Friday, December 21, 2012 - DT 26991

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26991
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, October 8, 2012
Setter Rufus (Roger Squires)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26991]
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
Notes The National Post has skipped DT 26990 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, October 6, 2012.

Introduction

I was late starting this puzzle. Fortunately it was not too taxing — unlike the dump of heavy, wet snow that we received here in Ottawa overnight and through the day. I spent most of the afternoon clearing my driveway, and expect to be similarly engaged tomorrow.

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   Paying for yourself twice -- it's incomprehensible (6,5)

In Britain, as in North America, to go Dutch^[5] is to share the cost of something, especially a meal, equally. Thus, by some convoluted Crosswordland logic, if going Dutch means that you pay for yourself, going double Dutch must signify that you pay for yourself twice.

In Britain, double Dutch^[5] is a slang term for language that is impossible to understand; in other words, gibberish ⇒ instructions written in double Dutch. In North America, it is a jumping game played with two skipping ropes swung in opposite directions so that they cross rhythmically.

15a   Receiving regular payments, disposed to give lad a rise (8)

Dispose^[5] means to arrange in a particular position ⇒ the chief disposed his attendants in a circle. In this clue it acts as an anagram indicator, but the anagram is inverted. Rather than the usual case of the fodder being rearranged to create the solution, here we have the setter telling us that the solution (SALARIED) can be arranged (disposed) to give the fodder (LAD A RISE).

18a   Production of Haydn's oratorio (8)

The Creation^[7] (German: Die Schöpfung) is an oratorio written between 1796 and 1798 by Austrian composer Joseph Haydn (1732 – 1809), and considered by many to be his masterpiece. The oratorio depicts and celebrates the creation of the world as described in the biblical Book of Genesis and in Paradise Lost (an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton).

19a   Learned person makes witticism, spoken in French (6)

Dit^[8] is the past participle of the French verb dire (to say or speak). As Gazza relates, The Chambers Dictionary defines pundit^[1] as (1) any learned person or (2) an authority, now usually someone who considers himself or herself an authority.

27a   A bloomer he made, being too fond of his image (9)

The actual meaning of bloomer^[5] here is a plant that produces flowers at a specified time ⇒ fragrant night-bloomers such as nicotiana. However, the clue would be more than likely to lead British readers astray, as bloomer^[5] is an informal, dated British expression meaning a serious or stupid mistake ⇒ he never committed a bloomer [equivalent to blooming error].

In Greek mythology, Narcissus^[5] was a beautiful youth who rejected the nymph Echo and fell in love with his own reflection in a pool. He pined away and was changed into the flower that bears his name.

1d   Area inside American bases (7)

How did I not get this one without help? Perhaps I too readily discounted the possibility of baseball ever making an appearance in the DT cryptic.

3d   Former habit of night work? (4,5)

Only just yesterday, we saw that habit^[5] is an archaic term meaning clothes ⇒ in the vile habit of a village slave. The term still survives in the equestrian world (a riding habit) and the Church where it is used to describe a long, loose garment worn by a member of a religious order ⇒ nuns in long brown habits, black veils, and sandals.

18d   Two vehicles joined by a third one (7)

In Britain, a caravan^[5] is a vehicle equipped for living in, typically towed by a car and used for holidays ⇒ they spent a fishing holiday in a caravan. In North America, such a vehicle would be known as a trailer^[5].

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