Friday, August 17, 2012 - DT 26883

[Note: posted Sunday, August 19, 2012 but backdated for sequencing purposes]

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26883
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, June 4, 2012
Setter Rufus (Roger Squires)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26883]
Big Dave's Review Written By Libellule
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 The National Post has skipped DT 26882 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, June 2, 2012.

Introduction

While I didn't find this puzzle to be too difficult, it was hardly in one star territory for me.

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   Keep arguing — like Mrs Sprat does (4,3,3)

There seems to be some variance of opinion among British dictionaries as to the meaning of the expression to chew the fat. According to Oxford Dictionaries, it means to chat in a leisurely and prolonged way^[5] (which is what I have always understood it to mean). On the other hand, Chambers 21st Century Dictionary defines it as to argue a point, especially at length^[2]. Collins English Dictionary covers all the bases, by giving both meanings^[4].

18a   Completely new sweet flavour (4)

Sweet is the British term for candy^[5]. Polo^[7] (mentioned by Libellule in his review) is a brand of British mint candy with a hole in the middle (similar to Life Savers).

22a   Companion given a smile, causing annoyance (7)

As one usually finds, companion refers to Companion of Honour (abbreviation CH), a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour^[7], an order of the Commonwealth realms^[7] founded by King George V in June 1917 as a reward for outstanding achievements in the arts, literature, music, science, politics, industry or religion.

24a   Temple ornament I’d made badly (6)

Temple refers to the one found on the side of one's head.

3d   Courting ducks take wing outside (6)

In cricket, a duck^[5] is a batsman’s score of nought [zero] • he was out for a duck. In cryptic crossword puzzles, duck is used to indicate the letter "O" based on the resemblance of the number "0" to this letter.

The term duck is a shortening of 'duck egg' and is akin to the North American expression 'goose egg'^[5] meaning a zero score in a game. In British informal speech, when an expression consists of a noun used as an adjective followed by another noun (such as 'duck egg'), it is common to drop the second noun and use only the first noun. Thus duck egg becomes duck, Indian restaurant becomes Indian, and estate car (station wagon) becomes estate. I have often wondered if this tendency is related to the process at play in Cockney rhyming slang where a word is replaced by a phrase and then the rhyming part is dropped. For instance, in Cockney rhyming slang, a mate (friend) is a china because mate rhymes with china plate.

7d Stretcher bearer? (3,7)

A hod^[5] is a builder’s V-shaped open trough on a pole, used for carrying bricks and other building materials. A hod carrier^[10] is a labourer who carries the materials in a hod for a plasterer, bricklayer, etc. A stretcher^[5] is a brick or stone laid with its long side along the face of a wall (in contrast to a header^[5], a brick or stone laid at right angles to the face of a wall).

8d   General still a Duke even if he lost his head (10)

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington^[5] (1769–1852) was a British soldier and Tory statesman who served as Prime Minister from 1828–30 and again in 1834. Known as the Iron Duke, he served as commander of the British forces in the Peninsular War (1808–14) and in 1815 defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo, so ending the Napoleonic Wars.

Duke Ellington^[5] (1899–1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and bandleader; born Edward Kennedy Ellington. Coming to fame in the early 1930s, Ellington wrote over 900 compositions and was one of the first popular musicians to write extended pieces. Notable works: Mood Indigo (1930).

14d   Food the French may get unhappy about (5)

La^[8] is the feminine singular form of the French definite article.

20d   Bundles to haul on board (7)

SS^[5] is the abbreviation for steamship. In cryptic crossword puzzles, one often sees the phrase "on board" used to indicate that some bit of fodder is contained within the letters SS — with the rationale being that this fodder is being carried by a steamship (SS).

26d   Artist about to put up list (4)

RA^[5] is the abbreviation for Royal Academician, a member of the Royal Academy of Arts^[5], an institution established in London in 1768, whose purpose is to cultivate painting, sculpture, and architecture in Britain.

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