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