Tuesday, August 27, 2013 — DT 27190

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27190
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27190]
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

Jay delivers his customary enjoyable puzzle. As is often the case with his creations, one might progress more quickly by starting with the down clues.

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   Actress starts wearing shorts in emotional episodes (6)

Short^[5] is a British term for a drink of spirits served in a small measure.

4a   The girl would love to be hugged by boy a great deal (8)

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.

Shedload^[5] (a euphemism for shitload) is British slang for a large amount or number.

10a   Abrasive courage left after romance (5,4)

11a   Doctor adopts exaggerated slogan (5)

OTT^[5] is British slang for over the top ⇒ presenting him as a goalscoring Superman seems a bit OTT.

12a   Weapon for police deploying a taser to protect head of government? (4,3)

13a   Distance, for example, a wagon must reverse (7)

14a   Fold or line found in solid fuel (5)

15a   Overwhelm one with assignment on Mother Teresa, say (8)

Mother Teresa^[5] (1910 – 1997) was a Roman Catholic nun and missionary; born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in what is now Macedonia of Albanian parentage. She became an Indian citizen in 1948. She founded the Order of Missionaries of Charity, which became noted for its work among the poor in Calcutta (Kolkata) and now operates in many parts of the world. Nobel Peace Prize (1979).

18a   Taking much care, however short and harsh (8)

20a   Footballer's wife hounded by journalist on a salary (5)

WAG^[5] is a seemingly British term for a wife or girlfriend of a sports player, typically characterized as having a high media profile and a glamorous lifestyle. Derived from the acronym WAGs 'wives and girlfriends', it is a recent entrant to the language, having been introduced in the early 21st century.

The term "salaried" is frequently seen, but I would say that its counterpart "waged" [as an adjective] is far less common.

23a   A bit worried about second degree produce from India (7)

25a   Make good time, finally in new resort (7)

26a   Rebuke for being concealed in church (5)

The Church of England (CE)^[10] is the reformed established state Church in England, Catholic in order and basic doctrine, with the Sovereign as its temporal head.

27a   Tense final letter held by confused Chinese philosopher (9)

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche^[5] (1844 – 1900) was a German philosopher. He is known for repudiating Christianity’s compassion for the weak, exalting the ‘will to power’, and formulating the idea of the Übermensch (superman), who can rise above the restrictions of ordinary morality.

28a   Girlfriend accepting one source of lie in a constant manner (8)

29a   Nasty words regularly preceding evidence of debts (6)

Down

1d   Raised position under workplace for computers (8)

2d   Say a case of gangrene is normal (7)

3d   A gorilla panics, coming across tail of ancient reptile (9)

5d   Wait for the groom to do this! (4,4,6)

6d   Mostly modest object (5)

7d   Survive, being revealed before final (7)

8d   Man running heard, with no answer! (6)

9d   Make-up on a leader of long walk (14)

16d   Cut workforce, and released capital by moving (9)

17d   The core of his endless forced inactivity (8)

19d   Crowd piled inside showing animosity (7)

21d   That hurt, supporting king with love for Marx (7)

The Marx Brothers^[5] were a family of American comedians, consisting of the brothers Chico (Leonard, 1887 – 1961), Harpo (Adolph Arthur, 1888 – 1964), Groucho (Julius Henry, 1890 – 1977), and Zeppo (Herbert, 1901 – 1979). Their films, which are characterized by their anarchic humour, include Duck Soup (1933) and A Night at the Opera (1935).

22d   It might calculate a bill in public transport (6)

24d   The last word on Germany's change for the better (5)

The International Vehicle Registration (IVR) code for Germany is D^[5] [from German Deutschland].

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