Wednesday, January 30, 2013 - DT 27023

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27023
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27023]
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

Introduction

I patted myself on the back having seemingly solved 11a by tracking down a bit of what may be British drug culture slang. However, as I was to discover, all I needed was a common kitchen utensil.

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   Loyalist beginning to accept law-breaking (8)

Although there is only one way to parse the wordplay [START (beginning) containing (to accept) an anagram (breaking) of LAW], you can actually construct the solution in either of two ways: STA(LWA)RT or ST(ALW)ART.

6a   Sanctimonious and risqué form of stealing (6)

Pi^[5] is an informal British short form for pious.

10a   Clinger-on lost balance crossing river (8)

I would say that lost^[2], appearing here as an anagram indicator, is being used in the sense of confused or puzzled.

11a   Instruments for pot smokers? (3-5)

I thought I had a great solution for this clue in BAG-PIPES with bag^[2,10] (according to a couple of British dictionaries) being a slang term for a measure of marijuana, heroin, etc, in folded paper. However, the setter had something else in mind. From the comments on Big Dave's site, other solvers arrived at the same solution as I did, but through different associations (i.e., billiards and hunting).

Perhaps the hyphen should have been the giveaway, as the word bagpipes does not have a hyphen. But, then again, neither does panpipes (also Pan pipes, Pan's pipes, or pipes of Pan)^[2,5,10] — at least anywhere other than The Chambers Dictionary. Even Chambers 21st Century Dictionary does not show panpipes^[2] spelled with a hyphen.

23a   Name a European working for a military commander (8)

Napoleon I^[5] (1769 – 1821) was emperor of France from 1804–14 and again in 1815; full name Napoleon Bonaparte; known as Napoleon. In 1799 Napoleon joined a conspiracy which overthrew the Directory, becoming the supreme ruler of France. He declared himself emperor in 1804, and established an empire stretching from Spain to Poland. After defeats at Trafalgar (1805) and in Russia (1812), he abdicated and was exiled to the island of Elba (1814). He returned to power in 1815, but was defeated at Waterloo [by an army under the command of the Duke of Wellington^[5], from whom the wellington boot (also known as a welly or wellie)^[5] got its name] and exiled to the island of St Helena.

25a   Header misdirected -- getting stick! (6)

In soccer, a header^[5] is a shot or pass made with the head. Stick^[10] is verbal abuse or criticism ⇒ I got some stick for that blunder

26a   Adore old ruined city full of riches (8)

El Dorado^[5] is the name of a fictitious country or city abounding in gold, formerly believed to exist somewhere in the region of the Orinoco and Amazon Rivers. As a noun, El Dorado (also eldorado) refers to a place of great abundance.

4d   George perhaps, and Paul too -- it is fantastic! (9)

The surface reading may point to a couple of members of The Beatles^[7] — George Harrison and Paul McCartney. However, we need to redirect our gaze skyward — to the field of aeronautics.

One explanation of why the autopilot is traditionally called "George" is because George DeBeeson, a pilot/inventor, patented an "Automatic Airplane Control" autopilot in 1931. (read more)

8d   Porter's rule for salad (8)

Cole Porter^[7] (1891 – 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. He began to achieve success in the 1920s, and by the 1930s he was one of the major songwriters for the Broadway musical stage. Unlike most successful Broadway composers, Porter wrote both the lyrics and the music for his songs.

14d   Turned oars flat -- hated reef being turbulent (9)

In rowing, feather^[5] means to turn (an oar) so that it passes through the air edgeways [thereby lessening the air resistance] ⇒ he turned, feathering one oar slowly.

15d   Reference point for the Stars and Stripes, say (8)

... the Stars and Stripes^[5], of course, being the national flag of the US.

17d   Income for soldiers on location (7)

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

18d   A French family with daughter showing no mercy (6)

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

22d   Drive from heath across top of town (5)

In Britain, a moor^[5] is a tract of open uncultivated upland, typically covered with heather — which is also known as a heath^[5].

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