Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - DT 26904

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26904
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, June 28, 2012
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26904]
Big Dave's Review Written By Big Dave
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 had to interrupt the writing of this review to do the one that appears today (September 13) on Big Dave's Crossword Blog. I have also solved today's puzzle from the National Post. Consequently, I have to admit that it is becoming a bit difficult now to remember specific details about this 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.

10a   One’s advance to embrace sailor left anchored (9)

I really don't see what possible justification there is for replacing "one's" (third person) by "I'm" (first person).

In the Royal Navy, able seaman (abbreviation AB)^[5], is a rank of sailor above ordinary seaman and below leading seaman.

11a   No one’s in the ‘ouse? That’s disgusting (7)

The phrase "in the house" means "home" (or "at home"). To a Cockney, that would be 'ouse and 'ome.

12a   Sample American beer with this? (5,3)

As Big Dave points out, the solution is "what might be used to sample" a brand of American beer. I might add "... with very little effect".

14a   Taxman getting it in angry tirade is a nuisance (8)

In Britain, inland revenue^[5] refers to public revenue consisting of income tax and some other direct taxes. In the UK, prior to April 2005, the government department responsible for assessing and collecting inland revenue was known as Inland Revenue (abbreviation IR^[2]).

15a   Clapton first to last a lyricist (4)

The clue makes reference to two very well known Brits. Eric Clapton^[7] is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter who is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Tim Rice^[7] is a British lyricist who is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, such as Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Evita.

20a   Rumbling initially in stomach anticipating rice cooked in spice (8)

In Britain, tum^[2] is a colloquial term for stomach.

26a   Something to hold one’s gaze in revival of Uncle Vanya? (5)

Uncle Vanya^[7] is a play by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov which was first published in 1897 and received its Moscow première in 1899.

The solution is hidden (in) and reversed (revival; instance of bringing back) in "Uncle Vanya".

2d   Odd start and finish to ballerina’s dance (5)

Rum^[5] is dated British slang meaning odd or peculiar.

6d   No power without a peerage (8)

A peerage is the title and rank of peer or peeress ⇒ on his retirement as cabinet secretary, he was given a peerage. A peer^[5] is a member of the nobility in Britain or Ireland, comprising the ranks of duke, marquess, earl, viscount, and baron ⇒ hereditary peers could still dominate the proceedings of the House of Lords.

7d   Complicated rectal op a beauty (9)

Cleopatra VII Philopator (69 BC – 30 BC, known to history as Cleopatra^[7], was the last pharaoh of Ancient Egypt. Following her own death and that shortly thereafter of her son and co-ruler, Caesarion (whose father was Julius Caesar), Egypt became the Roman province of Aegyptus.

8d   It could be box on top of table blocking slender source of illumination (6,5)

Box^[5] (also box tree) is a slow-growing European evergreen shrub or small tree with small glossy dark green leaves. It is widely used in hedging and for topiary, and yields hard, heavy timber, formerly used for engraving and for musical instruments.

16d   Blimey! Got up around four and eating away (9)

Cor^[5] is an informal British exclamation expressing surprise, excitement, admiration, or alarm: Cor! That‘s a beautiful black eye you’ve got! Blimey^[5] (also cor blimey) is an exclamation used informally in Britain to express surprise, excitement, or alarm. Of course, one could also use the exclamation gorblimey^[5] as an informal expression of surprise or indignation.

17d   Biased like William Hague, say, and anything but black and white (8)

William Hague^[7] is a follicularly-challenged British politician, who is the current Foreign Secretary and First Secretary of State. He served as Leader of the Conservative Party from June 1997 to September 2001. Skewbald^[5] is an adjective used to describe an animal, especially a horse, having irregular patches of white and another colour (properly not black). Piebald^[5] is an adjective used to describe a horse having irregular patches of two colours, typically black and white.

19d   Fellow Nationalist replacing Liberal in Northern Ireland — joker! (7)

F^[2] is the abbreviation for Fellow (of a society, etc).

It would appear that Big Dave is wearing his pedant's hat today. After taking the setter to task in 14a for not referring to Inland Revenue as the "old taxman", he now finds fault with equating Ulster to Northern Ireland. Properly Ulster^[10] is an area that was a province and former kingdom of N Ireland which passed to the English Crown in 1461. Following centuries of conflict, Ulster was partitioned in 1921, with six counties forming Northern Ireland (a region within the United Kingdom) and three counties joining the Republic of Ireland. Despite this, Ulster is a widely-used (if inaccurate) name for Northern Ireland.

The Nationalist Party^[7] was a term commonly used to describe a number of parliamentary political parties and constituency organisations supportive of Home Rule for Ireland from 1874 to 1922. It was also the name of the main Irish nationalist Nationalist Party in Northern Ireland from 1921 to 1978.

22d   Lies in wait wanting first of kids’ pets (5)

"Wanting" is one of those strange English words which can be an antonym of itself (at least in British cryptic crossword puzzles). As an adjective, wanting^[5] can mean (1) lacking in a required or necessary quality ⇒ (i) they weren’t wanting in confidence; (ii) the English batting technique has been found wanting. As a verb form, it can be used in a chiefly British sense in which it means (in reference to a thing) require to be attended to in a specified way ⇒ the wheel wants greasing.

Thus this clue could be interpreted as a 6-letter word meaning "lies in wait" lacking (wanting) K (first of kids') giving a 5-letter word meaning "pets". Or it could be interpreted as a 4-letter word for "lies in wait" needing (wanting) K (first of kids) [to be included] to produce a 5-letter word meaning "pets". Unfortunately, I was stuck on the latter track when I should have been on the former.

The wordplay is SKULKS (lies in wait) lacking (wanting) K (first of kids') which produces SULKS (pets).

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