Wednesday, November 13, 2013 — DT 27246

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27246
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, August 2, 2013
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27246]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By crypticsue
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

My solving experience was very similar to that reported by crypticsue (who is sitting in for Gazza today). Like her, I found the puzzle to be very enjoyable with the northeast quadrant being the last area to be completed. I did discover from crypticsue's review that my solution for one clue was incorrect — largely due a bit of carelessness on my part.

Don Manley^[7], the setter of today's puzzle, supplies puzzles to a number of British publications. He is also the crossword editor for the Church Times (an independent Anglican weekly newspaper based in London). It should not be surprising that one often finds a clue or two with a religious theme in his puzzles.

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   Somewhat lacking in intelligence? That's unfair (1,3,5)

While the phrase "somewhat lacking in intelligence" does parse into the individual words in the solution to the clue, it could equally well serve as a second definition.

In informal British speech, the phrase a bit thick^[5] means unfair or unreasonable  ⇒ I thought this was a bit thick and tried to defend myself.

9a   Tiny mother's lowest points (6)

10a   A time to get something for Christmas? That's now! (2,7)

11a   We'll roll round in grass in US city (6)

In the UK, grass^[5] is used informally as a noun to mean a police informer and as a verb meaning to inform the police of someone’s criminal activities or plans ⇒ someone had grassed on the thieves. This expression may derive from rhyming slang (grasshopper = copper). 

In Britain, nark^[5] is slang for a police informer ⇒ I’m not a copper’s nark.

12a   Cop lied about nothing with good companion of his? (6,3)

13a   Former archbishop in Pope's place with men around (6)

In the British armed forces, the term other ranks (abbreviation OR)^[5] refers to all those who are not commissioned officers.
Óscar Romero^[7] (1917–1980) was a bishop of the Catholic Church in El Salvador who became the fourth Archbishop of San Salvador. Romero was assassinated on 24 March 1980 while celebrating Mass, one day after a sermon in which he had called on Salvadoran soldiers, as Christians, to obey God's higher order and to stop carrying out the government's repression and violations of basic human rights.

17a   End of the script providing spaces for printer (3)

In printing, an em^[5] is a unit for measuring the width of printed matter, equal to the height of the type size being used.

19a   Ape  to go into space (4,3)

20a   Difficult to get hold of answer in official report (7)

Hansard^[5] is the official verbatim record of debates in the British, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, or South African parliament. The name comes from Thomas C. Hansard (1776–1833), an English printer whose company originally printed it.

21a   Go in larder -- take out pan (3)

23a   Type who's let us all down? That's a sure bet! (6)

I entered BANGER here, based on a banger^[5] being an old car in poor condition — and certainly something that might let one down. I also mistakenly guessed that the word might be British slang for a sure bet. I had meant to check the validity of this supposition before looking at Big Dave's site but forgot to do so. Moreover, the pronoun "who" should have alerted me to the fact that we are looking for a person rather than a thing.

As it turns out, it is banker^[5] that is British slang for a supposedly certain bet ⇒ the horse should be a banker for him in the Members' race.

The first part of the clue would appear to be a commentary on incompetence and corruption in the banking industry.

27a   Close in on fantastic enamelwork (9)

Cloisonné^[5] is decorative work in which enamel, glass, or gemstones are separated by strips of flattened wire placed edgeways on a metal backing ⇒ (i) pieces of Chinese cloisonné; (ii) an emblem in beautiful cloisonné; (iii) [as modifier] cloisonné work.

28a   Attractive person  that's accepted by the pupil (6)

I would say that one is expected to read the latter part of the clue as "that [which] is accepted by the pupil" meaning "the maximum amount that can be accepted by the pupil [of the eye]".

29a   Speech in the office that comes from an autocrat? (9)

Someone who provides spoken text to a stenographer must be a dictator, right!

30a   Trees? A landowner's getting groups of two and three chopped (6)

31a   Hired  as a professional accountant? (9)

Down

2d   Saying book must be taken up for bed (6)

3d   Go round home and call it a day? (4,2)

4d   Son occupying one type of accommodation or another (6)

5d   Trick to get class to fall in line (7)

In Britain, a form^[5] is a class or year in a school, usually given a specifying number. Thus the fifth form would be the counterpart to the fifth grade in North America and Form One would be like saying Grade One.

6d   Keep out of sight, certain to be reactionary (9)

7d   Bishop, one subsequently gangster -- having two sides! (9)

B^[5] is an abbreviation for bishop that is used in recording moves in chess.

Al Capone^[5] (1899 – 1947) was an American gangster, of Italian descent. He dominated organized crime in Chicago in the 1920s and was indirectly responsible for many murders, including the St Valentine’s Day Massacre. [He now seems to be the crime boss in Crosswordland.]

8d   Support golfer from remote country area (9)

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. [Tiger would appear to have recently become a regular on the Crosswordland Golf Tour.]

14d   Country assistant's attempt to get starring role when about 50 (6,3)

Stable lad^[5] is a British term for a person employed in a stable.

15d   The female protecting relations notices unconventional youngsters (9)

A skinhead^[5] is a young man of a subculture characterized by close-cropped hair and heavy boots, often perceived as aggressive.

16d   Defensive group made rough manoeuvres (4,5)

The Home Guard^[5] was a British citizen army organized in 1940 to defend the UK against invasion, finally disbanded in 1957.

17d   Small creature, one airbrushed from electronic picture (3)

In the UK, e-fit^[5] is a trademark for an electronic picture of the face of a person being sought by the police, created by a computer program from composite photographs of facial features. The term is patterned after the British term photofit^[5], a reconstructed picture of a person, especially one sought by the police, made from composite photographs of facial features. In North America, such an image would simply be called a composite photo.

18d   Apprehensive  cast (3)

22d   Distinguished artist and famous actress meeting explorer (7)

A Royal Academician (abbreviation RA^[5]) is a member of the Royal Academy of Arts^[5], an institution established in London in 1768, whose purpose is to cultivate painting, sculpture, and architecture in Britain.

Vivien Leigh^[5] (1913–1967) was a British actress, born in India; born Vivian Mary Hartley. She won Oscars for her performances in Gone with the Wind (1939) and A Streetcar Named Desire (1951). She was married to Laurence Olivier from 1940 to 1961.

Sir Walter Raleigh^[5] (circa 1552–1618) was an English explorer, courtier, and writer. A favourite of Elizabeth I, he organized several voyages of exploration and colonization to the Americas, and introduced potato and tobacco plants to England. Imprisoned in 1603 by James I on a charge of conspiracy, he was released in 1616 to lead an expedition in search of El Dorado, but was executed on the original charge when he returned empty-handed.

24d   Troublemaker in port starts to turn everyone rebellious (6)

Rio de Janeiro^[5] (commonly known as Rio) is a city in eastern Brazil, on the Atlantic coast; population 6,093,472 (2007). The chief port of Brazil, it was the country’s capital from 1763 until 1960, when it was replaced by Brasilia.

25d   German writer's work on anaesthetic cut short (6)

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe^[5] (1749–1832) was a German poet, dramatist, and scholar. Involved at first with the Sturm und Drang movement, Goethe changed to a more measured and classical style, as in the ‘Wilhelm Meister’ novels (1796–1829). Notable dramas: Götz von Berlichingen (1773), Tasso (1790), and Faust (1808–32).

26d   One silly novel full of amorous emotion (2,4)

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