Thursday, January 24, 2013 - DT 27019

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27019
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, November 9, 2012
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27019]
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

Introduction

I completed this puzzle without external help — but did feel that it gave my brain a very vigorous workout. I therefore held some faint hope that it might squeak into three star difficulty territory. Alas, such was not to be the case, as Gazza awarded it only two stars for difficulty.

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   It's 'ruined by the abrader' ? (10)

At first, I questioned whether this clue parses correctly. However, after a bit of contemplation, I realized that the wordplay is an anagram (ruined) of a charade {THE + (by) ABRADER}. One must read the phrase "by the abrader" as "by THE, ABRADER" (or, stated in a less convoluted fashion, "ABRADER by THE"). In order to solve a clue, one must often insert missing punctuation — or ignore punctuation that is actually present.

6a   Capital city that is held by king very briefly (4)

Kiev^[5], the capital of Ukraine, is an industrial city and port on the River Dnieper; population 2,765,500 (est. 2009). Founded in the 8th century, it became capital of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1934. In 1991 it became capital of independent Ukraine.

K^[5] is an abbreviation for king that is used especially in describing play in card games and recording moves in chess ⇒ declarer overruffed with ♦K and led another spade; 18.Ke2 [which, as I understand it, indicates that on the 18th move of the game, the king moved to the square on the board formed by the intersection of file (column) e and rank (row) 2].

10a   Trainee given whip, having collected low exam grades (5)

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. I hesitate to imagine what the punishment might have been had the trainee received failing grades.

13a   One who is sleeping won't be doing much for the business (7)

Sleeping partner^[5] is the British term for a silent partner^[5], a [business] partner not sharing in the actual work of a firm. In North America, a sleeping partner is someone with whom one has a sexual relationship.

14a   Promising to study quietly inside when there's heavy stuff to digest (5,7)

In Britain, to read^[5] means to study (an academic subject) at a university ⇒ (i) I’m reading English at Cambridge; (ii) he went to Manchester to read for a BA in Economics.

Piano^[3,5] (abbreviation p^[5]), is a musical direction meaning either soft or quiet (as an adjective) or softly or quietly (as an adverb). 

Bread pudding^[7] is a bread-based dessert popular in Great Britain and many other countries (including Canada).

18a   Pursuit of public schoolboys with abnormally low mental age (4,4,4)

In the UK, wall game^[5] (also known as Eton wall game) is an early form of football [soccer] played traditionally at Eton College, in which, in a series of scrimmages, players attempt to take the ball past the opposing team while keeping the ball against a wall.

Eton College^[5] is a boys' public school in southern England, on the River Thames opposite Windsor, founded in 1440 by Henry VI to prepare scholars for King’s College, Cambridge.

In the UK, a public school^[5] is a private fee-paying secondary school, especially one for boarders ⇒ [as modifier] his precise English public-school accent. In North America, on the other hand, a public school is a school supported by public funds [and what the Brits call a public school is known in North America as a private school].

23a   Port sending granite abroad (7)

Tangier^[5] is a seaport on the northern coast of Morocco, on the Strait of Gibraltar commanding the western entrance to the Mediterranean; population 762,583 (2004). Portuguese from the end of the 15th century, Tangier was ruled by the sultan of Morocco 1684–1904, when it came under international control; it passed to the newly independent monarchy of Morocco in 1956.

27a   Navy led by head that's friend acting like a father (10)

The Royal Navy (abbreviation RN)^[5] is the British navy.

In the cryptic reading of this clue, the 's is a contraction of has and serves as a charade indicator. Thus the wordplay (after transposing the wording from passive voice to active voice) is PATE (head) + ([leading]) RN ([Royal] Navy) + ('s; has) ALLY (friend).

4d   Be without post after First in Biochemistry? It's a crime! (9)

In Britain, the post^[5] is (1) the official service or system that delivers letters and parcels ⇒ (i) winners will be notified by post; (ii) the tickets are in the post; (2) letters and parcels delivered ⇒ she was opening her post; or (3) [in singular] a single collection or delivery of mail ⇒ entries must be received no later than first post on 14 June [suggesting that — unlike in Canada — mail is still delivered more often than once per day in Britain].

15d   Gape naughtily, having got there after flipping? (4,5)

This is an & lit. (or all-in-one) clue, i.e., one in which the entire clue (when read one way) serves as the definition and (when read another way) forms the wordplay. As a definition, we are directed to a specific location (as indicated by the word "there") with the remainder of the clue serving to narrow down the possibilities.

Page Three^[7] (or Page 3) is a feature found in some tabloid newspapers, especially in the United Kingdom, consisting of a large photograph of a topless female glamour model. The feature takes its name from the tradition of printing the photograph on the newspaper's third page. Women who model regularly for the feature are known as Page Three girls, some of whom, such as Samantha Fox and Katie Price (Jordan), have become notable celebrities in their own right in fields such as music and television.

The Sun tabloid newspaper first started featuring topless Page Three girls in November 1970. The feature was soon imitated by other British tabloids and by newspapers internationally. Although "Page Three" and "Page 3" are registered trademarks of NI Group Ltd, parent company of the Sun, the term is often used in a generic manner to describe any such feature in any paper.

16d   Pay tribute to soldiers, joined by MP maybe (8)

The Corps of Royal Engineers (RE)^[5] is the field engineering and construction corps of the British army. They are accompanied today by a Member of Parliament (or MP^[5] for short) — not a Military Policeman.

In Britain, this puzzle appeared, quite fittingly, just prior to Remembrance Day^[7] (Armistice Day in the UK). In the United Kingdom, although two minutes of silence are observed on 11 November itself, the main observance is on the second Sunday of November, Remembrance Sunday^[7] [which just happened to coincide with Remembrance Day in 2012].

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