Friday, September 21, 2012 - DT 26913

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26913
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, July 9, 2012
Setter Rufus (Roger Squires)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26913]
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 26912 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, July 7, 2012.

Introduction

Today we have the usual enjoyable fare from Rufus — and rather on the easy side to boot. The last one in for me was 8d. I set the puzzle aside this morning with this one clue left to solve. I picked the puzzle up again later in the day and pondered this clue some more. I was about to activate my electronic assistants when the penny finally dropped with a resounding clang.

Vacation Break

As next week I will be travelling on vacation, the blog will appear in an abbreviated format. I have prepared daily postings containing the Puzzle at a Glance feature which provides some key facts related to the puzzle that I expect to be published that day, including a link to the review of that puzzle at Big Dave's Crossword Blog. However, as the National Post has been known to alter its publication schedule unexpectedly, there is no guarantee that my forecast will necessarily prove to be accurate.

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   State not fancied by many (5)

A common cryptic crossword device is to use expressions such as "many", "a great many" or "a large number" to indicate a large Roman numeral. The particular Roman numeral is not specified, so the solver must select the appropriate one from a range of possibilities — generally L (fifty), C (one hundred), D (five hundred) or M (one thousand).

11a   Divine, the French crew’s accommodation (10)

Le^[8] is the masculine singular form of the French definite article.

21a   Split the rent (4)

I thought that "split" must have been used in the sense of to rend — which would make this a very poor double definition. However, Libellule describes "split" as meaning to go at full speed. I eventually found that meaning in The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition —  although it appears (with that sense) in none of the several other dictionaries that I consulted.

I am familiar with the expression lickety-split^[1], which Chambers says is a US term derived from lick^[1] (probably in the sense "vigorous speed") and split^[1] (presumably in the sense "to go at full speed").

28a   Business returns, thanks to college (7)

Ta^[5] is an informal British exclamation signifying thank you ⇒ ‘Ta,’ said Willie gratefully. In Britain, takings^[5] is the amount of money earned by a business from the sale of goods or services ⇒ the big test for the shop’s new look is whether it’ll boost takings.

King's College might refer to either of two British educational institutions, although Libellule opts for the first of the two listed below.

• King's College^[7], whose formal name is The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. King's was founded in 1441 by Henry VI, soon after he had founded its sister college in Eton.
• King's College London^[7] (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third-oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, receiving its royal charter in the same year. In 1836 King's became one of the two founding colleges of the University of London.

I note that Rufus seems to have reupholstered a clue that he used in DT 26889 (National Post: August 24, 2012; The Daily Telegraph: June 11, 2012):

• 28a   Proceeds, thanks to royalty (7)

1d   Artist enters restaurant for a bottle (6)

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.

3d   Comrade is disturbed with nervous reaction from American party (10)

Libellule says that the solution is "a word that is relating to, or characteristic of an American political party". It is far more than that, being the actual name of the party.

5d   Belt buckles worn by men (9)

Libellule suggests that "buckles" is used as a noun (fastenings), leading him to conclude that the solution is a "stretch". I would submit that buckle^[10] is used as a verb, meaning to fasten with a buckle (or, in other words, to link) — and therefore not at all a stretch.

8d   Familiar name for a tanner (8)

In reading Libellule's review, I see that I failed to detect an element of the wordplay. In Britain, sunshine^[5] is used as a friendly or sometimes threatening form of address ⇒ hand it over, sunshine.

13d   Out of trouble, sailing past Holland (3,3,4)

Hook of Holland^[7] (Dutch: Hoek van Holland, literally "Corner of Holland"), also known as the Hook (De Hoek), is a town in the western Netherlands. It is situated on the North Sea coast, on the north bank of the Nieuwe Waterweg ship canal. The town is administered by the municipality of Rotterdam as a district of that city.

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