Thursday, April 18, 2013 — DT 27095

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27095
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, February 7, 2013
Setter RayT (Ray Terrell)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27095]
Big Dave's Review Written By Falcon
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

This puzzle was very enjoyable when I first blogged it for Big Dave's site in February — and nearly as much fun the second time around.

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   Bodices need ripping to contain one's defiance (12)

9a   Usual hamper containing nearly everything (9)

10a   From a habitat incorporating US city (5)

11a   Angel's harp's played around end of life (6)

12a   Support team which is behind (8)

In Britain, side^[7] is another term for a sports team.

13a   Army without backing for decoration (6)

In the UK, the Territorial Army (TA)^[5] is a volunteer force locally organized to provide a reserve of trained and disciplined manpower for use in an emergency.

15a   Ship carrying front of Red Ensign (8)

18a   Vulgar 'bleep' in a broadcast (8)

19a   Composer with a name in German (6)

Richard Wagner^[5] (1813 – 1883) was a German composer. He developed an operatic genre which he called music drama, synthesizing music, drama, verse, legend, and spectacle. Notable works: The Flying Dutchman (opera, 1841), Der Ring des Nibelungen (a cycle of four operas, 1847–74), Tristan and Isolde (music drama, 1859), and the Siegfried Idyll (1870).
 

21a   Disaster of town taking a hit (8)

23a   Toilet's even unoccupied and free (6)

Loo^[5] is an informal British term for a toilet.

26a   Guides for chaps tackling top of Everest (5)

27a   Marine's intense embracing a female (9)

28a   Apathetic rude teen isn't misbehaving (12)

Down

1d   Down payment is returned in store (7)

2d   Sabbath outfit utter oaths (5)

3d   Odds on the man framed by charge being profane (9)

In horse racing, starting price (abbreviation SP)^[10] [likely a British term] means the latest odds offered by bookmakers at the start of a race.

4d   River Po's opening leading to sea (4)

The Po^[7] is a river that arises in the Cottian Alps and flows eastward across northern Italy entering the Adriatic Sea through a delta near Venice.

The Dee^[5] is a river in NE Scotland, which rises in the Grampian Mountains and flows eastwards past Balmoral Castle to the North Sea at Aberdeen. Another river of the same name rises in North Wales and flows past Chester and on into the Irish Sea.

5d   Takes out former wife? Discretion's about right (8)

6d   Look at  watch perhaps (5)

In Britain, clock^[5] means to notice or watch  ⇒ I noticed him clocking her in the mirror.

7d   Amulet of metal is manufactured (8)

8d   Take fast track for job? (6)

14d   Has doled out great deal (8)

Shedload^[5] (a euphemism for shitload) is British slang for a large amount or number.

16d   Drink up, pain takes a time to develop (9)

17d   Biased worker supporting political leader (8)

18d   Cream the French relish (6)

In French, le^[8] is the masculine singular form of the definite article. "Cream" is used in the sense of 'the cream of the crop'.

20d   Grass holding info turned up and welshed (7)

Gen^[5] is British slang for information ⇒ you’ve got more gen on him than we have.

22d   Old lady's touching builder (5)

24d   Small bird capturing large support (5)

The British name for a chickadee is tit^[5] (or titmouse).

25d   Exceptional artist with rise of Queen (4)

It would not be a RayT puzzle without a tip of the hat to his favourite band masquerading as Her Majesty.

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.

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