Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Wednesday, February 27, 2013 — DT 27046

Puzzle at a Glance
Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 27046
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Setter
Unknown
Link to Full Review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27046]
Big Dave's Review Written By
Deep Threat
BD 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 thought that I was going to finish poorly on this puzzle, as — for a long time — I was unable to make any inroads at all into the northwest quadrant. However, once one clue fell, the remainder quickly followed suit.

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.

Across


5a   Travelled on horse, by the sound of it, with Member of Parliament holding a route finder? (4,3)

In many Commonwealth countries (including Britain and Canada), a member of the House of Commons or similar legislative body is known as a Member of Parliament[10] (or MP[5] for short).

9a   Ascetic possessing cold nature (7)

An Essene[5] is a member of an ancient Jewish ascetic sect of the period from the 2nd century BC to the 2nd century AD in Palestine, who lived in highly organized groups and held property in common. The Essenes are widely regarded as the authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

10a   Typical ancient city in old African province (7)

Ur[5] is an ancient Sumerian city that formerly existed on the Euphrates, in southern Iraq. It was one of the oldest cities of Mesopotamia, dating from the 4th millennium BC, and reached its zenith in the late 3rd millennium BC.

Natal[5] is a former province of South Africa, situated on the east coast. Having been a Boer republic and then a British colony, Natal acquired internal self-government in 1893 and became a province of the Union of South Africa in 1910. It was renamed KwaZulu-Natal in 1994. The name comes from Latin Terra Natalis 'land of the day of birth', a name given by Vasco da Gama in 1497, because he sighted the entrance to what is now Durban harbour on Christmas Day.

In his review, Deep Threat questions the definition in this clue. However, in Collins English Dictionary, the list of synonyms for natural[5] includes normal, common, stock, standard, established, regular, usual, ordinary, typical, routine, everyday, accustomed, customary, commonplace, habitual, run-of-the-mill, and unexceptional.

12a   Strike a mate (5)

Chin[4] is a slang term [possibly chiefly British] meaning to to punch or hit (someone) on the chin.

In Britain, china[5] is an informal term for a friend (or, as the Brits would say, a mate[5]). This comes from Cockney rhyming slang, where china is the shortened form of china plate which rhymes with 'mate'.

13a   Conclusion about this compiler's correct (5)

It is a common cryptic crossword convention for the creator of the puzzle to use terms such as compiler, setter, author, or writer to refer to himself or herself. To solve such a clue, one must usually substitute a first person pronoun (I or me) for whichever of these terms (today, it being expanded to "this compiler") has been used  in the clue.

15a   Spinning, thin pike caught not initially in perfect condition (2,3,4)

The expression in the pink (meaning in extremely good health and spirits[5]) comes from the English foxhunting tradition; people who foxhunt often wear scarlet jackets and are called pinks—so if you are in the pink, you are about to set off to gallop your horse across country.

17a   Needing support of French writer, having depression (9)

De[8] is a French preposition meaning 'of'.

22a   Plague remedy includes sulphur (5)

The symbol for the chemical element sulphur is S[5].

23a   All at sea like tar -- on this? (3,6)

I failed to notice the anagram — but still managed to come up with the correct solution. This is a semi & lit. (semi all-in-one) clue in which the entire clue constitutes the definition and the first portion of the clue (in fact, all but the final word) serves as the wordplay.

One might argue that the "definition" here is not really a definition. It is, at best, a cryptic definition. A more formal name for the definition in a cryptic crossword is 'primary indication' — a term which also seems to imply a broader range of possibilities than the word 'definition'. I think that this is one of those situations where the formal term 'primary indication' is far more appropriate than the looser term 'definition'. By the way, the formal term for the wordplay is 'subsidiary indication'.

25a   Rock tour in US without hit, finally getting wrecked (7)

Rock[10] is used in the sense of to shake or move (something) violently.

I questioned whether ruinous actually means wrecked. A bit of investigation reveals that ruinous[10] can mean characterized by ruin or destruction, in which sense synonyms include ruined, broken-down, derelict, ramshackle, dilapidated, in ruins, decrepit, and tumbledown. Nevertheless, this is not a sense with which I am familiar and not one that I would expect to encounter.

Down


1d   Women are dancing the twist (7)

I suspect that Deep Threat may have been a victim of predictive typing here and likely intended to say "A charade of W omen ..." rather than "A charge of W omen".

3d   Dance beat with energy (5)

In the wordplay, the solution is split (3,2).

5d   Gran cooked on English stove (5)

A range is defined a bit differently in Britain than it is in North America. In North America, a range may use any type of fuel (wood, coal, oil, gas, electricity, etc.). However, in Britain, a range[4] is specifically a large stove with burners and one or more ovens, usually heated by solid fuel. A cooking device that does not use solid fuel would be known as a cooker[5].

8d   People regularly want fish (7)

A pollack[5] is an edible greenish-brown fish (Pollachius pollachius) of the cod family, with a protruding lower jaw. Found in the NE Atlantic, it is popular with anglers.

16d   Bird's poorly -- took food to stimulate (9)

As it appears incorrectly in the paper:
  • 16 Bird's poorly -- took food to srimulate (9)
Deep Threat reports that, in the UK, "There [was] a misprint in the paper and online print version, which read ‘srimulate’; the online version has been corrected. " However, as those of us in Canada were to discover today, the error did not get corrected in the syndicated version of the puzzle.

The British name for a chickadee is tit[5] (or titmouse).

20d   Bogarde, perhaps, missing first part? Tedious (7)

Sir Dirk Bogarde[7] (1921 – 1999) was an English actor and writer.

23d   Genesis on television (5)

Genesis[7] are an English rock band that formed in 1967. The band currently consists of its three longest-tenured members - Tony Banks (keyboards) and Mike Rutherford (bass, guitar), who were founder members; and Phil Collins (vocals, drums), who first joined in 1970. Past members Peter Gabriel (vocals, flute), Steve Hackett (guitar) and Anthony Phillips (guitar) also played major roles in the band in its early years.
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

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Tuesday, February 26, 2013 — DT 27045

Puzzle at a Glance
Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 27045
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph
Monday, December 10, 2012
Setter
Rufus (Roger Squires)
Link to Full Review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27045]
Big Dave's Review Written By
Libellule
BD Rating
Difficulty - ★★★ Enjoyment - ★★★
Falcon's Performance
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└────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘
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 27042 through DT 27044 which were published in The Daily Telegraph from Thursday, December 6, 2012 to Saturday December 8, 2012.

Introduction

It has been some time since the National Post last skipped a puzzle. As a result, the lag between when the puzzle was originally published in the UK and when it eventually shows up in Canada has been gradually increasing — since the puzzles appear at a rate of six per week in The Daily Telegraph, but only five per week in the National Post. Today the National Post makes up some lost ground by skipping three puzzles in one bound. Among the puzzles that have been skipped is one which I blogged for Big Dave's Crossword Blog — DT 27042 which appeared in The Daily Telegraph on Thursday, December 6, 2012 (and which I had expected to see in the National Post today).

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   Possibly one's private abomination (3,8)

According to Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, pet aversion — a term new to me — is a synonym for pet peeve.

9a   Angostura put out for Jason's crew (9)

Angostura[5] (also angostura bark) is an an aromatic bitter bark from certain South American trees (Angostura febrifuga and Galipea officinalis), used as a flavouring, and formerly as a tonic and to reduce fever. It is also short for angostura bitters[5], a kind of tonic first made in Angostura[5], the former name for Ciudad Bolívar[5], a city in SE Venezuela, on the Orinoco River The name of the city was changed in 1846 to honour the country’s liberator, Simón Bolívar.

In Greek mythology, Jason — on a quest to retrieve the Golden Fleece — sailed from Iolcos on a ship named the Argo[7]. The ship was named after its builder, Argus, and its crew was known as the Argonauts.

13a   Raises new taxes, accepting pound (6)

The pound[5] (also pound sterling) is the basic monetary unit of the UK, equal to 100 pence. While the symbol for pound is £, it is often written as L[10].

15a   New star dies in Act of God, perhaps (8)

While Act of God[7] is the name of a 2009 documentary film about getting struck by lightning and as well as an episode of the TV program Law & Order, I think it unlikely that either supplied the inspiration for this clue.

18a   Regular lay preachers take this (8)

This is a type of semi-all-in-one-clue that my fellow blogger, scchua, likes to refer to as a WIWD (wordplay intertwined with definition). The entire clue serves as the definition, while a portion of the clue constitutes the wordplay.

In the Church of England, evensong[4] (also known as Evening Prayer vespers) is the daily evening service of Bible readings and prayers prescribed in the Book of Common Prayer.

23a   I'm given role to communicate (6)

I am sure that Libellule's typing finger strayed slightly to the left as he composed his hint for this clue. I am sure he meant to say "... a character played by a performer [rather than 'plated']".

28a   Version of carol Silent Night is heard (3,8)

In Arthurian legend, [Sir] Lancelot[5] is the most famous of Arthur’s knights, lover of Queen Guinevere and father of Galahad.

1d   Calm sort of current in South American river (7)

The Río de la Plata[7] — usually rendered River Plate in British English and the Commonwealth, and occasionally rendered [La] Plata River in other English-speaking countries — is the estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River on the border between Argentina and Uruguay.

6d   This prize elevates the good in French language (5)

In French, the masculine singular form of the definite article is le[8] and the masculine singular form of the adjective "good" is bon[8].

8d   Dead estate agent (8)

Estate agent[6] is the British term for a real estate agent.

22d   Inclines to be quixotic? (5)

Quixotic[5] is an adjective meaning extremely idealistic or unrealistic and impractical ⇒ a vast and perhaps quixotic project. The word comes from Don Quixote[5], the hero of a romance (1605–15) by Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes (1547 – 1616). The story is a satirical account of chivalric beliefs and conduct. The character of Don Quixote is typified by a romantic vision and naive, unworldly idealism. In one iconic scene in the book, Don Quixote attacks windmills that he believes to be ferocious giants — from which we get the phrase "tilting at windmills" to describe an act of attacking imaginary enemies.[7]

24d   As you can see, it forms a ring (5)

... a ring that you can hear as well as see.

25d   The first person on a Scottish isle (4)

Iona[5] is a small island in the Inner Hebrides, off the west coast of Mull. It is the site of a monastery founded by St Columba in about 563.
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

Monday, February 25, 2013

Monday, February 25, 2013 — DT 27041

Puzzle at a Glance
Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 27041
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Setter
Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27041]
Big Dave's Review Written By
scchua
BD 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

If you didn't do well on today's puzzle, you would be hard pressed to blame it on the Briticisms — which are virtually nonexistent. Yet I still struggled a bit with the middle portion of the puzzle.

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   Showing caution about church's aggressive slogan (3,3)

The War Cry[7] is the official news publication of the Salvation Army.

The clue that we find in the National Post differs ever so slightly from the one that appeared in the UK (at least in the online edition of The Daily Telegraph), which was:
  • 1a   Showing caution about churchman's aggressive slogan (3,3)
23a   Speculator's tense -- gold pinched in robbery (8)

 Or[5] is gold or yellow, as a heraldic tincture. In heraldry, a tincture[5] is any of the conventional colours (including the metals and stains, and often the furs) used in coats of arms.

3d   Pointed remark suppressed by sources in Radio Hallam and University is nonsense (7)

In North America, rhubarb[5] denotes a heated dispute rhubarbs often broke out among these less than professional players. However, in Britain, the word means nonsense ⇒ it was all rhubarb, about me, about her daughter, about art. This meaning likely comes from British theatrical usage where rhubarb means the noise made by a group of actors to give the impression of indistinct background conversation, especially by the random repetition of the word ‘rhubarb’.

Radio Hallam is the former name of Hallam FM[7], an independent local radio station serving South Yorkshire from studios in Sheffield, England.

14d   Reprimanded by annoyed American (6,3)

In the UK, to tick someone off[5] means to reprimand or rebuke someone he was ticked off by Angela. In North America, this expression means to make someone annoyed or angry Jefferson was a little ticked off, but he’ll come around.

18d   Back down and negotiate in support of engineers (7)

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

Treat[3] is used in the sense of to engage in negotiations, as to reach a settlement or agree on terms ⇒ Both sides nonetheless are quite willing to treat with [the king] (Gregory J. Wallance)
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

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Saturday, February 23, 2013 — Spot the Theme

Introduction

I found this puzzle to be perhaps just a tad more difficult than those from the previous couple of weeks, although still not too taxing.

For the second week in succession, I failed to discern a theme in today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon. Last week, a sharp-eyed reader was able to find one. So, once again, I put the challenge out to readers — identify the theme.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

Legend: "*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed
"( )" letters inserted; "_" letters deleted; "†" explicit in the clue

Across


1a   S(H)R|ILLNESS — {SR (senior) + ILLNESS (complaint)} containing H (hot)

6a   OMEN< — reversal of (the return of) NEMO (Disney clownfish)
Nemo is the principal character in the 2003 animated feature Finding Nemo[7] released by Walt Disney Pictures.
9a   DON|O|VAN — DON (put on) + O (love; a score of nil in tennis) + VAN (truck)
Donovan[7] (born Donovan Phillips Leitch) is a Scottish singer, songwriter and guitarist. Initially labelled as an imitator of Bob Dylan, he developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelia, and world music (notably calypso). He has variously lived in Scotland, London, and California, and, since at least 2008, has lived in County Cork, Ireland with his family.
10a   SU(BUN)IT — SUIT (exec) containing (pocketing) BUN (roll)

12a   _LUCID_< — hidden (piece of) and reversed (in retrospect) in riDICULe

13a   ELIZABETH* — anagram (disturbed) of I BET HAZEL
Hazel[7] is a single-panel cartoon series by American cartoonist Ted Key (1912 – 2008) about a wry and bossy live-in maid who works for a middle-class family. The cartoon appeared in The Saturday Evening Post from 1943 until that weekly magazine folded in 1969. It was then picked up for daily newspaper syndication and Key continued to draw the cartoon until he retired in 1993. Following his retirement, reprints of the cartoons continued to run in many newspapers. A television series based on the cartoon ran from 1961 to 1966.

Elizabeth II[7] is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states, known as the Commonwealth realms, and their territories and dependencies, and head of the 54-member Commonwealth of Nations.
14a   RECEDE~ — sounds like (the sound of) RESEED (broadcast [seeds] again)

16a   T(RUM)AN — TAN (bronze) containing (filled with) RUM (booze)
The Truman Show[7] is a 1998 American satirical comedy-drama film in which Canadian American actor Jim Carrey plays Truman Burbank, a man who is living in a constructed reality television show, broadcast around the clock to billions of people across the globe.
20a   HIDING — double definition; "flogging" & "in secret"

21a   CO|AXED — double definition, the second being cryptic; "persuaded"& "fired [axed] in tandem?"
The question mark serves to warn us of the cryptic nature of the second definition.
24a   ST(AGE) LEFT — {ST (saint) + LEFT (remaining)} containing (outside) AGE (mellow)

26a   P(I)LOT — PLOT (story line) containing (involving) I ([Roman numeral for] one)

27a   LORE|LEI — LEI (garland) following (after) LORE (learning from the past)
Judy Garland[7] (born Frances Ethel Gumm; 1922 – 1969) was an American actress, singer and vaudevillian. Described by Fred Astaire as "the greatest entertainer who ever lived" and renowned for her contralto voice, she attained international stardom throughout a career that spanned more than 40 years as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage.

Lorelei[5] is a legendary siren said to live on the Lorelei rock on the bank of the Rhine, whose song lures boatmen to destruction.
28a   NO(NAG)ON — NAG (harry) contained in (tucked into) NOON (lunch hour)
In the surface reading, the setters expect us to think of "sides" as side dishes.
29a   DID|O — DID (accomplished) + O (zip; nothing)
In the Aeneid (an epic by the Roman poet Virgil), Dido[5] is the queen and founder of Carthage, who fell in love with the shipwrecked Aeneas and killed herself when he deserted her.
30a   GALS|WORTHY — GALS (LASS'S; gal's) + WORTHY (meritorious)
John Galsworthy[5] (1867 – 1933) was an English novelist and dramatist. He is remembered chiefly for The Forsyte Saga (1906–28), a series of novels which was adapted for television in 1967. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1932.

Down


1d   S|ADDLE — ADDLE (get [someone] confused) following (after) S (second)

2d   {RUN SCARED}* — anagram (drifting) of UNDER CARS

3d   L(IV)ID — LID (cover) containing (keeping) IV ([Roman numeral for] four)

4d   N(INTEND)O —NO (negative) containing (about) INTEND (mean)
Nintendo Co., Ltd.[7] — a Japanese multinational consumer electronics company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan — is the world's largest video game company by revenue.
5d   SI(SKI)N — SKI (hit the slopes) contained in (in) SIN (error)
Pine Siskin
7d   MIN(C)E — C ([symbol for the chemical element] carbon) contained in (inside) MINE (pit)

8d   NOT(C)HING — C ([Roman numeral for] 100) contained in (in) NOTHING (squat)

11d   BEAT|R(I)X — BEAT (exhausted) + {RX (prescription) containing (†) I ([symbol for the chemical element] iodine)}
Beatrix Potter[5] (1866 – 1943) was an English writer for children who is known for her series of animal stories, illustrated with her own delicate watercolours, which began with The Tale of Peter Rabbit (first published privately in 1900).
15d   C(ONCE)AL — ONCE (uniquely) contained in (in) CAL (California)

17d   MA|DE LIGHT — MA (mother) + (and) DELIGHT (joy)

18d   WHIST|LED — WHIST ([card] game) + LED (went ahead)

19d   FOR|TUNES — FOR (†) + TUNES (songs)

22d   REGINA* — anagram (misplaced) of GEAR IN
Regina[7] is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan.
23d   ST(INK)Y — INK (black fluid) contained in (in) STY (pen)

25d   A(IRE)D — AD (commercial) containing (about) IRE (rage)

26d   PIN|TO — PIN (fasten on) + TO (†)
Another way to interpret the clue is to read both the wordplay and the solution as entire phrases. Thus "fasten onto" is equivalent to "pin to".
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

Friday, February 22, 2013

Friday, February 22, 2013 — DT 27040

Puzzle at a Glance
Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 27040
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Setter
Unknown
Link to Full Review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27040]
Big Dave's Review Written By
Deep Threat
BD 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

Today, we have a rather unremarkable offering served up by an unknown setter.

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.

9a   Eccentric back with university, the French count (7)

In French, the feminine singular form of the definite article is la[8].

10a   Ram a truck's rear wheels and this may be broken (5)

Although I got the correct solution from the definition, I was at a loss to explain the wordplay — having failed to recognize "wheels" as a reversal indicator.

Tup[10] is a mainly British term for an uncastrated male sheep. It also means the head of a pile-driver or steam hammer.

19a   Hurry to one at Skegness, rearranged (3,4,6,2)

Wouldn't you expect this to be a Canadian expression, rather than a British one? To get one's skates on[5] means to hurry up I’ll tell him to get his skates on.

Skegness[7] is a seaside town in Lincolnshire, England. Located on the coast of the North Sea, it is one of the better known seaside resorts in the United Kingdom.

23a   Fashionable boy's name, reportedly? Seriously (2,7)

In his hint, Deep Threat makes reference to The Importance of Being Earnest, an 1895 play by Irish playwright Oscar Wilde (1854 – 1900).

26a   Channel Islands firm demonstrating a tank (7)

The Channel Islands (abbreviation CI)[5] are a group of islands in the English Channel off the NW coast of France, of which the largest are Jersey, Guernsey, and Alderney. Formerly part of the dukedom of Normandy, they have owed allegiance to England since the Norman Conquest in 1066, and are now classed as Crown dependencies.

1d   Duly pick out fair game? (5,3)

In the UK, a lucky dip[5] is a a game in which small prizes are concealed in a container and chosen at random by participants. "Fair" is used in the sense of a bazaar.

5d   Country record includes live song (8)

The test for the acceptability of an abbreviation is usually whether it is found in The Chambers Dictionary. Well, L (or l) as an abbreviation for live is not to be found there.

8d   Excellent management, but lacking foresight (5)

I easily got the solution from the definition, and even understood the mechanics of the wordplay. Nevertheless, it took me nearly forever to twig to the fact that the required synonym for "foresight" is vision.

9d   Wealthy old lady's flutter after function (7)

Flutter[5] is British slang for a small bet a flutter on the horses.

14d   Go beyond  social welfare? (8)

Outreach[5] is an organization’s involvement with or influence in the community, especially in the context of religion or social welfare (i) the growth of evangelistic outreach; (ii) [as modifier] outreach centres.

17d   Cook, perhaps, posed with flag on roof of theatre (8)

Peter Cook[7] (1937 – 1995) was an English actor, satirist, writer and comedian. An extremely influential figure in modern British comedy, he is regarded as the leading light of the British satire boom of the 1960s. Cook has been described as "the funniest man who ever drew breath", although his work was also controversial. Cook was closely associated with anti-establishment comedy that emerged in Britain and the United States in the late 1950s.

18d   Number Ten upset about empty emporium, large building in Scotland? (8)

Don't overlook the fact that a "number" might be ten!

The solution is a word that apparently is not commonly used in the UK outside of Scotland. Oxford Dictionaries Online defines tenement[5] (especially in Scotland or the US) as (1) a room or a set of rooms forming a separate residence within a house or block of flats [apartments in North America] or (2) (also tenement house) a house divided into and let as separate residences.

"Number Ten" might possibly be intended as a reference to the headquarters of Her Majesty's Government and official residence of the British Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street[7] in London, England. However, the address is usually written as "Number 10".

21d   Tackle school producing tasteless art (6)

Tackle[3] is used in the sense of the equipment used in a particular activity, especially in fishing; gear. A kit[3] is a set of articles or implements used for a specific purpose.

22d   Reprimand son towards the end (5)

Slate[5] is British slang meaning to criticize severely his work was slated by the critics.
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

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Thursday, February 21, 2013 — DT 27039

Puzzle at a Glance
Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 27039
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph
Monday, December 3, 2012
Setter
Rufus (Roger Squires)
Link to Full Review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27039]
Big Dave's Review Written By
Libellule
BD 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

With other matters demanding my attention, perhaps I did not devote as much time and effort to this puzzle as usual. However, I did find it rather tricky — though enjoyable. There were several clues where Rufus succeeded in totally misdirecting my attention, such as with the gourmand at 23a. My electronic assistants did get me back on track, and I managed to complete the puzzle with their help.

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   Leaped -- above oneself? (6,2)

Although not identified as such by the British and World English version of Oxford Dictionaries Online, the US English version does identify jumped-up[6] as a chiefly British expression denoting someone who considers themselves to be more important than they really are, or who has suddenly and undeservedly risen in status she’s not really a journalist, more a jumped-up PR woman.

6a   Cut it and keep quiet (6)

Cackle[2] (on both sides of the Atlantic) is (1) the sound made by a hen or a goose; (2) derogatory a raucous laugh like this; or (3) shrill, silly chatter. The expression cut the cackle means to stop chatting aimlessly and come to the point. I found this expression in all the British dictionaries that I consulted, and in none of the American ones.

10a   Evocative of European river ebbing fast (8)

The Oder[5] is a river of central Europe which rises in the mountains in the east of the Czech Republic and flows northwards through western Poland to meet the River Neisse, then continues northwards forming the northern part of the border between Poland and Germany before flowing into the Baltic Sea.

11a   Knots  of painters? (8)

A painter[5] is a rope attached to the bow of a boat for tying it to a quay [thus, a bow line]. A bowline[5] is a simple knot for forming a non-slipping loop at the end of a rope.

21a   Anticipate warning shout to Gessler's opponent (8)

Albrecht (also known as Hermann) Gessler[7] (c. 14th century) was a probably legendary Habsburg bailiff at Altdorf, whose brutal rule led to the William Tell rebellion and the eventual independence of the Swiss Confederacy.

24a   Result in changes for part of Ireland (6)

Properly Ulster[10] is an area that was a province and former kingdom of N Ireland which passed to the English Crown in 1461. Following centuries of conflict, Ulster was partitioned in 1921, with six counties forming Northern Ireland (a region within the United Kingdom) and three counties joining the Republic of Ireland. Despite this, Ulster is a widely-used (if inaccurate) name for Northern Ireland.

7d   They spend their time together (4-5)

My first entry here was LIFE-MATES (cryptically, a couple of lifers in prison) — which seemed to fit the bill rather well but turned out to be incorrect.

14d   Make a series of calls on zero zero (4,5)

A North American would more than likely express this as 'call around'.

The "zero zero" may carry no special significance — of course, I felt compelled to look for some.

Zero Zero[Terry's Random Ramblings] is the title of an album by British songwriter, musician, and producer Mike Batt[7] which is the soundtrack to a video production he created for Australian TV in the early 1980′s. If you’ve heard of it, you know exactly what it is. If you haven’t, the one-line summary is “Boy in a future society where emotions have been banished falls in love and gets a lobotomy for his trouble.”
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

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Wednesday, February 20, 2013 — DT 27038

Puzzle at a Glance
Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 27038
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Setter
Cephas (Peter Chamberlain)
Link to Full Review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27038 - Hints]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27038 - Review] 
Big Dave's Review Written By
Big Dave (Hints)
gnomethang (Review)
BD 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 won't argue with gnomethang on his enjoyment rating as I did find this puzzle a pleasure to do. A good thing too, as I spent an inordinate amount of time on it over several sessions. Thus I might suggest that would not be out of place to award it another star in the difficulty column as well.

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.

9a   Type of selling still has first-class backing (7)

In Britain, inertia selling[5] is a term used to denote the sending of unsolicited goods to potential customers in the hope of making a sale.

10a   Expand measure by stirring lager (7)

In printing, an en[5] is a unit of measurement equal to half an em and approximately the average width of typeset characters, used especially for estimating the total amount of space a text will require. As one should not be surprised to discover, this word is the letter N represented as a word, since it is approximately this width.

11a   Trouble taking drug? One's likely to complain (7)

One man's fusspot[3,4], is another man's fussbudget[3,4] — the former term being British and the latter US.

14a   African moving nearer to snare it (8)

Eritrea[5] is an independent state in NE Africa, on the Red Sea; population 5,647,200 (est. 2009); language, Tigre and Cushitic languages; capital, Asmara. Eritrea was an Italian colony from 1890 to 1952, when it became part of Ethiopia. After a long guerrilla war it became internally self-governing in 1991 and fully independent in 1993.

17a   See slip being adjusted in coat (7)

I envy gnomethang for having had checking letters to guide him. I attempted the clue before having any checking letters and came up with PLIESSE (which I later discovered to be the name of a German river). Needless to say, this proved to be a bit of a roadbump with respect to a couple of the crossing entries.

A pelisse[5] is either (1) a woman’s ankle-length cloak with armholes or sleeves or (2) a fur-lined cloak, especially as part of a hussar’s uniform..

20a   Window decoration keeps out unknown missile (6)

In architecture, tracery[5] is ornamental stone openwork, typically in the upper part of a Gothic window the rose designs were divided by tracery.

27a   Member's turn to compose form of delivery (3,4)

In cricket, leg spin[5] is a type of spin bowling which causes the ball to deviate from the leg side towards the off side after pitching he coped comfortably with the leg spin of Mushtaq Ahmed.  

The leg side[5] (also called simply the leg) is the half of the field (as divided lengthways through the pitch) away from which the batsman's feet are pointed when standing to receive the ball. The leg side is also known as the on side (or simply the on[5]). Naturally, the other side of the field is known as the off side[5]  (also called simply the off).

28a   Cash register silver deposited by Earl for cultivation (7)

The symbol for the chemical element silver is Ag[5].

29a   Scented drink could be got up stream perhaps (9)

No matter how you choose to spell the solution, you can find a dictionary to support you. It is rosewater in The Chambers Dictionary, rose-water[2,4] in the Chambers 21st Century Dictionary,and Collins English Dictionary, and rose water[3,5] in The American Heritage Dictionary and at Oxford Dictionaries Online.

13d   Determined to have detectives involved in act (7)

The Criminal Investigation Department (seemingly better known by its abbreviation CID[2]) is the detective branch of the British police force.

24d   You need to get over replacing a tray (6)

In cricket, an over[5] is a division of play consisting of a sequence of six balls bowled by a bowler from one end of the pitch, after which another bowler takes over from the other end.
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