Tuesday, July 2, 2013 — DT 27148

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27148
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27148]
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

I was able to complete this puzzle without the use of electronic aids over the course of a couple of solving sessions.

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   Unlucky recruiting right people being uncompromising (10)

Hard lines^[10] (also hard cheese) is an informal British expression meaning bad luck.

6a   Cliff's award for picture dismissing love (4)

A scar^[5] is a steep high cliff or rock outcrop, especially of limestone ⇒ high limestone scars bordered the road.

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. 

9a   Crime issue on unprotected barn (5)

10a   Top of division after bad-tempered victory is a bit of a blow! (9)

12a   Bother at home with the ladies? (13)

In Britain, the Ladies^[5] is another name for a women’s public toilet. Convenience^[3,4,11] is a chiefly British euphemism for a lavatory, especially a public one.

14a   Give a bit, being generous (8)

15a   A hundred per student flat, without a key? (6)

Ton^[5] is British slang for a hundred, in particular a speed of 100 mph, a score of 100 or more, or a sum of £100 ⇒ he scored 102 not out, his third ton of the tour.

The example relates to cricket where batsmen bat in pairs, one at either end of the pitch. The batting side (team) is out when ten of the eleven players have been dismissed as there are no longer enough players to form a pair. The remaining batsman is said to be "not out", although the batting side itself is out.

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.

In the surface reading, the word flat^[10] refers to what would be called an apartment on this side of the Atlantic. Brits reserve the word apartment^[5] for a certain specific type of flat — typically one that is well appointed or used for holidays [seemingly either an upscale flat or one used for temporary occupancy].

17a   Material that covers prime minister dismissing our Queen (6)

Margaret Thatcher^[7] (1925 – 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990. Ironically, she died on April 8, 2013 — two days before the appearance of this puzzle in the UK.

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.

19a   Unmentionable people like this with nameless sons (2-3-3)

21a   Occasional story covering British elements in this (8,5)

24a   Make a small hole in fish, causing sensation (9)

A ling^[5] is any of a number of long-bodied edible marine fishes, in particular a large East Atlantic fish (Molva molva) related to the cod which is of commercial importance.

25a   A second state test (5)

26a   Grass forming part of meat-free diet (4)

27a   Hippy girl's entertainment? (5,5)

Down

1d   Fool's house with a cross (4)

2d   Language expressed by American head of state in Iran, possibly (7)

3d   Grandfather, for example, getting notice after extended lawsuit (8,5)

Longcase clock^[5] is an alternative [and possibly British] term for a grandfather clock.

4d   Identity given to famous person in prison? (8)

Nick^[5] is British slang for (1) a prison ⇒ he’ll end up in the nick for the rest of his life or (2) a police station ⇒ he was being fingerprinted in the nick.

5d   Some consider honesty a flower (5)

The setter uses "flower" in the whimsical cryptic crossword sense of 'somthing that flows' — in other words, a river.

The Rhône^[5] is a river in SW Europe which rises in the Swiss Alps and flows 812 km (505 miles), through Lake Geneva into France, then to Lyons, Avignon, and the Mediterranean west of Marseilles, where it forms a wide delta that includes the Camargue.

7d   Travel around Norway wearing feature hairstyle (7)

A chignon^[5] is a knot or coil of hair arranged on the back of a woman’s head ⇒ her hair was drawn back from her face into a chignon.

8d   USSR-led Red revolutionary lacking direction (10)

11d   One runs round the room avoiding pig, heading for door (8,5)

The British term for a wooden board running along the base of an interior wall is skirting or skirting board^[5]. In North America, it would be called a baseboard^[5].

13d   Government report is pure nonsense on euro, oddly! (5,5)

In the UK, a government report giving information or proposals on an issue is known as a White Paper^[5].

16d   Country friend importing gold tower (8)

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.

Similar to 5d, the setter uses "tower" in the whimsical cryptic crossword sense of 'somthing that tows'.

18d   Runs after first-class team boarding plane from here? (7)

Airside^[10] is the part of an airport nearest the aircraft, the boundary of which is the security check, customs, passport control, etc.

20d   Intervenes, seeing pace wrong (5,2)

22d   Victim ideally revealing compound (5)

An imide^[11] is a compound derived from ammonia by replacement of two hydrogen atoms by acidic groups.

23d   Instrument played by storyteller on the radio (4)

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