Friday, November 22, 2013 — DT 27255

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27255
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27255]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog 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

Introduction

Three quadrants went in without much difficulty but the southwest proved to be a different matter. I spent as much time on it as I did on the rest of the puzzle combined. In the end, I needed a bit of aid from my electronic assistants to finish.

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

7a   Distinctive clothing, note, I brought into special sports meeting (7)

In Britain, a gala^[5] is a special sports meeting, especially a swimming competition ⇒ we met at a swimming gala.

In the UK, re^[5] is a variant spelling of ray^[5] which (in tonic sol-fa) is the second note of a major scale. However, re^[3,11] is the only spelling found in a sampling of American dictionaries.

9a   Petition about it after oil's spilt (7)

10a   Impish youngster, beginning to swagger, theatrically exaggerated (5)

11a   Scriptwriter having tipple with performer right away (9)

12a   Street band likes playing for idle amusement (4,3,8)

Skittles^[5] is a game played with wooden pins, typically nine in number, set up at the end of an alley to be bowled down with a wooden ball or disc. Beer and skittles^[5] is a British expression meaning amusement or enjoyment ⇒ life isn’t all beer and skittles.

13a   Show about the climate (7)

I found a couple of examples in which wear can mean show or display. Wear^[5] can mean to exhibit or present (a particular facial expression or appearance) ⇒ they wear a frozen smile on their faces. Furthermore, wear^[5] is a nautical expression meaning (of a ship) to fly (a flag) ⇒ any British registered boat may wear the red ensign.

16a   Judge  a person willing to provide a testimonial (7)

In Britain, referee^[5] is the name used for a person willing to testify in writing about the character or ability of someone, especially an applicant for a job ⇒ the subject of a bad reference can sue the referee for libel.

19a   Realm of fantasy provided by castles in Spain? (5-6-4)

Cloud cuckoo land^[5] is a state of absurdly over-optimistic fantasy ⇒ anyone who believes that the Bill will be effective is living in cloud cuckoo land. The term comes from the name of the city built by the birds in Aristophanes' comedy Birds. While this term is to be found in all my usual British dictionaries, I did not find it in either of the two American dictionaries that I consulted (American Heritage Dictionary and Random House Unabridged Dictionary). Although Oxford Dictionaries Online spells it as three separate words, the term is hyphenated in The Chambers Dictionary^[1], the Chambers 21st Century Dictionary^[5], and Collins English Dictionary^[4].

23a   Take turns to change a ten, counterfeit (9)

24a   Ask compiler, ultimately, for puzzle (5)

25a   Very serious  furthest from the centre (7)

26a   Getting on one in crazy game (3,4)

Down

1d   Angry, beak finding weapon (8)

A beak^[5] is a projection at the prow of an ancient warship, typically shaped to resemble the head of a bird or other animal, used to pierce the hulls of enemy ships.

2d   Hit and run, being negligent (8)

3d   What may make CID honest? (6)

The wordplay is Question: What may make CID? Answer: C AND ID.

The Criminal Investigation Department (seemingly better known by its abbreviation CID^[2]) is the detective branch of the British police force.

4d   Adaptable electric current feeding factory (6)

In physics, I^[5] is the symbol for electric current.

5d   German playwright's second terrifying work (8)

Friedrich von Schiller^[5] (1759–1805) was a German dramatist, poet, historian, and critic. Initially influenced by the Sturm und Drang movement, he was later an important figure of the Enlightenment. His historical plays include the trilogy Wallenstein (1800), Mary Stuart (1800), and William Tell (1804). Among his best-known poems is ‘Ode to Joy’, which Beethoven set to music in his Ninth Symphony.

6d   Data acquiring university prestige (6)

8d   Elegance shown by good people (5)

9d   One following singular speaker (7)

14d   Deserter in a potty situation (8)

In Britain, po^[5] is an informal name for a chamber pot.

The word gazunder^[5] (used by Big Dave in his review) is defined in all my regular online dictionaries [that is, in all the British online dictionaries] as an informal British term meaning to lower the amount of an offer that one has made to (the seller of a property), typically just before the exchange of contracts ⇒ the couple have just been gazundered in one of London’s most expensive areas.

In this sense, gazunder is a humorous blend of the words gazump and under. Gazump^[5] is an informal British term meaning to make a higher offer for a house than (someone whose offer has already been accepted by the seller) and thus succeed in acquiring the property ⇒ the trio are fuming after they were gazumped by a property speculator. The word comes from the Yiddish word gezumph meaning to overcharge.

However, my copy of The Chambers Dictionary has a couple of additional meanings for gazunder^[1], (1) a chiefly Australian term for a chamberpot and (2) a low ball in cricket. These latter meanings apparently derive from the pronunciation of goes under in informal speech.

15d   Savoury dish produced by boy, eaten by libertine (7)

A roulade^[5] is a dish cooked or served in the form of a roll, typically made from a flat piece of meat, fish, or sponge, spread with a soft filling and rolled up into a spiral.

17d   Highwaymen following, so adopt changes (8)

A footpad^[5] is a highwayman operating on foot rather than riding a horse.

18d   Disgustingly loaded, having gold deposited -- here? (2,6)

Or^[5] is gold or yellow, as a heraldic tincture. In heraldry, a tincture^[5] is any of the conventional colours (including the metals and stains, and often the furs) used in coats of arms.

El Dorado^[5] is the name of a fictitious country or city abounding in gold, formerly believed to exist somewhere in the region of the Orinoco and Amazon Rivers.

19d   Yellow head of cage bird (6)

20d   County circle upset staff at first (6)

Dorset^[5] is a county of SW England; county town, Dorchester.

21d   To stay the course means working (4,2)

Means^[5] is used in the sense of financial resources or income ⇒ a woman of modest but independent means.

Keep^[5] is used in the sense of (1) food, clothes, and other essentials for living ⇒ the Society are paying for your keep; or (2) the cost of the essentials for living.

22d   Some of what's eaten on a cruise ship? (2,3)

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