Monday, May 13, 2013 — DT 27112

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27112
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27112]
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

Today's puzzle did not present me with a great deal of difficulty. However, as seems to have become a habit, I developed a mental block and needed to call on my electronic assistants for help on the last remaining unsolved clue.

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   Queen backed landlady becoming politician! (10)

In Britain, a publican^[5] is a person who owns or manages a pub. Furthermore, in the UK, a woman who keeps a pub would be known as a landlady^[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.

6a   Buckle quietly after fighting (4)

Piano^[3,5] (abbreviation p^[5]), is a musical direction meaning either (as an adjective) soft or quiet or (as an adverb) softly or quietly.

9a   Prudish play on words about girl in film (7)

Educating Rita^[7] is a 1983 drama/comedy film directed by Lewis Gilbert with a screenplay by Willy Russell based on Russell's stage play of the same name. The film stars Michael Caine, Julie Walters (as Rita), and Maureen Lipman. It won multiple major awards for best actor and best actress and was nominated for three Oscars.

Rita Hayworth^[7] (1918 – 1987), born Margarita Carmen Cansino, was an American dancer and film actress who achieved fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars.

10a   Go without love, with girls getting visual aids (7)

In tennis, squash, and some other sports, love^[5] is a score of zero or nil ⇒ love fifteen. The resemblance of a zero written as a numeral (0) to the letter O leads to the cryptic crossword convention of the word "love" being used to clue this letter.

12a   He's now setting out terms of endearment (5,8)

14a   Source of liquidity remains fluid in milk supplier (4,4)

15a   Sort of bullet for people in case of terror (6)

17a   Women's organisation call for the work of an electrician (6)

The Women's Institute (WI)^[5] is an organization of women, especially in rural areas, who meet regularly and participate in crafts, cultural activities, and social work. Now worldwide, it was first set up in Ontario, Canada, in 1897, and in Britain in 1915. Interestingly, Oxford  Dictionaries Online characterises this organization with Canadian origins as being "British".

19a   A member on line by toilet area gets light (4,4)

In many Commonwealth countries (including Britain and Canada), a member of the House of Commons or similar legislative body is known as a Member of Parliament^[10] (or MP^[5] for short).

In Britain, lav^[10] is an informal short form for lavatory.

21a   Brain surgery  that's required by astronaut? (6,7)

Rocket science^[5] (usually used with a negative) is a humorous expression denoting something very difficult to understand ⇒ we want you to get out and vote—it’s not exactly rocket science. I failed to find the pretty much synonymous term brain surgery in any of my dictionaries — but I did find something that explains the terms in an easy to understand format.

24a   Blockage, but almost got by after motorway backed up (7)

The M1^[7] is a north–south motorway [controlled access, multi-lane divided highway] in England connecting London to Leeds.

25a   Always the same  gear? (7)

26a   Right hand clenches while disregarding danger (4)

27a   Newly-trained pet so clean and shiny? (10)

Down

1d   Knocked loudly, entranced (4)

2d   Sentences prisoner finally, in stages (7)

3d   Spread caresses for a clumsy person (13)

4d   Firing it in going off without finishing (8)

5d   A good ground halved trouble (5)

Aggro^[5] is British slang for (1) aggressive, violent behaviour  ⇒ they do not usually become involved in aggro or (2) problems and difficulties  ⇒ he didn’t have to deal with aggro from the desk clerk.

7d   Poison from caries treated with nitrogen (7)

The symbol for the chemical element nitrogen is N^[5].

8d   Note added by station hand (10)

11d   Tough, but Hansard, alas, is wrong (2,4,2,5)

Hansard^[5] is the official verbatim record of debates in the British, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, or South African parliament. It is named after Thomas C. Hansard (1776 – 1833), an English printer whose company originally printed it in Britain.

13d   Activist from new aircrew room ejecting male (10)

Eco-warrior^[10] is an informal term for a person who zealously pursues environmentalist aims.

16d   Usual practice with university learner pinching answer (8)

The cryptic crossword convention of L meaning learner or student arises from the L-plate^[7], a square plate bearing a sans-serif letter L, for learner, which must be affixed to the front and back of a vehicle in various countries (including the UK) if its driver is a learner under instruction.

18d   Formulas for fixing prices inclusive of energy! (7)

20d   Phenomenal returns providing growth (7)

22d   Expanse of blubber under lass's rear (5)

23d   Bellies up in filth (4)

The artist from 3d reprises his role. Tum^[4] is an informal or childish word for stomach. I note that this word is absent from The American Heritage Dictionary. I would expect North Americans to say either tummy or tum-tum rather than tum.

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