Tuesday, March 19, 2013 — DT 27070

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27070
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27070]
Big Dave's Review Written By scchua
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

We are back to more normal service today after yesterday's puzzle which I found very difficult. Given that I write one every day, you might think that I would have easily got 25d — but that was not the case.

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   Perseverance in row as Egypt undergoes change (7,5)

9a   Limited period for structure after backing issue (9)

10a   King George takes no part in struggle for fruit (5)

By tradition, the ciphers (monograms) of British monarchs are initials formed from the Latin version of their first name followed by either Rex or Regina (Latin for king or queen, respectively). Thus the cipher of Queen Elizabeth is ER^[5] — from the Latin Elizabetha Regina — and that of King George was GR^[5] — from the Latin Georgius Rex.

11a   Stand close, anticipating river (6)

The River Ure^[7] is a stream in North Yorkshire, England, approximately 74 miles (119 km) long from its source to the point where it changes name to the River Ouse.

12a   Go away and sell tickets for fight to the death (5-3)

In Britain, tout^[5] means to sell (a ticket) for an event at a price higher than the official one ⇒ he made his fortune touting tickets. The equivalent term in North America is scalp^[5].

13a   Obstruction in the way of listener (6)

15a   Renovation of key service elevator? (8)

In Britain, an elevator^[5] is known as a lift^[5].

18a   Total staff for chap taking weekly payments (8)

Tallyman^[10] is a seemingly British term for a travelling salesman for a firm specializing in hire-purchase. Hire-purchase is the term used in Britain (as well as Australia, New Zealand and South Africa) for buying on what North Americans would call an instalment plan, a system for purchasing merchandise, such as cars or furniture, in which the buyer takes possession of the merchandise on payment of a deposit and completes the purchase by paying a series of regular instalments while the seller retains ownership until the final instalment is paid. One would be led to believe by the wording of the clue that door-to-door sales in Britain typically involve weekly instalments.

19a   Casts off, carrying king in rags ... (6)

R^[5] is the abbreviation for Regina or Rex (Latin for queen or king, respectively).

21a   ... not to mention being terribly late and solitary (3,5)

23a   Give one million -- and some (6)

26a   Star working villages without delay (5)

Elvis Presley^[7] (1935 – 1977) was an American singer and actor. A cultural icon, he is commonly known by the single name Elvis. One of the most popular musicians of the 20th century, he is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or "the King".

Elvis Costello^[7] (born Declan Patrick MacManus) is an English singer-songwriter — and the husband of Canadian jazz singer and pianist Diana Krall.

27a   Investor calls for entertainment venues in Spain (9)

28a   Allergy developed by force in designated area of Parliament (5,7)

A press gallery^[5] is a place reserved for journalists observing the proceedings in a parliament or law court.

Down

1d   Drunk present? That'll teach you! (2,5)

2d   A communist protects last of them with weapons (5)

3d   Hospital and home unshakeable on a case of remedy (9)

4d   Happy, having gone without one young man! (4)

5d   Manage to catch some cricket and try (8)

An over^[5] is a division of play in cricket 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.

6d   Spot a reporter holding up source of inspiration (5)

In Greek and Roman mythology, Erato^[5] is the Muse of lyric poetry and hymns.

7d   Portugal involved in distribution of opiates -- how suitable! (8)

The International Vehicle Registration (IVR) code for Portugal is P^[5].

8d   Go and live with a fool without women (4,2)

14d   Family member engineers crucial uprising with energy (8)

The Corps of Royal Engineers^[7], usually just called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the Sappers, is a corps of the British Army that provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces.

16d   Passing macho types mainly accepted by pearl divers (9)

Here, divers^[5] is an adjective having the archaic or literary meaning of varying types; several ⇒ in divers places.

17d   Declines to accept arrest of aspirants (8)

18d   Rang out, being instructed in broadcast (6)

20d   Doubtful if stays are enough (7)

22d   Light source of labour when editor evacuated (5)

24d   A couple of names -- that is another one (5)

25d   Journal left in loo? (4)

In British slang, names by which one may refer to a toilet include a loo^[5] or the bog^[5].

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