Monday, August 26, 2013 — DT 27189

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27189
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27189]
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
Notes This puzzle appears on the Monday Diversions page in the Saturday, August 24, 2013 edition of the National Post.

Introduction

There is a fair bit of British content in today's puzzle — including a number of cricket references.

Today's blog appears a bit late as I have been wrestling with computer issues.

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   Old athlete lapping last in race, the very best (5)

Steve Cram^[7] is a British retired track and field athlete. Along with fellow Britons Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett, he was one of the world's dominant middle distance runners during the 1980s. Nicknamed "The Jarrow Arrow" (after his birthplace in County Durham, England), Cram set world records in the 1500 metres, 2000 metres and the mile during a 19-day period in the summer of 1985. He was the first man to run 1500 metres under 3 minutes and 30 seconds. He won the 1500 metres gold medal at the 1983 World Championships and the 1500 metres silver medal at the 1984 Olympic Games.

4a   Aquatic animal dad knocked over, put into casserole mainly (8)

8a   School member entertaining southern European (8)

David Cameron^[7], Prime Minister of the UK, and Boris Johnson^[7], Mayor of London, both attended Eton College.

Eton College^[7], often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent [private] school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor". It is located in Eton, near Windsor in England, and is one of the original nine English public schools as defined by the Public Schools Act 1868. [Note: In Britain, "public schools" are a special class of private school; what North Americans would call public schools seem to be referred to in Britain by terms such as state-run or state-funded schools].

9a   Rescind order to a barge (8)

11a   US lawman hires scuffling pair of fellows (7)

F^[2] is the abbreviation for Fellow (of a society, etc).

13a   Criminal, rude lot misbehaving with day gone -- and boorish drinker? (5,4)

In British slang, a lag^[5] is a person who has been frequently convicted and sent to prison ⇒ both old lags were sentenced to ten years' imprisonment.

Lager lout^[5] is British slang for a young man who behaves in an unpleasant or violent way as a result of excessive drinking ⇒ police said he acted like a lager lout and hit an officer.

15a   Bottom and chest seen awkwardly in private? (6,3,6)

18a   One active in the organ trade? (9)

An organ^[5] is a newspaper or periodical which promotes the views of a political party or movement ⇒ he repositioned the journal as a leading organ of neoconservatism.

Newsagent^[5] is a British term for a person or shop selling newspapers, magazines, confectionery, etc..

21a   Entrance made by English conservationists anticipating hour by a lake (7)

In Britain, the National Trust^[5] (abbreviation NT) is a trust for the preservation of places of historic interest or natural beauty in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, founded in 1895 and supported by endowment and private subscription. The National Trust for Scotland was founded in 1931.

22a   Imagination tends to take energy with the old (5,3)

24a   Huge  trademark of an aggressive boxer? (8)

In British slang, thumping^[5] means of an impressive size, extent, or amount ⇒ (i) a thumping 64 per cent majority; (ii) a thumping great lie.

25a   Food abundantly supplied for old actress (8)

Marlene Dietrich^[5] (1901 – 1992) was a German-born American actress and singer; born Maria Magdelene Dietrich. She became famous for her part as Lola in The Blue Angel (1930), one of many films she made with Josef von Sternberg. From the 1950s she was also successful as an international cabaret star.

26a   Exam, one set among others (5)

Resit^[5] is a British term which, as a verb, means to take (an examination) again after failing it  ⇒ she is resitting her maths GCSE [General Certificate of Secondary Education] and, as a noun, denotes an examination that is resat ⇒ the system allows the office to timetable all resits in a single block.

Down

1d   A club seen to diversify around hotel offering pastry (7,3)

Chelsea bun^[5] is the British name for a flat, spiral-shaped currant bun sprinkled with sugar.

2d   Establish hub overlooking college and new church (8)

3d   Stunted type, German writer, one supported by family (8)

Mannikin^[5] is a variant spelling of manikin^[5], a very small man.

Thomas Mann^[5] (1875 – 1955) was a German novelist and essayist. The role and character of the artist in relation to society is a constant theme in his works. Notable works: Buddenbrooks (1901), Death in Venice (1912), and Dr Faustus (1947). Nobel Prize for Literature (1929).

4d   A hard-headed character raised marine creature (4)

A nut^[4] is a person or thing that presents difficulties (especially in the phrase a tough or hard nut to crack).

5d   Strictness in theatre employee, we hear (6)

The Chambers Dictionary defines rigger^[1] as someone who puts up and looks after the scaffolding and lifting apparatus, etc. that is used for building operations and theatrical and musical productions, etc.

6d   Food in container with a cap quietly taken off (6)

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.

7d   Significant mark in flat perhaps (4)

Deep Threat has not convinced me that this is a triple definition. It seems to me that significant means noteworthy, and note is a synonym for significance (an event of note). If it is not a triple definition, then significant mark must equate to note — although I am not entirely comfortable with that.

10d   Agitatedly get a Tube -- it's been baking and may get filled (8)

The capitalization of the word "Tube" suggests that the clue might refer to the London subway system (or, more particularly, a train running on that system). The Tube^[5] (British trademark) is (1) the underground railway system in London, England ⇒ a cross-London trek on the Tube or (2) a train running on the Tube ⇒ I caught the tube home.

12d   Soap even applied to synthetic material? Not half (8)

Terylene^[10] is a British trademark for a synthetic polyester fibre or fabric based on terephthalic acid, characterized by lightness and crease resistance and used for clothing, sheets, ropes, sails, etc [known as Dacron (trademark) in North America].

14d   50 in Ashes duel maybe that gives proof of high-level suitability (4,6)

The Ashes^[10] is a cremated cricket stump in a pottery urn now preserved at Lord's^[7] [a cricket ground in London, England]. Victory or defeat in test matches between England and Australia is referred to as winning, losing, or retaining the Ashes. A Test (short for Test match)^[5] is an international cricket or rugby match, typically one of a series, played between teams representing two different countries ⇒ the Test match between Pakistan and the West Indies.

16d   Person involved in trade in general grabbing award (8)

George Armstrong Custer^[7] (1839 – 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the Indian Wars. After building a strong reputation in the Civil War, Custer was dispatched to the west to fight in the Indian Wars. His disastrous final battle overshadowed his prior achievements. Custer and all the men with him were killed at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876, fighting against a coalition of Native American tribes in a battle that has come to be popularly known in American history as "Custer's Last Stand."


In actual fact, Custer was not a general at the time of his death. During the Civil War, he had briefly held the rank of Brevet (temporary) Major General, but reverted to his permanent rank of Captain at the end of the war. By 1876, he had risen to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

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).

17d   Weapon I smuggled into Tyneside ship that's just avoided collision (4,4)

Tyneside^[5] is an industrial conurbation (an extended urban area, typically consisting of several towns merging with the suburbs of a central city) on the banks of the River Tyne, in NE England, stretching from Newcastle upon Tyne to the coast.

As is almost invariably the case in Crosswordland, today's ship is a steamship (abbreviation SS^[5]).

After some thought, I have concluded that the definition must be a "just avoided collision" (a potential collision that did not take place) — which is slightly shorter than what is indicated by Deep Threat in his review.

19d   Obtain craftily bit of wine with fish (6)

My downfall was too much wine — I tried to use the first three letters instead of merely the first letter.

20d   Spinning of Warne's the solution (6)

Shane Warne^[5] is an Australian cricketer who holds the record for Australian bowlers in taking over 600 test wickets [see 14d for a definition of test]. In cricket, spin^[5] (with reference to a ball) means to move or cause to move through the air with a revolving motion ⇒ (i) the ball spun in viciously; (ii) they had to spin the ball wide. Spinning, of course, is the action of imparting spin to the ball as it is bowled.

22d   Atmosphere of fate in revolution (4)

23d   Design sailing vessel excluding prow (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