Thursday, December 19, 2013 — DT 27274

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27274
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27274]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog 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

Jay does not impose a very strenuous workout on us today. The puzzle may be most notable for a couple of errors that slipped by the editor. While the one at 27a may slip past a large segment of readers unnoticed, I am sure that many Canadians will readily pick up on the one at 1a.

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   Young seals surrounding the woman's children (7)

"Young seals" are not cubs, they are pups — a fact that the puzzles editor at The Daily Telegraph appears not to have twigged to until after this puzzle was released for syndication. However, the error was caught and corrected before The Daily Telegraph went to publication, with the clue being changed to:

• 1a   Young animals surrounding the woman's children (7)

Strangely, this correction did not get made on The Daily Telegraph website prior to publication. Thus the version seen by those in Britain solving the puzzle online was initially the same as the one appearing today in the National Post, being changed later in the day to the version that appeared in the newspaper in the UK.

9a   Primates back charge for divorce (8)

10a   Fantastic rates negotiated to include students (7)

The cryptic crossword convention of L meaning learner or student arises from the L-plate^[7], a square plate bearing a sans-serif letter L, for learner, which must be affixed to the front and back of a vehicle in various countries (including the UK) if its driver is a learner under instruction.

11a   Part of high street with redeeming features? (8)

In Britain, high street^[5] denotes the main street of a town, especially as the traditional site for most shops, banks, and other businesses ⇒ the approaching festive season boosted the high street.

12a   Block request for material (6)

13a   Condition making a horse trot strangely (4,6)

15a   Duck out of quite a lot (4)

16a   Former English beauty accommodating five administrators (9)

21a   A French and Italian fighting force (4)

In French, un^[8] is the masculine singular form of the indefinite article. It.^[10] is the abbreviation for Italy or Italian.

22a   One who's never happy to go over temporary repair (10)

24a   Start to speak about black freshwater fish (6)

The roach^[5] (Rutilus rutilus) is an edible Eurasian freshwater fish of the carp family, popular with anglers.

25a   Fashion fair open -- it gives coverage for clothes (8)

The garment that we in North America call a jumper, would be known to the Brits as a pinafore dress^[10] (often shortened to pinafore) — this being a sleeveless dress worn over a blouse or sweater. Note that, in Britain, jumper^[10] is another name for a sweater. Thus, if a British lass wore a pinafore over her jumper and a North American gal wore a jumper over her sweater, they would be dressed identically.  

Note that, in his review, Big Dave illustrates the clue with a picture of a pinafore apron rather than a pinafore dress — as he may well have felt this garment better suited the wording of the clue.

27a   PA system initially failing, Milliband is peeved (7)

I suspect for most North Americans, Tannoy would be known for its speakers rather than its PA systems. However, it seems that in the UK, tannoy^[5] is as synonymous with PA systems as kleenex is with facial tissues.

Tannoy Ltd^[7] is a Scotland-based manufacturer of loudspeakers and public-address (PA) systems. It became a household name as a result of supplying PA systems to the armed forces during World War II, and to Butlins and Pontins holiday camps^[5] [British term for a site for holidaymakers with accommodation, entertainment, and leisure facilities] after the war.

Big Dave could have written "a PA system without its initial letter followed by the first name of a politician with an extra letter".

The setter would seem to have misspelled the name of the British politician who appears in this clue. Ed Miliband^[7] is a British Labour Party politician who is currently the Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition.

28a   Runs into weird local in 'Ring O'Bells' (8)

On cricket scorecards, the abbreviation R^[5] denotes run(s).

Judging by a Google search, Ring O'Bells (together with the variants Ring O' Bells and Ring O Bells) is a common name for a pub in the UK.

29a   American communist accepting he is led (7)

Down

2d   Trouble at bath time? (3,5)

3d   Dependable engineers exposed to risk (8)

The Corps of Royal Engineers^[7], usually just called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the Sappers, is a corps of the British Army that provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces.

4d   Want followers to support bishop and reprobate (5,5)

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

5d   Great and good present during most of dinner, for example (4)

Mega^[5] is a [seemingly British] informal term meaning excellent ⇒ it will be a mega film. In North America, the term seems to be seen only in the alternate sense of very large or huge ⇒ he has signed a mega deal to make five movies.

6d   Judy's fella keeps a spare tyre (6)

Punch and Judy^[5] is an English puppet show presented on the miniature stage of a tall collapsible booth traditionally covered with striped canvas. The show was probably introduced from the Continent in the 17th century. Punch is on the manipulator’s right hand, remaining on stage all the time, while the left hand provides a series of characters—baby, wife (Judy), priest, doctor, policeman, hangman—for him to nag, beat, and finally kill.

Tyre^[5] is the British spelling of tire (in the sense of an automobile — or human body — component).

7d   Moneyspinner for accountant caught in exhibition (4,3)

As Big Dave indicates in his review, the abbreviation CA^[5] for Chartered Accountant  is used in Scotland — and was formerly employed in Canada. However, as of January 2013, Canadian CA's have adopted the CPA (Chartered Professional Accountant) designation. In England and Wales, the designatory letters are ACA or FCA while in Ireland (including Northern Ireland) the acronym CAI is used.^[7]

On cricket scorecards, the abbreviation c^[5] denotes caught (by).

8d   Terrible catastrophe with no char for them! (7)

In Britain, tea may informally be called char (or cha or chai)^[5].

11d   Turn sanctimonious student out of gambling game (9)

One of the students from 10a performs an encore.

Pi^[5] is an informal British short form for pious.

14d   Attachments to hips given by tense excited doctor (5,5)

Bones^[10] (perhaps a shortening of sawbones^[10]) is an informal nickname for a doctor — for instance, Star Trek's Bones McCoy^[7]).

17d   Regret returning to refreshing air in monied area (8)

The eurozone^[5] is the economic region formed by those member countries of the European Union that have adopted the euro.

18d   One small island in the Med attached to Germany, but separate (8)

The Med^[2,5,10] is an informal, chiefly British term for the Mediterranean Sea or the Mediterranean region.

The International Vehicle Registration (IVR) code for Germany is D^[5] [from German Deutschland].

19d   Climber's requirement that is full of cold cream (3,4)

20d   Nation's bank rapidly emptied (7)

23d   Piano frequently imported by Stallone (6)

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.

Sylvester "Sly" Stallone^[7] is an American actor best known for his portrayal of the characters boxer Rocky Balboa and soldier John Rambo.

26d   Criminal executed for swindle (4)

Keep in mind that beheading is the usual means of capital punishment employed in Crosswordland.

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