Monday, January 21, 2013 - DT 27016

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27016
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27016]
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 27015 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Monday, November 5, 2012.

Introduction

After stumbling out of their lane on Friday, the editors at the National Post are back on track today. It's a pity, though, as they have skipped over the weekly offering from Rufus — which I am sure would have been far more entertaining than the "fairly insipid" (in Gazza's words) fare that was dished up today.

The puzzle contains a Nina (a hidden feature) that you will find in the top and bottom rows of the grid. This had more significance to readers in the UK as it tied into the pun contained in the Quickie (another crossword puzzle which appears in The Daily Telegraph).

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.

7a   Old politician going into price for fertiliser (7)

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

9a   Inappropriate, a French affair of honour, unconcluded (5)

Un^[8] is the masculine singular form of the French indefinite article.

11a   To unsay what has been said about sappers is cowardly (8)

In general, a sapper^[5] is a soldier responsible for tasks such as building and repairing roads and bridges, laying and clearing mines, etc. In Britain specifically, the term is used for a private soldier in the Corps of Royal Engineers (RE)^[5], the field engineering and construction corps of the British army. 

Recreant^[5] is an archaic word meaning cowardly ⇒ what a recreant figure must he make.

20a   Gold on country carriage (6)

The symbol for the chemical element gold is Au^[5].

21a   Where the buffalo roamed, what could provide stew? (4,4)

This is a clue involving inverse wordplay — in this case, an inverse anagram. The clue asks, "what could provide stew?" The answer is an anagram of west (WILD WEST). For a discussion of inverse wordplay clues, see my review for Thursday, January 17, 2013 - DT 27013.

24a   Russian aircraft helping movement of people? (9)

A MiG^[7] is a type of Russian jet fighter. The name comes from the initials of the two founders (Mikoyan and Gurevich) of the "design bureau" that designs the planes.

26a   Lieutenant suffering setback in match for championship (5)

The first time that I encountered this usage, I supposed that match must mean tie in the sense that a tie occurs when the scores of two teams match. However, I was to learn that, in Britain, a tie^[5] is a sports match between two or more players or teams in which the winners proceed to the next round of the competition [i.e., an elimination match] ⇒ Swindon Town have won themselves a third round tie against Oldham. The example cited does not mean that Swindon Town and Oldham played to a draw; rather, it means that Swindon Town won their second round match and advanced to the third round in which they will play Oldham.

29a  Salad ingredient for fashionable party person short of time (7)

In Britain, as in Canada, members of the Conservative Party are also known as Tories.

3d   Bad-mannered male, Italian, entering bar after one (8)

In the UK, it^[5] is an informal, dated term for Italian vermouth • he poured a gin and it [a cocktail containing gin and Italian vermouth].

4d   Foolish talk over a list (4)

In Britain, a rota^[5] is a list showing when each of a number of people has to do a particular job ⇒ a cleaning rota.

7d   Essex Man from Harwich, a vulgarian (4)

In Britain, Essex man^[10] is an informal and derogatory term for a working man, typically a Londoner who has moved out to Essex, who flaunts his new-found success and status. Similarly, Essex girl^[10] is an even more derogatory description of a young working-class woman from the Essex area, typically considered as being unintelligent, materialistic, devoid of taste, and sexually promiscuous. Oxford Dictionaries Online is considerably less catty in its definition: a brash, materialistic young woman of a type supposedly found in Essex or surrounding areas in the south-east of England.^[5]

Chav^[5] is an informal and derogatory British term for a young lower-class person typified by brash and loutish behaviour and the wearing of (real or imitation) designer clothes.

12d   Measure  mountain range (5)

A chain^[3,4] is a unit of length — in fact, either of two units of length. In surveying, it is a unit of 66 feet (Gunter's chain) while, in engineering, it is a unit of 100 feet (engineer's chain).

18d   Alluring island castle (6)

Glam^[5] is a short [and, I would think, somewhat British] term meaning glamorous ⇒ a dapper magician and his glam assistant.

Glamis Castle^[7], situated beside the village of Glamis in Angus, Scotland, has been the home of the Lyon family since the 14th century, though the present building dates largely from the 17th century. Glamis was the childhood home of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, who married King George VI, and was later known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. Her second daughter, Princess Margaret, was born there.

19d   Determined, good man approaches English cathedral city (6)

The Diocese of Ely^[5] is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury, headed by the Bishop of Ely, who sits at Ely Cathedral in the city of Ely.

22d   Told stories, on the way up, about volunteers in army unit (6)

In the UK, the Territorial Army (TA)^[5] is a volunteer force locally organized to provide a reserve of trained and disciplined manpower for use in an emergency.

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