Monday, November 4, 2013 — DT 27239

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27239
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, July 25, 2013
Setter RayT (Ray Terrell)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27239]
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

Introduction

I nearly threw in the towel early, but a bit of "perservation" (in the words of Mary, a regular contributor to Big Dave's site) allowed me to complete the puzzle without disturbing my electronic assistants.

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   A fine female, fit and friendly (7)

5a   A clot is treated for patient (7)

9a   Certain to turn over in intimate examination (7)

10a   Girl expressed pleasure vocally, getting caught (7)

11a   Through decree nisi, I left moving house (9)

In English law, a decree nisi^[5] is an order by a court of law stating the date on which a marriage will end unless a good reason not to grant a divorce is produced.

12a   Got a whiff of  fish (5)

13a   Composer's final character in record (5)

Franz Liszt^[7] (1811–1886) was a Hungarian composer and pianist.

15a   One 'rug' filling void is lifeless (9)

I must say that I found it a bit of a stretch to accept that void and inane could be synonyms. Void^[10], as an adjective, can mean without contents or empty. Inane^[10] means senseless, unimaginative, or empty; unintelligent ⇒ inane remarks. Despite having the word "empty" in common — in rather different contexts — I don't see how the definitions are very similar. The fact that A is a synonym of C and B is also a synonym of C does not necessarily make A a synonym of B.

Nevertheless, The Chambers Dictionary defines inane^[1] to be an adjective meaning empty, void; vacuous; senseless; characterless.

17a   Will try to accept pet name (9)

19a   Smells bit of fish turning, fish oddly (5)

Niff^[5] is British slang that means, as a noun, an unpleasant smell ⇒ the horrible fishy niff or, as a verb, to have an unpleasant smell ⇒ a dark room that always niffed a bit.

22a   Tory leader's 'Cuddles for hooligans' (5)

The Tory leader in the UK is British Conservative statesman David Cameron^[5] who has been Prime Minister since 2010 (in coalition with the Liberal Democrats).

It is, apparently, a widely held belief in the UK that Cameron (prior to becoming Prime Minister) said in a speech that Brits should "hug-a-hoodie" — hoodie^[10] being a name applied by Brits to a young person who wears a hooded sweatshirt, regarded by some as a potential hooligan. As this clip from the BBC points out, Cameron never uttered those words; rather the phrase comes from a Labour Party press release.

23a   Plain site with green eruption (9)

The Serengeti^[5] is a vast plain in Tanzania, to the west of the Great Rift Valley. In 1951 the Serengeti National Park was created to protect the area’s large numbers of wildebeest, zebra, and Thomson’s gazelle.

25a   Capital character seen in 'Skull Island' (7)

Nairobi^[5] is the capital of Kenya; population 3,010,000 (est. 2007). It is situated on the central Kenyan plateau at an altitude of 1,680 m (5,500 ft).

26a   Last out of newspapers is Times (7)

The Times^[7] is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register (it became The Times on 1 January 1788). Since 1981, the paper has been a subsidiary of the News Corp group headed by Rupert Murdoch.

27a   Abrasion from small clasp retaining middle of bra (7)

28a   Doctor cut around and deepened cut? (7)

Down

1d   Dismay about return of Queen outfit (7)

The regnal ciphers (monograms) of British monarchs are initials formed from the Latin version of their first name followed by either Rex or Regina (Latin for king or queen, respectively). Thus the regnal cipher of Queen Elizabeth is ER^[5] — from the Latin Elizabetha Regina.

2d   Woods warning by second tees (7)

Think of "tee" as a letter of the alphabet rather than a item used by a golfer.

Tiger Woods^[5] is an American golfer; born Eldrick Woods. In 2000 he became the youngest player to win all four of golf’s grand slam events. During 1997–2008 he won 14 major championships.

3d   Having a position when in sack (5)

4d   Insect found in say, border plant (9)

Eglantine^[5] is another term for sweet briar^[5], a Eurasian wild rose (Rosa rubiginosa) with fragrant leaves and flowers.

5d   Crack setter often leaves vague enigmas initially (5)

6d   Sitting with old boy on hobby-horse (9)

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.

7d   Reportedly catch a severe infection (7)

8d   Unruly girl's behind holding unruly youth up (7)

Ted^[2] is short for Teddy boy^[5], a slang term originally applied to a young man belonging to a subculture in 1950s Britain characterized by a style of dress based on Edwardian fashion (typically with drainpipe trousers, bootlace tie, and hair slicked up in a quiff) and a liking for rock-and-roll music.The name comes from from Teddy, pet form of the given name Edward (with reference to Edward VII's reign). Judging by the entry in the Chambers 21st Century Dictionary, it would appear that the term Teddy boy^[2] is now applied to any unruly or rowdy adolescent male.

Ladette^[5] is British slang for a young woman who behaves in a boisterously assertive or crude manner and engages in heavy drinking sessions.

14d   Ship new craft over on south dock (9)

16d   One's a hard case or hard top, possibly (9)

An arthropod^[4] is any invertebrate of the phylum Arthropoda, having jointed limbs, a segmented body, and an exoskeleton made of chitin. The group includes the crustaceans, insects, arachnids, and centipedes.

17d   Contracting this tautens terribly (7)

This is a semi & lit. clue, one in which the entire clue serves as the definition and a portion of the clue forms the wordplay.

18d   More like dressing, or less dressed? (7)

In his review, Big Dave writes of someone "wearing fewer clothes in order to titivate". In some cases, being less dressed may well be a titivation — but I think that it is just as likely to be a titillation.

20d   Twisting former husband in brief affair (7)

Twist^[5] is British slang meaning to cheat or defraud.

21d   End of italics slanted and unnatural (7)

23d   Sabbath want to get fashionable (5)

Swish^[5] is British slang meaning impressively smart and fashionable ⇒ dinner at a swish hotel.

24d   Thinner veil revealing cheek (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