Friday, December 6, 2013 — DT 27265

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27265
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Saturday, August 24, 2013
Setter Cephas (Peter Chamberlain)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27265 - Hints] Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27265 - Review]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Big Dave (Hints) crypticsue (Review)
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
Notes As this was a Saturday "Prize Puzzle" in Britain, there are two entries related to it on Big Dave's Crossword Blog — the first, posted on the date of publication, contains hints for selected clues while the second is a full review issued following the entry deadline for the contest. The vast majority of reader comments will generally be found attached to the "hints" posting with a minimal number — if any — accompanying the full review.

Introduction

This morning, I was staring blankly at the nearly completed grid — with only 12d left to solve — with the radio playing in the background. As I was about to throw in the towel and issue a plea for help to my electronic assistants, an item came on the news dealing with an investigation into rail safety. Eureka!

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   Two loud experts communicating in person? (4,2,4)

Forte^[5] (abbreviation f^[5]) is a musical direction meaning (as an adjective) loud or (as an adverb) loudly.

6a   Baker forged link (4)

9a   Criminal organises, embracing start of gangster hostility (10)

10a   Notice  measles symptom (4)

13a   Diplomat's secured missing diamonds (7)

Diamonds (abbreviation D^[2]) is a suit in a deck of cards.

15a   I affectionately will wave goodbye to daughter, giving an expression of regret (2,4)

16a   Warm current discovered while working online (2,4)

El Niño^[5] is an irregularly occurring and complex series of climatic changes affecting the equatorial Pacific region and beyond every few years, characterized by the appearance of unusually warm, nutrient-poor water off northern Peru and Ecuador, typically in late December. The effects of El Niño include reversal of wind patterns across the Pacific, drought in Australasia, and unseasonal heavy rain in South America.

17a   One could show a woman the time of her life (10,5)

18a   Thief returned instrument used by Queen (6)

In this clue, "used by" is a charade indicator that one should interpret as meaning 'positioned next to".

20a   Weighty melons exchanged (6)

21a   Hopelessness of the French duo (7)

In grammatical terminology, des^[8] is a French determiner^[5] meaning 'some' or 'of the'.

22a   Cut makes Conservative on edge (4)

25a   Fixer and Mafia boss, unconscious (10)

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 one and only crime boss in Crosswordland.]

26a   Vegetable lasagne starter -- yikes! (4)

Starter^[5] is a chiefly British term [but one not totally foreign to Canada] meaning the first course of a meal.

27a   Italian staggered into a plane (10)

A Neapolitan^[5] is a native or inhabitant of Naples.

Down

1d   Anxiety's extreme, going over point (4)

2d   Pen impounded by narcotic agent (4)

3d   Deal with unknown contract (6)

In mathematics (algebra, in particular), an unknown^[10] is a variable, or the quantity it represents, the value of which is to be discovered by solving an equation ⇒ 3y = 4x + 5 is an equation in two unknowns. [Unknowns are typically represented symbolically by the letters x, y and z.]

4d   Unexpectedly find posh chap his place for a takeaway (4,3,4,4)

In Britain, takeaway^[5] can mean either (1) a restaurant or shop selling cooked food to be eaten elsewhere ⇒ (i) a fast-food takeaway; (ii) [as modifier] a takeaway pizza or (2) a meal or dish bought from a shop or restaurant to be eaten elsewhere ⇒ (i) he phoned for a takeaway; (ii) he is happy to eat Chinese takeaway. The equivalent North American term is takeout^[5].

In her review, crypticsue shows the definition as being "a takeaway" indicating that she is treating takeaway in the first sense listed above, i.e. as a restaurant. However, to avoid leaving part of the clue unaccounted for, I would have to conclude that takeaway is being used in the second sense (a meal) thereby resulting in "place for a takeaway" being the restaurant.

5d   Fool with high explosive makes for cover (6)

In British slang, a clot^[5] is a foolish or clumsy person ⇒ Watch where you’re going, you clot!.

7d   Behind bars -- dim person sadly getting one captured (10)

8d   Broadcasting simultaneously with web in operation (10)

11d   What you might call hell of a liberty? (10)

The wordplay here was a bit of a mystery to me. After a bit of research, I have concluded that the phrase "diabolical liberty" must be a very common British expression. American dictionaries appear to consider diabolical and diabolic to be synonyms, whereas British dictionaries make a distinction between the two terms. Typical of American dictionaries, The American Heritage Dictionary defines diabolical^[3] (also diabolic) to mean (1) of, concerning, or characteristic of the devil; in other words, satanic or (2) appropriate to a devil, especially in degree of wickedness or cruelty. Collins English Dictionary defines diabolical^[4] as an adjective meaning excruciatingly bad or outrageous which may be used as an intensifier — and the example chosen to illustrate this latter use is none other than "a diabolical liberty". This tells me that the expression is so common in the UK that it can be used to illustrate this meaning without further explanation.

Fowler's Modern English Usage explains the difference in usage between diabolic and diabolical as follows:

Diabolic is used primarily with direct reference to the devil (as in Byron's Satan...merely bent his diabolic brow an instant, 1822), whereas diabolical is used overwhelmingly in its extended meanings 'bad, disgraceful, awful', describing such things as the weather, road traffic, the performance of a football team, communications, and 'liberties':

Asked our postman about communications between Tunisia and England. He said they were 'diabolical'—S. Townsend, 1982

Then, all of sudden, the gendarmes burst in and nabbed the first two blokes they saw who looked like English toffs, which was a diabolical liberty—Daily Telegraph, 2004.

12d   Crazy reason to support and train leader (10)

The wordplay "crazy reason to support" is interpreted as "crazy; reason to support" which is equivalent to "crazy supported by reason". In a down clue, "support" serves as a charade indicator because the first part of the charade sits on top of (is supported by) the second part of the charade.

13d   Conceded we should block everybody overdrawn (7)

Here "block" is an insertion indicator being used in the sense of "to plug up".

14d   Person choosing to be at crosspurposes? (7)

I debated how much of this clue to underline. Should I underline merely the first two words (as crypticsue has done) or the entire clue?

In most clues, one finds two clearly delineated parts which we usually refer to as a definition and wordplay — or, more properly, a primary indication and a secondary indication. In such clues, each part independently leads to the solution. However, in the current clue, things are a bit more ambiguous. If I were to view the clue as a cryptic definition, I could underline the entire clue. However, I see this clue — while being a cryptic definition — to be an example of a special class of cryptic definition made up a primary indication which is a straight definition (in the current clue, "person choosing") and a secondary indication ("to be at cross-purposes"). The secondary indication does not lead one to the solution on its own (as wordplay would). Rather, it provides a bit of supplementary information (usually, as in this case, stated in a cryptic manner) that narrows the scope of the definition.

Thus, although the entire clue constitutes a cryptic definition, I believe it is more helpful in this situation to underline only the portion of the clue that could stand on its own as a straight definition.

19d   Parson shortly before worship (6)

20d   Outstanding  indicator (6)

23d   Northerner, no amateur on racecourse (4)

Since even residents of Manchester are considered Northeners in the UK, Scots must be from the far North.

Ascot Racecourse^[7] is a famous English racecourse, located in the small town of Ascot, Berkshire, used for thoroughbred horse racing. It is one of the leading racecourses in the United Kingdom, hosting 9 of the UK's 32 annual Group 1 races. The course is closely associated with the British Royal Family, being approximately six miles from Windsor Castle.

24d   Mountain climbing nationalist’s scheme (4)

I was able to find N^[1] as an abbreviation for Nationalist in The Chambers Dictionary.

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