Monday, June 11, 2012 - DT 26821

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26821
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, March 23, 2012
Setter Giovanni
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26821]
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

The puzzle today is by Giovanni, and – as is often the case with his creations – it has a few church-related references. This is hardly surprising as, in addition to setting puzzles for several publications under various pseudonyms, he is crossword editor for the Church Times (an independent Anglican weekly newspaper published in Britain).

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.

7a   Delight crossing minimal river, it being this? (7)

I sort of solved this one unaided – but only after determining (with help from my electronic assistants) that there was no solution possible here as long as I had the wrong solution at 3d.

10a   Determination shown by weak and sickly prisoner brought before ruler (9)

W^[1] as an abbreviation for weak is found in The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition, which explains that it comes from physics where a W particle or W boson is a hypothetical positively or negatively charged subatomic particle of large mass, responsible in theory for weak interaction between particles.

By tradition, British monarchs use initials formed from the Latin version of their first name followed by either Rex or Regina (Latin for king or queen, respectively). Thus Queen Elizabeth's initials are ER^[5] - from the Latin Elizabetha Regina.

13a   Carefully chosen soldiers meeting revolutionary beginning to recognise him (9)

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

Ernesto "Che" Guevaro^[7] (1928 – 1967), commonly known as El Che or simply Che, was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, intellectual, guerrilla leader, diplomat and military theorist who was a major figure of the Cuban Revolution.

15a   Like gems destined to be placed around church (7)

The Church of England (abbreviation 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. The English Church was part of the Catholic Church until the Reformation of the 16th century; after Henry VIII failed to obtain a divorce from Catherine of Aragon he repudiated papal supremacy, bringing the Church under the control of the Crown.

23a   My servant has been retrained as a church official (9)

A vestryman^[5] is a member of a parochial vestry. In the Church of England, a vestry^[4] is (1) a meeting of all the members of a parish or their representatives, to transact the official business of the parish or (2) the body of members meeting for this purpose; in other words, the parish council. In the Episcopalian (US) and Anglican (Canadian) Churches, a vestry is a committee of vestrymen chosen by the congregation to manage the temporal affairs of their church.

24a   More socially inept diner is awkward when Queen enters (7)

The Queen reprises her appearance from 10a.

3d   Part of the globe experienced and whisked round, as you might say (3,5)

The secret to success here is to apply the phrase "as you might say" to both parts of the charade. Otherwise, you (like Pommers and myself) will end up with precisely the wrong part of the globe – and create a major problem for yourself at 7a.

5d   One put into a house with bishops? That could be a severe sentence, look! (4,4)

Membership of the Upper House of the British Parliament, the House of Lords^[7], is made up of Lords Spiritual and Lords Temporal. There are currently 26 Lords Spiritual who sit in the Lords by virtue of their ecclesiastical role in the established Church of England. The Lords Temporal make up the rest of the membership; of these, the majority are life peers with the remainder being hereditary peers. The former are appointed by the Monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister, or on the advice of the House of Lords Appointments Commission. Membership was once a right of birth to hereditary peers but, following a series of reforms, only 92 members (as of 1 July 2011) sitting by virtue of a hereditary peerage remain. The formal title of the House of Lords is The Right Honourable the Lords Spiritual and Temporal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled.

7d   American novelist’s rescue vehicle that sits by the Thames (5,2,6)

Jack London (born John Griffith Chaney, 1876 – 1916) was an American author who is perhaps best remembered as the author of Call of the Wild and White Fang, both set in the Klondike Gold Rush.

Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London^[7], is a historic castle (and UNESCO World Heritage Site) on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It was founded towards the end of 1066 as part of the Norman Conquest of England. The White Tower, which gives the entire castle its name, was built by William the Conqueror in 1078, and was a resented symbol of oppression, inflicted upon London by the new ruling elite. The castle was used as a prison since at least 1100, although that was not its primary purpose. A grand palace early in its history, it served as a royal residence.

14d   Doing well in Plymouth, say, and not rocking the boat (10)

Plymouth^[7] is a city on the south coast of Devon, England.

In (or chiefly British on) form^[5], said of of a sports player or team, means playing or performing well.

16d   Liqueur — it upset a latter-day Juliet (3,5)

West Side Story^[7] is an American musical with a book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and conception and choreography by Jerome Robbins. It was inspired by William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. The female lead in the musical (and counterpart to Juliet in the play) is Maria.

17d   Begins journey from Home Counties — is last off (4,4)

The Home Counties^[5] are the counties in the SE of England surrounding London, into which London has extended. They comprise chiefly Essex, Kent, Surrey, and Hertfordshire.

19d   Grand knight that’s too much in control (6)

In algebraic notation, the usual modern way of recording chess games, the letter N stands for the knight^[7] (K is reserved for the king); in descriptive chess notation, Kt is sometimes used instead, mainly in older literature.

20d   I have to follow a bishop to achieve success (6)

The "bishop" here is not a chess piece but rather one of the ecclesiastical variety. Right Reverend^[5] (abbreviation RR^[2]) is a title given to a bishop, especially in the Anglican Church.

22d   Primitive life form Rex found buried in stone (4)

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

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