Tuesday, August 7, 2012 -DT 26873

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26873
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26873]
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

After a long holiday weekend in many parts of Canada, Jay eases us back into our regular routine with rather gentle workout 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   Person who does nothing but roulette, as at work (5-5)

In Greek mythology, a lotus-eater^[3] is a member of a people described in the Odyssey who lived in a drugged, indolent state from feeding on the lotus. In modern usage, the term has come to mean a lazy person devoted to pleasure and luxury.

6a   Help the top socio-economic group gamble (4)

This clue is based on the NRS social grades^[7], a system of demographic classification used in the United Kingdom. The categories were originally developed by the National Readership Survey to classify readers, but are now used by many other organisations for wider applications and have become a standard for market research. They were developed over 50 years ago and achieved widespread usage in 20th Century Britain. The classifications, which are based on the occupation of the head of the household, are shown in the following table.

Grade	Social class	Chief income earner's occupation
A	upper middle class	Higher managerial, administrative or professional
B	middle class	Intermediate managerial, administrative or professional
C1	lower middle class	Supervisory or clerical and junior managerial, administrative or professional
C2	skilled working class	Skilled manual workers
D	working class	Semi and unskilled manual workers
E	Those at the lowest levels of subsistence	Casual or lowest grade workers, pensioners and others who depend on the welfare state for their income

10a   Doctor gets air circulating in between runs (9)

In Britain, in addition to meanings that it also has in North America, a registrar^[5] is a middle-ranking hospital doctor undergoing training as a specialist • a registrar in rheumatology. On cricket scorecards, R^[5]appears as an abbreviation for run(s).

15a   National service over, marines all lose interest initially (6)

A national^[3] is a citizen of a particular nation.

17a   Objects of historical interest found by priest in church seen on the left (6)

In the Bible, Eli^[5] is a priest who acted as a teacher to the prophet Samuel (1 Sam. 1-3). Today we worship in the Roman Catholic church — rather than the more often frequented Church of England.

3d   Cuts out strong drink rounds for judge (5-8)

In Britain, a short^[5] is a drink of spirits served in a small measure. I'm tempted to say that it is the British equivalent of a shot^[5] — but that term also seems to be used in Britain. I think the distinction is that, with the word "short", the focus is on the act of serving and, with "shot", on the act of drinking. Presumably, one may have a shot of whisky by either downing a short or taking a swig from a bottle.

4d   Chiromancy is represented without church bitterness (8)

Although this knowledge is unlikely to help you solve the clue, chiromancy^[5] is the prediction of a person’s future from interpreting the lines on the palms of their hands or, in a word, palmistry.

5d   Keen consumer’s good for credit at last (5)

This substitution style clue is a signature Jay creation.

8d   Goes on roof covering points of entry (10)

In Britain, tile^[5] roofs are far more common than they are here (where most houses are roofed with asphalt shingles). In North America, the word "tile" is more apt to evoke images of a flooring material than one for use on the roof.

16d   Demonstrates against, and in favour of, internationals (8)

In Britain, an international^[5] is a game or contest between teams representing different countries in a sport • the Murrayfield rugby international. A Test (short for Test match)^[5] is an international cricket or rugby match, typically one of a series, played between teams representing two different countries: the Test match between Pakistan and the West Indies.

18d   Left with one pound, finally orders drinks, for example (7)

The pound^[5] (also pound sterling) is the basic monetary unit of the UK, equal to 100 pence. Quid^[5] is an informal British term for one pound sterling • we paid him four hundred quid.

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