Tuesday, April 1, 2014 — DT 27351

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27351
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27351]
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

As Gazza says, "this was a pleasant puzzle but it didn’t take very long". However, I did need a gentle nudge to spot one solution that was hiding in plain sight.

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.

Definitions are underlined in the clue, with subsidiary indications being marked by means of a dashed underline in semi-all-in-one (semi-& lit.) clues and cryptic definitions.

Across

7a   Rest swimming, coming after to play old maid? (8)

9a   Ears bent by Conservative, a leader who acts like a dictator (6)

Caesar^[5] was a title of Roman emperors, especially those from Augustus to Hadrian. In modern day usage, the term is used as a synonym for autocrat ⇒ they complained that he was behaving like a Caesar.

10a   Who records what could be twenty runs? (6)

On cricket scorecards, the abbreviation R^[5] denotes run(s).

11a   Faculty I refer to in conversation (8)

12a   Here’s the very person to speak about Satan (4,2,3,5)

Talk of the devil^[5] is alternative version of the expression speak of the devil [the latter being the version with which I am familiar].

15a   Run quickly and hide (4)

17a   Poet sure to receive a first from Trinity (5)

W.B. Yeats^[5] (1865–1939) was an Irish poet and dramatist; full name William Butler Yeats. His play The Countess Cathleen (1892) and his collection of stories The Celtic Twilight (1893) stimulated Ireland’s theatrical, cultural, and literary revival. Notable poetry: The Tower (1928) and The Winding Stair (1929). Nobel Prize for Literature (1923).

First^[10] (in full first-class honours degree) is a mainly British term for an honours degree of the highest class.

Trinity College^[7], formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, is the sole constituent college of the University of Dublin in Ireland. The college was founded in 1592 as the "mother" of a new university, modelled after the collegiate universities of Oxford and of Cambridge, but, unlike these, only one college was ever established; as such, the designations "Trinity College" and "University of Dublin" are usually synonymous for practical purposes. It is one of the seven ancient universities of Britain and Ireland, as well as Ireland's oldest university.

The poet might also have received his degree from Trinity College, Oxford^[7] or Trinity College, Cambridge^[7].

In reality, Yeats attended none of these institutions. He received his education at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin.

19a   Bird seen in ferry port, mostly (4)

Dover^[5] is a ferry port in Kent, in England, on the coast of the English Channel; population 35,200 (est. 2009). It is mainland Britain’s nearest point to the Continent, being only 35 km (22 miles) from Calais.

20a   Without exception, article annoyed directors (6,3,5)

23a   Sailor almost going into a depression? Very close (8)

25a   Emotional pang amongst right-wingers (6)

Sometimes one can't see the forest for the trees; here, it was the reverse — I couldn't pick the tree out of the forest.

27a   Coral island beachwear? (6)

The beachwear is actually named for this coral island. Bikini^[5] is an atoll in the Marshall Islands, in the western Pacific, used by the US between 1946 and 1958 as a site for testing nuclear weapons. The garment^[5] — what little there is of it — was so-named because of the supposed 'explosive' effect it created.

28a   Leave coat by Irish lake (8)

Lough^[5] is the Irish word for lake. It is apparently pronounced the same as loch^[5], the word for lake in Scottish.

Down

1d   Marathon: old record I start to challenge (4)

2d   A woman beginning to kiss trainspotter (6)

Trainspotter^[5] is a British term for a person who collects train or locomotive numbers as a hobby. It is also often used in a derogatory sense to refer to a person who obsessively studies the minutiae of any minority interest or specialized hobby ⇒ the idea is to make the music really really collectable so the trainspotters will buy it in their pathetic thousands.

An anorak^[5] is a waterproof jacket, typically with a hood, of a kind originally used in polar regions.

In Britain, anorak^[5] is an informal, derogatory term for a studious or obsessive person with unfashionable and largely solitary interests ⇒ with his thick specs, shabby shoes, and grey suit, he looks a bit of an anorak. The term derives from the anoraks worn by trainspotters, regarded as typifying this kind of person.

Nora Batty (whom Gazza cites in his hint) is a character from the long-running (1973-2010) British sitcom Last of the Summer Wine^[7]. The series was set and filmed in and around the West Yorkshire town of Holmfirth.

3d   Price about right for sovereign (4)

4d   Long speech made by saint on faith (6)

Saint can be abbreviated as either St^[5] or (chiefly in Catholic use) S^[5] ⇒ S Ignatius Loyola.

5d   Replaced on duty, recalled experience around East (8)

6d   Biscuit lover, with habit out of control (4,6)

In Britain, a Bath Oliver^[10] is a kind of unsweetened biscuit named after William Oliver (1695–1764), a physician at the English spa town of Bath.

The British use the term biscuit^[3,4,11] to refer to a range of food items that include those that are called either cookies or crackers in North America. What we know as a biscuit^[5] in North America is similar to a British scone.

8d   Conserving plant that grows on cliffs close to Newquay (7)

Thrift^[5] (also called sea pink) is a European plant (Armeria maritima) which forms low-growing tufts of slender leaves with rounded pink flower heads, growing chiefly on sea cliffs and mountains.

Newquay^[5] is a town, civil parish, seaside resort and fishing port in Cornwall, England.

13d   Princess shown round one Egyptian city (10)

Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy^[7] is the youngest granddaughter of King George V and Queen Mary. Princess Alexandra carries out royal duties on behalf of her cousin, Queen Elizabeth II. As of January 2014, she is 45th in the line of succession to the thrones of 16 states [viz. the Commonwealth Realms]; at the time of her birth in 1936, she was sixth.

Princess Alexandra might also refer to the following princesses with British connections:

• Princess Alexandra of Denmark^[7] (1844–1925), oldest daughter of King Christian IX of Denmark, Queen consort of Edward VII
• Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha^[7] (1878–1942), granddaughter of Victoria of the United Kingdom
• Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife^[7] (1891–1959), granddaughter of Edward VII of the United Kingdom

Alexandria^[5] is the chief port of Egypt; population 4,084,700 (est. 2006). Alexandria was a major centre of Hellenistic culture and was renowned for its extensive library (burned down in the 3rd century AD).

14d   Vital part supplied by male skill (5)

16d   Turtle quietly burrowing into ground (8)

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.

18d   Jersey may become rainier, some say, after end of holidays (7)

Jersey^[5] is the largest of the Channel Islands [a group of islands in the English Channel off the northwestern coast of France; formerly part of the dukedom of Normandy, they have owed allegiance to England since the Norman Conquest in 1066, and are now classed as Crown dependencies]; population 91,900 (est. 2009); capital, St Helier.

21d   Since changes, Cuba’s capital is picturesque (6)

22d   Prayer in jail starting differently (6)

The video which Gazza uses in his hint shows English actor Sean Bean reading Anthem for Doomed Youth, a work by English poet Wilfred Owen (who was killed in action one week before the end of World War I):

What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?
Only the monstrous anger of the guns.
Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle
Can patter out their hasty orisons.
No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells;
Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs,
The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;
And bugles calling for them from sad shires.
What candles may be held to speed them all?
Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes
Shall shine the holy glimmers of good-byes.
The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall;
Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds,
And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.

The solution to the clue is found in the verse, although it may be difficult to detect for the non-British ear.

24d   At home leaving light lunch leads to spat (4)

Tiffin^[3,4,5,11] is a dated, chiefly British (or Indian) term for a snack or light meal, especially one taken at midday ⇒ (i) tiffin has been ready for some time; (ii) I made sure they have not forgotten their tiffins; (iii) a tiffin box.

26d   Grand commander getting slightly mad (4)

In the Ottoman Empire, aga^[10] (also spelled agha) was (1) a title of respect, often used with the title of a senior position or (2) a military commander.

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