Wednesday, February 8, 2012 - DT 26716

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26716
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26716]
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 nearly completed today's puzzle without electronic help. However, try as I might, it seemed that I could not crack 21d without assistance - which was a bit humbling as the clue turned out to be not at all difficult.

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.

6a   Sucker taking in old TV serial (4)

According to Gazza (and Oxford), sap^[5] meaning a foolish and gullible person is chiefly a North American expression. Gazza also says "The word for sucker doesn’t seem to have made it into Chambers, at least not in my edition." That would be the case for The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition (to which I assume he is referring) - although it does list saphead^[1], with the meaning given as a fool or a weak or foolish person. This leads me to wonder whether sap, used in this sense, might not be a shortened form of saphead. Sap did make it into the Chambers 21st Century Dictionary (a weak or easily fooled person^[2]) as well as the Collins English Dictionary (a gullible or foolish person^[10]) with no indication in either one of its North American pedigree.

9a   Vulgar man squeezing female’s rear (5)

I'm sure it is well-known that chap^[5] is an informal British term for a man or a boy • he sounded like a nice, caring sort of chap.

12a   Scottish island, for example, backing position (7)

Arran^[5] is an island in the Firth of Clyde, in the west of Scotland.

15a   Merchant initially abandoned mince he’s prepared for restaurant (7)

It seems to be a characteristic of British English that adjectives are used in place of nouns that they would "normally" modify. Thus a Chinese restaurant becomes known as simply a Chinese^[5]. The same principle applies for Indian^[5] (and, no doubt, other) ethnic restaurants.

17a   He’s not upset about runs to get trim (7)

On cricket scorecards, R^[5] is used as an abbreviation for run(s).

22a   Table talk about queen (5)

Regina^[4] (Latin for queen, abbreviated as R^[5]) is part of the official title of a queen, now used chiefly in documents, legal proceedings, and inscriptions on coins. It may be used following a name (e.g. Elizabetha Regina, or ER, for Queen Elizabeth^[5]) or in the titles of lawsuits, e.g. Regina v. Jones: the Crown versus Jones [which would often be written simply as R. vs Jones].

28a   Ring caught by dog to be found (5)

On cricket scorecards, the abbreviation c^[5] indicates caught (by) • ME Waugh c Lara b Walsh 19.

30a  Without resistance, Noel’s play’s rewritten for my part (10)

The definition is "for my part" with the solution being PERSONALLY. The wordplay is an anagram (rewritten) of NOELS PLAY containing (without) R (resistance; an electrical term from physics). Here, "without" is used in the sense of 'outside'.

Now compare this to:

• 23d  Let in first man without hint of any sex appeal (5)

in which the definition is "let in" with the solution being ADMIT. The wordplay is ADM {ADAM (first man) after deleting (without) an A (hint of A[ny])} + IT (sex appeal). Here "without" is used in the sense of 'lacking'.

In a comment on his blog, Big Dave argues against the former usage on the basis that he feels that without means outside (but not surrounding). However, while I concede that without does not necessarily imply surrounding, I am not convinced that it might not in some cases. For an example, a moat without the walls of a castle. The example used by Oxford is "the enemy without". Surely any worthy attacking army would surround the spot where their quarry was holed up.

1d   Truth from a Conservative framed by newspaper (4)

The Financial Times (FT)^[7] is a British international business newspaper [conspicuously published on pink newsprint].

2d   Running ordinary exercise class (9)

The use of O^[2] as an abbreviation for ordinary comes from ordinary level ( or O level), which (in the UK except Scotland) is the lower of the two main levels of the GCE examination - the other being advanced level (or A level). The General Certificate of Education (GCE)^[7] is an academic qualification that examination boards in the United Kingdom and a few of the former British colonies or Commonwealth countries, notably Sri Lanka and Singapore, confer to students.

4d   Huge semi demolished with blokes inside (7)

Bloke^[5] is yet another well-known informal British term for a man • he’s a nice bloke.

11d  Gust that hurt soprano’s eyes (7)

The windows of the soul^[5] is a literary way of referring to the eyes.

18d   Specialised new ICT can help after loss of power (9)

ICT^[7] is an abbreviation for information and communications technology. ICT is sometimes used as little more than a synonym for IT (information technology), although - strictly speaking - ICT is a more all-encompassing concept. The term ICT was coined in the UK and tends to be used more commonly there, whereas (in my experience) Americans tend to rely on the older term IT.

20d   Succeed by record length in running competition (7)

The "old vinyl record" referred to by Gazza is not an LP, but an EP (extended-play)^[5], a record (or CD) that plays for longer than most singles (but not for as long as an LP).

26d   Bachelor escapes from eccentric host (4)

In Britain, barmy^[5] is an adjective used informally to mean mad or crazy • I thought I was going barmy at first.

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