Tuesday, March 11, 2014 — DT 27336

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27336
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, November 15, 2013
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27336]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Deep Threat
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 to activate my electronic reserves today to help crack the final half dozen clues.

Meet Today's Setter

Today's puzzle marks a milestone for Don Manley, the setter of the puzzle. It is the 500th puzzle that he has set for The Daily Telegraph — an achievement of which he takes note in the puzzle. Not only does clue 18d make reference to the occasion, but the puzzle contains a "nina" (a hidden feature). Look carefully at the diagonal running from the top left-hand corner to the bottom right-hand corner. Furthermore, note the number of times that the initials DM or MD appear on diagonals sloped in the other orientation.

Don Manley (Giovanni)

Don Manley^[7] is a long-serving setter of crosswords in the UK. He has supplied puzzles for the Radio Times, The Spectator, The Independent, The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, and the Financial Times and the Sunday Times among others. He is crossword editor of Church Times.

He writes under the pseudonyms Duck, Pasquale, Quixote, Bradman, and Giovanni (all punningly connected with the name Don or Donald). He has also written a book on devising and solving crosswords, Chambers Crossword Manual (1986, 4th edition October 2006).

You can find an interview with Don Manley (appearing as Pasquale, his alter ego in another British newspaper The Guardian) at Crossword blog: meet the setter — Pasquale.

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   Ornament a lunatic knocked over -- histrionic incident (9)

Although "ornament" and "lunatic" are nouns in the surface reading, the former is a verb in the definition and the latter is an adjective in the wordplay.

Damascene^[2] means (1) to decorate (especially steel) by inlaying or encrusting or (2) to ornament something with the watered or wavy appearance of Damascus steel, or in imitation of it.

9a   Wise man encapsulating Irish image, not what it seems (6)

Mage^[5] is an archaic or literary term for a magician or learned person.

Ir.^[2] is the abbreviation for Ireland or Irish.

10a   Sin-adorer upsetting bishops? (9)

The question mark indicates that we are dealing with a definition by example. That is, the solution refers to one of the many roles that bishops might undertake in the course of their duties.

11a   Bad feeling bird gets by river (6)

12a   Paper transported as liquid? Fantastic notion! (4,5)

13a   One of eight getting a bit of luck? (6)

An eight^[5] is an eight-oared rowing boat or its crew. In rowing, the stroke^[5] (or stroke oar) is the oar or oarsman nearest the stern of a boat, setting the timing for the other rowers.

17a   Cave in garden, front invisible (3)

The Garden of Eden^[5] is the place where Adam and Eve lived in the biblical account of the Creation, from which they were expelled for disobediently eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge.

19a   Chap taking lead at sea? Could be Nelson (7)

Nelson Mandela^[5] (1918-2013) was a South African statesman, President 1994-9. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1964 as an activist for the African National Congress (ANC). Released in 1990, as leader of the ANC he engaged in talks on the introduction of majority rule with President F. W. de Klerk, with whom he shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. He became the country’s first democratically elected President in 1994.

This puzzle appeared in The Daily Telegraph approximately three weeks prior to the death of Nelson Mandela on December 5, 2013.

20a   Out-of-form team in no position to score goal (7)

Out of form^[5] ( or off form) means (in reference to a sports player or team) not playing or performing well.

In North America, the term side^[3] is used in a very generic fashion that can denote one of two or more opposing individuals, groups, teams, or sets of opinions. While this same general usage would seem to exist as well in the UK, the term side^[5] can also be used there in a more specific sense to mean a sports team ⇒ (i) Previous England rugby sides, and England teams in many other sports, would have crumbled under the weight of such errors.; (ii) They'll face better sides than this Monaco team, but you can only beat what's put in front of you..

Offside^[5] means (in reference to a player in some sports) occupying a position on the field [or rink] where playing the ball or puck is not allowed. In soccer [football to Deep Threat and other Brits], this means being in the attacking half of the field ahead of the ball and having fewer than two defenders nearer the goal line at the moment the ball is played.

21a   Matrimonial duties? Adam falls short (3)

Bed^[2] is a colloquial expression for sexual intercourse or marital relations ⇒ All he ever thinks about is bed.

Adam Bede^[5], published in 1859, is the first novel written by George Eliot (the pen name of Mary Ann Evans).

23a   Plunged into wine, fish swam! (6)

Swim^[2] is used in the sense of to be affected by dizziness ⇒ His head was swimming.

27a   Woman, one old-fashioned, is backed up (9)

In his review, Deep Threat illustrates this clue with a video clip from the British children's television programme Blue Peter^[7] featuring presenter [host] Valerie Singleton (among others). This programme first aired in 1958 and is the second longest-running children's TV show in the UK.

The name of the programme comes from the Blue Peter^[5], a blue flag with a white square in the centre that is raised by a ship about to leave port.

28a   Adherent to disagree about holy books (6)

In Crosswordland, the word "books" is often used to clue either OT (Old Testament) or NT (New Testament). Today, Giovanni is even more helpful in his clueing by expanding the codeword to "holy books".

A votary^[5] is a devoted follower, adherent, or advocate of someone or something ⇒ he was a votary of John Keats.

29a   Communicators amiss, made to look silly (4,5)

30a   Farm worker needing exercises with restrictive back (6)

Another way of expressing "exercises with restrictive back" might be "exercises being restricted by back".

PE^[5] is the abbreviation for physical education (or Phys Ed, as it would likely be called by most school kids).

31a   Agitated blokes in terrible fret end losing heart (9)

Down

2d   Skilful soldiers climbing up inside passage (6)

In the British armed forces, the term other ranks^[5] (abbreviation OR^[5]) refers to all those who are not commissioned officers.

3d   Wreath borne by politician, a democrat (6)

Anadem^[10] is a poetic term for a a garland for the head [from Latin anadēma wreath].

4d   Article penned by eccentric person is a hoax (6)

5d   Recount -- was candidate upset, wanting speed? (7)

6d   Employees will settle under quiet old American leader -- that's very plain! (9)

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.

Dwight David Eisenhower^[5] (1890–1969) was an American general and Republican statesman, 34th President of the US 1953–61; known as Ike. In the Second World War, he was Supreme Commander of Allied Expeditionary Forces in western Europe 1943-5. As President, he adopted a hard line towards communism.

A pikestaff^[5] is the wooden shaft of a pike^[5], an historical infantry weapon with a pointed steel or iron head on a long wooden shaft.

(As) plain as a pikestaff^[5] is an expression whose meaning is very obvious.

7d   Loyal Irishman in charge restricting disorder (9)

Most of the Irishmen whom I have encountered in Crosswordland seem to have been named Pat.

The abbreviation i/c^[5] (especially in military contexts) is short for in charge of ⇒ the Quartermaster General is i/c rations.

8d   Information on space module held by ten fellows (9)

Gen^[5] is British slang for information ⇒ you’ve got more gen on him than we have.

Lunar excursion module (abbreviation LEM^[5]) is the former name of the lunar module, a small craft used for travelling between the moon’s surface and an orbiting spacecraft.

14d   Football team lead by little devil? They are getting better (9)

The clue could refer to either of two English professional association football [soccer] clubs that play in the Football League Championship (the second tier in the English football league system).

Blackburn Rovers Football Club^[7] is a team based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire that plays in the Football League Championship after having been relegated [demoted] from the Premier League (the top tier of English football) at the end of the 2011–12 season.

Doncaster Rovers Football Club^[7] is a team based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire that plays in the Football League Championship after having been promoted from Football League One (the third tier of English football) at the end of the 2012-13 season.

And people protested that we couldn't have teams named Roughriders and Rough Riders in the Canadian Football League!

15d   Like many an old family home in Lancaster needing repair (9)

Lancaster^[5] is a city in NW England, the county town of Lancashire, on the estuary of the River Lune; population 44,500 (est. 2009).

16d   Army branch with purpose-built vehicles practises (9)

The Corps of Royal Engineers^[7], usually referred to simply as the Royal Engineers (RE),  is a corps of the British Army that provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces.

17d   Fingerprint expert (3)

Dab^[5,10] (often plural) is British slang for fingerprint ⇒ the catalogue is being dusted for your dabs.

Dab^[10] is another name for dab hand^[10], an informal British term for a person who is particularly skilled at something or, in other words, an expert ⇒ a dab hand at chess.

18d   Fellow that's set up number 500 may get gesture of approval (3)

This clue works very well on several levels.

Fellow is often used to clue DON:

• At Oxford and Cambridge universities, a fellow^[10] is a member of the governing body of a college who is usually a member of the teaching staff.
• A don^[10] is a member of the teaching staff at a university or college, especially at Oxford or Cambridge.

Thus a "fellow that's set up" would indicate a reversal of DON or NOD.

NO (number) + D ([Roman numeral for] 500) also produces NOD.

However, with this being the 500th puzzle that Giovanni (Don Manley) has set for The Daily Telegraph, one could interpret "fellow that's set up number 500" as being DON. The phrase "may get" then could be seen to be a reversal indicator, with the clue breaking down to DON may get [if reversed] NOD (gesture of approval).

22d   Rising Greek character, celebrity to come out (7)

Eta^[5] is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet (Η, η).

24d   Chinese fare not distinct -- a problem? (3,3)

Dim sum^[10] is a Chinese appetizer of steamed dumplings containing various fillings.

25d   TV technique means eccentric noise may be heard (4-2)

The wordplay is sounds like (may be heard) {FEY (eccentric) + DIN (noise)}.

Fey^[3] means appearing touched or crazy, as if under a spell.

26d   Laugh at what's conveyed by madder ideas (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