Thursday, March 7, 2013 — DT 27058

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27058
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27058]
Big Dave's Review Written By scchua
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 Daily Telegraph did not publish a daily Cryptic Crossword puzzle on Christmas Day, Tuesday, December 25, 2012 — thus, this puzzle is the next one in the series.

Introduction

We continue with the end of year holiday theme today with a puzzle that appeared in The Daily Telegraph on Boxing Day — a fact that the wise solver will take note of.

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   Brown, for example, is strangely typical -- a bit not quite all there (10)

Lancelot Brown (1716 – 1783), more commonly known as Capability Brown^[7], was an English landscape architect. Remembered as "England's greatest gardener", he designed over 170 parks, many of which still endure.

6a   Women chatter, with no time for ramble (4)

9a   Lunch today for unfriendly old gaoler with no name? (4,6)

The context of the clue will help in its solution. The word "today" refers to the the day that the puzzle was published in the UK, which was Boxing Day (the day after Christmas). Boxing Day^[3,4] is a public holiday observed in Britain and some other Commonwealth countries (including Canada).

Gaol^[3,4] is a variant spelling (chiefly British) of jail. Turnkey^[5] is an archaic term for a jailer.

10a   Road back north is a bore (4)

12a   Medicine ball (4)

13a   Felt awkward concerning small meal today? (9)

See comment for 9a.

15a   The effect of drinking gin, initially in a royal house? (8)

The House of Hanover^[7] succeeded the House of Stuart as monarchs of Great Britain and Ireland in 1714 and held that office until the death of Queen Victoria in 1901. Queen Victoria was the last British monarch of the House of Hanover; her son King Edward VII belonged to the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the line of his father, Prince Albert.

16a   Reportedly grab a salad, of sorts (6)

Remember that the Brits pronounce words ending in R much differently than most North Americans. The pronunciation of Caesar approximates SEES-AH ( or SEIZE A).

18a   A depression in case of locals getting grants (6)

20a   It wears shades for callers (8)

23a   The rest of the family is on alert, perhaps (9)

24a   Finally, somebody to bring America exercises (4)

26a   Most of monarchy blow their own trumpet (4)

The Crown^[5] refers to the monarchy or reigning monarch ⇒ their loyalty to the Church came before their loyalty to the Crown.

27a   Propose rank new material for board (5,5)

Board^[5] is an archaic term for a table set for a meal ⇒ he looked at the banquet which was spread upon his board.

28a   Look before getting cover for serious deficit (4)

Lo^[5] is an archaic exclamation used to draw attention to an interesting or amazing event ⇒ and lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them.

29a   Flats pay me in new arrangement as mine's light (6,4)

I really don't know what to make of the surface reading which sounds like gibberish to my ear. Flat is the British term for what North Americans call an apartment. However, that would not appear to be the intended meaning here.

Down

1d   Get ready to fire  mate (4)

In Britain, mate^[5] is an informal term (1) for a friend or companion ⇒ my best mate Steve or (2) used as a friendly form of address between men or boys ⇒ ‘See you then, mate.’. Similarly, in the UK, cock^[5] is another informal friendly form of address among men ⇒ please yourself, cock.

2d   The back seat for one working in support of 12 (7)

In modern usage, a pillion^[5] is a seat for a passenger behind a motorcyclist. Historically, it was a woman’s light saddle or a cushion attached to the back of a saddle, on which a second person may ride.

3d   Fighting talk? (6,2,4)

4d   Daughter in Roller I ordered gets more overbearing (8)

Roller^[7] is possibly being used here as a nickname for a Rolls-Royce automobile.

5d   Start for ambassador grabbed by one from Eton, for example (3,3)

Eton College^[7], often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent [private] school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor". It is located in Eton, near Windsor in England, and is one of the original nine English public schools as defined by the Public Schools Act 1868. [Note: In Britain, "public schools" are a special class of private school; what North Americans would call public schools seem to be referred to in Britain by terms such as state-run or state-funded schools].

Toff^[5] is a derogatory British slang term for a rich or upper-class person (the sort of person who might attend Eton).

HE^[2] is the abbreviation for His or Her Excellency, where Excellency^[2] (usually His, Her or Your Excellency or Your or Their Excellencies) is a title of honour given to certain people of high rank, e.g. ambassadors.  

The off^[2] is the start, e.g. of a race or journey ⇒ ready for the off.

I did notice something strange with this clue. While the wording of the clue in scchua's review is the same as that which appears in the National Post today, I have information that the clue as it appeared on The Daily Telegraph website was slightly different:

• 5d   Racing start for ambassador grabbed by one from Eton, for example (3,3)

I would guess that this change was made after scchua had downloaded the puzzle and did not get reflected in the syndicated puzzle. It also seems that no-one mentioned this change on Big Dave's blog.

7d   Extreme letters when chasing beer and flowers (7)

8d   Book on bridge in part of London (5,5)

Kings^[5] is the name of two books of the Bible, recording the history of Israel from the accession of Solomon to the destruction of the Temple in 586 BC.

King's Cross or Kings Cross^[7] is an area of central London located 2.5 miles (4.8 km) north of Charing Cross [considered to be the centre of London]. The area formerly had a reputation for being a red light district and run-down. However, rapid regeneration since the mid-1990s has rendered this reputation largely out-of-date. Since November 2007 the area has been the terminus of the Eurostar rail service at St Pancras International, with services to France and Belgium.

11d   Drama putting off my tailor, with wages covering last of material (8,4)

A morality play^[5] is a kind of allegorical drama having personified abstract qualities as the main characters and presenting a lesson about good conduct and character, popular in the 15th and early 16th centuries.

14d   Dramatic articles on Conservative in court case (10)

17d   Break up little girl's answer (8)

In my experience, Diminutive Di seems to be the most popular girl in Crosswordland.

19d   Runs awkwardly for some ices, expending minimum amount of cash (7)

While seemingly not a specifically British term, lollop^[4] is certainly one that is unfamiliar to me. It means to walk or run with a clumsy or relaxed bouncing movement.

In Britain, the term lollipop is used for a wider range of treats than in North America. In addition to those types of candy [sweets to the Brits] that we know as lollipops (or suckers), the term also encompasses ice lollies which are ice cream or water ice on a stick (the latter is known in North America as a popsicle and the former would usually be called simply ice cream on a stick).^[3,4]

In Britain's current decimal currency system, a penny^[5] is a bronze coin and monetary unit equal to one hundredth of a pound (and is abbreviated p). In the system formerly used, a penny was equal to one twelfth of a shilling or 240th of a pound (and was abbreviated d, for denarius). As scchua makes allusion to in his review, the penny is now the smallest unit of currency in Britain. The farthing^[5], a former monetary unit and coin of the UK, withdrawn in 1961, was equal to a quarter of an old penny. A halfpenny^[5] (also called a ha'penny) was a former British coin equal to half an old or new penny. The last halfpenny was withdrawn in 1984.

21d   Material for soldiers nationalist's taken into Palestinian area (7)

In the British armed forces, other ranks (abbreviation OR)^[5] refers to all those who are not commissioned officers.

The Gaza Strip^[5] (sometimes simply called Gaza) is a strip of territory in Palestine, on the SE Mediterranean coast, including the town of Gaza; population 1,551,900 (est. 2009). Administered by Egypt from 1949, and occupied by Israel from 1967, it became a self-governing enclave under the PLO-Israeli accord of 1994 and elected its own legislative council in 1996.

22d   Offspring attending a classical piece (6)

25d   Break off due to exposure (4)

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