Monday, October 15, 2012 - DT 26932

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26932
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26932]
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 rolled through most of this puzzle rather quickly. However, a careless spelling mistake at 16d completely stymied me at 25 across.

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.

12a   Carry soldier’s award around island having ritual associations? (7)

The Military Cross^[7] (MC) is a military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces (and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries) in recognition of "an act or acts of exemplary gallantry during active operations against the enemy on land…". Equivalent decorations are the Distinguished Service Cross^[7] (DSC) which is granted in recognition of "... gallantry during active operations against the enemy at sea" and the Distinguished Flying Cross^[7] (DFC) which is awarded for "an act or acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying in active operations against the enemy".

21a   Literary work produced in late autumn by jazz singer (7)

Ella Fitzgerald^[7] (1917 – 1996), also known as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella", was an American jazz and song vocalist.

23a   Brown duck followed by a further one circling end of stream (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 the resemblance of the number "0" to this letter.

24a   Reportedly, conflict between industrial plants important in US city (9)

This is a homophone clue (indicated by "reportedly") that relies on the word war being pronounced with a soft British R (making it sound like 'wau'). The wordplay is MILWAU {sounds like MILL WAR (conflict [war] between industrial plants [mills])} + KEE {sounds like KEY (important)}.

25a   Hard work getting organ for transplant (5)

It may seem bizarre, but in Britain the word graft^[5] can mean hard work ⇒ success came after years of hard graft. In the UK, graft^[5] can also mean (as in North American) bribery and other corrupt practices used to secure illicit advantages or gains in politics or business. In medicine, a graft^[5] is a piece of living tissue that is transplanted surgically.

6d   A fool occupied by greed, say? That’s comical (7)

Mug^[5] is British slang for a stupid or gullible person ⇒ they were no mugs where finance was concerned.

8d   English still entertaining the French in a part of Oxford, say (6)

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

22d   Team in short in holiday home (5)

Aston Villa Football Club (also known as Villa, The Villa, The Villans and The Lions) is an English professional association football [soccer] club based in Witton, Birmingham that plays in the English Premier League.

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