Monday, March 12, 2012 - DT 26743

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26743
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, December 23, 2011
Setter Giovanni
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26743]
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

This puzzle turned out to be a rather humbling experience. I think the change to Daylight Savings Time must have somehow turned my brain to mush.

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   Analyse Eastern adherent of monotheistc sect (6)

The typo (monotheistc) is a carryover from the UK, where it would appear to have been present in the printed edition of The Daily Telegraph as well as on the website.

10a   Engineers given second signal will be free from danger (6)

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

13a   Message that something still needs to be done about bodyguard (8)

Arthur Daley (mentioned by Gazza in his hint for this clue) is a character from the British television series Minder^[7], a comedy-drama about the London criminal underworld which ran from 1979 to 1994. The series starred Dennis Waterman as Terry McCann, an honest and likable bodyguard (minder in London slang) and George Cole as Arthur Daley, a socially ambitious but highly unscrupulous importer-exporter, wholesaler, used-car salesman, and anything else from which there was money to be made whether inside the law or not. The show was largely responsible for putting the word minder, meaning personal bodyguard, into the UK and Australian popular lexicon.

17a   Opposing Victorian child-exploiter: ‘Off with his head!’ (4)

Fagin^[7] is a fictional character who appears as an antagonist in the Victorian-period novel Oliver Twist written by English author Charles Dickens.

20a   What is’t that completes fine infusion?! (6)

The explanation mark warns us that this clue is a bit unorthodox. The solution is the answer to the question posed in the first part of the clue - TIS AN E ('tis an E) that completes finE. Hercule Poirot^[7] (mentioned by Gazza in his hint for this clue) is a fictional character created by British crime writer Agatha Christie.

22a   River racer? (6)

I was not able to find a river named the Runner, so I have to assume that calling a river a runner (something that runs) may be akin to calling it a flower (something that flows). While river runner is also a term for a white water kayaker, I somehow doubt that this plays any part in the clue.

24a   Is nothing in Ulster city ridiculous? (8)

Derry^[7] or Londonderry is the second-biggest city in Northern Ireland. In 1613, the city was granted a Royal Charter by King James I and the "London" prefix was added, changing the name of the city to Londonderry. While the city is more usually known as Derry, Londonderry is also used and remains the legal name.

3d   It can help one entering court (8)

In Britain, a court shoe^[5] is a woman’s plain, lightweight shoe that has a low-cut upper, no fastening, and typically a medium heel [and is not a tennis or basketball shoe]. Although I could not find a dictionary that defined court (as opposed to court shoe) with this meaning, its use in this manner does not surprise me given the British propensity to discard nouns and use the adjectives modifying them as if they were nouns.  For example, an Indian restaurant becomes simply an Indian and, seemingly, a court shoe would be known as a court.

7d   Mark has got together with Heather — that’s exciting! (8)

Ling^[5] is the common heather, a purple-flowered Eurasian heath that grows abundantly on moorland and heathland [Calluna vulgaris, family Ericaceae].

14d   Small plant you found hidden in the middle of Hebe, correct? (9)

Eyebright^[5] is a small white-flowered plant of dry fields and heaths, traditionally used as a remedy for eye problems [Genus Euphrasia, family Scrophulariaceae: several species].

17d   Regarding province, say nothing to shock (8)

Northern Ireland (abbreviation NI)^[5] is a province of the United Kingdom occupying the NE part of Ireland.

19d   Children’s game — defeats being reported (7)

In Britain, a conker^[5] is the hard, shiny dark brown nut of a horse chestnut tree. Conkers [treated as singular] is a children’s game in which each has a conker on the end of a string and takes turns in trying to break another’s with it.

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