Dictionary of English fails to include the latter qualification, stating merely "Oxford and Cambridge universities regarded together^[5]".

4d   Tiny Devon village that is regarded as unimportant (5,4)

Small beer^[5] is a British expression indicating a thing that is considered unimportant • even with £10,000 to invest, you are still small beer for most stockbrokers. The village of Beer^[7] is in south-east Devon, England, on Lyme Bay. I wouldn't be surprised to see this clue recycled as 'Tiny Somerset hamlet that is regarded as unimportant' since Beer^[7] is also the name of a hamlet found in the village of Aller in Somerset, England.

6d   A day in Herts town doing business (7)

Herts^[5] is an abbreviation for Hertfordshire^[5], a county of SE England, one of the Home Counties^[5] (the English counties surrounding London, into which London has extended; they comprise chiefly Essex, Kent, Surrey, and Hertfordshire). Tring^[7] is a small market town and also a civil parish in the Chiltern Hills in Hertfordshire, England. Situated 30 miles (48 km) north-west of London, it is now largely a commuter town in the London commuter belt.

7d   Some ghost in a town making a series of musical sounds (8)

In music, ostinato^[5] is a continually repeated musical phrase or rhythm.

8d   Raving Greek character, one annoyed, upset (8)

I expended far too much time in a failed effort to force-fit delta into the solution.

18d   Item that’s yellow — ‘butter’, might you say? (8)

Or^[5] is gold or yellow, as a heraldic tincture. In heraldry, a tincture^[5] is any of the conventional colours (including the metals and stains, and often the furs) used in coats of arms.

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)
^[10] - CollinsDictionary.com (Collins English Dictionary)

Signing off for today - Falcon