Tuesday, January 1, 2013 - DT 26999

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26999
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26999]
Big Dave's Review Written By Scchua
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 This puzzle appears on the Tuesday Diversions page in the Monday, December 31, 2012 edition of the National Post.

Introduction

As I mentioned in yesterday's review, it had slipped my mind that the National Post would likely publish two puzzles in Monday's paper, and I blindly solved this one first. It turned out to be the more difficult of the two by a fair margin — for me at least.

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.

4a   When to make an illegal copy of such a letter (8)

For the longest while, I could see no possible solution but ESTIMATE — although I certainly could not explain the wordplay for that choice.

18a   Resist unfinished bedding, though free (8)

Buckshee^[5] is British slang for free of charge ⇒ a buckshee brandy.

23a   Plain Vichy water by factory with no name (7)

Vichy^[5] is a town in south central France. A noted spa town, it is the source of an effervescent mineral water. Eau^[8] is the French word for water.

During the Second World War, Vichy was the headquarters of the regime that was set up after the German occupation of northern France, to administer unoccupied France and the colonies. Never recognized by the Allies, the regime functioned as a puppet government for the Nazis.

25a   In France no way work is constant (3-4)

Non^[8] is the French word for no. In the field of music, Op. (also op.)^[5] is an abbreviation meaning opus (work).

29a   Dearie me! The French are barracking (6)

Le^[8] is the masculine singular form of the French definite article. In the UK, to barrack is 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.

8d   Old film with Queen in West Country city (6)

 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.

By tradition, 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.

The West Country^[5] comprises the south-western counties of England.

Exeter^[5] is a city in SW England, the county town of Devon, on the River Exe; population 109,200 (est. 2009). Exeter was founded by the Romans, who called it Isca.

16d   Remember soldiers and dresses before church (9)

The Corps of Royal Engineers (RE)^[5] is the field engineering and construction corps of the British army.

 The Church of England (CE)^[10] is the reformed established state Church in England, Catholic in order and basic doctrine, with the Sovereign as its temporal head.

22d   Peg rings regularly in place (6)

It would appear that a spigot is quite a different thing in the UK from what it is in North America. In Britain, the primary meaning of spigot^[3,4] is a stopper for the vent hole of a cask (which is a tertiary meaning in North America) whereas, in North America, it is generally used as another term for a tap (British term)^[4] or faucet^[4] (US term). In Canada, as is often the case, we tend to use the British tap and American faucet interchangeably.

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