Thursday, September 13, 2012 - DT 26905

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26905
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, June 29, 2012
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26905]
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

I'm still playing catch-up in the blogging department. I needed to activate my electronic assistants to help out with a trio of clues in the northeast quadrant (5a, 6d, and 8d).

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.

16a   Lawyer giving advice to those who’ll miss live broadcast of Opening of Parliament? (8)

In England and Wales, a Recorder^[5] is a barrister appointed to serve as a part-time judge. The Opening of Parliament is marked by the reading of the Speech from the Throne, which is customarily done by the monarch. Thus should you miss the live broadcast of Her Majesty reading the speech, you might be advised to "record ER".

By tradition, British monarchs use initials formed from the Latin version of their first name followed by either Rex or Regina (Latin for king or queen, respectively). Thus Queen Elizabeth's initials are ER^[5] — from the Latin Elizabetha Regina.

19a  Liquid nourishment that’s knocked back for example at work (6)

An opus (abbreviation op.)^[10] is a an artistic composition, especially a musical work.

26a   Hardly seeing defacement around cathedral (8)

The Diocese of Ely^[5] is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury, headed by the Bishop of Ely, who sits at Ely Cathedral in the city of Ely.

6d   Composer unhappy, upset about country not his (5)

Paul Dukas^[7] (1865 – 1935) was a French composer, critic, scholar and teacher. A studious man, of retiring personality, he was intensely self-critical, and he abandoned and destroyed many of his compositions. His best known work is the orchestral piece, The Sorcerer's Apprentice (L'apprenti sorcier), the fame of which has eclipsed that of his other surviving works.

8d   Piling up in arena after match (7)

Chambers (but not Oxford^[5]) has tier^[2] listed as a verb — meaning to place in tiers.I thought match might mean tie in that a tie occurs when the scores of two teams match. I forgot about another British meaning. In Britain, a tie is a sports match between two or more players or teams in which the winners proceed to the next round of the competition ⇒ Swindon Town have won themselves a third round tie against Oldham. The example cited does not mean that Swindon Town and Oldham played to a draw; rather, it means that Swindon Town won their second round match and advanced to the third round in which they will play Oldham.

13d   One working at court? (9)

This clue must be interpreted as "one making or repairing court". Although I must proffer, that one would be more apt to say "one working on courts" rather than "one working at court" (but then there would be no opportunity for misdirection, would there?).

In Britain, a court shoe^[5] is a woman’s plain, lightweight shoe that has a low-cut upper, no fastening (i.e., no laces or straps^[4]), and typically a medium heel [and it is not a tennis shoe as was my initial thought when I first saw this term several months ago].

Has Gazza found the correct shoe for his illustration today? I have my doubts, as the shoe in the picture seems to have a strap which would violate the definition that I have just presented. However, if my suspicions are correct, then he successfully finessed it past the British fashion experts!

15d   Gear, as put out for soldier to wear (9)

In the UK, para^[5] is used as an informal short form for paratrooper.

17d   The Spanish wine, cold and ‘springy’ (7)

El^[8] is the masculine, singular form of the Spanish definite article. Asti^[7] (formerly known as Asti Spumante) is a sparkling white Italian wine that is produced throughout southeastern Piedmont but is particularly focused around the towns of Asti and Alba. Since 1993 the wine has been classified as a Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) and as of 2004 was Italy's largest producing appellation.

20d   Complained, finding duck in garden wandering around (7)

In cricket, a duck^[5] is a batsman’s score of nought [zero] • he was out for a duck. In cryptic crossword puzzles, duck is used to indicate the letter "O" based on its resemblance to the number "0".

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