Friday, March 22, 2013 — DT 27073

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27073
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Saturday, January 12, 2013
Setter Cephas (Peter Chamberlain)[?]
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27073 — hints] Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27073 — review]
Big Dave's Review Written By Big Dave — hints Prolixic — review
BD Rating
Difficulty - ★★	Enjoyment - ★★★
Falcon's Experience ┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐ ███████████████████████████████████ └────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘ 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 [?] Although the setter of the puzzle is not actually identified on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, I would guess that it may be Cephas.

Introduction

This having been a Saturday prize puzzle in the UK, we find two postings concerning the puzzle on Big Dave's Crossword Blog. On the day of publication itself, there is a posting by Big Dave which includes hints for a limited selection of the clues. Then, on the following Friday (after the closing deadline for the contest has passed), there is a full review by Prolixic (sitting in for crypticsue who was recovering from eye surgery at the time). In case you are wondering, the prize that people are competing for is apparently a pen. I presume that from all the correct entries, one entry — or, possibly, a few entries — are drawn to receive the prized pen(s).

As for today's puzzle, it was not overly difficult and I even managed to solve 1a and 11a despite the fact that I had not previously encountered these British terms.

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

1a   Unruly youth's beer left on display (5,4)

Lager lout^[5] is British slang for a young man who behaves in an unpleasant or violent way as a result of excessive drinking ⇒ police said he acted like a lager lout and hit an officer.

9a   Randy broadcast boastful talk (3,3)

10a   Found  to be without connection (9)

In Britain, earth^[5] is used as a noun to mean an electrical connection to the ground, regarded as having zero electrical potential ⇒ ensure metal fittings are electrically bonded to earth and as a verb to mean to connect (an electrical device) with the ground ⇒ the front metal panels must be soundly earthed. The equivalent term in North American is ground^[5] (both as a noun and a verb).

I can't help but note the irony that Oxford Dictionaries Online displays in defining earth as a British term meaning an "electrical connection to the ground" and ground as a North American term meaning an "electrical connection to the earth".

11a   Turn to be suspended and be forgotten (2,4)

From The Chambers Dictionary:

• go hang^[1] (slang) to be forgotten, neglected; to be no longer of concern.

12a   Journalist going round states it's a bag (9)

13a   It's a dreadful thing to have (6)

17a   Liable to have a short drink (3)

The standard measure in a British pub is a pint^[5] (abbreviation pt).

19a   Event a lecturer notes heard in the background (10,5)

From The Chambers Dictionary:

• L or L.^[1] (abbreviation) ... lecturer ...

20a   Container that's small not having been finished (3)

21a   Convict brought back raw material in abundance (6)

In British slang, a lag^[5] is a person who has been frequently convicted and sent to prison ⇒ both old lags were sentenced to ten years' imprisonment.

25a   Available for use during religious ceremony (2,7)

It may be splitting hairs, but I am going to diverge slightly from Prolixic's interpretation of the clue. He feels that "during religious ceremony" is a definition, while I prefer to treat it as a charade with the wordplay being IN (during) + SERVICE (religious ceremony). Of course, in the end, all roads lead to Rome.

26a   Rex leaving gloss to fade away (6)

Rex^[4] (Latin for king, abbreviated as R^[5]) is part of the official title of a king, now used chiefly in documents, legal proceedings, and inscriptions on coins. It may be used following a name (e.g. Georgius Rex, or GR, for King George^[5]) or in the titles of lawsuits, e.g. Rex v. Jones: the Crown versus Jones^[5] (which would often be written simply as R. vs Jones).

27a   It's ridiculous vandalising a dirty bus (9)

28a   Pole felt unwell pinned down (6)

29a   Support a railway subsidiary (9)

Down

2d   Article's brought in to invalidate book (6)

3d   The skin of one's teeth? (6)

4d   Be released from seat belt, adjustable and most modern (6)

5d   Inoffensive, lacking power to contain odd one out (15)

6d   Hooter Mom ordered for van (9)

This clue prompted me to wonder if there are Hooters restaurants in the UK. As I discovered, the first one opened in Nottingham in 2010. A review of the restaurant on the Daily Mail website is headlined "Sorry, I found this burger bar more offensive than a lapdancing club". Could being in the presence of all those buxom young women have induced a severe case of "bosom envy" in the female reporter? She does conclude her article by reporting that, as she was leaving the restaurant, a group of young men yelled at her. 'We'd say "show us your tits" but you haven't got any!'.

7d   Main HQ? (5,4)

The main^[5] is an archaic or literary term referring to the open ocean.

8d   Pleasant smell of cloth in the country (9)

14d   Maiden is conveying feeling of suspicion (9)

In cricket, a maiden^[5], also known as a maiden over, (abbreviation M)^[5] is an over in which no runs are scored. 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.

15d   Irritated initially about candle I ordered from a certain country (9)

16d   One with letters to his name (9)

17d   Wanting wingless insect (3)

18d   Brown toast and nutty starters (3)

22d   Sustained tune to broadcast (6)

Tenuto^[3] is a musical direction meaning so as to be held for the full time value; sustained.

23d   Virginia, having been trapped by Edward twice, sidestepped (6)

24d   Duck's fancy crest hiding egg (6)

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