Tuesday, February 19, 2013 — DT 27037

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27037
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, November 30, 2012
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27037]
Big Dave's Review Written By Gazza
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

There are certainly some very entertaining clues in this puzzle from Giovanni, so I have no hesitation in supporting Gazza's award of four stars for enjoyment.

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   General as fellow going after blood, no end (6)

Charles George Gordon^[5] (1833 – 1885) was a British general and colonial administrator. He made his name by crushing the Taiping Rebellion (1863-4) in China. In 1884 he fought Mahdist forces in Sudan led by Muhammad Ahmad (who Gazza refers to as the 'Mad Mahdi'), but was trapped at Khartoum and killed.

In popular Muslim belief, a Mahdi^[5] is a spiritual and temporal leader who will rule before the end of the world and restore religion and justice. The term is also applied to a person claiming to be the Mahdi, notably Muhammad Ahmad of Dongola in Sudan (1843–85), whose revolutionary movement captured Khartoum and overthrew the Egyptian regime.

At Oxford and Cambridge universities, a fellow^[10] is a member of the governing body of a college who is usually a member of the teaching staff. A don^[10] is a member of the teaching staff at a university or college, especially at Oxford or Cambridge.

10a   Some duffer mathematically? Yes and no! (6)

Pierre de Fermat^[5] (1601 – 1665) was a French mathematician. His work on curves led directly to the general methods of calculus introduced by Newton and Leibniz. He is also recognized as the founder of the theory of numbers.

11a   Wicked king's army destroyed sultan (8)

In Greek mythology, Tantalus^[5] was a Lydian king, son of Zeus and father of Pelops. For his crimes (which included killing Pelops) he was punished by being provided with fruit and water which receded when he reached for them. His name is the origin of the word tantalize.

In the UK, the Territorial Army (TA)^[5] is a volunteer force locally organized to provide a reserve of trained and disciplined manpower for use in an emergency.

12a   Magnificent residence with fantastic ambience a help, including lake (8,6)

Blenheim Palace^[7] is a monumental country house situated in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England, residence of the dukes of Marlborough. It is the only non-royal non-episcopal country house in England to hold the title of palace. The palace, one of England's largest houses, was built between 1705. and circa 1724. UNESCO recognised the palace as a World Heritage Site in 1987.

17a   Fielders making mistakes (5)

In cricket, slip^[5] is (1) a fielding position (often one of two or more in an arc) close behind the batsman on the off side [of the field], for catching balls edged by the batsman ⇒ (i) he was caught in the slips for 32; (ii) King is at first slip or (2) a fielder at slip. In cricket, the off side^[5]  (also called simply the off) is the half of the field (as divided lengthways through the pitch) towards which the batsman's feet are pointed when standing to receive the ball.  The other side of the field is known either as the leg^[5] (also leg side) or on (also on side). Note that the slip is positioned behind the batsman. Unlike baseball, which has a 90 degree field of play, cricket has a 360 degree field of play. Thus there are fielders completely encircling the batsman.

19a   Bird -- young cat gets the tail of one (4)

A kite^[5,7] is a medium to large long-winged bird of prey of the family Accipitridae which typically has a forked tail and frequently soars on updraughts of air.

20a   Diversion that could put the sewer temporarily out of action (4,3,7)

Hunt the thimble (also known as hide the thimble)^[7,10] is a children's game in which the players look for a hidden thimble. I was familiar only with the latter name. Fortunately, I had already solved 16d before writing the solution to this clue into the grid — which prevented me from entering the wrong version.

23a   Rare boat fashioned in various woods specially cultivated (8)

Arboreta is a plural form for arboretum^[5], a botanical garden devoted to trees. This should have been an easy clue for me, given that there is a well-known one of these located — not far from where I live — at the Central Experimental Farm in Ottawa.

28a   'Left on ship' is about right! (8)

This is an & lit. (all-in-one) clue. The entire clue constitutes the definition and tells us that 'Left on ship' would be an accurate definition (is about right) for the solution. The wordplay is L (left) + ABOARD (on ship) containing (is about) R (right).

Larboard^[5] is an archaic term for port^[5], the side of a ship or aircraft that is on the left when one is facing forward.

This name comes from Middle English ladebord (see lade, board)^[5], referring to the side on which cargo was put aboard. The change to lar- in the 16th century was due to association with starboard^[5].

This is similar to the origin of the word port which is believed to refer to the side containing an entry port or facing the port (quayside) for loading.

The word starboard comes from Old English stēorbord 'rudder side' (see steer¹, board)^[5], because early Teutonic sailing vessels were steered with a paddle over the right side [which likely explains why they tied up at dock on the left side].

2d   Person with little time for Cornish town (6)

Bodmin^[7] is a civil parish and major town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated in the centre of the county southwest of Bodmin Moor^[7]. The Beast of Bodmi^[7], also known as The Beast of Bodmin Moor is a phantom panther-like wild cat purported to live on Bodmin Moor.

4d   Business programme in information carried by a US lawyer (6)

Gen^[5] is British slang for information ⇒ you’ve got more gen on him than we have.

6d   Finish with copper getting mad, giving description of written evidence (10)

Cu^[5] is the symbol for the chemical element copper.

13d   Thrashing could make hate linger (10)

Leather^[5] (as a verb) is an informal, chiefly British term meaning to beat or thrash (someone) ⇒ he caught me and leathered me black and blue. The noun derived from this word is leathering ⇒ go, before you get a leathering.

14d   State with sea to east (5)

The main^[5] is an archaic or literary term referring to the open ocean. Gazza comments "Since the state does have sea (the North Atlantic) to its east this is a great clue." As Gazza seems to allude, the entire clue could serve as the definition. However, the element of misdirection would be greater should the sea happen to lay in a different direction.

22d   Poet's change of position (6)

Sir Andrew Motion^[7] is an English poet, novelist, and biographer, who was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1999 to 2009.

24d   Supporter is silly guy losing head (4)

Wally^[5] is British slang for a silly or inept person ⇒ I must have looked a total wally but I didn’t care.

26d   Agent may have hurried up when getting cold (4)

Narc^[4] is US slang for a narcotics agent.

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