Wednesday, December 19, 2012 - DT 26988

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26988
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, October 4, 2012
Setter RayT (Ray Terrell)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26988]
Big Dave's Review Written By Falcon
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

As I worked through this puzzle, some clues rang a bell but others did not look at all familiar — leaving me slightly unsure for some time whether it was really one that I had seen before.

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.

5a   Struck and played gripping top of five iron (8)

The symbol for the chemical element iron is Fe^[5].

9a   'Offspring' providing accompaniment around finale (10)

The Offspring^[7] is an American punk rock band from Orange County, California, formed in 1984. They are widely credited, alongside fellow California punk, ska punk, and pop punk bands Sublime, Green Day, and Rancid, with popularizing and reviving mainstream interest in punk rock in the United States in the 1990s.

A descant is an independent treble melody sung or played above a basic melody.

11a   A place, incredibly loaded, filled with gold (8)

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.

23a   Whole of Queen brought back into being (8)

This is RayT's signature clue, a reference to Her Majesty — and homage to his favourite band.

25a   Chick's tender holding Romeo (4)

Romeo^[5] is a code word representing the letter R, used in radio communication. In Britain, chick could mean bird in either of two senses. A bird might be one of the feathered variety or, in the context of this clue, a bird^[5] is likely to be a young woman or a man’s girlfriend.

4d   Queen with Henry without hot temper (6)

Queen Anne^[7] (1665 – 1714) ascended the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702. On 1 May 1707, under the Act of Union, two of her realms, the kingdoms of England and Scotland, were united as a single sovereign state, the Kingdom of Great Britain.

6d   Heavyweight boxer typically ends in loss (8)

It has only been two days since we last encountered this boxer. Muhammad Ali^[7] (born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr.) is an American former professional boxer whose nicknames included "The Greatest" and "The Louisville Lip".

16d   Change order and put back on stove (9)

In the UK, unlike North America, not just any kitchen stove would be referred to as a range. In Britain, a cooking appliance heated by solid fuel (such as wood or coal) is called a range^[4] and one powered by gas or electricity is known as a cooker^[5]. [Thus the comment accompanying the illustration on Big Dave's blog.]

17d   Went west round oceans becoming sick (8)

Go west^[5] is an informal British expression meaning to be (1) killed or lost or (2) to meet with disaster ⇒ £200 million went west in an unprecedented gambling spree. In North America, to 'go west' would be to head for a land of opportunity and to meet with disaster would be to 'go south'.

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