Monday, June 18, 2012 -DT 26827

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26827
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, March 30, 2012
Setter Giovanni
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26827]
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

It took a long time to get into this puzzle – perhaps owing to the fact that I spent several hours on the road before tackling it. There were quite a few British references in the puzzle, some of which I had previously encountered (although I failed to recognize some of them) and some of which were new to me. I also made a few educated (or just plain lucky) guesses - such as the location of the Royal Mint.

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   German boy certainly not a Bunter type (6)

Billy Bunter^[7] is an obese, short-sighted fictional character featured originally in stories set at Greyfriars School in the United Kingdom weekly boys story paper The Magnet first published in 1908, and has since appeared in novels, on television, in stage plays, and in comic strips. Dieter is a common German boy's name.

12a   What may give cover to one who is lying (7)

I discovered that I needed more than just a blanket.

15a   Senior schoolgirl gets a bit twisted, becoming model (7)

In some British schools, a prefect^[5] is a senior pupil who is authorized to enforce discipline. You may recall the term from The Hollies song "Carrie Anne" (in the song, of course, the term refers to senior schoolboys – I presume).

When we were at school our games were simple
I played the janitor, you played the monitor
Then you played with older boys and prefects
What's the attraction in what they're doing

16a   Frigid upper-class girl with little money once (5)

Gel^[5] is an informal British term for an upper-class or well-bred girl or young woman • fastidiously reared Home Counties gels. A penny (abbreviation d)^[5] is a former British coin and monetary unit equal to one twelfth of a shilling and 240th of a pound. On February 15, 1971 this coin was replaced by the decimal penny (abbreviation p)^[5] a British bronze coin and monetary unit equal to one hundredth of a pound. Thus 1d (one penny) is "little money once" – a small amount of a no-longer used form of currency.

18a   Mist somewhere in Middlesex, we hear (4)

Middlesex^[5] is a former county of SE England, situated to the north west of London. In 1965 it was divided between Hertfordshire, Surrey, and Greater London. Hayes^[7] is a town in the London Borough of Hillingdon, West London - located in the area that was once Middlesex.

21a   Core group of students tackling tricky clue (7)

The National Union of Students (NUS)^[7] is Britain’s confederation of students’ unions. Take your pick whether you prefer to parse the wordplay as NU(CLEU*)S or N(UCLE*)US.

22a   Hoarding pounds, misers unlikely to be such? (7)

L (usually written £) is a symbol for pound (or pounds), the British unit of currency.

24a   Judge a script brought in by boy (6)

Samson^[7] is the third to last of the Judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible) (Book of Judges chapters 13 to 16).

A biblical judge^[7] is "a ruler or a military leader, as well as someone who presided over legal hearings." Following the conquest of Canaan by Joshua until the formation of the first Kingdom of Israel (ca. 1150-1025 BC), the Israelite Tribes formed a loose confederation. No central government existed in this confederation and in times of crisis, the people were led by ad hoc leaders known as judges.

28a   Bird’s merit being expressed audibly (4)

Erne^[4] is another name for the European sea eagle.

29a   Works at Llantrisant maybe and shows a profit (5,5)

Llantrisant^[7], a town in Wales, is the home of the Royal Mint, which manufactures all British coins.

4d   Place in Surrey could be complete with two sovereigns (7)

Dorking^[7] is a historic market town at the foot of the North Downs approximately 21 miles (34 km) south of London, in Surrey, England. R^[5] is the abbreviation for either Regina or Rex (Latin for queen or king, respectively).

5d   Chemical in a shapeless mass not soft (4)

Piano^[3,5] (abbreviation p^[5]), is a musical direction meaning either soft or quiet (as an adjective) or softly or quietly (as an adverb).

12d   A soberness not usually found in ladies (10)

I was convinced that this clue was referring to a restroom^[5] (in the North American sense). In Britain, the Ladies^[5] is a term for a women’s public toilet.

15d   Drinks — any number needed in the mines (5)

In Britain, pint is an informal term for a pint of beer (a pint being the standard measure for a serving of beer in Britain) • we’ll probably go for a pint on the way home.

In his review, Gazza refers to "the letter used in maths". In Britain, the short form for mathematics is maths^[5] ([as modifier] her mother was a maths teacher), rather than math^[5] as it is in North America (she teaches math and science).

19d   The tiniest bit gives a fashion designer hesitation (7)

Mary Quant^[7] is a Welsh fashion designer and British fashion icon, who was instrumental in the mod fashion movement. She was one of the designers who took credit for inventing the miniskirt and hot pants.

20d   Books packaged together in vehicle (7)

Omnibus^[5] is a another (dated) name for a bus • a horse-drawn omnibus.

23d   Desire shown by one bather, primarily to get into pool (6)

In Britain, a lido^[5] is a public open-air swimming pool or bathing beach.

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