Thursday, August 9, 2012 - DT 26875

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26875
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, May 25, 2012
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26875]
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

As was the case with Gazza, the right hand side (in particular, the bottom right hand side) that I found to be the most difficult part of the puzzle. I needed to call my electronic aids into action for the final four clues — and the wordplay for one of them (17d) remained a mystery even after I had the correct solution. At 9a, it wasn't just my luggage that got lost, as I found myself in the wrong capital city.

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.

9a   Capital city a short distance to the west (4)

I found myself in the capital of Latvia, rather than the capital of Peru. As rationale, I had imagined that gir must be yet another obscure British unit of measurement to go along with perches and poles.

12a   Compel old boy to be deceitful? There’s little good in that (6)

In Britain, an old boy^[5] (abbreviation OB^[2])  is (1) a former male student of a school or college • an old boy of Banbury County School or (2) a former male member of a sports team or company • the White Hart Lane old boy squared the ball to present an easy chance from 12 yards.

18a   Stranded presumably and not feeling very well (4)

In Britain, someone who was slightly unwell or feeling below par might be described informally as being ropy^[10].

23a   One bishop after another in tricky situation — ghastly! (8)

Right Reverend^[5] (abbreviation RR^[2]) is a title given to a bishop, especially in the Anglican Church.

24a   Doughnuts to get rid of before lunchtime? (6)

Judging by Gazza's comment regarding the " the traditional hour for taking lunch", it would seem that the Brits prefer a late lunch.

2d   The ranks irate, needing inner energy? One should provide fruit (8)

In the British armed forces, other ranks (abbreviation OR)^[5] refers to all those who are not commissioned officers.

17d   Faller noted before start of Cup Final (8)

I was able to select the correct solution from a list of words matching the checking letters. I had a vague recollection that eventide falls but that was the extent of my understanding of the clue. As Gazza explains, the hymn "Abide with Me"^[7] is traditionally sung (noted) at Wembley Stadium prior to the FA Cup Final (the English football [soccer] championship match). The hymn opens "Abide with me; fast falls the eventide".

In his review, Gazza provides a clip of a moving rendition of the hymn at Wembley performed by Hayley Westenra, a New Zealand soprano who sings in both classical and pop music styles. For a time, she was a member of the Irish all-female musical ensemble Celtic Woman.

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