Tuesday, August 28, 2012 - DT 26891

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26891
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26891]
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

Today, Jay delivers a highly entertaining but not overly difficult puzzle.

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.

3a   Small amount of vintage wine set before doctor (5)

Oxford Dictionaries defines cru^[5] as (in France) a vineyard or group of vineyards, especially one of recognized superior quality • the newest of the Beaujolais crus. Collins English Dictionary defines cru^[10] similarly as (in France) a vineyard, group of vineyards, or wine-producing region. However, other dictionaries extend the meaning to include wine. The American Heritage Dictionary defines cru^[3] as (1) a vineyard or wine-producing region in France or (2) a grade or class of wine • premier cru. The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition defines cru^[1] as (in France) either (1) a vineyard or group of vineyards or (2) a vintage.

In Britain, the degree required to practice medicine is a Bachelor of Medicine^[7] (MB, from Latin Medicinae Baccalaureus), which is equivalent to a North American Doctor of Medicine (MD, from Latin Medicinae Doctor). The degree of Doctor of Medicine also exists in Britain, but it is an advanced degree pursued by those who wish to go into medical research. Physicians in Britain are still addressed as Dr. despite not having a doctoral degree.

9a   A fellow’s first short, short and sweet (6)

Despite F^[2] being a valid abbreviation for Fellow (of a society, etc), Jay chooses to clue F as "fellow's first". The wordplay is A (given in the clue) + F (fellow's first) + TERS {TERSE (short) with the final letter deleted (short)}.

In Britain, a sweet^[5] may be either (1) a small shaped piece of confectionery made with sugar • a bag of sweets [in North America known as candy] or (2) a sweet dish forming a course of a meal; in other words, a pudding or dessert. Also, in Britain, afters^[5] is the sweet course following the main course of a meal; pudding • there was apple pie for afters.

10a   Make economies, and ditch engineers first (8)

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

11a   Their changes add years of tradition (8)

The definition is "tradition". However, one could parse the clue in a couple of different ways. Pommers chooses an anagram (changes) of THEIR + (add) AGE (years; age being used as a noun). I saw it as an anagram (changes) of THEIR + AGE (add years; age being used as a verb).

13a   Murmuring ‘Money holds nothing before golf!’ (6)

Golf^[5] is a code word representing the letter G, used in radio communication.

1d   Accuses exercises after one man starts and feels pain (9)

PE^[5] is the abbreviation for Physical Education, otherwise known as gym class. Although the British bloggers always seem to refer to it as the abbreviation for "physical exercise", I have yet to find that variant in any dictionary.

2d   Animal races covered by Herald (7)

The setter tries to create a bit of misdirection by capitalizing the first letter of "Herald" to make the word appear to be the name of a newspaper.  The Tourist Trophy (TT)^[5] is a motorcycle-racing competition held annually on roads in the Isle of Man since 1907.

3d   Source of irony in angry worker’s breakfast? (9)

In cryptic crossword puzzles, the usual "workers" are the ants, although they do occasionally get pushed aside by the bees or the hands.

4d   Be disconcerting to a Parisian, never being wrong (7)

Un^[8] is the masculine singular form of the French indefinite article.

5d   Sailors in revolutionary vessel destroyed by fire (5)

The Royal Navy (abbreviation RN)^[5] is the British navy.

12d   Translate Latin ‘cedi’ to yield ‘the very same’ (9)

This clue is even more clever than it first appears. "Cedi" is a form of the Latin verb cedere meaning to yield.

13d   Prisoner with record of French uprising modified behaviour (9)

De^[8] is a French preposition meaning of.

14d   Big support for stars (5,4)

I would differ with Pommers on how to classify this clue. I do not think it is a cryptic definition at all. The wordplay is GREAT (big) + BEAR (support) giving us the name of a constellation (stars).

17d   Party girl dunking digestive vacantly in coffee (7)

Ladette^[5] is British slang for a young woman who behaves in a boisterously assertive or crude manner and engages in heavy drinking sessions [from 'lad' + 'ette'].

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