Friday, January 18, 2013 - DT 27014

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27014
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Saturday, November 3, 2012
Setter Cephas (Peter Chamberlain)*
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27014 - Hints] Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27014 - Full Review]
Big Dave's Review Written By Big Dave (Hints) / gnomethang (Review)
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 setter is not positively identified on Big Dave's Crossword Blog but several readers attribute the puzzle to Cephas (Peter Chamberlain) who is apparently the regular "Saturday" setter.

Introduction

Today the National Post has broken with its established pattern and published a puzzle that appeared in The Daily Telegraph on a Saturday. Saturday puzzles in the UK are prize puzzles — readers can submit their solution for a chance to win a prize (a pen, as I understand). In the case of Saturday puzzles — unlike weekday puzzles — Big Dave's site does not publish a full review of the puzzle on the day it is published. Rather, on the date of publication, there is only a short review containing hints for a few selected clues. The full review appears on the following Thursday, after the closing date for contest submissions. Thus you will find two links above to Big Dave's Crossword Blog — the first to the date of publication hints written by Big Dave and the second to the subsequent full review by gnomethang. In the case of this puzzle, all the reader comments are attached to the former posting.

As for my experience, I definitely found the puzzle to be more difficult than the two stars that gnomethang felt it merited. My struggles likely stemmed, at least in part, from some new British terms that I encountered for the first time.

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   Demonstrator caught in a short fall of rain? (6)

I interpret the phrase "caught in" to be a link phrase expressing equivalence between the two definitions — caught^[5] being used in the sense of having succeeded in evoking or representing ⇒ the programme caught something of the flavour of Minoan culture.

9a   Strait-laced teacher first's scarf (4-6)

I have absolutely no idea what the surface reading of this clue is supposed to mean. About all I can say is that it reads like a crossword clue [which, as someone has commented, is the severest criticism that one can level at a crossword clue!].

Headsquare^[1,5,10] is another [seemingly British] term for headscarf. None of the dictionaries in which I found the word spelled it with a hyphen.

10a   Beast you'll remove without question (10)

Remove^[2] would appear to be used in the formal sense of to to change one's position, place, location, etc.

11a   Swimmer with a tailpiece (4)

In music, a coda^[5] is the concluding passage of a piece or movement, typically forming an addition to the basic structure ⇒ the first movement ends with a fortissimo coda.

14a   Lasting impression conveyed by grafter — 'I'm a genius!' (5-5)

A grafter^[5] is one who engages in bribery and other corrupt practices used to secure illicit advantages or gains in politics or business. An after-image^[5] is an impression of a vivid image retained by the eye after the stimulus has ceased.

20a   Real Madrid's jinking winger (3,7)

Real Madrid Club de Fútbol^[7] (Royal Madrid Football Club), commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football [soccer] club based in Madrid, Spain. A winger^[5] is an attacking player on the wing in soccer, as well as other sports. Jink^[5] means to change direction suddenly and nimbly, as when dodging a pursuer ⇒ she was too quick for him and jinked away every time.

Red Admiral may refer to any of three butterflies:

• The Red Admiral^[7] (Vanessa atalanta), a well-known colourful butterfly, found in temperate Europe, Asia and North America.
• The New Zealand Red Admiral^[7] (Vanessa gonerilla), a butterfly that is endemic to New Zealand.
• The Indian Red Admiral^[7] (Vanessa indica), a butterfly found in the higher altitude regions of India.

22a   Not happy with this record on so late! (4)

This is one of those rare occasions where the definition is found neither at the beginning or end of the clue, but square in the middle. The definition is "this record". The clue tells us that were we to form a charade of the solution to the clue (this record) + ON + SO + LATE, we would end up with a word meaning "not happy". [You may observe a slight variation between my interpretation and that of gnomethang.]

25a   It captures a moving scene (4,6)

Cine camera^[5] is the British name for a movie camera.

26a   Air  display (6)

In his review, gnomethang remarks "Two definitions that are not far enough apart for my liking!." I second the motion.

2d   Obsession with falcon seen above mount (5-5)

Ironically, I had no idea that a hobby^[5] is a migratory Old World falcon with long, narrow wings, catching dragonflies and birds on the wing. Fortunately, I was able to get the correct solution from the definition and checking letters.

13d   Badly suited maiden is game, Edward concluded (10)

In cricket, a maiden^[5], also known as a maiden over, (abbreviation M)^[5] is an over in which no runs are scored. An over^[5] is a division of play consisting of a sequence of six balls bowled by a bowler from one end of the pitch, after which another bowler takes over from the other end.

19d   Twisted about and fleeced (7)

I failed to decipher the wordplay before reading gnomethang's explanation.

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