Wednesday, December 12, 2012 - DT 26982

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26982
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, September 27, 2012
Setter RayT (Ray Terrell)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26982]
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

I was able to battle through most of the puzzle with good results but became mired in the southwest quadrant. Even though I was able to complete that section with help from my electronic friends, I couldn't completely decipher 13d.

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.

8a   Insane time around capital of Ibiza island (7)

Ibiza^[7], an island in the Mediterranean Sea 79 km off the coast of the city of Valencia in Spain, is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, an autonomous community of Spain. It is well known for its summer club scene which attracts very large numbers of tourists.

Madeira^[5] is an island in the Atlantic Ocean off NW Africa, the largest of the Madeiras, a group of islands which constitutes an autonomous region of Portugal.

10a   Stock's quality about right for soup (10)

Mine^[3] is used in the sense of an abundant supply or source of something valuable ⇒ This guidebook is a mine of information.

11a   Married in rush ceremony (4)

Pop^[2] is used in the sense to go quickly in a direction specified ⇒ I'll just pop next door for a second.

12a   'Unattached' girl's connected to Greek island (8)

Di is arguably the most popular girl's name in Crosswordland. Crete^[5] is a Greek island in the eastern Mediterranean.

14a   Officer is more offensive (6)

In Britain, a ranker^[5] may be either (1) a soldier in the ranks; a private or [as is the case today] (2) a commissioned officer who has been in the ranks.

15a   'Number Ten' ace has it worked out (11)

The word number (as used in this clue) is a whimsical invention of cryptic crossword compilers in which they deduce that it is another name for a numbing agent (something that numbs). After all, if a stinger is something that stings, surely logic would dictate that we should arrive at the word number in a similar fashion. I doubt you will ever find this sense of the word in a dictionary — although I note that Collins English Dictionary does define number as a slang term for a cannabis cigarette!

19a   Bristles when given Indian state support (6)

Goa^[5] is a state on the west coast of India [which also made an appearance in yesterday's puzzle].

20a   One accompanies bloke playing, covering Queen (8)

A RayT puzzle invariably contains a reference to Queen, which usually refers in the surface reading to the British rock band^[7] and in the cryptic reading to Queen Elizabeth^[7]. Traditionally, the ciphers (monograms) of British monarchs use initials formed from the Latin version of their first name followed by either Rex or Regina (Latin for king or queen, respectively). Thus the cipher of Queen Elizabeth is ER^[5] — from the Latin Elizabetha Regina.

26a   Curvy nudes including redhead before Sun strip (7)

RayT puzzles are also well-known for containing an element of innuendo (although today's is rather tame in this department). The use of "redhead" to clue the letter R is something we see fairly often. It is based on R being the "head" (initial) letter of the word "Red".

2d   Hamlet? Desperate man over Ophelia's heart (4)

The question mark is an indication that "Hamlet" is a definition by example. The solution might have been PLAY — but it's not. Hamlet^[7], of course, refers to The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, a tragedy by William Shakespeare [yet another element from yesterday's puzzle that returns today].

Desperate Dan^[7] is a wild west character in the British comic The Dandy. He first appeared in its first issue, dated 4 December 1937. He is reputed to be the world's strongest man, able to lift a cow with one hand. Even his beard is so tough he has to shave with a blowtorch. Among his favourite foods is "cow pie" — which apparently is a whole cow baked in a pie, and not a "meadow muffin".

3d   Swelling, blood goes round it (6)

Goitre^[5] is the British spelling of goiter.

5d   Meandering French river bridging 'rue'? Not English! (10)

The clue is constructed so as to suggest that rue^[8] is being used as the French word for street. The Seine^[10] is a river in N France, rising on the Plateau de Langres and flowing northwest through Paris to the English Channel.

13d   Form of criminal's bird done before time ends (10)

The British name for a chickadee is tit^[5] (or titmouse). I only realized where the U came from when I read Big Dave's hint. In Britain, U^[5] is used informally as an adjective with respect to language or social behaviour meaning characteristic of or appropriate to the upper social classes (U manners). The term, an abbreviation of  upper class, was coined in 1954 by Alan S. C. Ross, professor of linguistics, and popularized by its use in Nancy Mitford's Noblesse Oblige (1956).

I did expend a great deal of effort in trying to justify CONGREGATE — obviously, to no avail.

17d   Fashion do turns into monotony (7)

In Britain, do^[5] is an informal term for swindle ⇒ a thousand pounds for one set of photos — Jacqui had been done.

18d   Hardy woman supporting house guests finally? (7)

This is an & lit. clue^[7], a clue in which the entire clue serves as the definition when read one way and as the wordplay when read a second way.

Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented, also known as Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman, Tess of the d'Urbervilles^[7] or just Tess, is a novel by Thomas Hardy, first published in 1891. It initially appeared in a censored and serialised version, published by the British illustrated newspaper, The Graphic. Though now considered an important work of English literature, the book received mixed reviews when it first appeared, in part because it challenged the sexual mores of Hardy's day.

21d   A thrill taking Charlie to get higher (6)

I realized that charlie^[5] is a code word representing the letter C, used in radio communication. The surface reading was lost on me as I did not know that charlie^[5] (or Charlie^[10]) is slang for cocaine.

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