Monday, July 2, 2012 - DT 26842

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26842
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26842]
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 This puzzle appears on the Monday Diversions page of the edition of the National Post published on Friday, June 29, 2012. As is the customary practice, the National Post has skipped DT 26840 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, April 14, 2012. Two puzzles which were published previously (out of sequence) in the National Post have also been skipped – DT 26839 (published on May 30, 2012) and DT 26841 (published on May 31, 2012).

Introduction

Today, we skip over not only the usual British Saturday puzzle but also the two puzzles bookending it which were published out of sequence by the National Post at the end of May. I clearly sensed from my performance that the puzzle would not have garnered many stars for difficulty from whomever happended to review the puzzle for Big Dave's blog. Thankfully, clue 28a has been included in the syndicated version of the puzzle. According to Gazza, this clue was missing from the version that was printed in The Daily Telegraph.

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.

12a   Fury surrounding new kitchen fireplace (5)

A range is defined a bit differently in Britain than it is in North America. In North America, a range may use any type of fuel (wood, coal, oil, gas, electricity, etc.). However, in Britain, a range^[4] is a large stove with burners and one or more ovens, usually heated by solid fuel. A cooking device that does not use solid fuel would be known as a cooker^[5], an appliance used for cooking food, typically consisting of an oven, hob^[5] (a cooking appliance, or the flat top part of a cooker, with hotplates or burners), and grill and powered by gas or electricity. Thus, in Britain, a range is specifically a cooking appliance which has an actual fire inside of it.

17a   Overwhelmed, prisoner asked one to leave (9)

In British slang, a lag^[5] [mentioned in Gazza's hint] is a person who has been frequently convicted and sent to prison • both old lags were sentenced to ten years' imprisonment.

27a  Enthusiastically changing gear in city (7)

Since Gazza mentions that Ely is a see, I will include the full-blown blurb on Ely (reprinted from my blog of May 21, 2012). A see^[5] is the place in which a cathedral church stands, identified as the seat of authority of a bishop or archbishop. A diocese^[5] is a district under the pastoral care of a bishop in the Christian Church. The Diocese of Ely^[5] is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury, headed by the Bishop of Ely, who sits at Ely Cathedral in the city of Ely.

3d   Spanking ne’er-do-well’s rear with awful rage (5)

The Chambers Dictionary – or, as Gazza refers to it, the BRB (Big Red Book) – defines spanking^[1] (when used as an adjective) to mean spirited, going freely; (of a wind) fresh and brisk; striking, beyond expectation; very large. Collins English Dictionary has spanking^[4] as an informal term meaning outstandingly fine, smart, large, etc.

6d  Possession wins her ‘top novel’ — not Byatt’s last (9)

The clue apparently appeared in Britain with single quotation marks around the word "Possession". Possession: A Romance^[7] is a 1990 bestselling novel by British writer A. S. Byatt. It is a winner of the Man Booker Prize.

14d   Canadian rock star disturbed rest for child (9)

Neil Young is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation.

Young began performing as a solo artist in Canada in 1960, before moving to California in 1966, where he co-founded the band Buffalo Springfield along with Stephen Stills and Richie Furay, and later joined Crosby, Stills & Nash as a fourth member in 1969. He forged a successful and acclaimed solo career, releasing his first album in 1968; his career has since spanned over 40 years and 34 studio albums. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame website describes Young as "one of rock and roll’s greatest songwriters and performers". He has been inducted into the Hall of Fame twice: first as a solo artist in 1995, and second as a member of Buffalo Springfield in 1997.

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