Thursday, November 7, 2013 — DT 27242

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27242
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, July 29, 2013
Setter Rufus (Roger Squires)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27242]
Big Dave's Review Written By Libellule
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

Once again, Rufus serves up a very enjoyable puzzle. I did have to call out the electronic reinforcements today — but only briefly.

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   As worn by vicars and boxers (3,7)

In the Church of England, a rector^[5] is the incumbent [the holder of an ecclesiastical benefice] of a parish where all tithes formerly passed to the incumbent. A vicar^[5], on the other hand, is an incumbent of a parish where tithes formerly passed to a chapter or religious house or layman. A benefice^[5] is a permanent Church appointment, typically that of a rector or vicar, for which property and income are provided in respect of pastoral duties. The terms rector and vicar are also used in the Roman Catholic Church, where they have different meanings.

9a   Fish that's a foot in length? (4)

I am sure that this is a variation on a clue that I have seen before. If I recall correctly, other versions of the clue include "Fish that is part of a foot" or (better still) "Fish that is underfoot". However, for me, today's clue doesn't work as well as either of those earlier variants. I don't see how the phrase "in length" contributes in any way to the cryptic reading of the clue. It seems to be thrown in merely to enhance the surface reading. Furthermore, a "sole" is not a foot, but merely a part of a foot.

While the wordplay is clear enough to be easily solvable, I don't believe that the setter hit the bull's eye with this one.

10a   Got roaring drunk, showing great enthusiasm (6,2,2)

11a   Cuts perhaps may get us down (6)

12a   Political type helps to form sporadic alliances (7)

15a   Put some notes in order? (7)

16a   Keep  off the highway (3-2)

In the UK, a lay-by^[5] is an area at the side of a road where vehicles may pull off the road and stop.

This is one of those clues (of which Rufus is especially fond) that causes me nightmares when trying to underline the definition [which may, in some part, explain why Libellule (who regularly reviews Rufus' puzzles for Big Dave's blog) is loath to adopt this practice].

If we treat this as a double definition (as I have chosen to do), the primary indication (keep) is a valid definition. However, the secondary indication is not — at least, not on its own. As I rationalize it, to solve the clue, we are required to mentally fill in an implicit piece of the clue to get "[a place] off the highway".

An alternative might be to classify the entire clue as a cryptic definition, in which case I could simply underline the entire clue. While that would solve my dilemma, it would probably be less helpful to readers.

17a   Fish  deep in sound (4)

There is no problem with this one. It is a clear-cut case of a double definition.

18a   Groom takes horse round Epsom finally (4)

A cob^[3,4,11] is a thickset short-legged type of riding and draught horse.

Epsom Downs^[7] is a Grade 1 racecourse near Epsom, Surrey, England. The "downs" referred to in the name are part of the North Downs, a ridge of chalk hills in south east England. The course is best known for hosting the Epsom Derby, the United Kingdom's premier thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old colts and fillies, over a mile and a half (2400m). It also hosts the Epsom Oaks for three-year-old fillies and the Coronation Cup for all ages over the same distance. 

19a   The French male remains in control (5)

In French, the masculine singular form of the definite article is le^[8].

21a   First  sanction in writing (7)

22a   Decide to imbibe a port in the USA (7)

Seattle^[5] is a port and industrial city in the state of Washington, on the eastern shores of Puget Sound; population 598,541 (est. 2008). First settled in 1852, it is now the largest city in the north-western US.

24a   Quarrel has bearing on the French (6)

See entry for 19a.

27a   Good ones get a lot of backing -- so research reveals (10)

Aintree^[5], Newmarket^[5], and Ascot^[5] (which are mentioned by Libellule in his review) are British racecourses.

28a   It's everything for some, and nothing (4)

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.

29a   Where one experiments with Socialist rhetoric? (10)

The Labour Party^[5] (abbreviation Lab.^[5]) in Britain is a left-of-centre political party formed to represent the interests of ordinary working people that since the Second World War has been in power 1945–51, 1964–70, 1974-9, and 1997–2010. Arising from the trade union movement at the end of the 19th century, it replaced the Liberals as the country’s second party after the First World War.

Down

2d   Work with man that's said to be unlucky (4)

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.

In the Middle Ages, opal^[7] was considered a stone that could provide great luck because it was believed to possess all the virtues of each gemstone whose color was represented in the color spectrum of the opal. It was also said to confer the power of invisibility if wrapped in a fresh bay leaf and held in the hand. Following the publication of Sir Walter Scott's Anne of Geierstein in 1829, however, opal acquired a less auspicious reputation. In Scott's novel, the Baroness of Arnheim wears an opal talisman with supernatural powers. When a drop of holy water falls on the talisman, the opal turns into a colorless stone and the Baroness dies soon thereafter. Due to the popularity of Scott's novel, people began to associate opals with bad luck and death. Within a year of the publishing of Scott's novel in April 1829, the sale of opals in Europe dropped by 50%, and remained low for the next twenty years or so. Even as recently as the beginning of the 20th century, it was believed that when a Russian saw an opal among other goods offered for sale, he or she should not buy anything more since the opal was believed to embody the evil eye.

3d   Affected stylish greeting (6)

4d   Soldier seen in pub? It's to be expected (7)

In Britain, a local^[7] is a pub convenient to a person’s home ⇒ a pint in the local.

5d   Excited about grand ring set in silver (4)

The symbol for the chemical element silver is Ag^[5] (from Latin argentum).

6d   Why Rose is upset with a rather wet description (7)

7d   Very poor description of a beaten boxer (4-3-3)

8d   Get together again for meals and beers out (10)

12d   The buck stops here (6,4)

A buck^[5] is a male hare, rabbit, ferret, rat, or kangaroo.

13d   Girl's letter giving the brush off? (10)

By far and away, the most popular girl's name in Crosswordland is Di.

14d   Lincoln students going without name-tag (5)

Abraham Lincoln^[5] (1809–1865) was an American Republican statesman, 16th President of the US 1861-5. His election as President on an anti-slavery platform helped precipitate the American Civil War; he was assassinated shortly after the war ended. Lincoln was noted for his succinct, eloquent speeches, including the Gettysburg Address of 1863.

15d   Beast of burden goes round by deep gorge (5)

19d   Tear all to pieces sideways (7)

20d   Be informed about the plant (7)

23d   Eager desire for an unpleasant sensation (6)

25d   He's not a striking example of comradeship (4)

26d   One will take you back in the car (4)

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