Thursday, March 27, 2014 — DT 27348

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27348
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, November 29, 2013
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27348]
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 █ - 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

It is a rather gentle offering from Giovanni today.

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   Boss making blunder right at the end (6)

Gaffer^[5] is an informal British term for a person in charge of others; in other words, a boss  ⇒ street cleaners stopping for a smoke when their gaffer isn’t in the vicinity.

4a   Lady one’s seen in pubs (8)

A baroness^[5,10] may be either the wife or widow of a baron or a woman holding the rank of baron in her own right either as a life peerage or as a hereditary rank. Baroness is not used as a form of address, baronesses usually being referred to as ‘Lady’.

9a   Small room unruly adolescent once stole from (6)

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

Ted^[2] is short for Teddy boy^[5], a slang term originally applied to a young man belonging to a subculture in 1950s Britain characterized by a style of dress based on Edwardian fashion (typically with drainpipe trousers, bootlace tie, and hair slicked up in a quiff) and a liking for rock-and-roll music.The name comes from from Teddy, pet form of the given name Edward (with reference to Edward VII's reign). Judging by the entry in the Chambers 21st Century Dictionary, it would appear that the term Teddy boy^[2] is now applied to any unruly or rowdy adolescent male. 

10a   Fence lacking colour protecting one grave (8)

11a   Rex, awfully tired around day before feast, recovered (9)

Rex^[5] (abbreviation R^[5]) [Latin for king] denotes the reigning king, used following a name (e.g. Georgius Rex, King George) or in the titles of lawsuits (e.g. Rex v. Jones, the Crown versus Jones — often shortened to R. v. Jones).

13a   Ace bloke for being representative (5)

Bloke^[5] is British slang for a man ⇒ he’s a nice bloke.

14a   It’s trend of novice sadly to be cocksure (4-9)

17a   _______ with ‘bursary’ in certain poetry (7,6)

21a   That woman concealing yen quietly becomes over-excited (5)

Piano^[3,5] (abbreviation p^[5]), is a musical direction meaning either (as an adjective) soft or quiet or (as an adverb) softly or quietly.

23a   Replace what sounds like great garden-centre product (9)

24a   Something potentially lethal in news report (8)

25a   Say, Dorothy’s brought round some filling food! (6)

Stodge^[5] is an informal British term for food that is heavy, filling, and high in carbohydrates ⇒ she ate her way through a plateful of stodge.

26a   People receiving gift from member of family by river (8)

The Tees^[5] is a river of northeastern England which rises in Cumbria and flows 128 km (80 miles) generally south-eastwards to the North Sea at Middlesbrough.

27a   Bright old coin with name scratched out — old penny (6)

On 15 February 1971, known as Decimal Day^[7], the United Kingdom and Ireland decimalised their currencies.

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

A florin^[5] is a former [pre-Decimal Day] British coin and monetary unit worth two shillings. A shilling^[2] was a monetary unit and coin worth one twentieth of a pound or 12 old pence.

Down

1d   Gangster covered in blood abundantly (6)

Al Capone^[5] (1899–1947) was an American gangster, of Italian descent. He dominated organized crime in Chicago in the 1920s and was indirectly responsible for many murders, including the St Valentine’s Day Massacre. He now dominates organized crime in Crosswordland.

2d   No way to receive the tradesman? (5,4)

A tradesman's entrance^[10] (or tradesmen's entrance) is the entrance to a large house used by tradesmen to deliver goods and services; usually at the side or rear of the house.

3d   Religious type before getting a bit of money (7)

A mite^[5] is a small coin, in particular a small Flemish copper coin of very low face value. A widow's mite^[5] is a small monetary contribution from someone who is poor ⇒ this is indeed the widow’s mite—it’s a whole shilling I’m giving you.

An eremite^[5] is a Christian hermit or recluse.

5d   Is AB on hand working before onset of panic when this order’s given? (7,4)

As Gazza points out in his review, this is a semi-all-in-one clue. The entire clue is the definition, while the portion that I have marked with a dashed underline provides the wordplay.

In the Royal Navy, able seaman^[5] (abbreviation AB^[5]), is a rank of sailor above ordinary seaman and below leading seaman.

6d   The art of early plane manufacture? (7)

7d   What’s boarded a vessel the wrong way with clipped wings? Duck! (5)

8d   Copper full of energy participating in country watch (8)

In Britain, PC^[5] is the abbreviation for a police constable ⇒ PC Bartholomew made his report.

12d   I put in chives and soys, stirring soup (11)

Vichyssoise^[5] is a soup made with potatoes, leeks, and cream and typically served chilled — and, judging by my experience, often spelled incorrectly!

15d   London resident, he, as kind to drop ‘h’? (4-5)

Another semi-all-in-one clue where, as in 5d, I have marked the wordplay with a dashed underline.

An East Ender^[5,10] (or Eastender^[2]) is a native or inhabitant of the East End of London, also known simply as the East End. A resident of the East End is also known as a cockney^[5]. The cockney dialect is characterised by dropping H from the beginning of words and the use of rhyming slang^[5].

16d   Secure as cat before secret has been divulged? (2,3,3)

I have marked this as a cryptic definition having one part ("secure") which is a standard definition and a second part (the remainder of the clue that I have marked with a dashed underline) which provides additional information to narrow the scope of the definition.

18d   Serious listener needing cosy spot (7)

19d   Graduate female (educated) beginning to languish in marriage (7)

The definition could certainly be merely "marriage" but I would think that it could equally well be "in marriage" as "marital happiness" might also be expressed as "happiness in marriage".

Educating Rita^[7] is a 1980 stage comedy by British playwright Willy Russell that was the basis of a 1983 Academy Award winning film featuring Michael Caine and Julie Walters.

20d   Exist as CEO, top (6)

Top is used as a verb.

22d   US president leads a dance (5)

James Knox Polk^[5] (1795–1849) was an American Democratic statesman, 11th President of the US 1845-9. His term of office resulted in major territorial additions to the US: Texas was admitted to the Union in 1845 and conflict with Mexico resulted in the annexation of California and the south-west two years later.

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