Thursday, January 31, 2013 - DT 27024

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27024
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, November 15, 2012
Setter Shamus (Philip Marlow)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27024]
Big Dave's Review Written By pommers
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

Shamus gives us a pleasant workout today — enjoyable while not overly taxing.

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   Dilemma produced by number transported by bike and a railway (8)

In Britain, quad^[5] is short for quad bike^[5], a motorcycle with four large tyres [tires], for off-road use [or, in North American terms, an ATV (all-terrain vehicle)^[5]].

9a   Regard alike English queen and retired foreign character (6)

Eta^[5] is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet (Η, η).

11a   Copper consuming a second fine drink largely in disguise (10)

The symbol for the chemical element copper is Cu^[5]. In the UK, mo^[5] [abbreviation of moment] is an informal term for a short period of time ⇒ hang on a mo!.

14a   Fanciful Scot, say, with love for bit of alcohol (8)

In tennis, squash, and some other sports, love^[5] is a score of zero or nil ⇒ love fifteen. The resemblance of a zero written as a numeral (0) to the letter O leads to the cryptic crossword convention of love equating to this letter.

23a   Clean motor manufactured in gambling venue (5,5)

Monte Carlo^[5] is a resort in Monaco, forming one of the four communes of the principality; population 14,600 (est. 2008). It is famous as a gambling resort and as the terminus of the annual Monte Carlo rally.

On December 28, Rufus gave us a similar clue which focused on the connection of this resort with racing rather than gambling.

• 1a   Clean motor off to get set for a rally? (5,5)

24a   Gullible fellow, English, trailing Northern Ireland politicians (4)

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP)^[5] is an extreme Loyalist political party in Northern Ireland, co-founded by Ian Paisley in 1972.

25a   List of business from mature Northern lawyer (6)

In the US, a district attorney^[5] is a public official who acts as prosecutor for the state in a particular district.

26a  Tie duly designed around opening to exhibition in festive period (8)

Read pommers' hint in the context of when the puzzle appeared in the UK.

1d   Person easily persuaded to linger after raising drink (8)

As a verb, sup^[5] is a dated or Northern English term meaning to take (drink or liquid food) by sips or spoonfuls ⇒ (i) she supped up her soup delightedly; (ii) he was supping straight from the bottle. As a noun, it means (1) a sip of liquid ⇒ he took another sup of wine or (2) in Northern England or Ireland, an alcoholic drink ⇒ the latest sup from those blokes at the brewery.

2d   Unexpected  game (4)

Snap^[4] is a British card game [although one well-known to me as a child in Canada] in which the word snap is called when two cards of equal value are turned up on the separate piles dealt by each player.

3d   First bit of marketing course producing figure with luck? (6)

Ascot^[5] is a town in southern England, south-west of Windsor. Its racecourse is the site of an annual race meeting.

6d   Greek character entertaining leader of Turkey? Sign of shame (6)

Sigma^[5] is the eighteenth letter of the Greek alphabet (Σ, σ).

22d   British money originally taken out for protection against the elements (6)

Lolly^[5] is British slang for (1) a lollipop and (2) money ⇒ you’ve done brilliantly raising all that lovely lolly. The latter sense dates from the 1940s, so perhaps was derived somehow from the former.

Brolly^[5] is an informal British term for an umbrella.

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