Tuesday, July 9, 2013 — DT 27153

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27153
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27153]
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

Today we have a relatively gentle offering from an unknown setter.

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   Reason with star about famous controversy? (5,7)

9a   Goddess represented in art, I'd hope (9)

In Greek mythology, Aphrodite^[5] is the goddess of beauty, fertility, and sexual love. She is variously described as the daughter of Zeus and Dione, or as being born from the sea.

10a   New in team, but spiteful (5)

11a   Place with stiff identification requirements? (6)

12a   Peace's disrupted about poster showing daring activity (8)

13a   Salad ingredient  to go up steeply? (6)

Rocket is the British name for arugula^[5].

15a   Engineer altering key (8)

18a   Unpredictable burrowing animal concealing flickering tail (8)

19a   Victor entering a depression in winter season? (6)

Victor^[5] is a code word representing the letter V, used in radio communication.

21a   Resolution to show half-hearted youngster a financial district (8)

The City^[5] is (1) short for the City of London or (2) the financial and commercial institutions located in the City of London ⇒ (i) the Budget got a stony reception from the City; (ii) [as modifier] a City analyst. ["The City" is used to mean the London financial establishment in the same manner that "Wall Street" and "Bay Street" are used as substitutes for the financial establishments in New York and Toronto respectively.]

Note that the term City of London^[5] does not refer to the city of London, but merely to that part of London situated within the ancient boundaries and governed by the Lord Mayor and the Corporation^[5] (which, in Britain, is a group of people elected to govern a city, town, or borough ⇒ the City of London Corporation). Greater London^[7] consists of the City of London plus 32 boroughs.

23a   Spirit shown in good pop music made by Eminem previously (6)

Although two different explanations of the wordplay are offered on Big Dave's site, the consensus would appear to be that the preferred version is G (good) + {PA (pop) preceded by (previously) RAP (music made by Eminem)}.

The alternative explanation relies on an entry from The Chambers Dictionary [otherwise known as the Big Red Book (BRB)], which defines pa.^[1] as an abbreviation for past.

According to Oxford Dictionaries Online, grappa^[5] is a brandy distilled from the fermented residue of grapes after they have been pressed in winemaking. Although, Oxford is not alone in describing grappa as a brandy^[2,3,11], as I recall from my visit to Tuscany, this characterization would seem to be pretentious at best and erroneous at worst.

According to Wikipedia, brandy^[7] is a spirit produced by distilling wine. Grappa^[7], on the other hand, is is made by distilling the skins, pulp, seeds, and stems (i.e., the pomace) left over from winemaking after pressing the grapes. Under European Union rules, several criteria must met in order for a beverage to be called grappa. One of these is that it must be produced from pomace which "rules out the direct fermentation of pure grape juice, which is the method used to produce brandy".

Among the dictionaries that I consulted, only Collins English Dictionary takes a contrarian view, calling it a "spirit" — as does today's setter — rather than a "brandy"^[10].

Eminem^[7] (often stylized as EMINƎM) is the stage name of Marshall Bruce Mathers III, an American rapper.

26a   Facial protection is found among very common soldiers (5)

In the British armed forces, other ranks (abbreviation OR)^[5] refers to all those who are not commissioned officers.

27a   Writer getting exercise around unusually hot luxury accommodation (9)

28a   Suspect challenge made by bachelor immersed in drink (12)

Down

1d   Singer entertaining a jolly fascinating sort? (7)

Jolly^[4] is British slang for a member of the Royal Marines (RM)^[5], a British armed service (part of the Royal Navy) founded in 1664, trained for service at sea, or on land under specific circumstances.

2d   Addict around hospital, an employee in dramatic situation? (5)

3d   English lecturer with university dividing second salary (9)

4d   Team surrounded by the French and in departure (4)

Eleven is the number of players on a cricket^[7] side or an Association football^[7] [soccer] team.

The French word for "and" is et^[8].

5d   Service nevertheless supported by Northern government (8)

In the Church of England, evensong^[4] (also known as Evening Prayer vespers) is the daily evening service of Bible readings and prayers prescribed in the Book of Common Prayer.

6d   Jamaican religious follower upset a figure of authority (5)

Rasta^[5] is short for Rastafarian^[5], a member of the Rastafarian religious movement. Rastafarians have distinctive codes of behaviour and dress, including the wearing of dreadlocks and the smoking of cannabis, and they follow a diet that excludes pork, shellfish, and milk.

7d   Conflict produced by inspector with touch of gaudiness in Indian dress (8)

A detective inspector (DI)^[5] is a senior police officer in the UK. Within the British police, inspector^[7] is the second supervisory rank. It is senior to that of sergeant, but junior to that of chief inspector. Plain-clothes detective inspectors are equal in rank to their uniformed counterparts, the prefix 'detective' identifying them as having been trained in criminal investigation and being part of or attached to their force's Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

8d   Type of crop that comes in instalments, it's said (6)

14d   Organ is beginning to thrill one who's settled (8)

16d   No diner gets order around pub -- it could produce a rush! (9)

The word pub^[5] is actually a shortened form of public house^[5] — which is abbreviated (in particular, on maps) as PH. [This abbreviation may exist on maps, but I have yet to find it in a dictionary — it's not even in the Big Red Book].

17d   Aussie amphibian, a tailless sort, also going round (8)

This Aussie is not an amphibian in the biological sense of the term — but, rather, a semi-aquatic mammal. However, I suppose that one could describe it as an amphibian in the same way as a seaplane, tank, or other vehicle that can operate on land and on water.

18d   Quartet wearing cross making a vow? (6)

20d   Net with comfort, we hear, a circus feature? (7)

22d   Decor fussily encapsulating island (5)

Corfu^[5] is a Greek island, one of the largest of the Ionian Islands, off the west coast of mainland Greece.

24d   Reportedly, cushy work in bathroom? (5)

25d   A fool allowing earlier time for an opponent (4)

Nit^[5] is British slang for a foolish person ⇒ you stupid nit!

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