Wednesday, April 17, 2013 — DT 27094

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27094
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27094]
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

While I was away, the National Post skipped a couple of puzzles — throwing my forecast into a bit of disarray. I did notice that this had occurred and was able to make a mid-course adjustment to realign my postings (which had been prepared in advance) with the sequence of puzzles that were actually published. The change by the National Post has had the effect of putting us back on the same daily cycle in which the puzzles appeared in the UK. Thus, today, we do get a 'Wednesday' puzzle.

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   Bad-tempered professional driver when rally's entered with no friend (6)

4a   New branch not working with film (8)

10a   Instrument from store regularly found in nuclear facility (9)

11a   Small and friendly crowd on the move (5)

12a   May, perhaps, honour after British defeat (7)

The Order of Merit^[7] (abbreviation OM^[5]) is a dynastic order recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature or for the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by King Edward VII, admission into the order remains the personal gift of its Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, and is limited to 24 living recipients at one time from these countries plus a limited number of honorary members. The current membership includes one Canadian (former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien).

Chiefly a British term, may^[4] is a name for the blossoms of the hawthorn.

13a   First  to give authorisation (7)

14a   Baffled by a wobbly seat (2,3)

15a   India poetically evoked by one chap -- that's poor (8)

Ind^[4,11] is a poetic or archaic name for India.

18a   Top  bay in Wales (8)

Although the Welsh town is known to me, neither it nor the bay on which it sits came readily to mind.

Cardigan Bay^[7] is a large inlet of the Irish Sea, indenting the west coast of Wales. It is the largest bay in Wales. The town of Cardigan is located toward the southern extremity of the bay, at the mouth of the River Teifi.

20a   Picture bug not caught (5)

On cricket scorecards, the abbreviation c^[5] indicates caught (by) ⇒ ME Waugh c Lara b Walsh 19. [Batsman ME Waugh was caught out by fielder Lara on a ball delivered by bowler Walsh after having scored 19 runs during his innings (time batting)].

23a   Always there's passion surrounding gold (7)

Or^[5] is gold or yellow, as a heraldic tincture. In heraldry, a tincture^[5] is any of the conventional colours (including the metals and stains, and often the furs) used in coats of arms.

25a   Dish that's a result of endless fiddle by artist? (7)

A Royal Academician (abbreviation RA^[5]) is a member of the Royal Academy of Arts^[5], an institution established in London in 1768, whose purpose is to cultivate painting, sculpture, and architecture in Britain. 

26a   Revelation from twelve-stone imps (5)

27a   Standard workers' co-operative target ball (5,4)

A jack^[5] is a small white ball in [the game of] bowls, at which the players aim. Bowls^[6] is the British term for lawn bowling.

28a   Left outside stewing in social isolation (8)

29a   Put down average on limits of damage (6)

Down

1d   Intellectual bore oddly covered in breakfast food (8)

2d   Suits  for military offensives (7)

3d   Musicians prohibited by audience chasing money (5,4)

Brass^[5] is British slang for money ⇒ they wanted to spend their newly acquired brass.

5d   Temptation on account of offer -- study yield (9,5)

6d   Unfinished vessel loaded with American food (5)

7d   Fixed allowance under old address (7)

8d   A leaf originally used in unexciting Mexican dish (6)

9d   Putting one's foot down developing drug on familiar territory (8,6)

The British version of the expression is stamping ground^[4]. The most common North American version is stomping ground^[3], although stamping ground would seem to be a recognized variant.

16d   Given care after settling grudge (9)

17d   Affected by ruse employed by nurse (8)

In the UK, a State Enrolled Nurse^[5] (abbreviation SEN) is a nurse enrolled on a state register and having a qualification lower than that of a State Registered Nurse.

19d   Contender after a bride's second approach (7)

21d   Charge for accommodating men in theatre (7)

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

22d   A female's mainly short and sweet (6)

In Britain, sweet^[5] is another name for pudding or dessert and afters^[5] is the sweet course following the main course of a meal; pudding ⇒there was apple pie for afters.

24d   Call for independence in view that's incomplete (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)
^[11] - TheFreeDictionary.com (Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary)

Signing off for today — Falcon