Wednesday, February 1, 2012 - DT 26710

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26710
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26710]
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

The puzzle was a fairly gentle challenge today, despite a few new British expressions. A couple of them - such as the dingy, dirty cinema at 14d and the expression at 6d (perhaps what might be called embellishment in some sports) - were pretty self-evident. However, the pastry at 14a required a bit of effort to digest.

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   Disturbance caused by strange tailless cat (6)

Rum^[5] is a dated British term meaning odd or peculiar.

14a   Currant buns? I feel my secret is out (3,10)

Fly Cemeteries (aka Currant Buns?)

Fly Cemetery, Flies Graveyard or Flies Cemetery^[7] are nicknames used in various parts of the United Kingdom for sweet pastries filled with currants or raisins, which are the "flies" in the "graveyard" or "cemetery". In the North East of England they are called fly cakes or fly pie. They also go by the more mundane names of currant squares or fruit slices.

My idea of a currant bun

The illustration used by Gazza in his review bears no resemblance to what I would consider to be a "bun". If asked to name it, I would say it is a currant square. However, in North England, a bun^[7] is also a name for small cakes, e.g. sponge buns, currant buns and butterfly buns. Thus, I would have to conclude that this delicacy must be known as a currant bun in part of Britain, at least.

According to various comments on Big Dave's Blog, apparently the name Fly Cemetery (or variation thereof) is also applied to other partries containing currants, such as Garibaldi biscuits and Eccles cakes.

In case you would like to try them, here is a recipe for Fly Cemetery.

Candy And A Currant Bun

In the course of my research, I did discover that Gazza does seem to have missed an opportunity to include one of his trademark illustrations [Candy And A Currant Bun, a British compilation LP released in 2003 which contains the title track performed by Pink Floyd].

19a   Preprandial drink provided by a retiring salesman, Italian (8)

In the UK, "it^[5]" is an informal, dated term for Italian vermouth • he poured a gin and it [a cocktail containing gin and Italian vermouth].

6d   What one may do with 17 is spend more time than is necessary (4,1,4,2,2)

The number "17" in the clue is a cross reference to clue 17a. To interpret the clue, the cross reference indicator (17) must be replaced by the solution to the cross referenced clue (COLD TURKEY).

Make a meal of (it)^[5] is an informal British expression meaning to carry out (a task or action) with unnecessary effort or thoroughness, especially for effect • he made a meal of it by falling dramatically to the ground clutching his face.

12d   Man, the artist Prince, US rhythm and blues singer (3,7)

The reference in the surface reading is to Prince^[7] (born Prince Rogers Nelson), an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. While his music was influenced by R&B, one would hardly call him an R&B singer. Prince pioneered the "Minneapolis sound", a hybrid mixture of funk, rock, pop, R&B and New Wave that has influenced many other musicians.

In 1993, Prince changed his stage name to the Love Symbol (see right), which was explained as a combination of the symbols for male (♂) and female (♀). In order to use the symbol in print media, Warner Bros. had to organize a mass mailing of floppy disks with a custom font. Because the symbol had no stated pronunciation, he was often referred to as "The Artist Formerly Known as Prince," as well as "The Artist."

Once we look beneath all this misdirection, we find a couple of other personalities.

Man Ray^[7] (1890 – 1976), born Emmanuel Radnitzky, was an American artist who spent most of his career in Paris, France. Perhaps best described simply as a modernist, he was a significant contributor to both the Dada and Surrealist movements, although his ties to each were informal. Best known in the art world for his avant-garde photography, Man Ray produced major works in a variety of media and considered himself a painter above all. He was also a renowned fashion and portrait photographer.

Charles, Prince of Wales^[7] is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

14d   Rush into appropriate cinema (7)

Fleapit^[5] is an informal British term for a dingy, dirty place, especially a run-down cinema.

21d   Port, unopened, settled (4)

Dover^[7] is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and is home of the Dover Calais ferry which runs between Dover and Calais, France. The surrounding chalk cliffs have become known as the White cliffs of Dover.

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