Tuesday, December 24, 2013 — DT 27277

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27277
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Saturday, September 7, 2013
Setter Cephas (Peter Chamberlain)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27277 - Hints] Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27277 - Review]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Big Dave  (Hints) gnomethang (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

Cephas serves up an enjoyable puzzle with a couple of clues for Canadian solvers.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all readers a very Merry Christmas.

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   Scoffed after material's seen as fake (9)

9a   Banality cut short by revolutionary (6)

Che Guevara^[7] (1928 – 1967) was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and military theorist. A major figure of the Cuban Revolution, his stylized visage has become a ubiquitous countercultural symbol of rebellion and global insignia within popular culture.

10a   Complain before coming in to get building work (9)

11a   Popular commander of French using secret language (2,4)

The abbreviation CO^[5] stands for Commanding Officer.

In French, de^[8] is a preposition meaning of'.

12a   Battles shown in colour in middle of night, providing satisfaction (9)

A war, of course, would usually include many battles — a fact that the setter has incorporated into the wording of the clue.

13a   Not often models will be in disarray (6)

17a   Old bird from Missouri with a following (3)

MO^[5] is the official postal abbreviation for Missouri.

19a   Crumble onion cube on meal on rare occasions (4,2,1,4,4)

20a   Length of history fellow traveller has written out twice (3)

The ell^[5] is a former measure of length (equivalent to six hand breadths) used mainly for textiles, locally variable but typically about 45 inches in England and 37 inches in Scotland.

21a   Champ's moment of truth (6)

25a   Keeping members apart, answer's to adopt a non-committal attitude (9)

As has become the custom, the hyphen has been transformed into a question mark in the National Post.

26a   Clothes that are not worn out? (6)

I saw the intent of the clue, but thought of BRIEFS and SHORTS long before uncovering the correct undergarments.

27a   Wrong thing designed, not right it's worn in bed (9)

28a   View prison, one might say it's worth a look (6)

Nick^[5] is British slang for (1) a prison ⇒ he’ll end up in the nick for the rest of his life or (2) a police station ⇒ he was being fingerprinted in the nick.

29a   Out racing around battlefield (9)

The Battle of Agincourt^[5] was a battle in northern France in 1415 during the Hundred Years War, in which the English under Henry V defeated a large French army. The victory, achieved largely by use of the longbow, allowed Henry to occupy Normandy.

Down

2d   Come to an Irish funeral party held inside (6)

3d   What to do to end the act? (6)

No, not that act!

4d   Is the woman able to land across the water? (6)

... from a British perspective!

5d   Sad lot's noting sober religious behaviour from 4 Down (7,8)

The Toronto Blessing^[5], a term coined by British newspapers, describes the revival and resulting phenomena that began in January 1994 at the Toronto Airport Vineyard church, now the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship (TACF), a neocharismatic evangelical Christian church located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Participants in the conferences and meetings sponsored by TACF have reported healings, incidents of personal transformation and a greater awareness of God's love.

6d   Joiner in Rose's place is restricted in vision (9)

In the surface reading, joiner^[5] may have been intended by the setter in the chiefly British sense of a person who constructs the wooden components of a building, such as stairs, doors, and door and window frames ⇒ bricklayers and joiners are needed to convert derelict properties.

7d   Agreement needed by one playing instrument (9)

8d   Edward keeps some harmful creatures. Not to worry! (5,4)

14d   Hundred going the right way for assembly (9)

Concourse^[5] is a formal term for a crowd or assembly of people ⇒ a vast concourse of onlookers.

15d   Not the underclothes to be removed -- rascal! (9)

As an anagram indicator, remove^[5] is used in the dated sense of to change one’s home or place of residence by moving to (another place) ⇒ he removed to Wales and began afresh.

16d   Socialist record to the fore, it can amount to disgrace (9)

17d   Miss West moaned at regular intervals (3)

Mary Jane West^[7] (1893–1980), known as Mae West, was an American actress, singer, playwright, screenwriter and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned seven decades.

Known for her bawdy double entendres, West made a name for herself in vaudeville and on the stage in New York before moving to Hollywood. One of the more controversial movie stars of her day, West encountered many problems, including censorship. Asked about the various efforts to impede her career, West said, "I believe in censorship. I made a fortune out of it."

18d   A couple of lines, that's everything (3)

22d   Harp on about unfortunate youngster (6)

23d   Scored slowly (6)

Adagio^[5] is a musical term that (1) as an adjective or adverb is used (especially as a direction) to denote in slow time and (2) as a noun to mean a movement, passage, or composition marked to be performed adagio.

24d   Angry look from head of gardeners and inferior (6)

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