Friday, November 30, 2012 - DT 26973

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26973
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, September 17, 2012
Setter Rufus (Roger Squires)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26973]
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 26972 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, September 15, 2012.

Introduction

Go figure! After an entire week of three and four star degree of difficulty puzzles for which I did not need to resort to the use of my electronic assistants, I had to call upon them for today's one star offering. Oh well! We seem to scale mountains with ease but stumble over mole hills. The two clues for which I sought help were 21a and 12d. As is often the case, there is no obvious reason why the solutions to these particular clues should have eluded me.

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   Neat electrical network that keeps farm animals in a field (6,4)

Neat^[5] is an archaic term for (1) a bovine animal or (2) cattle. In Britain, a cattle grid^[5] is a metal grid covering a ditch, allowing vehicles and pedestrians to pass over but not cattle and other animals. The North American name for this device is a cattle guard.

11a   Architectural style about right? That's sarcastic! (6)

A classical order^[7] is one of the ancient styles of classical architecture, each distinguished by its proportions and characteristic profiles and details, and most readily recognizable by the type of column employed. Three ancient orders of architecture—the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian—originated in Greece. To these the Romans added the Tuscan, which they made simpler than Doric, and the Composite, which was more ornamental than the Corinthian.

12a   Not birds, but they chirp and fly (7)

... and, to my mind, not very cryptic, but a style of clue that we have come to expect from Rufus — one often characterised as "barely cryptic".

18a   Pay attention or bend over (4)

I spent a good deal of time poring over dictionaries to justify my answer here. I had to choose between LIST, TILT and possibly WILT. I was leaning toward the former and it proved to be the winner. List^[10] is an archaic or poetic word for listen.

19a   Starts the game off with defeats (5)

Start^[5] is used in the sense to rouse (game) from its lair. Beat^[5] is to move across (an area of land) repeatedly striking at the ground cover in order to raise game birds for shooting ⇒ they hire boys to beat the Yorkshire moors for game birds.

27a   One holds hands during the game (4,6)

Pontoon^[5] (mentioned by Libellule in his hint) is (1) another name for the card game blackjack or vingt-et-un ⇒ he got me to go into his room for a hand of pontoon or (2) a hand of two cards totalling 21 in pontoon.

28a   Growth of love at first sight (4)

In tennis, squash, and some other sports, love^[5] is a score of zero or nil ⇒ love fifteen. The resemblance of a zero written as a numeral (0) to the letter O leads to the cryptic crossword convention of the word "love" being used to clue this letter.

7d   Hire candle out, giving superior illumination (10)

Here "superior illumination" is a cryptic indication that we are looking for a lighting fixture that one might expect to find in an elevated position.

8d   Smart girl seen in a city (10)

Chichester^[5] is a cathedral city in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, South-East England. Hester — a rarely encountered girl's name — is best known to me as the given name of Hester Prynne^[7], the protagonist of Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter. The name may well be more popular in the UK than it is in North America as the list of entries on Wikipedia for Hester^[7] is overwhelmingly populated by women from Britain.

13d   Chars at night to get debt written off (5,5)

Char^[5] (as a noun) is an informal shortened version of charwoman^[5], a dated British term for a woman employed as a cleaner in a house or office. As a verb, char means to work as a charwoman ⇒ she’d had to char and work in a grocery store to put herself through university.

14d   Where we can buy with money off drink on board (5)

As is customary in cryptic crosswords, "on board" implies 'on a steamship (abbreviation SS^[5])'.

25d   Time to come up before a court (4)

It initially seemed to me that the definition might be a bit vague, but I was compelled to change my mind after consulting a dictionary. Court^[5] is defined as (1) a quadrangular area, either open or covered, marked out for ball games such as tennis or squash or (2) a quadrangular area surrounded by a building or group of buildings.

26d   Electric wire to act as a conductor (4)

In Britain, a lead^[5] is a wire that conveys electric current from a source to an appliance, or that connects two points of a circuit together.

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

Thursday, November 29, 2012 - DT 26971

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26971
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, September 14, 2012
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26971]
Big Dave's Review Written By Scchua
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

With one clue (10a) remaining to be solved, I was certain that I would have to throw in the towel and issue a call for assistance. However, just as I was about to do so, the penny dropped. Thus my electronic aids enjoy yet another day of idleness. For a change, I did notice that the puzzle is a pangram.

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   Lively person's lapse into sin involving anger against bishop (8)

The abbreviation B^[7] is used for bishop when recording moves in the game of chess. Thus, using algebraic chess notation^[7], Be5 indicates that the bishop is moved to the square designated as e5 .

5a   Encourage doctor having trouble in city (6)

Doctor Foster^[7] is the subject of an English nursery rhyme.

Doctor Foster went to Gloucester,

In a shower of rain;

He stepped in a puddle,

Right up to his middle,

And never went there again.

Gloucester^[7] is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately 32 miles (51 km) north-east of Bristol, and 45 miles (72 km) south-southwest of Birmingham.

9a   German graduate different, wasting time (8)

The Free State of Bavaria^[7] is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. It is the largest German state by area and the second most populous. Bavaria's capital and largest city is Munich, the third largest city in Germany.

10a   Clergy flats in which you'll get lessons on Bible etc? (6)

What is known as a flat in Britain would be called an apartment on this side of the Atlantic. The word apartment^[5] has a somewhat different meaning in the UK than it does in North America. In Britain, only a certain specific type of flat would be called an apartment – typically one that is well appointed or used for holidays (thus, seemingly, either an upscale flat or one used for temporary occupancy). In the plural, the term apartments refers to a set of private rooms in a very large house.

Religious education (abbreviation RE)^[10] is a subject taught in schools in the UK which educates about the different religions of the world. The question mark indicates that this is a definition by example, religious education being but an example of a place where one might receive such instruction (another perhaps being Sunday School).

12a   American gangster uses deceit to get supporters (6)

Although American gangster Al Capone^[7] maintains his control of the mob in Crosswordland ...

20a   Protection for old soldier, Irishman retreating (4)

... Pat is no longer the only Irishman residing there.

28a   Very good in performance as traveller Dick (6)

Pi^[5] is an informal British short form for pious. Richard "Dick" Turpin^[7] (bap. 1705 – 1739) was an English highwayman whose exploits were romanticised following his execution in York for horse theft. In Britain, the word traveller^[5] (usually Traveller) also means a Gypsy or other nomadic person — which may, or may not, relate to its use in this clue. 

A highwayman^[7] was a thief and brigand who preyed on travellers. This type of outlaw usually travelled and robbed by horse, as compared to a footpad who travelled and robbed on foot. Mounted robbers were widely considered to be socially superior to footpads. Such robbers operated in Great Britain and Ireland from the Elizabethan era until the early 19th century.

30a   Scraper of muck from verge by turning of road (6)

In the surface reading, "turning" may well be used in the British sense in which turning^[5] would mean a place where a road branches off from another ⇒ take the first turning on the right. North Americans would refer to this as a turn-off^[5] ⇒ Adam missed the turn-off to the village. Judging by the dictionary entries, both variants would seem to be in use in Britain.

31a   Nude mostly covered in mud? Not a recommended medical treatment! (5-3)

Starkers^[5] (a word used by Scchua in his review) is British slang (although it is likely not unfamiliar to many North Americans) meaning completely naked ⇒ he ran starkers across the pitch.

1d   Socialist prejudice all but admitted by enthusiast (6)

A Fabian is a member of the Fabian Society^[7], a British socialist organization whose purpose is to advance the principles of democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist, rather than revolutionary, means.

2d   Criticise former England football manager crossing line (6)

Don Revie^[7] (1927 – 1989) was an English footballer [soccer player] who played for several English teams as a deep-lying centre forward. He managed England [the English national team] from 1974 until 1977.

3d   A rude drunk carries around container for wine (8)

One should read this clue rather carefully. Had it been worded "a rude drunk carries container", the roles of container and contents could well be reversed.

4d   Almost memorise nonsense this man wrote (4)

The definition ("nonsense this man wrote") is an example of anastrophe^[7] (popularly known as Yoda Speak), a figure of speech in which a language's usual word order is inverted: for example, saying "smart you are" to mean "you are smart". Thus, converted to normal word order, the definition becomes "this man wrote nonsense".

Edward Lear^[7] (1812 – 1888) was an English artist, illustrator, author and poet, and is renowned primarily for his literary nonsense, in poetry and prose and especially his limericks, a form that he popularised.

Lear's nonsense books were quite popular during his lifetime, but a rumour circulated that "Edward Lear" was merely a pseudonym, and the books' true author was the man to whom Lear had dedicated the works, his patron the Earl of Derby. Supporters of this rumour [forerunners of today's cryptic crossword aficionados?] offered as evidence the facts that both men were named Edward, and that "Lear" is an anagram of "Earl".

17d   This writer's to be given role, paper's boss communicated (8)

It is a common cryptic crossword convention for the creator of the puzzle to use terms such as compiler, setter, author, or writer to refer to himself or herself. To solve such a clue, one must usually substitute a first person pronoun (I or me, depending on whether the clue implies a subject or an object respectively) for whichever of these terms has been used  in the clue. In today's clue, the setter uses the word "writer" as a subject and appends a third person contraction for the verb to be. Thus, in the solution, we must similarly append to the pronoun a first person contraction for the verb to be (I'm).

18d   Near orb I melted, like Icarus? (8)

More Yoda Speak in this clue. In Greek mythology, Icarus^[7] was the son of Daedalus, who escaped from Crete using wings made by his father but was killed when he flew too near the sun and the wax attaching his wings melted. Again, I would say that the question mark is flagging a definition by example.

19d   Being artistic, chucked in a money-oriented job (4-4)

Not recognizing the British usage of the term "chuck in", I was left to flounder here. Working from the checking letters, I deduced that the second word in the solution might be TASK (job). The most viable candidate that I could come up with for the first word was SEAT, thinking that "seat task" might possibly be a British variant of the expression "desk job". As I was to learn from Scchua, I was far off the correct course.

If I were to use the term chuck in, it would either be in the phrase "chuck in the towel" (although I would be more likely to say "throw in the towel") or to denote — in what Collins English Dictionary characterises as an Australian usage — to contribute to the cost of something^[4]. Oxford Dictionaries Online defines chuck in^[5] as meaning to give up (a job or activity) ⇒ Richard chucked in his course — a usage which Collins English Dictionary characterises as British^[4].

The Left Bank^[5] is a district of the city of Paris, situated on the left bank of the River Seine, to the south of the river. It is an area noted for its intellectual and artistic life. The term might be employed as an adjective in a phrase such as "a Left Bank sensibility".

22d   Good person to lasso a number of horses? (6)

In this clue, "to" serves as a charade indicator based on the meaning "pressed against", as in the expressions "nose to the grindstone" and "shoulder to the wheel". The word "lasso" is used as a visual clue, as a lasso when fully deployed looks like the letter O.

The question mark, as we've already seen several times today, indicates that this is a definition by example, where horses are but one type of collection that could constitute a string. This is amply illustrated by the usage examples in two dictionaries. The American Heritage Dictionary defines string^[3] as a set of animals, especially racehorses, belonging to a single owner; a stable. On the other hand, Collins English Dictionary tells us that a string^[4] is a number, chain, or group of similar things, animals, etc., owned by or associated with one person or body ⇒ a string of girlfriends.

23d   One's probably spotted maiden in love after party (6)

In cricket, a maiden^[5], also known as a maiden over, (abbreviation M)^[5] is an over in which no runs are scored. An over^[5] is a division of play consisting of a sequence of six balls bowled by a bowler from one end of the pitch, after which another bowler takes over from the other end.

In tennis, squash, and some other sports, love^[5] is a score of zero or nil ⇒ love fifteen. The resemblance of a zero written as a numeral (0) to the letter O leads to the cryptic crossword convention of love equating to this letter.

24d   Church has authentic stuff for harvest festival? (6)

The Church of England (CE)^[10] is the reformed established state Church in England, Catholic in order and basic doctrine, with the Sovereign as its temporal head. Once again, the question mark indicates a definition by example.

27d   Religious adherent is a plain girl from what we hear? (4)

A Jain^[5] is an adherent of Jainism^[5], a non-theistic religion founded in India in the 6th century BC by the Jina Vardhamana Mahavira as a reaction against the teachings of orthodox Brahmanism, and still practised there. The Jain religion teaches salvation by perfection through successive lives, and non-injury to living creatures, and is noted for its ascetics. To further emphasize the point, the question mark yet again signals a definition by example — this time indicating that the solution is an example of a girl's name.

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

Wednesday, November 28, 2012 - DT 26970

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26970
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, September 13, 2012
Setter RayT (Ray Terrell)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26970]
Big Dave's Review Written By Falcon
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

Encountering a puzzle again three months after I first solved it is usually like running into an old acquaintance one hasn't seen in many years. At first, you don't recognize the person, then gradually a feeling of déjà vu begins to creep over you until you eventually convince yourself that it is someone that you have met somewhere, sometime in the distant past. You'd speak to them it you could only remember their name.

Such was the case today. Even though I was expecting this puzzle to be one that I had reviewed for Big Dave (Pommers and Big Dave each mentioned in recent postings that my turn in the reviewers chair was coming up), I initially did not recognize the clues. In fact, I even wondered for a moment if the National Post might have skipped some puzzles. However, slowly the clues did begin to look a bit familiar. Nevertheless, the puzzle did pose a healthy challenge — even on the second time around. At least, I was able to complete it without calling my electronic assistants into action. Having been idle now for several days, I hope they are not too out of shape the next time I need their assistance.

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   Taught you French, pulled apart by Germany (7)

The second person singular form of the subjective case of the French pronoun is tu^[8]. The International Vehicle Registration code for Germany is D^[5] [from German Deutschland].

5a   Grant Bono's partner has hidden talent (7)

Sonny & Cher^[7] were an American pop music duo, actors, singers and entertainers made up of husband-and-wife team Sonny and Cher Bono in the 1960s and 1970s.

25a   Front end of snub nose revolver (7)

In Britain, hooter^[3,4] is a slang term for a nose (when it is not a car horn); whereas, in North America, hooters is a slang term for a woman's breasts (when it does not refer to number of owls).

28a   Nearing time, duck fight with gutless drunks (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 numeral "0" to this letter.

1d   Very loud, one in truck overturned creating congestion (7)

Fortissimo (abbreviation ff)^[5] is a direction used in music to mean either (as an adjective) very loud  or (as an adverb) very loudly.

The American Heritage Dictionary defines truck^[3] as another name for a hand truck^[3], a two-wheeled cart for moving heavy objects by hand, consisting of a vertical framework with handles at the top and a metal blade at the bottom that is inserted beneath a load, the entire assembly being tilted backward until balanced for easy pushing or pulling. Of course, truck and cart are also synonymous as verbs meaning to carry a load ("Before laying the new carpet, I carted everything out of the living room — and then trucked it all back afterwards").

2d   Footballer hugging provided shock (7)

John Terry^[7] is an English professional footballer [soccer player]. Terry plays in a centre back position and is the captain of Chelsea in the Premier League [the top level league in English football]. He was also captain of the England national football team, holding the post from August 2006 to February 2010, and again from March 2011 to February 2012.

Does the clue somehow allude to the following incident?

In January 2010, a super-injunction was imposed by a High Court judge preventing the media from reporting allegations that Terry had had a four-month affair in late 2009 with Vanessa Perroncel, the former girlfriend of Wayne Bridge, his former Chelsea and England teammate. The injunction was lifted a week later, and the British media – especially the tabloid press – covered the rumours in great detail in the days following. The News of the World and the Mail on Sunday subsequently printed apologies to Perroncel for breaching her privacy and stated that the story was "untrue in any case". Perroncel maintains that the alleged affair never took place. The allegations led to then-England manager Fabio Capello removing Terry from the captaincy on 5 February 2010. Terry was reinstated as captain the following year.

3d    Whistling, craving topless ... (5)

4d   ... ride, and gasp uncontrollably taking a knock (9)

The pair of ellipses creating a link between 3d and 4d serve no real purpose from a cryptic perspective as each clue can stand on its own. In the surface reading, however, they suggest that the two clues be read together to form a single sentence. While the surface reading of the latter clue is somewhat meaningful, that of the former clue (taken on its own) is quite meaningless.

18d   Endlessly stimulate following a second of love (7)

In the UK, mo^[5] is an informal term for a short period of time (hang on a mo!) [abbreviation of moment].

20d   More careless loose talk? (7)

Blither is a variant of blather. The article to which the link takes us concludes that "[t]he difference [between these two variants] is subtle—and maybe we’re just grasping for one—but it seems blithering usually appears in more negative uses, while blathering is more often used self-deprecatingly.".

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

Tuesday, November 27, 2012 - DT 26969

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26969
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26969]
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

This is an archetypal Jay puzzle. He likes to manipulate words or strings of letters by stripping either the initial letter, the final letter, or the outer letters or by gutting the interior letters. Today, as is common in his puzzles, we also find a hybrid containment/substitution type clue where the original contents consists of a letter or string of letters which must be replaced by a different letter or string of letters.

As you see from the chart above, my electronic helpers enjoyed a rare second consecutive day of rest.

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   Basic assumption of stance against drink? (11)

As a verb, sup^[5] is a dated or Northern English term meaning to take (drink or liquid food) by sips or spoonfuls ⇒ (i) she supped up her soup delightedly; (ii) he was supping straight from the bottle. As a noun, it means (1) a sip of liquid ⇒ he took another sup of wine or (2) in Northern England or Ireland, an alcoholic drink ⇒ the latest sup from those blokes at the brewery.

10a   Feeling sorry about judge's determination to free student (5)

The cryptic crossword convention of L meaning learner or student arises from the L-plate^[7], a square plate bearing a sans-serif letter L, for learner, which must be affixed to the front and back of a vehicle in various countries (including the UK) if its driver is a learner under instruction.

11a   'Relate' organised paper with volunteers at home (9)

Relate^[7] is a charity providing relationship support throughout the United Kingdom. Services include counselling for couples, families, young people and individuals, sex therapy, mediation and training courses.

In the UK, the Territorial Army (TA)^[5] is a volunteer force locally organized to provide a reserve of trained and disciplined manpower for use in an emergency.

14a   Convincing information for son in price (6)

Whenever you see the word "for" in one of Jay's clues, you should be prepared to substitute the contents of a container.

Gen^[5] is British slang for information ⇒ you’ve got more gen on him than we have.

26a   Old maid, for example, wrapping book and exercising vigilance (9)

I created a bit of an obstacle for myself by initially inserting OBSERVING here. Not only did that make the wordplay of this clue unfathomable, but it severely handicapped me on 17d and 22d.

27a   Power of jet fighter leads to high tension (5)

A MiG^[7] is a type of Russian jet fighter. The name comes from the initials of the two founders (Mikoyan and Gurevich) of the "design bureau" that designs the planes.

During the Soviet era, Experimental Design Bureaus (OKBs)^[7] were closed institutions working on design and prototyping of advanced technology, usually for military applications. These relatively small state-run organisations were not intended for mass production of aircraft, rockets, or other vehicles or equipment they designed. However they usually had the facilities and resources to construct prototypes. Designs accepted by the state were then assigned to factories for mass production.

MiG aircraft were and are a staple of the Soviet and Russian air forces, and the Soviet Union sold many of these planes within its sphere of influence. They have been used by the Chinese, North Korean, and North Vietnamese in aerial confrontations with American and allied forces, and form part of the air forces of many Arab nations. Recently had been reported that MiG jet fighters are being used by the Government forces of Syria against insurgents in civil neighborhoods in Aleppo.

15d   Personal quality of Eros, say, full of love and endless sense (for a change) (8)

In Greek mythology, Eros^[5] is the god of love, son of Aphrodite. In tennis, squash, and some other sports, love^[5] is a score of zero or nil ⇒ love fifteen. The resemblance of a zero written as a numeral (0) to the letter O leads to the cryptic crossword convention of love equating to this letter.

17d   Cut back on tough fish (8)

A pilchard^[3] is any of various small marine fishes related to the herrings, especially a commercially important edible species, Sardina pilchardus, of European waters.

22d   Unsophisticated game with set, since losing regulars (6)

While two major variants of the game of rugby exist in the real world, only one seems to have gained favour in Crosswordland. Rugby union (RU)^[5] is a form of rugby played in teams of fifteen, in contrast to rugby league^[5], which is played in teams of thirteen.

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

Monday, November 26, 2012 - DT26968

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26968
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26968]
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 would say that Pommers may have been overly liberal in dishing out the stars for difficulty on this puzzle. Either that, or my solving skills have undergone a marked improvement.

The sharp-eyed among you may have spotted the Nina (hidden feature) in the puzzle. If not, have a very careful look at the four colourful clues to be found along the outside edges of the 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.

1a   Man very curious about slogan sung in fleet (8,4)

The Merchant Navy^[7] is the maritime register of the United Kingdom, and describes the seagoing commercial interests of UK-registered ships and their crews. Merchant Navy vessels fly the Red Ensign (as opposed to the White Ensign used by the Royal Navy) and are regulated by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA). King George V bestowed the title of "Merchant Navy" on the British merchant shipping fleets following their service in the First World War; a number of other nations (including Canada) have since adopted the title (the US merchant fleet, on the other hand, goes by the name Merchant Marine).

8a   Animal watering hole in which smell's appalling at first (7)

In British Irish slang, hum can be a verb meaning to smell unpleasant ⇒ when the wind drops this stuff really hums^[5,10] or (2) a noun meaning a bad smell^[2] or an unpleasant odour^[10]. The wordplay is INN (watering hole) containing (in which) {HUM (smell) + (has; the 's being a contraction for has in the cryptic reading) A (appalling at first; i.e., first letter of Appalling)}.

12a   Saw king finished in lead (7)

R^[5] is the abbreviation for Regina or Rex (Latin for queen or king, respectively). The symbol for the chemical element lead is Pb^[5].

14a   Hindu text discovered in ark, a must for translation by head of academy (4,5)

The Kama Sutra^[5] is an ancient Sanskrit treatise on the art of love and sexual technique.

16a   Advance payments required to secure audio player? The direct opposite (9)

Here, the setter has created a clue containing a bit of devious misdirection. The clue appears to utilize a fairly common clue structure in which the setter states a proposition and then follows up with a statement (such as "the direct opposite") to indicate that the we must invert the instructions given in the (false) proposition. Thus, in this clue, it would appear that the definition is "advance" and that the false proposition is "payments" containing (required to secure) "audio player". After applying the inversion, we would get "audio player" containing "payments".

However, it eventually dawned on me that such is not the case at all. The definition happens to be "the direct opposite) and the wordplay is "advance payments" containing (required to secure) "audio player".

19a   Man's lost Wings hit of long ago? (5)

Wings^[7] (also known as Paul McCartney & Wings) were a British rock group formed in 1971 by Paul McCartney with his wife Linda McCartney, session drummer Denny Seiwell and former Moody Blues guitarist Denny Laine. Wings were noted for frequent personnel changes as well as commercial success, going through three lead guitarists and four drummers. However, the core trio of the McCartneys and Laine remained intact throughout the group's tenure.

Steve Wright in the Afternoon [mentioned by Pommers in his review] is the name of the current afternoon show on BBC Radio 2, hosted by Steve Wright. The show is one of the most popular on the station, and is often referred to as The Big Show. The show is broadcast from 14:00 until 17:00 Monday to Friday.

21a   Theft: criminal nearly caught inside (7)

On cricket scorecards, the abbreviation c^[5] indicates caught (by) • ME Waugh c Lara b Walsh 19.

23a   Claptrap from detective was hard to follow (7)

Eye^[1] (also private eye) is an informal term for a private detective. H^[5] is the abbreviation for hard, as used in describing grades of pencil lead ⇒ a 2H pencil. Eyewash^[3,4] is listed in British dictionaries as being an informal term for nonsense or rubbish whereas The American Heritage Dictionary defines it as actions or remarks intended to conceal the facts of a situation.

24a   Helena's here in Piedmont, a native (7)

Helena is the capital city of the U.S. state of Montana. Piedmont^[5] is either (1) a region of NW Italy, in the foothills of the Alps or (2) a hilly region of the eastern US, between the Appalachians and the coastal plain. Helena is located in neither the Alps nor the Appalachians, but in the Rockies.

25a   Trendy type touring hospital, briefly (2,5)

"Touring" becomes a containment indicator when interpreted (literally) as meaning 'going around'.

26a   Pitching on new lawn (7,5)

Pommers tries to explain this clue in baseball terms, but the term bowling certainly does not apply there. Although he does not appear to accept pitch as a cricket term, Oxford Dictionaries Online defines pitch^[5] (with reference to a bowler) to cause (the ball) to strike the ground at a particular point ⇒ all too often you pitch the ball short.

1d   Singer, a Jackson, in pop band in Mali, performing (7)

A-ha^[7] (stylized a-ha) was a Norwegian pop band formed in Oslo in 1982. The group initially rose to fame during the mid-1980s and had continued global success in the 1990s and 2000s.

Mahalia Jackson^[7] (1911 – 1972) was an American gospel singer. Possessing a powerful contralto voice, she was referred to as "The Queen of Gospel". Jackson became one of the most influential gospel singers in the world and was heralded internationally as a singer and civil rights activist. She was described by entertainer Harry Belafonte as "the single most powerful black woman in the United States". She recorded about 30 albums (mostly for Columbia Records) during her career, and her 45 rpm records included a dozen "golds"—million-sellers.

3d   Browbeaten ambassador knight kissed quickly (9)

HE^[2] is the abbreviation for His or Her Excellency, where Excellency^[2] (usually His, Her or Your Excellency or Your or Their Excellencies) is a title of honour given to certain people of high rank, e.g. ambassadors.

4d   Don overturned tennis call (3,2)

In the surface reading, don^[10] might be meant to refer to a member of the teaching staff at a university or college, especially at Oxford or Cambridge. On the other hand, it might merely be a man's given name as there is no particular reason why an Oxford don should be intervening in the refereeing of a tennis match.

In tennis, the call "not up" indicates that a ball has bounced twice before a player was able to hit it. The rule is self-policed as we learn from the website of the United States Tennis Association, "Players call 'not up' (2 bounces) on themselves. If they do not call it on themselves, or their doubles partner does not call it, no one else can make the call".

6d   Price e.g. of outlet incorporated therein (7)

The "e.g." clearly indicates the presence of a definition by example (DBE). Vincent Price^[7] (1911 – 1993) was an American actor, well known for his distinctive voice and serio-comic performances in a series of horror films made in the latter part of his career.

Incorporation^[7] is the process of forming a new corporation (a corporation being a legal entity that is effectively recognised as a person under the law). In his review, Pommers alludes to the fact that the practices concerning the naming of corporations vary around the world. In the United States, most (but not all) corporations are identified by the term "incorporated" (often shortened to Inc.) added after the business name, such as "Texas Instruments, Incorporated", or by putting the word "corporation" (often shortened to Corp.) in the name of the company, as in "Netscape Communications Corporation". In the United Kingdom, with the exception of an unlimited company or corporation which requires no designation as part of its legal company name, the titles Ltd. (limited company) or plc (public limited company) are used for corporations. Incorporated Canadian companies can generally use either Limited (Ltd.), Incorporated (Inc.) or Corporation (Corp.) in their name, however this may vary province to province. A veritable alphabet soup of abbreviations is used in other jurisdictions around the world.

7d   Station in London being supplied with choice fruit (8,4)

Victoria Station^[7] is a major railway terminus and London Underground complex located in central London. In Britain, a Victoria plum^[5] is a plum of a large red dessert variety.

10d   Excitedly watch bee and a big butterfly (7-5)

Pommers comments that " I’m not always keen on split anagram fodder but I think this one works." I would say that everything is fine as long as the "split fodder" comprises a valid charade (as is the case in this clue) with the wordplay being an anagram (excitedly) of {WATCH + BEE + (and) A + BIG}. The charade contains one explicit charade indicator (and) as well as three implicit indicators.

20d   Cavalryman, a stupid person to support Democrat as well as Republican (7)

A dragoon^[3,4] is a member of a European military unit trained and armed to fight mounted or on foot (American Heritage Dictionary) or (1) a mounted infantryman armed with a carbine or (2) a type of cavalryman (Collins English Dictionary).

Harry Secombe (mentioned by Pommers) was a member of the cast of The Goon Show^[7], a British radio comedy programme broadcast by the BBC from 1951 to 1960. The show's chief creator and main writer was Spike Milligan. The cast consisted of Milligan together with Michael Bentine (for the first two years of the series), Harry Secombe and Peter Sellers.

22d   Long story about Spain (5)

The International Vehicle Registration (IVR) code for Spain is E^[5] (from Spanish España).

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

Saturday, November 24, 2012 - Family Affair

Introduction

In today's puzzle from Cox and Rathvon you will find representation from every member of the family — or, at least, the traditional family.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

Legend:	"*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed
	"( )" letters inserted; "_" letters deleted; "†" explicit in the clue

Across

9a   ME|DI(CINE MA)N — ME (†) + {DIN (shouting) containing (about) CINEMA (movies)}

10a   EVE_ — EVE[R] (always) with the final letter deleted (almost)

11a   A|B|RIDGE — A (†) + B (bird's first [initial letter]) + RIDGE (crest)

12a   SE|CRETE — SE (southeast) + CRETE (Mediterranean island)

13a   RODE|O — RODE (sat on) + O (pintO's back [final letter])

14a   ANCESTRAL* — anagram (confused) of LANCASTER

16a   {BLACK MAGIC WOMAN} — anagram (weirdly) of MAKING A CLAW COMB

19a   DISCUSSED~ — sounds like (aloud) DISGUST (revolt)

21a   RE(MI)X — REX (king) containing (holds) MI ([musical] note)

24a   PARASOL~ — sounds like (pronounced) {PARIS (City of Light) + ALL (completely)}

26a   A|BAND|ON — A (†) + BAND (melodious bunch of people) + ON (†)

27a   SUN_ — SUN[K] (below the horizon) with the final letter deleted (nearly)

Sink^[4] can mean to to appear to move down towards or descend below the horizon.

Here, I would say that the question mark is showing us that the definition may be a bit uncommon — but not one that I would regard as whimsical.

28a   {FLOWER CHILD}* — anagram (astray) of LED RICH WOLF

Flower child^[7] originated as a synonym for the children of Billy Ray Williams and his then wife Hazel Payne Williams who made and sold paper flowers while living on Haight Street, starting in the early 1960s. The two older daughters, Charlotte and Victoria, wore flowers in their hair while selling the paper flowers to tourists visiting the Haight Ashbury neighborhood. It eventually became a synonym for the idealistic young people who gathered in San Francisco and environs during the 1967 Summer of Love. It was the custom of "flower children" to wear and distribute flowers or floral-themed decorations to symbolize altruistic ideals of universal brotherhood, peace and love. The mass media picked up on the term and used it to refer in a broad sense to any hippie.

Down

1d   IMP|AIR — split (3,3) we get the AIR (song) that an IMP (rascal) sings

The somewhat whimsical nature of the definition is signalled by the question mark.

2d   A(DO)RED — DO (hairstyle) contained in (in) {A (†) + RED (brilliant colour)}

3d   A|C(ID) ROCK — ID (I'd) contained in (put in) {A (†) + CROCK (jar)}

Acid rock^[7] is a form of psychedelic rock, which is characterized by long instrumental solos, few (if any) lyrics and musical improvisation.

4d   {ANSEL ADAMS}* — anagram (shot) of AD SALESMAN

Ansel Adams^[7] (1902 – 1984) was an American photographer and environmentalist, best known for his black-and-white photographs of the American West, especially in Yosemite National Park.

5d   AM|IS — AM (first person singular form of the present tense of the verb "to be") + IS (third person singular form of the present tense of the verb "to be")

Kingsley Amis^[7] (1922 – 1995) was an English novelist, poet, critic, and teacher. He wrote more than 20 novels, six volumes of poetry, a memoir, various short stories, radio and television scripts, along with works of social and literary criticism. He was the father of English novelist Martin Amis.

6d   KNICKS~ — sounds like (said) NIX (no)

The New York Knickerbockers^[7], referred to as the Knicks, are a professional basketball team based in New York City, New York. They are part of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

7d   {TEL|EGRAM}< — reversal (in reversal) of {MARGE (Homer's wife) + LET (allowed)}

Marjorie "Marge" Simpson^[7] (née Bouvier) is a fictional main character in the American animated sitcom The Simpsons and part of the eponymous family. Marge is a well-meaning and extremely patient matriarch member of the Simpson family. With her husband Homer, she has three children: Bart, Lisa, and Maggie.

8d   {ME|DEL|LIN}< — reversal (back) of {NIL (nothing) + LED (guided) + EM (Emily)}

Medellín^[7] is the second-largest city in Colombia. It was once known as the most violent city in the world, a result of an urban war set off by the drug cartels at the end of the 1980s. As the home of the Medellín Cartel funded by Pablo Escobar, the city was victim of the terror caused by the war between the organization headed by Escobar, and competing criminal organizations.

15d   {COIN DEALER}* — anagram (breaking) of LINEAR CODE

16d   BUD|A|PEST — BUD (pal) + (with) A (†) + PEST (nuisance)

Budapest^[7] is the capital and the largest city of Hungary. It became a single city occupying both banks of the river Danube with a unification in 1873 of west-bank Buda and Óbuda with east-bank Pest.

17d   _ALS|O R|ANS_ — hidden in (going through) reprisALS OR ANSwers

18d   {WAR DANCE}* — anagram (playing) of A NEW CARD

Once again, the whimsical nature of the definition is flagged by the question mark.

20d   _UNS|A|FE_ — hidden in (making sides split) pUNS A FEw

In the phrase "making sides split", split must be interpreted in the sense of to leave or depart. Thus when the sides (initial and final letters) have split from "puns a few", we are left with "_uns a fe_".

22d   MAD|RID — MAD (wild) + RID (free)

Plaza de Cibeles, Madrid

Madrid^[7] is the capital and largest city of Spain.

23d   X(AN|AD)U — {AN (†) + AD (advertisement)} contained in (in) {X (times) + U (university)}

Xanadu^[7], or Shangdu was the summer capital of Kublai Khan's Yuan Dynasty in China, before he decided to move the seat of his dynasty to the Jin Dynasty capital of Zhōngdū, which he renamed Dàdū, the present-day Beijing. Xanadu was visited by the Venetian traveler Marco Polo in about 1275, and in 1797 inspired a famous poem, Kubla Khan^[7], by one of the leading English poets of the Romanticism movement, Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The poem begins with the lines "In Xanadu did Kubla Khan / A stately pleasure-dome decree".

25d   LOO|M — LOO (john) + M (†)

Yet again the setters employ a question mark to indicate the somewhat whimsical nature of the clue.

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