Friday, December 14, 2012 - DT 26985

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26985
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, October 1, 2012
Setter Rufus (Roger Squires)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26985]
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 26984 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, September 29, 2012.

Introduction

We get a wonderful puzzle from Rufus today — one that for me leans toward the lower end of the difficulty scale but tips toward the upper end of the enjoyment scale. For lovers of cryptic definitions (as I am) this puzzle is a real treat.

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.

9a   Contemptible cheat goes back on promises to pay (6)

Hopefully, you recalled from a couple of days ago that, in Britain, do^[5] is an informal term for swindle ⇒ a thousand pounds for one set of photos — Jacqui had been done.

11a   Relaxed, with lowered pulse (8)

Whereas the term downbeat^[3,4] seems to have only a negative sense in North America, the word would appear to have a positive connotation as well in the UK. Collins English Dictionary defines it as an informal term meaning either (1) depressed or gloomy or (2) relaxed or unemphatic. The American Heritage Dictionary includes only the former sense, saying that it denotes cheerless or pessimistic.

23a   1984? (8)

Rightly or wrongly, I interpreted "1984" to be a cryptic reference to Nineteen Eighty-Four^[7], a novel by George Orwell published in 1949. This interpretation was only slightly tarnished when my research revealed that the title of the book is apparently spelled out in words rather than appearing as numerals.

25a   How often models losing shape may be employed? (6)

We usually refer casually to the two elements found in most clues as definition and wordplay. A more formal way of describing these elements is primary indication and secondary indication. This is one case where I think the more formal term is more accurate. The entire clue here serves as the primary indication, which perhaps might be described as a cryptic definition. The secondary indication (or wordplay) is an anagram (losing shape) of MODELS. This is a style of semi all-in-one clue that Scchua calls a WIWD (wordplay intertwined with definition) clue.

2d   Familiar mode of address for ex-pupil? (3,3)

In Britain, an old boy^[5] (abbreviation OB^[2])  is (1) a former male student of a school or college ⇒an old boy of Banbury County School or (2) a former male member of a sports team or company ⇒the White Hart Lane old boy squared the ball to present an easy chance from 12 yards. It is also a chiefly British affectionate form of address to a boy or man ⇒ ‘Look here, old boy,’ he said.

3d   A party with sailors below deck (5)

The Royal Navy (abbreviation RN)^[5] is the British navy, the most powerful navy in the world from the 17th century until the Second World War.

7d   Many raced, getting beaten? (9)

This clue contains a cryptic crossword device that we see from time to time where "many" (or similar terms, such as "a large number") are used to clue a large Roman numeral —  which might be anything from L (50) up to M (1000).

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