Thursday, February 20, 2014 — DT 27323

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27323
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, October 31, 2013
Setter RayT (Ray Terrell)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27323]
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 █ - 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

Introduction

I needed help from my electronic assistants today on a couple of clues. I always have trouble with homophone clues that rely on the British pronunciation — or, rather, non-pronunciation — of the letter "R". The other involved my first encounter with a new (to me) bit of British slang.

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

7a   Extremely wrong to be consumed by stunner? Indeed (8)

I am going to go out on a limb and offer an alternative to Big Dave's explanation. Actually, my own original explanation was basically the same as that offered by Big Dave. However, while writing the blog, I happened to stumble upon the following:

Devilish^[5] is an informal, dated term meaning very or extremely ⇒ a devilish clever chap.

Using "devilish" as the definition, the wordplay would be EVIL (wrong) contained in (to be consumed by) DISH (stunner).

I am no more able to explain the existence of the word "indeed" in the clue than was Big Dave. In fact, my explanation would seem to make this word even more superfluous than it was under the explanation given by Big Dave.

9a   State benefit right's accepted (6)

10a   Worry about Queen making comeback (4)

The regnal ciphers (monograms) of British monarchs are initials formed from the Latin version of their first name followed by either Rex or Regina (Latin for king or queen, respectively). Thus, the regnal cipher of Queen Elizabeth is ER^[5] — from the Latin Elizabetha Regina.

11a   The compiler's second time bringing in Queen -- excessive! (10)

It is a common cryptic crossword device for the creator of the puzzle to use terms such as compiler, setter, author, writer, or this person to refer to himself or herself. To solve such a clue, one must generally substitute a first person pronoun (I or me) for whichever of these terms has been used in the clue. Today, the setter has made the scenario slightly more complicated by combining "compiler" with the verb "to be" (producing "compiler's" [compiler is]) which must be replaced by "I'm" (I am).

In the UK, mo^[5] [abbreviation for moment] is an informal term for a short period of time ⇒ hang on a mo!.

The appearance of the word "Queen" in one of the clues of the puzzle is a trademark of RayT. Here he has used it in two consecutive clues — but, of course, he has cheekily acknowledged having done so!

12a   Rendezvous with planet circling Earth (6)

A venue^[2] is a meeting-place.

14a   Honesty is giving my word! (8)

15a   Force conversation for the audience (6)

The word "torque", when pronounced in a non-rhotic^[5] dialect [which includes many British dialects], sounds like "talk". Non-rhotic accents omit the sound /r/ in certain situations, while rhotic accents generally pronounce /r/ in all contexts.

17a   Allow for a man's initiation before sex (6)

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

20a   Slaughter embraced by fanaticism as sacred (8)

22a   Run off following start of school run (6)

23a   Subsequently getting farther with tee shot (10)

24a   Only possessing small bosom ... (4)

But is used as in Having failed on her first two attempts, the athlete now had but one chance left to qualify for the final.

25a   ... recent naturist ends hidden (6)

26a   Rest not holding a cue (8)

Down

1d   Degenerate act ended badly (8)

2d   Wait for Blind Pew on and off (4)

"On and off" means to alternately use (on) and discard (off) letters from the fodder.

Pew^[7], an evil and deadly blind beggar, is a minor character in the novel Treasure Island by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894). Some film adaptations call him "Blind Pew".

3d   Notes male absorbed by short skirts (6)

In British music terminology, minim^[5] is another name for a half note, a note having the time value of two crotchets^[5] [British name for a quarter note] or half a semibreve^[5] [British name for a whole note], represented by a ring with a stem.

4d   Give a little, being generous (8)

5d   One studying temperature in rare moons, perhaps (10)

Once again, I am going to take a different approach from Big Dave. I would say that the entire clue here is the definition, making this a semi-& lit. (semi-all-in-one) clue.

6d   Deserter imprisoned by American soldiers without charge (6)

It was but two days ago that we last encountered this rat. Rat^[4] is used in the sense of a person who deserts his or her friends or associates, especially in time of trouble. Of course, rats are well-known deserters of sinking ships.

8d   Husband's got over old lady, say, returning admiration (6)

In cricket, an over^[5] (abbreviation O^[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.

13d   Even ruder dancing round pole is explicit (10)

16d   Launch astern holds fast (8)

Fast as in "fast women".

18d   Metal nuts get twisted by centre of spanner (8)

19d   In France I almost back buffoon (6)

In French, je^[8] means I.

21d   A quiet force in religious retreat (6)

An ashram^[5] is (especially in South Asia) a hermitage, monastic community, or other place of religious retreat.

22d   Lot of people quietly steal apples (6)

Scrump^[5] is an informal British term meaning to steal (fruit) from an orchard or garden ⇒ (i) I remember Gordon scrumping apples from the orchard next door; (ii) they used to go out scrumping and thieving.

24d   Group reportedly censored (4)

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