Tuesday, January 7, 2014 — DT 27289

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27289
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Saturday, September 21, 2013
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27289 - Hints] Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27289 - 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 █ - yet to be solved
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

My electronic assistants should have enjoyed a day of rest today. However, I became fixated on an incorrect candidate at 5a which also affected my ability to solve 7d.

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   Enter about fifty in total (8)

The use of "enter" as a synonym for "compete" was, at first, a bit disconcerting. However, after mulling it over in my mind for some time, I concluded that it does work, for instance in "After the grueling 1500 metre race, do you also plan to compete the 800 metres?"

5a   Benefit for female with sex appeal (6)

I became fixated on the word CREDIT and expended a lot of time and effort trying (unsuccessfully) to justify it. I find that even after having discredited such a bogus candidate solution, I often have difficulty in moving on to find the correct solution.

It^[5] (usually written in quotation marks, 'it') is an informal term for sexual intercourse or sex appeal  ⇒ the only thing I knew nothing about was ‘it’.

9a   Spiral dive bothered alpinist (8)

10a   Smart circle's old beer? (6)

Stingo^[10] is slang for a strong, sharp alcoholic beverage or old beer. The Chambers Dictionary defines stingo^[1] as obsolete slang for strong malt liquor. I found the word in only one other source, Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) which defines stingo as (1)old beer or (2) sharp or strong liquor ⇒ Shall I set a cup of old stingo at your elbow? - Addison [presumably English writer Joseph Addison (1672–1719)].

11a   Strangely docile about college being freezing (3-4)

12a   Carried outside when ready to eat (7)

13a   Long odds  about lunchtime? (6,2,3)

I have observed that the denizens of Crosswordland prefer a late lunch.

16a   The 'Scotsman' for instance did it  to get rid of surplus energy (3,3,5)

I note that crypticsue did not mark the first part of this clue as a definition. However, if the second part of 25a is considered to be a definition, I see no reason why the first part of the current clue is not similarly a definition.

The Flying Scotsman^[7] is an express passenger train service that has been running between London and Edinburgh—the capitals of England and Scotland respectively—since 1862.

However, the reference is actually to a railway locomotive. The Flying Scotsman^[7], built in 1923, was employed on long-distance express trains in Britain, notably on the London to Edinburgh Flying Scotsman train service after which it was named.

21a   Eight pints and a quarter inside vessel (7)

Quarter, here, being one of the geographic ilk.

22a   It's baked in pastry, not cold, for during the journey (2,5)

En croute^[5] is a cooking term meaning in a pastry crust ⇒ salmon en croute.

23a   Originator put gold repeatedly round unfinished article (6)

The symbol for the chemical element gold is Au^[5] (from Latin aurum).

Or^[5] is gold or yellow, as a heraldic tincture. In heraldry, a tincture^[5] is any of the conventional colours (including the metals and stains, and often the furs) used in coats of arms.

24a   She does an entertaining take-off (8)

25a   Try  that's made in rugby (6)

26a   Rebuilt cart -- it is creative (8)

Down

1d   Illicit rice contains this acid (6)

In comparison to crypticsue's review, I have extended the definition to be "this acid" reasoning that the inclusion of the demonstrative adjective clarifies that the solution is a specific acid rather than a general term for acid.

2d   Single from over with no runs? (6)

Unless there are subtleties to scoring in cricket with which I am unaware, the surface reading would seem to present an impossible situation. If a single is scored then it is not an over with no runs!

In cricket, a maiden^[5], also known as a maiden over, (abbreviation M)^[5] is an over in which no runs are scored. An over^[5] is a division of play consisting of a sequence of six balls bowled by a bowler from one end of the pitch, after which another bowler takes over from the other end.

3d   Left before beer round's got in -- missed a trick (4,3)

Stout^[5] is a kind of strong, dark beer brewed with roasted malt or barley.

The definition here is more usually encountered in the negative. The expression not miss a trick^[5] means to never fail to take advantage of a situation ⇒ despite his great wealth, John didn’t miss a trick when it came to cutting costs.

4d   He is following two others (5,6)

This is a difficult clue to mark up. I would say that the entire clue is a cryptic definition since someone following two others would be the third person. On this basis, one could underline the entire clue. However, "he is" indicates a definition by example with "he" being an example of a third person pronoun in grammar. If I had the capability to use double underlining, I would underline the entire clue (to mark the cryptic definition) and double underline the first two words (to mark the definition by example).

6d   Withdraw what's said about pamphlet (7)

7d   Social event's loud, followed by something soothing (8)

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

An archaic meaning of unction^[5] is an ointment ⇒ mercury in the form of unctions.

8d   Like a sword that's doubly sharp (3-5)

12d   Strictly directed at landlord (2,3,6)

14d   Iris's bluster -- shameless! (8)

A flag^[10] is any of various plants that have long swordlike leaves, especially the iris.

15d   Lithe cat may jump to get fit (8)

17d   Foul lie about energy source (4,3)

18d   Swallow single cocktail (7)

Apparently a martin is not a true swallow, but it does belong to the same family.

A martin^[5] is a swift-flying insectivorous songbird of the swallow family, typically having a less strongly forked tail than a swallow.

19d   Initially puts up with dog perhaps -- one's highly strung (6)

20d   Containing a metal, could be terrific without it perhaps (6)

I recall recently seeing a similar clue in which one was required to remove letters forming a shorter word from a longer word before forming an anagram of the remainder. In that case, no indication was given that the letters to be removed did not occur in the same order in the two words — and Big Dave commented on that oversight. As he makes clear in his hints, he has no cause for concern in this clue which parses as an anagram (could be) of {TERRIFIC from which TI [an anagram (perhaps) of IT] has been deleted (without)}. The setter uses a second anagram indicator to let us know that the order of the letters to be removed must be reversed.

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