Tuesday, August 14, 2012 - DT 26879

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26879
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26879]
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

As Pommers remarks in his review, the down clues seemed to go in considerably more quickly than the across clues. There is also only a very light sprinkling of Briticisms today.

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   A bit of life needed in new nationalist art exhibit (12)

In art circles, an installation^[10] is an art exhibit often involving video or moving parts where the relation of the parts to the whole is important to the interpretation of the piece.

9a   Misguided, and not wanting to smile (3-4)

Off^[2] (as a preposition) can mean not wanting or no longer attracted by something • off one's food • go off him.

12a   Smart support worker after start of engagement (7)

In cryptic crosswords, a "worker" often turns out to be an ANT.

19a   Greeting accepted by oddly shabby European in India (5)

In India, sahib^[2] is a term of respect used after a man's name, equivalent to 'Mr' or 'Sir', and formerly used on its own to address or refer to a European man.

7d   Relative invested in hotplates of the best quality — that or nothing (7,6)

This clue requires some knowledge of British kitchen appliances.  In Britain, a cooking appliance heated by solid fuel (such as wood or coal) is called a range^[4] and one powered by gas or electricity is known as a cooker^[5]. The flat top surface of a cooker, with  hotplates^[5] (in the case of an electric cooker) or burners^[5] (in the case of a gas cooker), is known as a hob^[5]. Brits, unlike North Americans, would not refer to the heating element of an electric range as a burner.^[5] Another difference in terminology is that North Americans refer to any cooking stove as a range irrespective of the type of fuel it uses (wood, coal, oil, gas, electricity, etc.). 

22d   Soldiers trapped by mother’s ambition (5)

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

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