Thursday, December 5, 2013 — DT 27264

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27264
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, August 23, 2013
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27264]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog 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

While I did call in my electronic reinforcements to help with two hold-out clues, they needed to give me merely a gentle nudge to complete the puzzle.

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   Become attached to Heather making wild animal noises? (8)

Another name for the common heather of Eurasia is ling^[5].

6a   In drunken sets a female should be most cautious (6)

9a   Male I would want to become, certainly not a huge fellow! (6)

10a   Metamorphosing larvae in plant (8)

Valerian^[5] is a Eurasian plant which typically bears clusters of small pink or white flowers; in particular common valerian (Valeriana officinalis), a valued medicinal herb, and the Mediterranean red valerian (Centranthus ruber), grown for its spurred flowers which attract butterflies.

11a   Put off vehicles I had returned by foot finally (8)

12a   Composer wandering about in Harlem (6)

Gustav Mahler^[5] (1860–1911) was an Austrian composer, conductor, and pianist. Forming a link between romanticism and the experimentalism of Schoenberg, his works include nine complete symphonies (1888–1910) and the symphonic song cycle Das Lied von der Erde (1908).

13a   Seaman having time tucked into eel supplied by market trader (12)

Ordinary seaman (abbreviation OS)^[5] is the lowest rank of sailor in the Royal Navy, below able seaman.

In Britain, a trader^[2] is someone who trades [deals], often one who owns or runs a shop or market stall, or who trades in a particular group of goods. Merchant^[5], in the sense of a retail trader [shopkeeper to the Brits], would seem to be a North American usage. In the UK, the term merchant means a person or company involved in wholesale trade, especially one dealing with foreign countries or supplying goods to a particular trade ⇒ (i) a builders' merchant; (ii) a tea merchant.

Chiefly a British term, monger^[3,4,11] (in combination except in archaic use) denotes a dealer in or trader of a commodity ⇒ (i) an ironmonger; (ii) a fishmonger.

Costermonger^[5] is a dated British term for a person who sells goods, especially fruit and vegetables, from a handcart in the street. The term originated in the early 16th century (denoting an apple seller): from Costard + -monger.

16a   Female workers in a mess, untidy -- their hair needing to be tied up? (12)

The wordplay is an anagram (untidy) of A MESS + (needing to be tied up) TRESSES (their hair). The charade indicator "needing to be tied up" must be interpreted in the sense of "needing to be attached" as a cowboy in the old west might tie up his horse to a hitching post.

19a   Genius -- one character at the end being hospitalised it seems (6)

The setter uses the phrase "being hospitalised" to indicate 'placed in a WARD'.

21a   Indiscriminate  action of cleaner (8)

23a   Accommodation for many women must be so large, I fancy (8)

24a   One gets good toilets in particular huts (6)

Loo^[5] is an informal British term for a toilet.

25a   Wine initially served around lunchtime? That's the way things are (2,2,2)

Asti^[7] (formerly known as Asti Spumante) is a sparkling white Italian wine that is produced throughout southeastern Piedmont but is particularly focused around the towns of Asti and Alba. Since 1993 the wine has been classified as a Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) and as of 2004 was Italy's largest producing appellation.

I have observed that the usual lunchtime in Crosswordland is one o'clock rather than noon.

26a   Soldier returning to old city is enthralled by exquisite bit of sculpture (8)

A GI^[5] is a private soldier in the US army ⇒ she went off with a GI during the war. Contrary to popular belief, the term is apparently not an abbreviation for general infantryman, but rather of government (or general) issue (originally denoting equipment supplied to US forces).

Ur^[5] is an ancient Sumerian city that formerly existed on the Euphrates, in southern Iraq. It was one of the oldest cities of Mesopotamia, dating from the 4th millennium BC, and reached its zenith in the late 3rd millennium BC.

Down

2d   Artist is at home -- a bit of a fruitcake? (6)

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.

3d   The isle that sounds snow-covered? (5)

I have noticed lately that hyphens often show up in the National Post disguised as question marks. The clue, as printed in the National Post, is:

• The isle that sounds snow?covered? (5)

The Isle of Wight^[5] (abbreviation IOW^[5]) is an island off the south coast of England, a county since 1974; population 131,700 (est. 2009); administrative centre, Newport. It lies at the entrance to Southampton Water and is separated from the mainland by the Solent and Spithead.

4d   International trains diverted going from A to B (2,7)

5d   Music in very old books lodged in passage into building (7)

In Crosswordland, the word "books" is often used to clue either the Old Testament (OT) or the New Testament (NT). Today's setter leaves no doubt by using the phrase "old books".

A gavotte^[5] is (1) a medium-paced French dance, popular in the 18th century or (2) a piece of music accompanying or in the rhythm of a gavotte, composed in common time beginning on the third beat of the bar. In her 1972 hit, You're So Vain, Carly Simon sings "You had one eye in the mirror / As you watched yourself gavotte".

6d   More than one US location offering cooked meals (5)

Salem^[5] is the name of at least two US locations. It is the name of the state capital of Oregon, situated on the Willamette River south-west of Portland; population 153,435 (est. 2008). It is also the name of a city and port in NE Massachusetts, on the Atlantic coast north of Boston; population 41,256 (est. 2008). First settled in 1626, it was the scene in 1692 of a notorious series of witchcraft trials.

7d   Use binoculars to see these  little old things with wrens on? (9)

The farthing^[5], a former monetary unit and coin of the UK, withdrawn in 1961, was equal to a quarter of an old penny.

In Britain's current decimal currency system, a penny^[5] is a bronze coin and monetary unit equal to one hundredth of a pound (and is abbreviated p). In the system used prior to Decimal Day^[5] (February 15, 1971), a penny was equal to one twelfth of a shilling or 240th of a pound (and was abbreviated d, for denarius).

Although, in earlier years, the farthing had been made of various other metals, in its later years it was a bronze coin. Not only was it small in value, it was small in physical dimensions, having a diameter of only 20 mm. Farthings had existed since the days of Oliver Cromwell when they were made originally in silver and for over 250 years the image of Britannia was firmly established as the reverse of the farthing. However in 1937 the Britannia reverse gave way to an image of a wren.

8d   Drudge looking very hot exuded liquid from mouth (8)

13d   Fellow in bed holding club is disposed to fight (9)

Gazza's hint may well need some explanation for North American readers. In the UK, a child's bed is called a cot^[5] rather than a crib^[5].

14d   Completely understanding mother, good person with energy, joining circle (9)

15d   Editor served up drinks for people resolving an issue (8)

17d   Sounds like the Cockney chap's unfriendly? Cool it! (4,3)

A cockney^[5] is a native of East London [specifically the East End], traditionally one born within hearing of Bow Bells (the bells of St Mary-le-Bow^[7] church). Cockney is also the name of the dialect or accent typical of cockneys, which is characterised by dropping H from the beginning of words and the use of rhyming slang^[5].

In Britain, off^[5] is used informally to mean unfriendly or hostile ⇒ there’s no one there except the barmaid, and she’s a bit off.

18d   Like many a library book, see, carried by old granny (2,4)

Lo^[5] is an archaic exclamation used to draw attention to an interesting or amazing event ⇒ and lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them.

Nan^[5] is an informal British name for one’s grandmother — however, it is a term in use well beyond the shores of Britain.

20d   Part of Yorkshire offering the ultimate in grand beers (5)

Yorkshire^[5] is a historic county of Northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Within the borders of Yorkshire are areas which are widely considered to be among the greenest in England, due to the vast stretches of unspoiled countryside in the Yorkshire Dales [valleys] and North York Moors [tracts of open uncultivated upland, typically covered with heather] and to the open aspect of some of the major cities.

22d   Chum with hesitancy in speech is not so bright (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