Thursday, November 22, 2012 - DT 26965

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26965
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, September 7, 2012
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26965]
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

My electronic assistants may have expected to have the day off today. However, I did have to call on them to help me identify the region of New Zealand called for in 2d.

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   One looking for clues left in houses? (6)

Sherlock Holmes^[7] is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

10a   Something on meal table in lounge (4)

Before the correct solution dawned on me, I did briefly consider that the answer might be LEAN, as in the nursery rhyme where we are told that the wife of Jack Sprat^[7] could "eat no lean".

18a   Elvis in huge theatre initially drowned by instrument (8)

Not Elvis Presley but, rather, the husband of Canadian jazz artist Diana Krall.

The sizes of clothing that North Americans would describe as plus-size^[7] (or often big and tall in the case of men's clothing) would be called outsize OS^[5] in Britain.

19a   Former tennis champ put on the scales, we hear (4)

Virginia Wade^[7] is an English former tennis player. She won three Grand Slam singles championships and four Grand Slam doubles championships. She won the women's singles championship at Wimbledon on 1 July 1977, in that tournament's centenary year, and remains the last British woman to have won a Grand Slam singles tournament.

23a   A maiden and friend hoarding gold with no concern for ethical values (8)

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.

 Or^[5] is gold or yellow, as a heraldic tincture. In heraldry, a tincture^[5] is any of the conventional colours (including the metals and stains, and often the furs) used in coats of arms.

26a   Church in which the French soldiers will be given money and fruit (10)

Le^[8] is the masculine singular form of the French definite article. Tin^[5] is dated British slang for money ⇒ Kim’s only in it for the tin.

28a   Old Greek graduate stuck within that time (6)

Thebes^[5] (home of the Thebans) was a city in Greece, in Boeotia, north-west of Athens. Thebes became a major military power in Greece following the defeat of the Spartans at the battle of Leuctra in 371 BC. It was destroyed by Alexander the Great in 336 BC.

There was also an ancient city in Upper Egypt which was known to the Greeks as Thebes. Its ruins are situated on the Nile about 675 km (420 miles) south of Cairo. It was the capital of ancient Egypt under the 18th dynasty (circa 1550–1290 BC) and is the site of the major temples of Luxor and Karnak.

2d   Old volunteers work in region of South Island (5)

My initial stab at this one was OTAWO which was fairly close. I got the first two elements of the charade but stumbled on the final bit.

Otago^[7] is a region of New Zealand in the south of the South Island.

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.

7d   What Euclid saw as a triangle? (5)

Euclid^[7] (circa 300 BC), also known as Euclid of Alexandria, was a Greek mathematician, often referred to as the "Father of Geometry" [so the clue is quite apt].

16d   City that may be built when the incoming waves have been destructive? (9)

Newcastle^[5] is the name of two communities in England. Newcastle upon Tyne is an industrial city and metropolitan district in NE England, a port on the River Tyne. Newcastle-under-Lyme is an industrial town in Staffordshire, in England, just south-west of Stoke-on-Trent.

20d   Look towards the setting sun, being most depressed (6)

Lo^[5] is an archaic exclamation used to draw attention to an interesting or amazing event ⇒ and lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them.

22d   King and his son maybe half cut before noon (5)

In Greek mythology, Priam^[7] was the king of Troy at the time of its destruction by the Greeks under Agamemnon. The father of Paris and Hector and husband of Hecuba, he was slain by Neoptolemus, son of Achilles.

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