Friday, October 25, 2013 — DT 27233

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27233
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, July 18, 2013
Setter Petitjean (John Pidgeon)*
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27233]
Big Dave's Review Written By Big Dave
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 *Big Dave indicates that the setter is Petitjean with his comment "as long as you are wearing the right hat". Jezza, in comment #2,  adds "This had the feel of a Petitjean puzzle".

Introduction

Having struggled most of the week to catch up on my blogging, it is a relief to have finally done so.

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   Time right to wear this knitted garment (1-5)

5a   Violent reaction disheartened slanted character (8)

9a   I dust a loft to be converted in restrictive accommodation (6,4)

A flat^[10] 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].

10a   Defective work taking place in railway (4)

Ropy^[5]  is British slang that can mean either  (1) of poor quality ⇒ a portrait by a pretty ropy artist [although a "ropy portrait" would certainly have better suited this clue than a "ropy artist"] or (2) slightly ill ⇒ I did feel a bit ropy earlier.

In music, Op. (also op.)^[5] is an abbreviation meaning opus (work). It is used before a number given to each work of a particular composer, usually indicating the order of publication. More generally, an opus is any artistic work, especially one on a large scale ⇒ he was writing an opus on Mexico.

11a   Crack Northern priest in US city for retirement (3-5)

In the Bible, Eli^[5] was a priest who acted as a teacher to the prophet Samuel (1 Sam. 1-3).

Reno^[5] is a city in western Nevada; population 217,016 (est. 2008). It is noted as a gambling resort and for its liberal laws enabling quick marriages and divorces.

12a   Earl excited around house in Asian city (6)

Lahore^[5] is the capital of Punjab province and second-largest city of Pakistan, situated near the border with India; population 6,926,600 (est. 2009).

13a   Depressed  college athlete (4)

Cambridge and Oxford Boat Crews

In Britain, a blue^[5] is a person who has represented Cambridge University (a Cambridge blue) or Oxford University (an Oxford blue) at a particular sport in a match between the two universities ⇒ a flyweight boxing blue. This usage almost certainly arises from the colours associated with these universities — and hence the colour of the uniforms worn by their athletes. Cambridge blue^[5] is a pale blue colour (actually a medium tone of spring green), while Oxford blue^[5] is a dark blue, typically with a purple tinge (actually a very dark tone of azure).

While Cambridge Blue^[7] is the colour commonly used by sports teams from Cambridge University, there is considerable dispute regarding the exact shade of the colour that should be used. Most notably, the colour used by the Cambridge University Boat Club (above) is different from that used by the rugby union club (below). The Boat Club colour has more yellow added to the shade.

Oxford vs. Cambridge Rugby Match

Toronto Argonauts logo

A Blue^[7] is also the name of an award earned by sportsmen and women at a university and some schools for competition at the highest level. The awarding of Blues began at Oxford and Cambridge universities in England. It is awarded at British, Australian and New Zealand universities.

Cambridge Blue and Oxford Blue are the official colours of the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League.

15a   Former student thus allowed close to college and past it (8)

In Britain, an old boy^[5] (abbreviation OB^[2])  is (1) a former male student of a school or college ⇒an old boy of Banbury County School or (2) a former male member of a sports team or company ⇒the White Hart Lane old boy squared the ball to present an easy chance from 12 yards. It is also a chiefly British affectionate form of address to a boy or man ⇒ ‘Look here, old boy,’ he said.

18a   Romantic novelist showing craft in family with daughter (8)

Dame Barbara Cartland^[5] (1901–2000) was an English author of light romantic fiction.

19a   Noise from boxer, say, giving natural protection (4)

21a   Bad diction encapsulating compulsive fan (6)

23a   One's happy to have shed habit? (8)

25a   Star member of Python team mentioned (4)

Eric Idle^[7] is an English comedian, actor, author, singer, writer and comedic composer. Idle was a member of the English surreal comedy group Monty Python, a member of the Rutles on Saturday Night Live, and the author of the Broadway musical Spamalot.

26a   Fur needed when getting cold in populous country (10)

27a   March round lots possibly in obscure conditions (8)

28a   Love shown by Anglican group for wild cat (6)

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.

The Church of England (abbreviation CE)^[10] is the reformed established state Church in England, Catholic in order and basic doctrine, with the Sovereign as its temporal head. As an adjective, Anglican^[5] means relating to or denoting the Church of England or any Church in communion with it.

Down

2d   Demonstrated shiny material (5)

3d   Popular lord backing fellow that's easy-going (9)

Lud^[5] (an alteration of lord, and usually m'lud or my lud) is a British term used to address a judge in a court of law ⇒ so it is alleged, m’lud.

4d   The Thunderer covering city in brief may be problematic (6)

In Scandinavian mythology, Thor^[5] is the god of thunder, the weather, agriculture, and the home. He is the son of Odin and Freya (Frigga). Thursday is named after him.

5d   A morning call bod made in recreational activity (8,7)

6d   Tom, say, getting a set of items, we hear -- engineer of change? (8)

7d   Tree and lake overlooking curved structure (5)

8d   Part's sure to be rewritten for celebrity (9)

14d   Inn loud lad disrupted I abandoned in Welsh place (9)

Llandudno^[5] is a resort town in Conwy, northern Wales, on the Irish Sea; population 15,200 (est. 2009).

16d   Dissolute character in family cut by warring tribe (9)

17d   Strategic conversation almost about part of play I caught (8)

On cricket scorecards, the abbreviation c^[5] denotes caught (by).

In reading the comments at Big Dave's site, I see that I am not the only one who questioned tactical being used as a synonym for strategic. Strategic^[5] means (1) relating to the identification of long-term or overall aims and interests and the means of achieving them or (2) relating to the gaining of overall or long-term military advantage. On the other hand, tactical^[5] means relating to or constituting actions carefully planned to gain a specific [as opposed to long-term] military end.

20d   Decorative work from firm after reversing economy measures (6)

22d   Coastline feature favoured by rental property (5)

In the UK, a let is (1) a period during which a room or property is rented ⇒ I’ve taken a month’s let on the flat [apartment] or (2) a property available for rent ⇒ an unfurnished let.

24d   Discharge some proposal voluntarily (5)

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