Saturday, March 31, 2012 - World Leaders

Introduction

Today's puzzle from Cox and Rathvon presents a group of government leaders - past and present - from around the world.












Solution to Today's Puzzle

Legend:	"*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed
	"( )" letters inserted; "_" letters deleted; "†" explicit in the clue

Across

1a   Z(A|PAT)ERO - ZERO (cipher) containing (involving) {A (†) + PAT (facile)}

Don José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero^[7] served two terms as Prime Minister of Spain from 2004 to 2011.

5a   CHI(RA)C - RA (radium) contained in (acquired by) CHIC (smart)

Jacques Chirac^[7] is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 (making him the only person to hold the position of Prime Minister twice under the Fifth Republic), and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.

9a   DIRTIER* - anagram (rough) of IRT RIDE

The Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT)^[7] was the private operator of the original underground New York City Subway line that opened in 1904, as well as earlier elevated railways and additional rapid transit lines in New York City. The IRT was purchased by the City in June 1940. The former IRT lines (the numbered lines in the current subway system) are now the A Division or IRT Division of the Subway.

10a   MI(N)STER - MISTER (guy's address) containing (around) N (north)

Minster^[5] is a British term for a large or important church, typically one of cathedral status in the north of England that was built as part of a monastery • York Minster.

11a   AS|SAD - AS (for example) + SAD (pathetic)

Al-Assad family^[7] has ruled Syria, since Hafez al-Assad^[7] became Syrian President in 1971 and established an authoritarian regime under the control of the Baath party. After his death in 2000, his son Bashar al-Assad^[7] succeeded him.

Given recent events in Syria, this could well be viewed as a semi & lit. clue.

15a   MUSH|ARR|AF - {ARR (arrived) + (with) AF (Air Force) } following (after) MUSH (dogsled ride)

Pervez Musharraf ^[7] is a retired four-star general who headed an administrative military government in Pakistan from 1999 till 2007. He ruled Pakistan as Chief Executive from 1999–2001 and as President from 2001-08. In the face of impeachment, he opted to resign in 2008.

American (but seemingly not British) dictionaries show arr. as an abbreviation for arrived^[3,9] (as opposed to variants of the word such as arrives or arrival^[2,5,10]). The American Heritage Dictionary gives AF^[3] as an abbreviation for air force (as a generic term), while the Collins English Dictionary says that AF^[4] is an abbreviation for Air Force in Canada.

18a   HOW|A|RD - HOW (the way) + A (†) + RD (road)

John Howard^[7] was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 1996 to 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies.

19a   NEILL~ - sounds like (aloud) KNEEL (prepare to pray)

Sam Neill^[7] is a New Zealand actor who is well known for his starring role as paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III.

22a   RASMUSSEN* - anagram (out) of MUSES RUN

Lars Løkke Rasmussen^[7] is a Danish politician who served as Prime Minister of Denmark from 2009 to 2011.

24a   PUT|IN - double definition; "install" & "Yeltsin's successor"

Boris Yeltsin^[7] (1931 – 2007) was the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999. He was succeeded by Vladimir Putin^[7] who held the office of President until 2008, at which time he became Prime Minister of Russia. As of the 2012 election, Putin is the President-elect, and will re-assume that office in May 2012.

25a   INVITES* - anagram (busted) of VET IS IN

26a   DORM|I(C)E - DORM (student housing) + {IE (that is; id est) containing (is infiltrated by) C (cold)}

27a   HAR|PER - HAR (big laugh) + PER (for each)

Stephen Harper^[7] is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party.

28a   BACHELET* -  anagram (rerouted) of THE CABLE

Michelle Bachelet^[7] is a Social Democrat politician who was President of Chile from 2006 to 2010. She was the first female president of her country.

Down

1d   {ZOD|I}<|A|CAL - {reversal (backed) of I ([Roman numeral for] one) + DOZ (dozen)} + {A (†) + CAL (California)}

2d   PAR(A)SITE - {PAR (average) + SITE (place)} containing A (†)

3d   {_T|RIA|D_}< - hidden (held ... in) and reversed (back) in LockheeD AIR Terminal

4d   R(ORE)M - ORE (rocks) containing in (in) RM (room)

Ned Rorem^[7] is a Pulitzer prize-winning American composer and diarist.

6d   H(ANK A)ARON< - reversal (returned) of NORAH (†) containing (embracing) ANKA (Canadian crooner [Paul Anka]^[7])

Hank Aaron^[7], nicknamed "Hammer," or "Hammerin' Hank," is a retired American baseball right fielder who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1954 through 1976. Aaron is considered to be one of the greatest baseball players of all time. In 1999, The Sporting News ranked Aaron fifth on their "100 Greatest Baseball Players" list.

His most notable achievement was breaking the career home run record set by Babe Ruth. During his career, Aaron performed at a consistently high level for an extended period of time. He hit 24 or more home runs every year from 1955 through 1973, and is the only player to hit 30 or more home runs in a season at least fifteen times.

Aaron made the All-Star team every year from 1955 through 1975 and won three Gold Glove Awards. In 1957, he won the NL Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award, while that same year, he helped his team, the Milwaukee Braves, win the World Series. Aaron's consistency helped him to establish a number of important hitting records. He holds the MLB records for the most career runs batted in (RBI) (2,297) and the most career extra base hits (1,477). Aaron is also in the top five for career hits with 3,771 (third) and runs with 2,174, which is tied for fourth with Babe Ruth. He is one of only four players to have at least seventeen seasons with 150 or more hits. He also is in second place in home runs (755) and at-bats (12,364), and in third place in games played (3,298).

7d   RE(TAR)D - TAR (sailor) contained in (caught by) RED (radical)

8d   C(A|R)AFE - CAFE (sidewalk eatery) contains (keeps) {A (†) + R (restricted; movie rating}

10d   M(IS)USED - MUSED (thought) containing (about) IS (lives; as a verb, not a noun)

14d   C(R)OQUETTE - COQUETTE (minx) containing (eating) R (last [letter] of leftoveR)

15d   CHAS|SIS - CHAS (Charles) + (and) SIS (sibling)

16d   MIST|RIAL - MIST (spray) + RIAL (coin of Iran)

17d   B(LAND)EST - LAND (country) contained in (among) BEST (highest in ratings)

20d   WRA(I)TH - I (interest) contained in (in) WRATH (rage)

22d   A|S EVER - A (†) + SEVER (cut)

23d   _N|A|DIA_ - hidden (partly) in iN A DIAgram

Nadia Comăneci^[7] is a Romanian gymnast, who was the darling of the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal where she won three gold medals and became the first female gymnast ever to be awarded a perfect score of 10 in an Olympic gymnastic event. She is also the winner of two gold medals at the 1980 Summer Olympics.

24d   PERCH - double definition; "resting place for a bird" & "fish"

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

Friday, March 30, 2012 - DT 26763

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26763
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, January 16, 2012
Setter Rufus
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26763]
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
Notes The National Post has skipped DT 26762 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, January 14, 2012

Introduction

Today's puzzle involved a bit of dithering. On my first pass through, I entered the correct solution at 18a. When I got to the down clues, I came up with the wrong solution to 8d - meaning that my solution to 18a appeared to be wrong. Then I solved 22a, proving that my solution to 8d was in error. So it was back to my original solution at 18a.

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   Biblical book provides joy to a clergyman (10)

It was a revelation to me to discover that the last book of the Bible does not necessarily require a plural spelling.

9a   Not a serious quarrel though it turns very noisy (4)

Fortissimo (abbreviation ff)^[5] is a direction used in music to mean either (as an adjective) very loud  or (as an adverb) very loudly.

12a   Undercooked morsel that’s eaten (7)

Rarebit^[5] (also called Welsh rabbit) is a dish of melted and seasoned cheese on toast, sometimes with other ingredients.

17a   Assemble in the mother ship (4)

SS^[5] is the abbreviation for steamship • the SS Canberra.

18a   They may be inflated, say, and very large (4)

On my first pass through, I entered EGOS here. When I got to the down clues, I thought that the solution to 8d must be AFTERSHOCK - which meant that my solution for this clue had to be wrong. Then I solved 22a, proving AFTERSHOCK to be in error. So it was back to EGOS here.

I would have saved myself all this grief if I had seen the wordplay involving a charade of EG and OS. Instead, I interpreted the clue to be solely a cryptic definition. The sizes of clothing that North Americans would describe as plus-size^[7] (or often big and tall in the case of men's clothing) would be called outsize OS^[5] in Britain.

21a   Is set in this month’s presses (7)

Instant^[5] is a dated expression used in formal correspondence to indicate 'of the present month'. It is a postpositive adjective (i.e., it follows the noun it modifies) and almost always appears as an abbreviation (inst). Thus, one might write "In reference to your letter of the 7th inst ...". Perhaps IMHO our Victorian forebears were not so far removed from today's texters as we may imagine.

24a   Formidable woman appears to be tedious (6)

Judging by the tone of the definitions in various dictionaries, the application of the epithet dragon specifically to women may be primarily a British usage. The American Heritage Dictionary gives the meaning as a fiercely vigilant or intractable person^[3], Collins English Dictionary as a fierce or intractable person, especially a woman^[4], Chambers 21st Century Dictionary as a frighteningly domineering woman^[2], and the Oxford Dictionary of English as a fierce and intimidating woman^[5].

27a   Porter found gold ring after party (10)

A keeper^[5] is a plain ring worn to preserve a hole in a pierced ear lobe. Although the definition in Oxford indicates that a keeper is a sleeper, I gather from the definition of sleeper that a keeper must be just one specific form of sleeper, rather than a sleeper in general. According to Oxford, a sleeper^[5] is a ring or post worn in a pierced ear to keep the hole from closing. Oxford also says that sleeper is a British term. However, while I have heard of a sleeper, I am totally unfamiliar with the term keeper. As a result, despite getting the correct solution, I was at a loss to explain the part of the wordplay involving "ring". Alternatively, a keeper may also be a ring worn to keep a more valuable one on the finger.

28a   Sweet kind of music (4)

Rock Candy

Sweet^[5] is the British term for candy^[5]. In Britain, rock is a kind of hard confectionery in the form of cylindrical peppermint-flavoured sticks • a stick of rock. In his review, Gazza gives us a picture of the British sweet known as rock. In North America, rock candy^[5] is a kind of hard confectionery typically made of masses of crystallized sugar. It is made by suspending a piece of string or a small wooden stick in a saturated sugar solution to which food colouring has been added and allowing the sugar to crystallize on the string or stick.

29a   Small volume of overseas tourism (6,4)

I stumbled here, unable to overcome my mental block that the first word must be POLISH - even though 25d seemed to rule out that possibility.

2d   Some currency back in circulation (4)

I would say that the setter has exercised a rather large dose of cryptic licence in this clue - however, it is not the first time that I have encountered this device. The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition begins its definition for currency with the words "that which circulates". Using cryptic crossword logic, this could apply to water flowing in a channel - which is how the setter chooses to employ it. Of course, Chambers goes on to complete the definition with the words "especially the money of a country". But the setter very deliberately ignores that bit. In an eddy^[5], the flow of water in a channel circulates back on itself in a circular motion.

5d   Jot down the first nine letters (4)

A "jot"is an IOTA and the first nine letters of the alphabet are A TO I. If you reverse the later, you get the former. But how does "down" become a reversal indicator?

Usually, "up" is used as a reversal indicator in a down clue. Words in down clues are normally entered into the grid from top to bottom (written in a downwards direction). Thus, to reverse a word, one would write it "up" (in an upwards direction) in the grid. In fact, this very device is employed in the following clue, 6d.

I was hoping that Gazza would elaborate on this point, but neither he - nor anyone else at Big Dave's blog - batted an eyelash at this construction. In fact, Little Mart marveled at "the work of genius that is 5 down" - leaving me even more perplexed at my obtuseness. That left me with no option but to do some more research.

I thought the setter might have used down^[2] in the sense of from a greater to a lesser size, amount or level. Thus "down the first nine letters" would be an indication to write them from the ninth to the first, or I TO A. But that doesn't work, as it gives ITOA, rather than IOTA.

Obviously, the setter intended "down" to operate as a reversal indicator on the phrase A TO I. However, I really can't justify this to my satisfaction.

So I am left not knowing if I am brilliant for spotting a flaw that escaped everyone else or a fool for not being able to see what is obvious to the world!

As an aside, I see that the Brits say bat an eyelid^[5], whereas North Americans say bat an eye or bat an eyelash.

6d   Dash up and give a number attention (7)

Here "up, in a down clue" is a reversal indicator.

7d   Triad thugs running wild (10)

I didn't think that distraught necessarily meant wild. However, The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition defines it, in part, as distracted; frantic, e.g. with grief or worry; mad; perplexed ...^[1]

14d   Sorts letters, perhaps (5)

In the cryptic reading, I believe that we may be expected to interpret letter^[5] in the sense of to inscribe letters or writing on • her name was lettered in gold.

20d   Arab leaders give one the shivers, by the sound of it (7)

This is a homophone clue that does not travel well - either across the Atlantic or, it seems, across the Red Sea. In Britain, sheikh is pronounced quite similar to shake. Gazza comments "the Arabic pronunciation doesn’t sound much like that". I wouldn't know, but in the US, it is pronounced to sound like sheek.

25d   Rise like a lark? (4)

Well, I did get the correct solution but didn't really understand the clue - even after reading Gazza's comment. But then, he does conclude by saying "unless I’ve missed something, I think that this is a bit weak". Amen!

As an aid in understanding Gazza's comment, Vaughan Williams^[7] (1872 – 1958) was an English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores. His orchestral composition The Lark Ascending^[7], inspired by George Meredith's poem of the same name about the skylark, is one of the most popular pieces in the Classical repertoire among British listeners. In his review, Gazza provides a link to a performance of this piece.

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

Thursday, March 29, 2012 - DT 26761

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26761
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, January 13, 2012
Setter Giovanni
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26761]
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

On the whole, the puzzle was not overly challenging. However, I encountered a mental block on the last few clues (although they do not appear exceptionally difficult in hindsight) and I resorted to a bit of electronic assistance to solve them.

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   Poison making ten Arabs ill (8)

Ratsbane^[5] is an archaic name for rat poison, especially arsenic oxide^[10].

10a   Request quiet, wanting heavy metal curtailed (4)

Piano (abbreviation p)^[5] is a direction used in music to mean either (as an adjective) soft or quiet or (as an adverb) softly or quietly.

11a   Burglars? They pose no danger at Christmas! (12)

A bit off topic, but in the course of doing some research regarding this clue I observed an interesting difference between meanings for the word cracker in the UK and the US. In the UK, cracker^[4] is a slang term meaning a thing or person of notable qualities or abilities. In the US, on the other hand, cracker^[3] is an offensive term used either (a) as a disparaging term for a poor white person of the rural, especially southeast, United States or (b) as a disparaging term for a white person in general.

13a   Fragrance said to be evident in castle (8)

Balmoral Castle^[5] is a holiday residence of the British royal family, on the River Dee in Scotland. Although I have certainly heard of the castle, it did not readily come to mind this morning.

2d   Type in dark black showing impudence? (8)

Gazza, in his review, comments "I can’t find any reference to [boldface] meaning impudence ..." - and neither could I. However, the Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia^[7] lists bold-face as meaning "One who has a bold face; an impudent person" [Note: although the cited reference from Wordnik shows the word without a hyphen, the original source does spell the word with a hyphen]. The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia can be found here.

8d   See delta possibly from valley (8)

Teesdale^[7] is a dale, or valley, of the east side of the Pennines in England through which flows the River Tees. Large parts of Teesdale fall within the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) - the second largest AONB in England and Wales.

14d   Fish, angler’s first to be caught in lake (5)

The loach is a small elongated bottom-dwelling freshwater fish with several barbels near the mouth, found in Eurasia and NW Africa [Family Cobitidae and Homalopteridae (or Balitoridae): several genera and numerous species].

17d   Bird trainer once working between one river and another (8)

The River Fal^[7] flows through Cornwall, United Kingdom, rising on the Goss Moor and reaching the English Channel at Falmouth.

19d   In favour of money to set forth as a reward (8)

I had to go to my copy of The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition to find the sense of the word used here for propound, viz. to set forth as an aim or reward.

The pound^[5] (also pound sterling) is the basic monetary unit of the UK, equal to 100 pence.

24d   Confectionery from van is offered outside church? (4)

In Britain, an ice^[5] is an ice cream, ice lolly^[5] (a piece of flavoured ice or ice cream on a stick), or portion of water ice^[5] (a dessert consisting of frozen fruit juice or flavoured water and sugar).

In North America, I can not think of a single all-inclusive term for the range of treats encompassed by the term ice lolly. These would include the imaginatively-named ice cream on a stick (a flat bar of vanilla ice cream with a chocolate coating on a stick) as well as the popsicle^[5] (flavoured ice on a stick - a trademark that has become a generic term). The Creamsicle and Fudgsicle  are frozen desserts that are made in the form of a flat bar on a wooden stick. The former has a center of vanilla ice cream which is covered by a layer of flavored ice, while the latter is chocolate-flavored with a texture somewhat similar to ice cream [but which, I would say, is a bit chewier].

In Britain, water ice is another name for sorbet^[5] - although it would probably be more correct to state this the other way around, as water ice seems to be the more common term. In North America, sorbet is also known as sherbet^[5]. In Britain, sherbet is something entirely different - a flavoured sweet effervescent powder eaten alone or made into a drink. In Arab countries, sherbet is a cooling drink of sweet diluted fruit juices. In Australia, sherbet is used as a humorous slang term for beer • I went down the local pub for a few sherbets.

The Church of England (CE)^[5] is the English branch of the Western Christian Church, which combines Catholic and Protestant traditions, rejects the Pope’s authority, and has the monarch as its titular head.

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

Wednesday, March 28, 2012 - DT 26760

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26760
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, January 12, 2012
Setter Unknown (but possibly Petitjean)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26760]
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

Introduction

I hope that my electronic assistants took full advantage of their day off yesterday to rest up well, because today their services were needed early and often. When I saw that Big Dave had awarded the puzzle four stars for difficulty, I was quite pleased to have finished the puzzle - even though I needed extensive help from my Tool Chest.

Meet the Setter

Some at Big Dave's Crossword Blog suspect that today's puzzle may have been compiled by Petitjean. If so, here is what Crossword Who's Who has to say about today's setter:

John Pidgeon, born in Carlisle on March 1st 1947, is a journalist, author, music historian, radio producer and comedy executive. He sets crosswords for the Telegraph, including Toughies as Petitjean.

John was brought up in a village in Buckinghamshire, where he attended the Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe, his time there overlapping with Ian Dury and Roger Scruton. He studied French at the University of Kent and postgraduate Film Studies at the Slade School. As a music journalist in the 1970s, John contributed to Let It Rock, New Musical Express, Melody Maker and Time Out, and wrote books about Rod Stewart and Eric Clapton.

After several years of making documentaries and special programmes for Capital Radio and BBC Radio 1, he was approached in 1999 by the BBC to run Radio Entertainment, which he did for six years, nurturing Dead Ringers, Flight of The Conchords, Little Britain and The Mighty Boosh during his time in charge. He was appointed a Fellow of the Radio Academy in 2003 and chaired the Perrier Panel in Edinburgh in 2005.

John's tongue-in-cheek Guardian article, Clued to the Past, lamenting the lack of up-to-date cultural reference in cryptic crosswords, caused a stir in some cruciverbalist quarters in 2009.

Wikipedia entry for John Pidgeon

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.

11a   Same three notes restricting Lemmy’s debut after Motörhead ruckus (5)

Motörhead are an English rock band formed in 1975 by bassist, singer and songwriter Ian Fraser Kilmister, known mainly by his stage name Lemmy, who has remained the sole constant member. The band is often considered a precursor to or one of the earliest members of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, which re-energised heavy metal in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

The clue, as published in the National Post, includes the umlaut over the second 'o' in Motörhead which is missing from the clue on Big Dave's site (which I presume is because it was also missing on the DT website).

15a   Nan usually cooked in this tatty cap and back-to-front jumper (7)

In the surface reading, the Brits would likely see Nan^[5] as an informal term for one's grandmother. In the cryptic reading, nan^[5] is a term from Indian cookery, being a type of leavened bread, typically of teardrop shape and traditionally cooked in a clay oven. I initially failed to see this, likely because I always use the alternative spelling naan.

17a   Spiv putting the squeeze on uninhibited Irish sightseer (7)

In British slang, a spiv^[5] is a man, typically a flashy dresser, who makes a living by disreputable dealings. In the UK, a tout^[5] is a person who buys up tickets for an event to resell them at a profit - a scalper^[5] in North American parlance.

18a    Sartre novel about ordinary hot day (7)

An extremely hot day might be described colloquially as a roaster^[2].

20a   Dealer with six no trumps noting East’s reluctant leads (7)

Big Dave gives one explanation for the solution to this clue. It could also be explained as 'this dealer in wine is derived from the Roman numerals for six followed by the abbreviation for no trumps (from bridge) and the initial letters (leads) of three words in the clue'. Of course, in the end, it all amounts to the same result.

23a   Contrary characters caught in downpour — my concept of Wales (5)

Cymru^[5] is the Welsh name for Wales.

26a   Police retiree in honey-trap (5)

Sting^[7] (born Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner) is an English musician, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, activist, actor and philanthropist. Prior to starting his solo career, he was the principal songwriter, lead singer and bassist of the rock band The Police.

4d   You are said to support a fellow enthusiast (7)

Mate^[5] is an informal British term (1) for a friend or companion • my best mate Steve or (2) used as a friendly form of address between men or boys • ‘See you then, mate.’

5d   Not completely true batting partner once put on performance (7)

In cricket, in^[5] (used as a predicate adjective) means batting • which side is in?

6d   Capri for one is left- and right-hand drive (4)

The surface reading is surely intended to make us think of an automobile.

Ford Capri^[7] was a name used by the Ford Motor Company for three different automobile models. The Ford Consul Capri coupé was produced by Ford of Britain between 1961 and 1964. The Ford Capri coupé was produced by Ford of Europe from 1969 to 1986. The Ford/Mercury Capri convertible was produced by the Ford Motor Company of Australia from 1989 to 1994.

The Capri name was also used by Ford's Lincoln-Mercury Division on six different models which did not bear the Ford name. The Lincoln Cosmopolitan Capri from 1950 to 1951; the Lincoln Capri from 1952 to 1959; the Mercury Comet Capri in 1966-1967; and three different generations of Mercury Capris from 1970 to 1994.

8d   Should one go commando under these? (6,8)

Going commando^[7] is the practice of not wearing underwear under one's outer clothing. The term is theorized to be related to the much earlier term "going regimental", which refers to wearing the kilt military style, that is, without underwear.

Combat trousers^[5] (which I suspect may be a British expression) are loose trousers with large patch pockets halfway down each leg, typically made of hard-wearing cotton. They would seem to be very similar - if not identical - to cargo pants^[5]. The entry in Collins English Dictionary shows that the latter may be called either cargo pants or cargo trousers^[10]. The British dictionaries give no indication that the term cargo pants is not used in the UK. That is somewhat surprising to me as the word pants in Britain refers to underwear, and not to trousers as it does in North America.

16d   Narrow escape from ultimate heaven on earth in centre of Leamington Spa (4,5)

Royal Leamington Spa^[7], commonly known as Leamington Spa or Leamington is a spa town in central Warwickshire, England. Formerly known as Leamington Priors, its expansion began following the popularisation of the medicinal qualities of its water by Dr Kerr in 1784, and by Dr Lambe around 1797.

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

Tuesday, March 27, 2012 - DT 26759

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26759
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Setter Jay
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26759]
Big Dave's Review Written By Pommers
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

Pommers says that he found this to be "a fair bit trickier than recent Wednesday puzzles". I thought just the opposite, but as the old saying goes "horses for courses". For a while, I was not even sure that it was a Jay puzzle, as for some reason it did not seem to have his touch. However, fairly late in the game, I solved 9d which is a trademark Jay substitution clue.

Meet the Setter

Here is what Crossword Who's Who has to say about today's setter:

Jeremy Mutch sets crosswords in the Financial Times as (as Orense). He also set Wednesday crosswords in The Daily Telegraph.

He uses the screen name Jay for his posts on Big Dave's Crossword Blog.

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   Bundle sporting mates abroad, sending the last one West (4)

I got the solution from the definition, knowing that, in Australia and New Zealand, a swag^[5] is a traveller’s or miner’s bundle of personal belongings. I didn't know that WAG^[5] is a (presumably British) term for a wife or girlfriend of a sports player, typically characterized as having a high media profile and a glamorous lifestyle. This term has seemingly been introduced to the language within the last decade, as Oxford gives its origin as early 21st century from the acronym WAGs 'wives and girlfriends'. Like Pommers, I also wondered "what the word ‘abroad’ brings to this clue". I considered that it might relate to "swag" being an Australian and New Zealand term, although that hardly seems likely as it does not appear next to the word "bundle" in the clue. Jezza resolves the confusion when he explains that WAGS refers, in particular, to the wifes and girlfriends of the members of travelling teams.

12a   Devil-may-care potholer entertaining tabloid regularly (8)

A pot-holer^[2] is someone who engages in the sport, pastime or activity of exploring deep caves and pot-holes (spelled with a hyphen according to the Chambers 21st Century Dictionary). A pothole^[5] (spelled without a hyphen according to the Oxford Dictionary of English) is a deep natural underground cave formed by the erosion of rock, especially by the action of water.

13a   Ask for quiet conduct (5)

Piano (abbreviation p)^[5] is a direction used in music to mean either (as an adjective) soft or quiet or (as an adverb) softly or quietly.

15a   Led off following Cornish home fraud (7)

Initially, I had supposed that swin might be the name of a type of abode in the Cornish dialect. It took me quite some time to realize that Cornwall is located in the southwest (SW) of England and that IN means "home" (or, more verbosely, at home).

21a   Germany perversely agreed to devalue (7)

D^[5] is the International Vehicle Registration (IVR) symbol for Germany (from German Deutschland).

27a   Popular musical instrument, note, cannot be touched (9)

Te^[5] is the British spelling for the seventh note of a major scale in the tonic sol-fa system of naming the notes of the musical scale. In North America, the name of this note is generally spelled ti.

28a   Demolish sheep’s head with potato (5)

Mash^[5] is an informal British name for boiled and mashed potatoes, with milk and butter added • sausages and mash.

30a   People putting lignite in rings may be experienced travellers (3-7)

Jet^[5] is a hard black semi-precious variety of lignite, capable of being carved and highly polished • [as modifier] jet beads.

1d   Religious group caught in position (4)

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

2d   A very quiet place for filming comedies is attracting interest (9)

Pianissimo (abbreviation pp)^[5] is a direction used in music to mean either (as an adjective) very soft or very quiet or (as an adverb) very softly or very quietly. Ealing Studios^[7] is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in West London. It is the oldest continuously working studio facility for film production in the world, with films having been made on the site since 1902.

7d   Greater suffering encompasses the outskirts of Rheims (5)

Pommers says "Unless I’m missing the point here I don’t think this clue works properly as the word suffering seems to be doing double duty as part of the definition and the wordplay." I think greater can mean worse, as one could say either "greater suffering" or "worse suffering". In fact, if the definition were intended to be "greater suffering", then "worse" (as a noun) would hardly be a fit.

8d   Woman marrying for money — or JCB? (4,6)

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. JCB^[5] is a British trademark for a type of mechanical excavator with a shovel at the front and a digging arm at the rear • [as modifier] a JCB digger [the term comes from the initials of J. C. Bamford, the makers].

20d   Beacon designed to cover western plant (7)

Cicuta virosa (Cowbane^[7] or Northern Water Hemlock) is a species of Cicuta. This toxic, poisonous member of the parsley family (Apiaceae) is native to northern and central Europe, northern Asia and northwestern North America.

There has been some dispute whether it was a hemlock of the genus Cicuta or the genus Conium which was used in ancient Greece as state poison. This poison was administered as a method of capital punishment and certainly the Greek philosopher Socrates drank a cup of some kind of hemlock infusion at his execution in 399 BC. Cicuta virosa is however primarily a northern European species, rare or absent from the Mediterranean region, making its use in Greece unlikely.

21d   Cattle workers formed by origin of Dorking Wanderers (7)

Dorking^[7] is a historic market town at the foot of the North Downs approximately 25 miles (40 km) south of London, in Surrey, England. The Dorking Wanderers Football Club^[7], a member of the Sussex County Football League, is a relatively new team, only having been in existence since 1999. On the other hand, the Dorking Football Club^[7] (nicknamed The Chicks) of the Combined Counties Football League has been around since 1880. The Dorking^[7] is a breed of chicken that is believed to have originated in Italy during the period of the Roman Empire and was introduced in Britain at the time of the Roman conquest making it one of the oldest English breeds.

25d   Vacates pub, returning distressed (5)

Pommers comments "there is nothing to suggest that the answer is contained in the first two words of the clue". This was also my first reaction. However, I concluded that the clue must have been intended to be a type of all-in-one clue with "distressed" (in the whimsical cryptic sense of 'given a haircut') serving as the containment indicator. However, this seems to be a bit dubious as one would have to shear off the first four letters as well as the last letter from "vacaTES PUb" and then reverse what is left. I can only remember seeing this device ("distressed") used where a single letter is to be removed from each end of a string. Pommers comes up with a better explanation in Comment #22 at Big Dave's site, where he points out that ‘returning’ means ‘giving back’. When that substitution is made, the clue becomes "Vacates pub, giving back distressed", with "giving" serving as the containment indicator and "back" as the reversal indicator.

26d   Acting for the monarchy creates some resistance (4)

OHMS^[5], a designation that one might find on government correspondence in Britain, stands for On Her (or His) Majesty’s Service. The ohm^[5] is the SI unit of electrical resistance, transmitting a current of one ampere when subjected to a potential difference of one volt. (Symbol: Ω)

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

Monday, March 26, 2012 - DT 26758

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26758
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26758]
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

Today's puzzle was a fairly gentle exercise - so my electronic assistants got a day off.

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   Place to make rocket? (10)

I failed to see the wordplay that Gazza explains as SPACE (place) + CRAFT (to make) being SPACECRAFT (rocket). Instead, I had interpreted the question mark as being the indicator of a whimsical cryptic definition. At summer camp, there might well be an activity called papercraft^[7] where one would build things out of paper. I supposed that the setter might have used a bit of 'cryptic licence' to envision a parallel activity called spacecraft where one could built rockets.

12a   Near to hospital rooms (7)

According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, towards^[5] is a word that is chiefly used in North America. It can mean "near to" in the sense of (1) getting closer to achieving (a goal) • moves towards EU political and monetary union or (2) close or closer to (a particular time) • towards the end of April.

22a   Course followed by Queen’s ship (5)

Regina (abbreviation R)^[5] denotes the reigning queen, used following a name (e.g. Elizabetha Regina, Queen Elizabeth) or in the titles of lawsuits (e.g. Regina v. Jones, the Crown versus Jones).

30a   Conservative politician with Royal Navy personnel beginning to take control (10)

Michael Gove^[7] is a British politician, who currently serves as the Secretary of State for Education. He makes his second appearance within two weeks, last having appeared in DT 26746 which was published in the National Post on Wednesday, March 14, 2012.

• [DT 26746] 13d   Education Secretary claims new team working to make progress (3,1,4,2)

for which the wordplay was GOVE containing (claims) an anagram (new) of TEAM + ON (working) to give G(ET A M*)OVE| ON (to make progress).

I must say that Gazza has chosen a somewhat less flattering portrait of the minister than did Prolixic.

11d   Strangely it’s nan wrapping Timothy’s first present (7)

Instant^[5] is a dated expression used in formal correspondence to indicate 'of the present month'. It is a postpositive adjective (i.e., it follows the noun it modifies) and almost always appears as an abbreviation (inst). Thus, one might write "In reference to your letter of the 7th inst ...".

14d   Pedant cornering bad editor enjoying the advantages of wealth (10)

No wonder I don't recall the word prig being a synonym for pedant as that sense of the word predates me - by about three centuries. According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, the earliest meaning of prig^[5] (in the mid 16^th century) was 'tinker' or 'petty thief'. By the late 17^th century, it had come to mean 'disliked person', especially 'someone who is affectedly and self-consciously precise'. Today, it means a self-righteously moralistic person who behaves as if they are superior to others • she was religious but not a prig.

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