Wednesday, October 2, 2013 — DT 27216

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27216
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, June 28, 2013
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27216]
Big Dave's Review Written By Gazza
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, the roadblock which kept me from finishing without assistance consisted of a bit of British slang at 4d (which I have previously encountered) and a religious term at 13a (which is new to me).

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   Fascinating gent in car wandering around end of town (10)

6a   Full one may be seen just before you get to a capital (4)

In the UK, the punctuation mark (.) used at the end of a sentence or an abbreviation is called a full stop^[5] — rather than a period^[5], as it is known in North America.

9a   Trader working morning or evening originally (10)

In Britain, a person or shop selling hardware such as tools and household implements is termed an ironmonger^[5].

10a & 11d   Festival's right to change to offer a big emotional experience (4,2,5,5)

12a   In a while senior clerics will get the edges knocked off (4)

In the Church of England, a canon^[5] is a member of the clergy who is on the staff of a cathedral, especially one who is a member of the chapter [the governing body of a religious community or knightly order] ⇒ he was appointed canon of Christ Church, Oxford.

13a   Debts of gratitude one good discharged in religious offerings (9)

In the Christian Church, an oblation^[5] is the presentation of bread and wine to God in the Eucharist.

This word being new to me, I fruitlessly spent a good deal of time trying to rationalize turning ABSOLUTION into either ABLUTION or SOLUTION.

15a   Supervisor in charge of someone wise (8)

16a   Films and some music in E/Magazine (6)

In the UK, the final word in the clue seems to have been written "e-magazine". An e-magazine (or e-zine) is a type of online magazine^[7], a magazine published on the Internet.

18a   French woman, the first person hugged by this writer (6)

A common cryptic crossword convention — that we have seen as recently as yesterday, is for the creator of the puzzle to use terms such as compiler, setter, author, writer, or this person to refer to himself or herself. To solve such a clue, one must generally substitute a first person pronoun (I or me) for whichever of these terms has been used in the clue.

According to biblical and Koranic traditions, Adam^[5] was the name of the first man. According to the Book of Genesis, Adam was created by God as the progenitor of the human race and lived with Eve in the Garden of Eden.

20a   Argument by Cornish river -- voice is high-pitched (8)

The River Fal^[7] flows through Cornwall, England, rising on Goss Moor and reaching the English Channel at Falmouth.

23a   Water pouring into bit of furniture? Dog will learn better, if this! (9)

24a   Father beginning to show anger (4)

26a   Flag poses one with endless danger (4)

A flag^[4] is any of various plants [including the iris] that have long swordlike leaves.

27a   They could be in snow gear! (10)

28a   Wind in last two-thirds of month (4)

29a   May hates to travel around -- she's this then? (4-2-4)

Down

1d   Name of woman is name featured in Muslim festival (4)

I found the repetition of the word "name" to be rather inelegant. Might not the clue have been better phrased as "Woman's name featured in Muslim festival".

Gazza illustrates the clue with a photo of English children's writer Enid Blyton^[7] (1897 – 1968).

2d   Clobber making a mess of counter (7)

In the surface reading, clobber^[5] would likely be British slang for clothing, personal belongings, or equipment ⇒ I found all his clobber in the locker [... or on the counter].

3d   What may be given by the man getting agitated with dim son? (12)

4d   Excuses being cheated, taken in by tricks (8)

In Britain, do^[5] is an informal term for swindle ⇒ a thousand pounds for one set of photos — Jacqui had been done.

5d   Anger is unnecessary, but couple finally part (6)

7d   Couple of women meeting seaman in book (7)

Most of the dictionaries that I consulted listed W^[5,10] as an abbreviation for women's (as a clothing size). However, Chambers 21st Century Dictionary also shows W^[5] as being an abbreviation for women.

8d   Newspaper mogul to continue energetically, circumventing prohibition (5,5)

Gazza illustrates the clue with a picture of Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook^[5] (1879 – 1964), the Canadian-born British Conservative politician and newspaper proprietor. He bought the Daily Express in 1916 and increased its circulation to record levels. Beaverbrook was also Minister of Aircraft Production in Churchill’s cabinet (1940).

11d   See 10a

14d   Laying out floor covering -- in favour of making a start (10)

17d   Travel on a road to find meal (8)

In Britain, takeaway^[5] can mean either (1) a restaurant or shop selling cooked food to be eaten elsewhere ⇒ (i) a fast-food takeaway; (ii) [as modifier] a takeaway pizza or (2) a meal or dish bought from a shop or restaurant to be eaten elsewhere ⇒ (i) he phoned for a takeaway; (ii) he is happy to eat Chinese takeaway. The equivalent North American term is takeout^[5].

19d   Sadly missed Princess stars in written accounts (7)

Diana, Princess of Wales^[5] (1961 – 1997) is the former wife of Prince Charles; title before marriage Lady Diana Frances Spencer. The daughter of the 8th Earl Spencer, she married Prince Charles in 1981; the couple were divorced in 1996. She became a popular figure through her charity work and glamorous media appearances, and her death in a car crash in Paris gave rise to intense national mourning.

21d   Fuss about sailors facing a big storm (7)

The Royal Navy (abbreviation RN)^[5] is the British navy.

22d   Religious leader said to be one of a comic duo (6)

If it were up to Gazza, who seems not to appreciate North American humour, the definition might have been extended to include the words "said to be" ("supposed to be"). However, "said to be" is the homophone indicator and not part of the definition.

Bud Abbott^[7] (1895 – 1974) was an American actor, producer and comedian. He is best remembered as the straight man of the comedy team of Abbott and Costello, with Lou Costello.

25d   What wise editor restricts? It makes sense to me! (1,3)

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