Tuesday, March 18, 2014 — DT 27341

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27341
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, November 21, 2013
Setter RayT (Ray Terrell)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27341]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By pommers
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 thought that this puzzle was rather gentle — from the perspective of both difficulty and innuendo — for a RayT offering.

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   Strips off article back in bed? (6)

5a   Obliged really to confine basket case (8)

I found myself at the opposite end of the spectrum from pommers, as this was my first one in. I immediately recognized "to confine basket case" as indicating that BT, the initial and final letters (case) of B(aske)T, are found somewhere in the middle of the solution. There are not a lot of words containing that common letter combination, and the correct one came readily to mind.

9a   Improves following terribly acute burns (10)

10a   Soaked taking on hard grind (4)

11a   Submerge to catch large fish (8)

12a   Time with grass inside for mistakes (6)

In the UK, grass^[5] is used informally as a noun to mean a police informer and as a verb meaning to inform the police of someone’s criminal activities or plans ⇒ someone had grassed on the thieves. This expression may derive from rhyming slang (grasshopper = copper).

13a   Singer Gaga making comeback ... (4)

Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, better known by her stage name Lady Gaga^[7], is an American pop and rock singer.

15a   ... song, crazy chick covering Queen single (8)

Regina^[5] (abbreviation R^[5]) [Latin for queen] denotes the reigning queen, used following a name (e.g. Elizabetha Regina, Queen Elizabeth) or in the titles of lawsuits (e.g. Regina v. Jones, the Crown versus Jones — often shortened to R. v. Jones).

18a   Funny man's about average with old content (8)

19a   Mine includes mid-evening drink (4)

In this clue, the setter employs a not uncommon cryptic crossword device, in which "mid-evening" is used to clue N, the middle letter (mid) of eveNing.

In Britain, pint^[5] (abbreviation pt) is an informal term for a pint of beer (a pint being the standard measure for a serving of beer in the UK) ⇒ we’ll probably go for a pint on the way home. 

21a   Rugby club endlessly rough (6)

Rugby union^[10] (abbreviation RU^[5]) is a form of rugby football played between teams of 15 players (in contrast to rugby league^[5], which is played in teams of thirteen).

23a   Metaphor is maybe conveying proverb (8)

25a   Naked apart from burlesque ending (4)

26a   First using mouth to swallow one drink (10)

27a   Feeling that is not heartless after broadcast (8)

28a   Respect sweetheart before engagement's over (6)

In this clue, the setter employs a variation of the device appearing in 19a. This time, "sweetheart" is used to clue E, the middle letter (heart) of swEet.

Down

2d   Hold up kiosk (5)

3d   Train engine's first to run about on time (9)

4d   Send up giving stick in benefit (6)

5d   Fan must start in line to see musician (15)

As an anagram indicator, fan^[10] would be used in the sense of to agitate or move (air, smoke, etc) with or as if with a fan.

6d   Girl's rear in trousers ends giving bulges (8)

Di is certainly a strong contender for the most popular female given name in Crosswordland.

7d   Shady place for bender? (5)

8d   Irritation indeed seen within damaged retina (9)

14d   Inject syringe's centre and roughly clean out (9)

16d   Noted compiler's left a note, oddly (9)

It is a common cryptic crossword convention for the creator of the puzzle to use terms such as compiler, setter, (this) author, (this) 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).

17d   Make public record on waste (8)

Lose^[5] is used in the sense of to waste or fail to take advantage of (time or an opportunity) ⇒ (i) he has lost his chance of becoming world No. 1; (ii) the government lost no time in holding fresh elections.

20d   Holy place seeing religious leader bathed in glow (6)

22d   Newspaper with article on crime (5)

The Financial Times (FT)^[7] is a British international business newspaper [that is printed on conspicuous salmon pink newsprint].

One must take care to interpret this clue as "newspaper with article on [top of it]".

24d   Crack one found around top of vase (5)

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