Thursday, May 2, 2013 — DT 27105

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27105
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27105]
Big Dave's Review Written By Deep Threat
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

It was not too difficult a challenge today, but — as usual — I developed a mental block with respect to a couple of clues.

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

3a   Army bigwig and idol commonly treated as fine orator (6)

The phrase "commonly treated" is to be interpreted as 'commonly pronounced' — at least, how "hero" would be commonly pronounced in the East End of London. The Cockney^[2] dialect, spoken by the natives of an area in the East End of London, is characterised by dropping the H from the beginning of words.

Marcus Tullius Cicero^[5] (106–43 BC) was a Roman statesman, orator, and writer. As an orator and writer Cicero established a model for Latin prose; his surviving works include speeches, treatises on rhetoric, philosophical works, and letters. A supporter of Pompey against Julius Caesar, in the Philippics (43 BC) he attacked Mark Antony, who had him put to death.

6a   Criticise  social gathering (4)

8a   A list of duties switched initially for a network carrier? (5)

In Britain, a rota^[5] is a list showing when each of a number of people has to do a particular job ⇒ a cleaning rota.

9a   Spiritual feeling? It riles yogi terribly (11)

10a   Singer vocalising note (5)

In North America, a ''tenner" would be a ten dollar bill, whereas in Britain it is a ten pound note.

11a   Misrepresented MP over time around North getting better (11)

Is "improvement" really synonymous with "getting better". The closest I could come to making them interchangeable is in the expression "there's still room for improvement". However, I think that I would say "there's still room to get better" rather than "there's still room for getting better".

16a   Issue, say, linked to engineers on reflection (6)

The engineers today are not the usual Corps of Royal Engineers (RE)^[5] (the field engineering and construction corps of the British army) but the Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME; pronounced phonetically as "Reemee")^[7], a corps of the British Army that has responsibility for the maintenance, servicing and inspection of almost every electrical and mechanical piece of equipment within the British Army from battle tanks and helicopters to dental tools and cooking equipment/utensils.

17a   Counter busy person detaining copper in outdoor party (8)

The symbol for the chemical element copper is Cu^[5].

19a   Bird aboard boat fluttering in foreign land (8)

20a   Exchange short article for bandage (6)

22a   Look about English bishop backing fancy political manipulation (11)

Right Reverend^[5] (abbreviation RR^[2]) is a title given to a bishop, especially in the Anglican Church.

25a   Nine roaming around university in boredom (5)

27a   A great sign devised by a military base? (7,4)

28a   Exotic fare from America in boat that's docked (5)

29a   Some applause for factory employee (4)

30a   Do gets assorted heavy food (6)

Stodge^[5] is British slang for food that is heavy, filling, and high in carbohydrates ⇒ she ate her way through a plateful of stodge.

Down

1d   Set of players in shed (4)

2d   One held responsible for rage? (11)

3d   Bearing to consider reportedly in road (11)

In Britain, a motorway^[5] is a dual-carriageway road [divided highway] designed for fast traffic, with relatively few places for joining or leaving.

4d   Old spiritual leader caught boxer by pub (6)

On cricket scorecards, the abbreviation c^[5] indicates caught (by). Muhammad Ali^[7] (born Cassius Clay, Jr.) is an American former professional boxer. Pub^[5] itself is actually a shortened form of public house^[5] — which apparently can be abbreviated (shortened) as PH (although I failed to find it listed in any of several dictionaries that I consulted).

5d   Like an area about to get rewritten in a log (8)

6d   Almost finest award for a sweeper (5)

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).

7d   Part of weekend receiving deliveries in shiny material (5)

In cricket, when a team is batting — and, thereby, receiving deliveries from a bowler — it is said to be "in".

12d   Hard work moving slow barge in middle of week (5-6)

13d   Former partner named by famous investigator in state of agitation (11)

Eliot Ness^[7] (1903 – 1957) was an American Prohibition agent, famous for his efforts to enforce Prohibition in Chicago, Illinois, and the leader of a legendary team of law enforcement agents nicknamed The Untouchables.

14d   Where driver begins, note, on surface of road to hesitate? (6)

This musical note is spelled ti^[4] in the US. However, the Brits prefer to spell it te^[4].

15d   Get a cab ordered lacking cold drink source? (6)

18d   Meeting objective  like a bull? (2,6)

In Britain, bull^[5] is another name for a bullseye ⇒ aim for the bull!.

21d   A measure taken up by journalist given huge affection (6)

23d   Minor person screened in edition of paper (5)

Here screened means 'appearing in a motion picture'.

24d   Stiff gear I had encountered (5)

26d   Flag from fair I snatched (4)

A flag^[4] is any of various plants [including the iris] that have long swordlike leaves.

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