Monday, March 18, 2013 — DT 27069

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27069
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Setter Unknown [although likely Petitjean (John Pidgeon)]
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27069]
Big Dave's Review Written By Deep Threat
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

Introduction

I found this puzzle to be very challenging. I managed very little progress in the northeast quadrant and virtually none at all in the southwest quadrant. Perhaps I was just tuned to the wrong wavelength today. Furthermore, I notice that this puzzle has a rather unusual grid — this being the first time that I can recall seeing the clue numbering going above 30.

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   Cook a rib in a new way -- with skate wings (6)

4a   Uncovering dodgy jewellery (8)

Rum^[5] is dated British slang meaning odd or peculiar. Rumble is British slang meaning to find out about (someone or something); discover (something) ⇒ the police rumbled their plans.

9a   Rough game's uncontrolled movement (6)

While two major variants of the game of rugby exist in the real world, only one seems to have gained favour in Crosswordland. Rugby union (RU)^[5] is a form of rugby played in teams of fifteen, in contrast to rugby league^[5], which is played in teams of thirteen.

10a   It's used for canvassing -- and for canvassing (8)

I am going to diverge a bit from Deep Threat's review and say that the second definition is implied to be "it's used for canvassing". That is, in each definition, we need something that is used for canvassing. Although the wording appears to be exactly the same in each definition, we actually have two different words. In one definition — take your pick whether it be the first or the second — canvass^[5] is a verb meaning to solicit votes from (electors or members), try to obtain (support), or question (someone) in order to ascertain their opinion. In the other definition, canvas^[5] (spelled with one s) is a verb meaning to cover with canvas ⇒ the door had been canvassed over. Note that although the words are spelled differently in the present tense (one having two esses and the other only a single ess), the present participles of the two words are spelled identically — in the UK — with both having two esses. Also observe that this is not the case in the US, where the present participle of the later word is spelled with a single ess (canvasing).

In Britain, a fabric cover pitched outside and over a tent to give extra protection against bad weather is called a flysheet^[5]. In North America, it would likely be referred to as simply a fly^[3]. Although apparently not a specifically British term (but one with which I am not familiar), a flysheet is also a tract or circular of two or four pages.

12a   Beatles song sampled backwards in 'Purple Haze' (4)

"Help!"^[7] is a song by the Beatles that served as the title song for both a 1965 film and its soundtrack album. "Purple Haze"^[7] is a song written and recorded by Jimi Hendrix in 1967 which is regarded as one of the "archetypical psychedelic drug songs of the sixties".

13a   Problem  thumb (5)

14a   Shaft or source of light in fire (4)

17a   Chair cover mascara stain made a mess of (12)

An antimacassar^[10] is a cloth covering the back and arms of chairs, etc, to prevent soiling or as decoration. In a strange coincidence, this word — which was totally new to me at the time — showed up just two weeks ago in a syndicated Sunday Times puzzle published in the Ottawa Citizen, where the clue was:

• Mascara stain ruined protective cloth (12)

20a   Canine co-star bombed over the water (12)

23a   Work dries up -- or some of it -- in recession (4)

In music, an opus^[5] is a separate composition or set of compositions. In general, an opus is an artistic work, especially one on a large scale ⇒ he was writing an opus on Mexico.

24a   One over on course for instance stopping lout coming back (5)

On a golf course, a bogey^[5] is a score of one stroke over par on a hole. Yob^[5] (back slang for boy) is British slang for a rude, noisy, and aggressive youth.

25a   Wrong actor tackling Romeo (4)

Romeo^[5] is a code word representing the letter R, used in radio communication.

28a   Fanciful and unthinkable assuming one's a Liberal (8)

It's not on^[5] is an informal way of saying it's it’s impractical or unacceptable.

29a   Mother took round good grub (6)

... likely not the sort of grub you'd want to eat.

30a   Old American Conservative hero's not entirely eager (8)

Why the definition is "old American", I do not know. The Cherokee are still very much in existence.

31a   Daily  Echo (6)

The setter manages to capitalize both words (the first by positioning it at the start of the clue and the second mischievously through cryptic licence) to make this look like the name of a British newspaper. The Daily Echo^[7] is is the name of two daily tabloid newspapers in southern England. The Bournemouth Daily Echo, covers south-east Dorset and the Southern Daily Echo covers south-central Hampshire.

The first definition, "daily", refers to the Daily Mirror^[7] (informally The Mirror) which is a British national daily tabloid newspaper. In the second definition, echo^[5] could mean (of an object or event) be reminiscent of or have shared characteristics with ⇒ a blue suit that echoed the colour of her eyes.

Down

1d and 3d:   One might feel exposed in this dawn light west of rocky Uist (8,4)

Uist^[5] refers to two islands in the Outer Hebrides, North Uist and South Uist, lying to the south of Lewis and Harris and separated from each other by the island of Benbecula.

2d   Certain muscles seen on duck that gets plucked (8)

In cricket, a duck^[5] is a batsman’s score of nought [zero] ⇒ he was out for a duck. In cryptic crossword puzzles, duck is used to indicate the letter "O" based on the resemblance of the digit "0" to this letter.

A lute is "that [which] gets plucked".

3d   See 1 Down

5d   Nasty piece of work  that calls for beautician? (4,8)

I am identifying this as a double definition, although some may likely consider it to be a cryptic definition. If (in 2d) "that [which] gets plucked" defines a lute, then I think it is fair to conclude that "that [which] calls for a beautician" is by the same measure a definition of an ugly customer.

I think "nasty piece of work" and "ugly customer" are both expressions that would be familiar to North Americans.

6d   Launch attack on  party (4)

7d   Hit peak with this cool guitar? (3,3)

8d   Pull over half-sister and threaten to go out (6)

11d   'Sad Club' with name like that's dead (12)

To do something "just so" or "just like that" would be to do it exactly in accordance with instructions.

15d   Yes, marm, ignore the old creep (5)

According to Oxford Dictionaries Online, marm^[5] is a North American variant spelling of ma'am.

Are creep and smarm synonyms? A creep^[5] is a person who behaves obsequiously in the hope of advancement. Smarm^[5] is a chiefly British informal term meaning (as a verb) to behave in an ingratiating way in order to gain favour ⇒ she had smarmed up to him in order to entrap him and (as a noun) ingratiating behaviour ⇒ it takes a combination of smarm and confidence to persuade them. Thus smarm is something that a creep either does or uses — but I could find no evidence that the two words could be synonyms.

16d   Tabloid boss blew his top (5)

18d   Conclude bug is risk (8)

19d   Weapon spoiling inconclusive armistice (8)

21d   Drink may turn cold, served up (6)

If you are waiting in the left turn lane at an intersection, a green arrow may indicate that you "may turn" — or, in other words, "can go".

22d   Sweet girl taking political leader round (3-3)

In the solution to this clue, tie^[5] is not used the sense of a result in a game or other competitive situation in which two or more competitors or teams have the same score or ranking; in other words, a draw. Rather, in Britain, a tie^[5] may refer to a sports match between two or more players or teams in which the winners proceed to the next round of the competition [i.e., an elimination match] ⇒ Swindon Town have won themselves a third round tie against Oldham. The example cited does not mean that Swindon Town and Oldham played to a draw; rather, it means that Swindon Town won their second round match and advanced to the third round in which they will play Oldham.

Cup tie is defined by Oxford Dictionaries Online as a match in a competition for which the prize is a cup^[5] and by Collins English Dictionary as an eliminating match or round between two teams in a cup competition^[5]. Deep Threat in his review intimates that the term cup tie refers only to the final round of competition between the last two teams remaining in the competition — like the Stanley Cup Finals. However, the dictionary definitions would not seem to indicate that the term refers only to the final round.

26d   Magic cocktail lacking vermouth (4)

A mojito^[5] is a cocktail consisting of white rum, lime or lemon juice, sugar, mint, ice, and carbonated or soda water. The word comes from Cuban Spanish where mojito is a diminutive form of the word mojo^[5] (identified by Oxford as US English), meaning a Cuban sauce or marinade containing garlic, olive oil, and sour oranges. Mojo^[5] is also a chiefly US term meaning (1) a magic charm, talisman, or spell ⇒ someone must have their mojo working over at the record company
or (2) influence, especially magic power ⇒ the name has no mojo. In this sense, the word apparently has African — rather than Cuban — roots.

27d   Order a kir -- it's an aniseed drink (4)

Kir^[5] is a drink made from dry white wine and cassis^[5], a syrupy blackcurrant liqueur produced mainly in Burgundy. Raki^[10] is a strong spirit distilled in Turkey, the former Yugoslavia, etc, from grain, usually flavoured with aniseed or other aromatics.

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