Friday, April 5, 2013 — DT 27084

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27084
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, January 25, 2013
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27084]
Big Dave's Review Written By crypticsue
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

My experience with today's puzzle would certainly seem to mirror that reported by crypticsue in her review. The solution to the first across clue came to me as soon as read the clue. Then pickings were slim through the remainder of the across clues. Fortunately, the down clues came to my rescue.

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

5a   Make-up enabling mum to cover a blemish (7)

7a   One being imprisoned deteriorates -- result is protests (5)

To solve this clue, one must perform some mental gymnastics — interpreting it as "One being imprisoned [in] deteriorates ...".

9a   Expulsion that may bring a blessing (6)

10a   Behind very small ruler spy a tramp (8)

"Very small" is used to clue the letter V.

11a   A crude mop's possibly the answer to water in the house (4,6)

In Britain, damp course^[5] (or damp-proof course) is a layer of waterproof material in the wall of a building near the ground, to prevent rising damp. Collins English Dictionary spells the word dampcourse^[10] and defines it as a horizontal layer of impervious material in a brick wall, fairly close to the ground, to stop moisture rising.

13a   Grim  firm (4)

14a   Veronica, quite extraordinarily dominant woman (5,8)

16a   Make son into greasy food refrain from eating (4)

17a   Environmental group introduces new vegetable into country (10)

19a   Act like an astronomer and dream up fantasies? (4-4)

Isn't it ironic that stargaze^[3,4,11] means to daydream! By the way, of the several dictionaries that I consulted, only The Chambers Dictionary spelled it as star-gaze^[1]. Even the Chambers 21st Century Dictionary has it as stargaze^[2].

20a   Rule laid down by a knight, one who served under William? (6)

In algebraic notation, the usual modern way of recording chess games, the letter N stands for the knight^[7] (K being reserved for the king).

William I^[5] (circa 1027 – 1087), reigned 1066 – 1087, was the first Norman king of England; known as William the Conqueror. He invaded England and defeated Harold II [the last Anglo-Saxon king of England] at the Battle of Hastings (1066).

22a   Hesitation about agricultural policy put into summary (5)

In this clue, I believe one has a choice of definitions. If you prefer to view the solution as a noun, then the definition is "summary" as crypticsue has shown in her review. On the other hand, if you are partial to verbs, you might want to treat the definition as "put into summary". Perhaps the former is a little more of a solid choice.

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)^[7] is the agricultural policy of the European Union. Its main objectives are to ensure a fair standard of living for farmers and to provide a stable and safe food supply at affordable prices for consumers.

23a   Row in second half of bitter competition (7)

A terrace is a section of row houses^[3]; in other words, a row of houses, usually identical and having common dividing walls^[4].

Down

1d   Existence of some fairies -- seriously! (4)

In the field of philosophy, esse^[5,10] means (1) existence or (2) essential nature or essence ⇒ two traditions, each of whose esse is opposition to the central tenets of the other.

2d   Vehicle owner troubled, showing anxiety (8)

3d   Publicity fever in capital city (6)

4d   Preoccupation of nag in evidence when child is playing? (5-5)

I interpret the entire clue to constitute a cryptic definition.

5d   Supposedly wondrous food gives fellow an upset (5)

6d   TV set remained off -- short feature being missed therefore? (13)

It being a semi & lit. clue, the entire clue constitutes the definition. The core of the definition is "short feature" but the rest of the clue serves to narrow down the range of possible solutions.

8d   Drink in school hospital 'gross', the reverse of excellent! (7)

San^[5] is a shortened form for sanatorium^[5] (Britain) or sanitarium^[5] (US) which, in general, is an establishment for the medical treatment of people who are convalescing or have a chronic illness. In Britain, however, the term also means a room or building for sick children in a boarding school.

Gross (abbreviation gr.) is an amount equal to twelve dozen.

A1^[4][5] or A-one^[3] meaning first class or excellent comes from a classification for ships in The Lloyd's Register of Shipping where it means equipped to the highest standard or first-class.

12d   Our price to travel around a foreign island (6,4)

14d   Region in any one of the four bits of news! (7)

Although the solution was readily discernible from the definition, I only understood the wordplay after having read crypticsue's review.

15d   A number in temporary accommodation overlooking railway -- they pay rent (8)

17d   Good old man embracing modern music? That's the spirit! (6)

Grappa^[3,4,11] is an Italian brandy distilled from the fermented residue of grapes after they have been pressed in winemaking.

18d   Long to join Conservative party (5)

21d   Genuine country maiden losing out (4)

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.

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)
^[11] - TheFreeDictionary.com (Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary)

Signing off for today — Falcon