Monday, February 10, 2014 — DT 27314

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27314[Note 1]
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, October 21, 2013
Setter Rufus (Roger Squires)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27314]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Libellule
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 █ - solved but without fully parsing the clue █ - unsolved or incorrect prior to visiting Big Dave's Crossword Blog █ - solved with aid of checking letters provided by solutions from Big Dave's Crossword Blog █ - reviewed by Falcon for Big Dave's Crossword Blog █ - yet to be solved
Notes [1] The National Post has skipped DT 27313 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, October 19, 2013.

Introduction

The National Post has skipped the British "Saturday" puzzle meaning that for the second week in a row we get a "Monday" puzzle on a Monday. As usual, Rufus provides us with a highly entertaining puzzle that is not too difficult.

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   They tend to bring up unrelated issues (6,7)

I see two problems with this clue. First, issue, in the sense in which it is used here, is a mass noun^[5] (as opposed to a count noun^[5]) so it should be singular in the clue. Second, issue^[5] means children of one’s own : the earl died without male issue. Thus "unrelated issue" would normally be an impossibility — but this is Crosswordland, after all, not the real world.

10a   Foreigner, one with a Latin derivation, perhaps (7)

The anagram indicator is "derivation", while "perhaps" explicitly tells us that the solution is an example of the definition.

11a   A bad-tempered pet (7)

Given that a pet^[3] is a fit of bad temper or pique, can there be such a thing as a pet that is not bad-tempered?

12a   Smooth  metal (4)

13a   Costume  that's hard to get out of (5)

This is a clue that is difficult to categorize. While I have decided that it is a cryptic definition comprising a definition followed by a subsidiary indication, I would not be surprised if some consider it to be a double definition.

14a   Punishment for a murderer pronounced (4)

This homophone should pose no problem for North Americans — unlike one we will see later.

In the Bible, Cain^[5] is the eldest son of Adam and Eve and murderer of his brother Abel.

17a   Stack of food the farmer may plunge his fork into (7)

Hayrick is another name for haystack^[3.4].

18a   Bays of victory (7)

This is another difficult clue to pigeon-hole. In a similar fashion to 13a, I have opted to call it a cryptic definition comprising a definition followed by a subsidiary indication.

I don't believe it can be a double definition, since laurels^[5] means honour or praise for an achievement — not achievement itself.

Laurel^[5] (Laurus nobilis) is another name for the bay tree^[5] (or bay), an evergreen Mediterranean shrub with deep green leaves and purple berries. Its aromatic leaves are used in cookery and were formerly used to make triumphal crowns for victors.

19a   Contracts for Polar missiles? (7)

Of course, one must choose the correct pole.

22a   Sinatra, swinging expert (7)

Frank Sinatra^[5] (1915–1998) was an American singer and actor. His many hits include ‘Night and Day’ and ‘My Way’. He won an Oscar for his role in the film From Here to Eternity (1953).

24a   Make way for pedestrians (4)

In the UK, a sidewalk^[5] is known as a pavement^[5], defined as a raised paved or asphalted path for pedestrians at the side of a road.

In Britain, pave^[5] means to cover (a piece of ground) with flat stones or bricks ⇒ the yard at the front was paved with flagstones. In North America, one would probably be more likely to think of the word "pave" as meaning to cover with asphalt and the word "pavement" to mean the roadway.

North Americans visiting the UK should be very careful not to misinterpret signs advising pedestrians to keep on the pavement!

25a   Contented to lay very quietly in dry grass (5)

Pianissimo (abbreviation pp)^[5] is a direction used in music to mean either (as an adjective) very soft or very quiet or (as an adverb) very softly or very quietly.

26a   Stronghold engaged in conflict, we hear (4)

This is a homophone that will not ring true for North Americans — except, perhaps, those who live in Boston.

The word "fort", when pronounced in a non-rhotic^[5] dialect, sounds like "fought". Non-rhotic accents omit the sound /r/ in certain situations, while rhotic accents generally pronounce /r/ in all contexts.

Given that there are several dozen dialects within Great Britain, some of which are rhotic and some non-rhotic, it is not surprising that there are often comments from readers in various parts of the UK protesting that this sort of homophone does not work for them.

29a   Sew lots, perhaps, despite being last to finish (7)

30a   Staff instruction to get a move on (7)

A staff^[7] is the set of five horizontal lines and four spaces, each representing a different musical pitch, on which a musical score is written.

As an adjective or adverb, allegro^[5] is a musical direction indicating that a piece of music is to be performed at a brisk speed. As a noun, it denotes a musical movement, passage, or composition marked to be performed allegro.

31a   Muckspreading may be a remedial application (5,8)

Muck is used in the sense of manure, rather than mud.

A field dressing^[7] or battle dressing is a kind of bandage intended to be carried by soldiers for immediate use in case of (typically gunshot) wounds.

Since this is applied as a remedy for gunshot wounds, it could cryptically be called "a remedial application".

I note that the solution to this clue is not listed in The Chambers Dictionary, an exception to the general "rule" that terms used in The Daily Telegraph puzzle are to be found there. Is this the exception that proves the rule?

Down

2d   One may hear it from a Liberal or a Conservative (7)

This clue creates a dilemma with respect to underlining. One could say that the definition is "One may hear it from a Liberal" and the wordplay is "or a Conservative". On the other hand, I will argue that it is a semi-& lit. clue, in which the entire clue constitutes the definition with the later portion also being the wordplay.

3d   Dog-end (4)

In addition to this being a double definition, the entire clue could be deemed to be a cryptic definition.

4d   Rushed to fire rifle (7)

5d   A rise for the workers? (3-4)

These are six-legged workers.

Many North American readers will likely fail to grasp the surface reading. In Britain, an increase in salary or wages is called a rise^[5] — rather than a raise^[5], as it would be in North America.

6d   A high-flier of merit on the phone (4)

Yet another homophone clue. This one should not give trouble to North Americans — at least, not to those who are familiar with this bird.

Erne^[5] is a literary name for the sea eagle^[5], a large Eurasian fish-eating eagle that frequents coasts and wetlands. There are several species, in particular the widespread white-tailed sea eagle (Haliaetus albicilla), recently reintroduced to Scotland.

7d   Accommodation for spectators in Chester racecourse ... (7)

In Britain, terrace^[5] (usually terraces) refers to a flight of wide, shallow steps providing standing room for spectators in a stadium, especially a soccer ground.

Chester^[5] is a city in northwest England, the county town of Cheshire; population 80,600 (est. 2009). Chester Racecourse^[7] is according to official records the oldest racecourse still in use in England. Horse racing at Chester dates back to the early sixteenth century. It is also thought to be the smallest racecourse of significance in England at 1 mile and 1 furlong (1.8 km) long.

8d   ... where one aims for this last job (9,4)

The pronoun "where" refers back to "Chester racecourse" in the previous clue (as indicated by the ellipses). Thus the definition is, in effect, 'something one aims for at Chester racecourse — or, for that matter, at any racecourse'.

A finishing post^[2] is the post marking the end of a race, especially for horses.

9d   Take-off for country after breaking promise (13)

15d   One in conspiracy to control the ship (5)

16d   Part of unit fuming to be sent back in plain clothes (5)

Mufti^[5] denotes plain clothes worn by a person who wears a uniform for their job, such as a soldier or police officer ⇒ a High Court judge in mufti.

20d   Cases prepared for Italian consumer groups (7)

... that is, people who consume Italian food.

21d   Showed surprise as good man's taken on new trade (7)

22d   Primate swallows vegetables to satisfy hunger, perhaps (7)

23d   Review on thug's weapon (7)

27d   Hawk seen in Home Counties, going over lines (4)

The Home Counties^[5] are the counties in SE England surrounding London, into which London has extended. They comprise chiefly Essex, Kent, Surrey, and Hertfordshire.

28d   Rising resort includes lake and mountains (4)

The Alps^[5] are a mountain system in Europe extending in a curve from the coast of southeast France through northwest Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, southern Germany, and Austria into Slovenia. The highest peak of the Alps, Mont Blanc, rises to a height of 4,807 m (15,771 ft).

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