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