Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 27214 | |
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph
Wednesday, June 26, 2013 | |
Setter
Jay (Jeremy Mutch) | |
Link to Full Review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27214] | |
Big Dave's Review Written By
scchua | |
BD Rating
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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
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Introduction
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. The underlined portion of the clue is the definition.
Across
1a Actor, do this and you'll fail the audition?
(10)
6a Tucked up with a graduate teacher (4)
It would appear that — in Britain — to tuck someone up[5] is an alternative manner of saying to tuck someone in [to bed].
9a Rat attached to end of cat's foot (7)
Rotter[4] is chiefly British slang for a worthless, unpleasant, or despicable person.
A trotter[5] is a pig’s foot used as food ⇒ (i)
brawn* would be made from the trotters and the ears; (ii)
he lay down the half-eaten trotter. The word may also be used a humorous reference to a human foot ⇒
dainty little trotters.
* brawn[5] is a British term for meat from a pig’s or calf’s head [and, seemingly, foot — based on the preceding usage example for trotter] that is cooked and pressed in a pot with jelly.
10a Tramp proclaimed ill-defined harangue
(7)
12a Popular farmhouse on film becomes
target area (8,5)
Grange[10] is a chiefly British term for a farm, especially a farmhouse or country house with its various outbuildings.
14a Draw on evidence of engagement as
opener (4,4)
Ring pull[5] is the British name for a pull tab[5], a ring on a can that is pulled to break the seal in order to open it.
15a Device for lifting a large beast (6)
17a Nick a car and set off (6)
Nick takes on two different British slang meanings in this clue. I the surface reading, nick[5] means to steal ⇒
she nicked fivers from the till. In the cryptic reading, nick[5] means to arrest (someone) ⇒
Stuart and Dan got nicked for burglary.
19a Person responsible for issue of paper?
(8)
Issue[5] is a formal or legal term meaning children of one’s own ⇒
the earl died without male issue.
The Guardian[7], known until 1959 as The Manchester Guardian (founded 1821), is a British national daily newspaper.
21a Want one state to adopt a platform, being
ineffectual (13)
24a Tom might have one for the road! (4-3)
The cat's eye[7] (also cat's-eye[10] or Catseye[2]/catseye[5], the later being a British trademark) is a retroreflective safety device used in road marking and was the first of a range of raised pavement markers. It originated in the UK in 1933 and is today used all over the world. Cat's eye[2] is also a type of precious stone which resembles the eye of a cat when light is reflected onto it.
25a A meal out with daughter, and a walk
through the trees (7)
In Spain and Spanish-speaking areas, an alameda[5] is a public walkway or promenade, shaded with trees.
26a Deposit one left in road (4)
27a Imagined volunteers changing sides,
following supporter (10)
In the UK, the Territorial Army (TA)[5] is a volunteer force locally organized to provide a reserve of trained and disciplined manpower for use in an emergency.
Down
1d Capable of leading the Open -- initially!
(2,2)
2d Calls for reform of prison after start of
debate (5,2)
3d Foie gras paste is served in process of
initiation (4,2,7)
4d Choke or accelerator (8)
5d Name given to opera singer's place of
rest (5)
7d A non-conformist, Clegg is rumoured to
support defeat (7)
Nick Clegg[5] is a British Liberal Democrat statesman, Deputy Prime Minister since 2010 (in coalition with the Conservatives).
8d Party entitled to change sign here (6,4)
11d Sit in carriage, being moved to see
doctors (13)
13d Outside study, student ties up long hair
(10)
In Britain, to read[5] means to study (an academic subject) at a university ⇒ (i)
I’m reading English at Cambridge; (ii)
he went to Manchester to read for a BA in Economics.
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.
16d Exposed well-dressed fool (8)
18d Engineers cutting short visit about IT
performance (7)
The Corps of Royal Engineers[7], usually just called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the Sappers, is a corps of the British Army that provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces.
IT[5] is the abbreviation for information technology.
20d Disease requiring peace and quiet? No
way (7)
22d Sloane Ranger backing shows venue (5)
Sloane Square[7] is a small hard-landscaped square on the boundaries of the fashionable London districts of Knightsbridge, Belgravia and Chelsea, located 2.1 miles (3.4 km) southwest of Charing Cross [considered to be the centre of London], in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
The square lies at the east end of the trendy Kings Road and at the south end of the more conventionally smart Sloane Street linking to Knightsbridge. In the early 1980s, it lent its name to the "Sloane Rangers", the young underemployed, often snooty and ostentatiously well-off members of the upper classes.
A Sloane Ranger[5] (also called Sloane) is an informal term [clearly British] for a fashionable upper-class young woman, especially one living in London ⇒
she speaks more like an Essex girl than a Sloane. The term was coined in the 1970s by combining Sloane Square and Lone Ranger (the name of a fictitious cowboy hero).
23d Naked and poor -- that covers the start of
life (4)
Key to Reference Sources:Signing off for today — Falcon
[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)