Tuesday, November 5, 2013 — DT 27240

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27240
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, July 26, 2013
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27240]
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

I certainly can't argue with Gazza's assessment of this puzzle. The fact that my electronic assistants sat idle again today is a good indication that the puzzle is not overly difficult. In terms of enjoyment, it is Giovanni near the top of his form.

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   Drink? Bobby goes to work after a litre (7)

In Britain, bobby^[5] is an informal name for a police officer. The name comes from a nickname for Robert, the given name of Sir Robert Peel^[5] (1788–1850), British Prime Minister 1834-5 and 1841-6, who as Home Secretary (1828–30) established the Metropolitan Police [perhaps better known as Scotland Yard].

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.

Alcopop^[5] is a British colloquial term for a ready-mixed drink that resembles a soft drink but contains alcohol. In Canada, such a beverage is known as a cooler^[7].

The wordplay here is COP (bobby) + (goes to) OP (work) following (after) {A (from the clue) + L (litre)}.

The rationale for the use of the phrase "goes to" as a charade indicator may become clearer if one thinks of it as meaning "leads to". Thus the clue instructs us that COP leads to OP, implying that COP must come first. We will see a similar construction later in the puzzle.

5a   Stalemate that is restricting politician, twerp (7)

In many Commonwealth countries (including Britain and Canada), a member of the House of Commons or similar legislative body is known as a Member of Parliament^[10] (or MP^[5] for short).

9a   Like the modern computerised office  with bare walls? (9)

In this double definition, the second definition is a bit cryptic.

10a   Cook employed by bistro, a star (5)

11a   World of learning made to look silly, wonderful on the outside (7)

12a   See  film with Oscar-winning actor (7)

A see^[10] is the diocese of a bishop, or the place within it where his cathedral or procathedral is situated. The Diocese of Lincoln^[7] is a diocese of the Church of England which covers the ceremonial county of Lincolnshire, England.

Lincoln^[7] is a 2012 American epic historical drama film produced and directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Daniel Day-Lewis as United States President Abraham Lincoln and Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln. Day-Lewis won an Oscar for Best Actor for his role.

13a   Polite man's not a silly fool (9)

16a   That is the thing to enthral some of the French (2,3)

In French, des^[8] is a determiner^[5] meaning some.

17a   Exclamation of surprise about identity revealed by woman post-match (5)

... this match having been ended by a (supposedly) tragic event.

18a   What's handwritten  diagram showing data for car? (9)

I would say that this clue (similar to 9a) is a double definition with the second definition being cryptic. I did debate whether to underline the latter part of the clue or follow Gazza's lead and leave it unmarked. While the definition here may be somewhat more cryptic than that in 9a, I can see no compelling reason to treat the two clues differently.

21a   Way of speaking of various characters in citadel (7)

The use of various^[10] as an anagram indicator may arise from an obsolete usage in which the word means inconstant [variable or fickle]. Thus "various characters" could be interpreted as "variable or fickle characters".

22a   River once more receding with rain reduced by half (7)

The Niagara River^[5] flows northwards for 56 km (35 miles) from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, forming part of the border between Canada and the US.

25a   Plant collections outside university (5)

26a   Deformed character, seemingly modern, needing love (9)

Quasimodo^[5] is the name of the hunchback in Victor Hugo’s novel Notre-Dame de Paris (1831).

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.

27a   Peculiar extent to which holy person must go (7)

In 1a, we saw the use of "goes to" (in the sense of "leads to") being used as a charade indicator. In the present clue, we see essentially the same thing. The phrase "extent to which holy person must go" is an equivalent — if less elegant — way of saying "holy person must go to extent". Thus the wordplay is ST (holy person) + (must go to; must lead to) RANGE (extent).

28a   Mum's pet is a dog (7)

Down

1d   A chime from the belfry's keeping quiet -- requests being made (7)

Piano^[3,5] (abbreviation p^[5]), is a musical direction meaning either (as an adjective) soft or quiet or (as an adverb) softly or quietly.

2d   Copper and quiet old man getting together for a drink (5)

Ditto for quiet from 1d.

The symbol for the chemical element copper is Cu^[5] (from Latin cuprum).

Cuppa^[3,4,11] is an informal British term for a cup of tea.

3d   Analyse astronomical distance without using speed of light (5)

The parsec^[5] is a unit of distance used in astronomy, equal to about 3.26 light years (3.086 × 10¹³ kilometres). One parsec corresponds to the distance at which the mean radius of the earth’s orbit subtends an angle of one second of arc.

In physics, c^[5] is the symbol for the speed of light in a vacuum ⇒ E = mc².

4d   Stop gift, having had change of heart (7)

5d   Slight cut? Then get in something that could be injected (7)

6d   Office assistant in tenanted property bringing up kids (9)

7d   Take off a grasping bishop in TV series (4,5)

The Pope^[7] is the Bishop of Rome and the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church.

8d   On tops of collectors' tables old money is put out (7)

... "old" as in former.

Tin^[5] is dated British slang for money ⇒ Kim’s only in it for the tin.

Extinct^[5] is used in the sense of  no longer alight ⇒ his now extinct pipe.

14d   Threat maybe from this companion of Alice's? (3,6)

The wordplay is an inverse anagram (or, if you prefer, a reverse anagram). The anagram indicator (MAD) and fodder (HATTER) form the solution to the clue, while the result of the anagram operation (THREAT) is found in the clue itself. This is the inverse of the "normal" situation.

I suppose being an engineer with a degree in mathematics predisposes me to prefer the use of the word inverse^[5] rather than reverse. The relation between an anagram and an inverse anagram is analogous to that between a logarithm and an inverse logarithm.

15d   Saloons we refurbished in period when few visitors would be expected (3,6)

17d   Theologian in one part of the UK walks with swaying gait (7)

Doctor of Divinity^[7] (D.D. or DD, Divinitatis Doctor in Latin) is an advanced academic degree in divinity. Historically, it identified one who had been licensed by a university to teach Christian theology or related religious subjects. In the United Kingdom, Doctor of Divinity has traditionally been the highest doctorate granted by universities, usually conferred upon a religious scholar of standing and distinction. In the United States, the Doctor of Divinity is usually awarded as an honorary degree.

18d   What could be quaint, coming to sale finally? (7)

19d   Cat carried around close in a pick-up (4,3)

Equating pick-up and tone arm seemed incorrect to me — my understanding of these terms matching the definitions found in the Oxford Dictionaries Online and The Chambers Dictionary entries shown below.

However, some research and a bit of thinking about the question led me to suspect that the terms might be synonymous to the Brits.

According to Oxford Dictionaries Online, a tone arm^[5] is the movable arm supporting the pickup of a record player with a pickup^[5] being defined as a device that produces an electrical signal in response to some other kind of signal or change, in particular the cartridge of a record player, carrying the stylus.

On the other hand, Collins English Dictionary defines tone arm^[10] as another name for pick-up where pick-up (also called pick-up arm) is the light balanced arm of a record player that carries the wires from the cartridge to the preamplifier. Pick-up is also defined as another name for cartridge.

Chambers 21st Century Dictionary does not have a listing for tone arm, but defines pick-up^[2] as the stylus on a record player. 

Thus from these various dictionaries we have three different meanings for pick-up — viz. the stylus on a record player, the cartridge holding the stylus, or the arm supporting the cartridge.

What does The Chambers Dictionary — supposedly "The Bible" for Daily Telegraph puzzles — have to say? It defines pick-up^[1] (also pick-up head) as a transducer, activated by a sapphire or diamond stylus following a groove on a gramophone record, which transforms the mechanical into electrical impulses and tone arm^[1] as the movable arm that carries an electric pick-up on a record player. This is essentially the same definitions as found in Oxford Dictionaries Online.  

Although Collins (whose definition supports the meanings found in the clue) appears to be outvoted by Chambers and Oxford, it is nevertheless the definition in Collins that led me to believe that the terms might well be synonymous to the Brits? If, as I venture to suggest, a tone arm was originally also known as a pick-up arm (a logical supposition since it is an arm which supports a pick-up or cartridge), then the term could easily have been shortened to pick-up through the British propensity to convert adjectives into nouns. I have observed this time and time again in such examples as estate car [station wagon] being shortened to estate, Indian restaurant being shortened to Indian, etc., etc.

20d   Guillotine done its job?  Check! (4,3)

23d   Stars come in view with sun sinking (5)

24d   Be ill, eating nothing -- after which one is dressing (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