Tuesday, May 21, 2013 — DT 27118

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27118
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27118]
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

Since I completed the puzzle without electronic help, I was a slightly surprised to see that it had been awarded three stars for difficulty by scchua. I'll attribute my success to having got on the setter's wavelength.

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   This is Q1, isn't it? (7,8)

9a   Animal's mistake, crossing one river (7)

10a   Show maturity, collared by quiet worker (7)

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.

11a   Dilapidated ancestral house (9)

The House of Lancaster^[5] is the English royal house descended from John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, that ruled England from 1399 (Henry IV) until 1461 (the deposition of Henry VI) and again on Henry’s brief restoration in 1470-1. With the red rose as its emblem it fought the Wars of the Roses with the House of York; Lancaster’s descendants, the Tudors, eventually prevailed through Henry VII’s accession to the throne in 1485.

12a   Good Queen Bess's mole (4)

A mole^[5] is a large solid structure on a shore serving as a pier, breakwater, or causeway.

Pi^[5] is an informal British short form for pious (thus "good"). "Good Queen Bess", together with "The Virgin Queen" and "Gloriana", are nicknames by which Queen Elizabeth I of England (1533 – 1603) was known. Therefore, "Queen Bess" is likely a reference to Elizabeth I. It did occur to me that it might be a reference our current Queen. However, although Elizabeth II is sometimes referred to informally as "Liz" or "Beth" or even "Brenda" (a sobriquet bestowed upon her by the British satirical magazine Private Eye), I could find no evidence to suggest that she is called "Queen Bess".

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. Thus, the cipher of Elizabeth I was presumably ER — the same as that of Elizabeth II.

13a   Professional American's positive response with 12 unfinished (6)

The number "12" in the clue is a cross reference to clue 12a. Insert the solution to the cross referenced clue in place of the cross reference indicator to complete the present clue.

15a   Go bottom and leg it (4,4)

Leg it^[5] is British slang meaning (1) travel by foot or, in other words, walk ⇒ I am part of a team legging it around London or (2) run away ⇒ he legged it after someone shouted at him. I was familiar with the first meaning, but it is the second which is of interest today.

18a   Standard bargains which you find at the greengrocer's? (8)

Greengrocer^[5] is a British term for a retailer of fruit and vegetables ⇒ white cabbage was selling for 12p a lb at the greengrocer’s. In British English, snip^[5] is an informal term for a surprisingly cheap item or, in other words, a bargain ⇒ the wine is a snip at £3.65.

19a   Bird or other creature that might fly -- with time! (6)

Pigs might (or can) fly^[5], according to Oxford Dictionaries Online, is a British expression [but one that is certainly also used in North America] used ironically to express disbelief ⇒ ‘Maybe he’s trying to change.’ ‘And maybe pigs can fly.’.

22a   Pain caused by trapping horse's head in crack (4)

23a   The cause of a dark look? (9)

26a   Most of those people enjoy similar things (3,4)

27a   The Yorkshire currency is a load of bother (7)

One of the characteristics of the Yorkshire dialect is Definite Article Reduction (DAR)^[7], which is a linguistic term referring to the use of vowel-less forms of the definite article the in Northern dialects of English English, for example in the Yorkshire dialect and accent. DAR is often represented by dialect spelling "t'" or "th'".

Rouble^[5] is the British spelling of ruble, the basic monetary unit of Russia and some other former republics of the USSR, equal to 100 kopeks.

28a   Moving on can revitalise conscription (8,7)

National service^[5] refers to a period of compulsory service in the armed forces during peacetime (phased out in the UK by 1963).

Down

1d   Support friend in law (7)

2d   A professional name for part of a stage (5)

The first part of the wordplay would appear to be missing from scchua's explanation. It should be A (from the clue) + PRO (professional) + N (name).

3d   Burning, losing a couple of thousand due to rising prices (9)

4d   People invited invest time in speculation (6)

5d   Some speed reduction can be part of fighter's armoury (8)

Speed^[5] is slang for an amphetamine drug, especially methamphetamine. Upper^[5] (usually uppers) is slang for a stimulating drug, especially amphetamine. 

It would appear that all speed are uppers, but not all uppers are speed. From this perspective, the definition "some speed" seems to be incorrect. Perhaps the intent is that "some speed" indicates that we are to use only part of the word "uppers" (deleting the final letter).

6d   Manifestation of good in evil? (4)

7d   Not moving prisoner outside a part of the UK (9)

Again, a part of the wordplay seems to be missing from scchua's explanation. It is INMATE (prisoner) containing (outside) {A (from the clue) + NI (Northern Ireland)}.

Northern Ireland^[5] (abbreviation NI^[5]) is a province of the United Kingdom occupying the NE part of Ireland; population 1,775,000 (est. 2008); capital, Belfast. According to Oxford Dictionaries Online, Northern Ireland is the only major division of the United Kingdom to hold the status of province, with England and Scotland being considered countries, and Wales a principality.

8d   Racing certainty  with no airs (7)

Natural^[10] is an informal term for a person or thing regarded as certain to qualify for success, selection, etc ⇒ the horse was a natural for first place.

14d   Something to write on page merchant prepared (9)

16d   Live close by developing region with hub (9)

17d   Insect that's found in objects of limited value (8)

An ephemera^[10] is a mayfly, especially one of the genus Ephemera^[7].

18d   Carriage or stanhope redesigned without top (7)

A stanhope^[5] is a light open horse-drawn carriage for one person, with two or four wheels. A phaeton^[5] is a light, open four-wheeled horse-drawn carriage. In Greek mythology, there are several figures having the name Phaeton^[7] (or Phaethon).

The term phaeton has also been applied to automobiles. A phaeton^[7] is a style of open car or carriage without weather protection. It is an automotive development of the fast, lightweight phaeton carriage. Originally meant to denote a faster and lighter vehicle than a touring car, the two terms eventually became interchangeable.

Phaetons fell from favour when closed cars and convertibles became widely available in the 1930s. Convertibles and pillarless hardtops were marketed as "phaetons" after actual phaetons were phased out. In 2004, Volkswagen introduced a sedan with the name Phaeton, despite the car not resembling an open car in any way.

20d   At the moment, present is not to be found (7)

21d   Ties up in beds? (6)

24d   Knight on road from city abroad (5)

The A1^[7] is the longest numbered road in the UK, at 410 miles (660 km). It connects London, the capital of England and the United Kingdom, with Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland.

Dubai^[5], a port on the Persian Gulf, is the capital city of Dubai, a member state of the United Arab Emirates. In 2009, the population of the state was estimated to be 1,775,000 of whom 1,770,500 (99.75%) resided in the capital.

25d   Area of London with no drunk (4)

The W1 postcode districts — a group of postcode [the British term for postal code (Canadian) or zip code (US)] districts within the W postcode area^[7] — cover a section of London, England concentrated mainly in the City of Westminster^[7], a London borough occupying much of the central area of London, including most of the West 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