Friday, June 28, 2013 — DT 27146

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27146
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, April 8, 2013
Setter Rufus (Roger Squires)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27146]
Big Dave's Review Written By Libellule
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 is unmistakeably the work of Rufus. Personally, I would give it four stars for enjoyment — but maybe my delight reflects the fact that I have been deprived of my daily crossword fix for much of the past month.

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   How a top actor went over as Romeo? (4-7)

The adjective star-crossed^[5] is a literary term meaning thwarted by bad luck ⇒ star-crossed lovers. The term was first used by William Shakespeare in Romeo and Juliet (1597).

9a   Deviation from normal unusually rare? Can be (9)

10a   Calculator  that slides? (5)

This would seem to be a cryptic definition that might also be seen as a double definition — where the two definitions are "calculator" and "(something) that slides".

11a   Stolen gun and car (3,3)

12a   Dish for a Scotsman? Girl returns with one (8)

For a change, today's Scotsman is not named Ian. Nora Batty (whom Libellule uses as an example in his hint) is a character from the long-running (1973-2010) British sitcom Last of the Summer Wine^[7]. The series was set and filmed in and around the West Yorkshire town of Holmfirth — a picturesque spot that I had the pleasure of visiting on a recent trip to England.

13a   Society girl rejecting a title? Rubbish! (6)

15a   Exhibit skill with kite perhaps (8)

Kite^[5] is an informal and dated British term for an aircraft.

18a   They should be able to identify any salts in a mixture (8)

Although I have indicated a truncated version of the definition, I think one could well consider the entire clue to constitute the definition — thereby making this a semi all-in-one clue.

19a   Union leader caught in female clothing gets imprisonment (6)

21a   Does it get fed up with hunters? (3-5)

23a   Inventor having no team backing (6)

26a   Perfume from far Oman (5)

27a   Share in a growing concern (9)

In Britain, an allotment^[5] is a plot of land rented by an individual for growing vegetables or flowers. In North America, such a piece of land would likely be referred to by the expanded version of the name — allotment garden.

28a   Espy otters playing around the point, they have set mannerisms (11)

Down

1d   Mother's in the outhouse, drunk! (7)

2d   Get an organising middleman (5)

3d   Feline killer? (9)

4d   Has improperly won a point (4)

5d   Sequence of events in coarse novel (8)

6d   American lawyer without force or histrionics (5)

In the US, a district attorney^[5] is a public official who acts as prosecutor for the state in a particular district.

7d   Keep on being saucy about half-sister (7)

8d   Recommend  someone to take legal action (8)

14d   Underwear packed for one who's smart (8)

In Britain, a very clever person might be referred to informally as a brainbox^[5].

16d   The French Revolution (4,1'4)

Coup d'état^[5], meaning a sudden, violent, and illegal seizure of power from a government, is a French phrase that has entered the English language.

17d   In the main it's the cheapest way to travel (8)

The main^[5] is an archaic or literary term referring to the open ocean.

18d   Equip group with sign of mourning (7)

20d   They're played, so raising the devil (7)

22d   Gather together for a church service (5)

24d   Little in the odds to make it a popular gamble (5)

A lottery or event such as a horse race in which the stakes of the participants constitute the prize is known in Britain as a sweepstake^[4] (short form sweep^[4]) and in the US as a sweepstakes^[3] (short form sweeps^[3]).

25d   Unhappy  university sportsman (4)

In Britain, a blue^[5] is a person who has represented Cambridge University (a Cambridge blue) or Oxford University (an Oxford blue) at a particular sport in a match between the two universities ⇒ a flyweight boxing blue. This usage almost certainly arises from the colours associated with these universities — and hence the colour of the uniforms worn by their athletes. Cambridge blue^[5] is a pale blue colour, while Oxford blue^[5] is a dark blue, typically with a purple tinge.

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