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 ┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐ ███████████████████████████████████ └────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘ 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