Friday, January 25, 2013 - DT 27020

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27020
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Saturday, November 10, 2012
Setter Cephas (Peter Chamberlain)*
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27020 - Hints] Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27020 - Review]
Big Dave's Review Written By Tilsit (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 *I am assuming that this puzzle has been set by Cephas (Peter Chamberlain) who I understand to be the regular setter of the "Saturday" puzzle.

Introduction

It is beginning to appear that the National Post may have embarked on a new publication pattern whereby the "Monday" puzzle (set by Roger Squires) is skipped. In its place, we receive (for the second week in succession) the "Saturday" puzzle (set by Peter Chamberlain) — the days mentioned being those on which the puzzle originally appeared in The Daily Telegraph.

Despite this being rated three stars for difficulty, I managed to complete it without outside assistance — albeit spread over two sessions separated by a trip to the gym.

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   House worker perhaps, I toil furiously in dreadful panic (10)

In the UK [as in Canada], the House of Commons^[5] is the elected chamber of Parliament. Westminster^[5] (full name City of Westminster) — which is mentioned by Tilsit in his hint — is an inner London borough which contains the Houses of Parliament and many government offices. The name of the city is frequently used as an alternative method to refer to the British Parliament ⇒ Westminster must become more effective in holding the government to account.

6a   Writer of plays safe for audience (4)

This is one of those British homophones that totally fails on this side of the Atlantic. The word "sure" pronounced with a soft British R would seemingly sound like "Shaw" — or, at least, like the way a Brit would pronounce "Shaw"! Given the number of different dialects present in the UK (more than fifty, I've been told), these homophone clues often fail to work in many areas within Britain itself.

George Bernard Shaw^[5] (1856 – 1950) was an Irish dramatist and writer who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1925. His best-known plays combine comedy with a questioning of conventional morality and thought; they include Man and Superman (1903), Pygmalion (1913), and St Joan (1923).

9a   Bird needs a moment, being fabulous (10)

Fabulous^[5] here means having no basis in reality or mythical ⇒ fabulous creatures.

In heraldry, a cockatrice^[5] (also known as a basilisk^[5]) is a mythical animal depicted as a two-legged dragon (or wyvern) with a cock’s head.

Even after I had the correct solution, it took me a while to identify the definition precisely. My first idea was that the definition might be "fabulous", but that would require "fabulous" to be a noun. I checked to see if "fabulous" might possibly exist as a noun in the field of heraldry or be used as a noun by the Brits (who often employ adjectives as nouns). However, I could find no evidence of that, meaning that the definition cannot be simply "fabulous".

The next thought to enter my mind was that this must be a semi-all-in-one clue (which, I see, is what gnomethang interpreted it to be). Then I saw another explanation. I believe that the definition is "being fabulous" where "being" is a noun and "fabulous" is a postpositive adjective (one that follows the word it modifies). This would fit nicely with the heraldic theme of the clue, as heraldic descriptions are usually overflowing with postpositive adjectives.

13a   Get little beauty outside car (8)

The Mini^[7] is a small economy car that was made by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors from 1959 until 2000. In 1994, the marque (brand) was acquired by BMW who launched a new generation MINI^[7] in 2001.

15a   Coach in job a 1 Across means to secure delivery (7,5)

Here "1 Across" is a cross reference to clue 1a. You must substitute the solution to clue 1a into the current clue in place of the cross reference indicator (i.e., "1 Across") to obtain the full clue. Note that since there are two clues in this puzzle originating from square 1 (1a and 1d), the setter must specifically identify which of the two clues is being cross referenced.

In systems of parliamentary government, such as Britain [or Canada, for that matter], an elected representative is known as a Member of Parliament (or MP^[5] for short).

24a   Avoid  failure to score (4)

In cricket, a duck^[5] is a batsman’s score of nought [zero] ⇒ he was out for a duck. The term is short for duck's egg, used for the figure 0 because of its similar outline. We have a similar term in North America, namely goose egg^[5] (which, I am quite sure, we would never shorten to goose).

25a   Perhaps Babe's heart goes to hunter of boar (3-7)

Babe^[7] is a 1995 film adapted from Dick King-Smith's 1983 novel The Sheep-Pig (also known as Babe: The Gallant Pig in the US) which tells the story of a pig who wants to be a sheepdog.

A pig-sticker^[5] is one who engages in the sport of pig-sticking, the activity of hunting wild boar with a spear, carried out on horseback.

27a   Garage gets building concrete materials (10)

B&Q plc^[7] (mentioned by Tilsit in his hint) is a British multinational DIY [do it yourself] and home improvement retailing company. The company was originally called Block & Quayle. It would appear to be a UK counterpart to Home Depot - right down to the orange logo!

3d   Control ball aiming for goal in sport (4-8)

In soccer [and I couldn't help but notice that Oxford Dictionaries Online refers to it as soccer, not football], trap^[5] means to bring (the ball) under control with the foot or other part of the body on receiving it ⇒ the ball bounced near Scott and he trapped it with his left foot.

Bisley^[7] [mentioned by Tilsit in his hint] is a village in Surrey, England, which is noted for its rifle shooting ranges.

5d   A cricket club phone sound cut short in Stanley's place (10)

Just as FC^[5] is short for football club, CC^[5] is used as an abbreviation for cricket club. Strangely, Oxford Dictionaries Online characterises the former usage as British, but not the latter. After all, even soccer teams in Canada use the name FC (Toronto FC).

Accrington Stanley Football Club^[7] is an English football [soccer] club based in Accrington, Lancashire. The club participates in Football League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system.

The team appears to be well-known in the UK, not for their play on the field, but because of a commercial. In the 1980s, the club was mentioned in a British advertisement for milk, which briefly brought the club to the attention of the general public. The advertisement featured two young boys in Liverpool replica shirts and made reference to Accrington Stanley's obscurity in comparison to Liverpool's success at the time.

BOY 1: "Milk! Urghh!"
BOY 2: "It's what Ian Rush drinks." [Ian Rush being one of Liverpool's leading players of the time.]
BOY 1: "Ian Rush?"
BOY 2: "Yeah. And he said if I didn't drink lots of milk, when I grow up, I'll only be good enough to play for Accrington Stanley."
BOY 1: "Accrington Stanley, who are they?"
BOY 2: "Exactly."

8d   Dignitaries or head of state beset by cats (8)

In attempting to decipher the wordplay, my first thought was that "hips" might be a British slang term for jazz fans (cats). Then I remembered the punishment inflicted on the poor trainee in yesterday's puzzle. Cat^[5] is short for cat-o'-nine-tails^[5], a rope whip with nine knotted cords, formerly used (especially at sea) to flog offenders.

11d   Liberal is redrafting Parliamentary process (5,7)

First reading^[5] is the first presentation of a bill to a legislative assembly, to permit its introduction.

The Liberal Party^[7] was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries [the other being the Conservatives]. It fell to the status of third largest political party throughout the latter half of the 20th century [behind Labour]. In 1981, the Liberals allied with the newly formed SDP to form the SDP-Liberal Alliance and, in 1988, they formally merged with the SDP to form the Liberal Democrats.

17d   Loudly criticises  accommodation (8)

In Britain, barrack^[5] means to jeer loudly at (someone performing or speaking in public) in order to express disapproval or to distract them ⇒ opponents barracked him when he addressed the opening parliamentary session. On the other hand, in Australia and New Zealand, it means (when followed by the word "for") to give support and encouragement to ⇒ I take it you’ll be barracking for Labour tonight?.

19d   Forwards alien parcel (6)

In rugby, the pack^[5] refers to a team’s forwards considered as a group ⇒ I had doubts about Swansea’s pack at the beginning of the season.

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial^[7] (often referred to simply as E.T.) is a 1982 American science fiction film co-produced and directed by Steven Spielberg that tells the story of Elliott, a lonely boy who befriends an extraterrestrial, dubbed "E.T.", who is stranded on Earth. Elliott and his siblings help the extraterrestrial return home while attempting to keep it hidden from their mother and the government.

20d   Ruins partly inside Bristol (6)

Bristol^[5] is a city in SW England; population 374,000 (est. 2009). Situated on the River Avon about 10 km (6 miles) from the Bristol Channel, it has been a leading port since the 12th century.

23d   Druggie, Liverpudlian but not Scot mostly (4)

In Britain, Scouser^[5] is an informal term for a person from Liverpool.

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