Tuesday, April 8, 2014 — DT 27356

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27356
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, December 9, 2013
Setter Rufus (Roger Squires)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27356]
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

We have a nice puzzle today from Rufus; one that is low on the difficulty scale but high on the enjoyment scale.

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

1a   Won’t it give you a free ride? (7)

5a   Settled for having team in scarlet (7)

In North America, the term side^[3] is used in a very general 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] is also used there in a much 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..

9a   A grain that’s seen only in oak (5)

In clues such as this, I find that one must mentally insert a word into the definition to complete the thought. Thus, I would read the definition as "[something] that's seen only in oak". An ACORN is seen only in an oak tree — it certainly wouldn't be produced by a maple tree.

The word "corn" has quite different meanings in Britain and North America. The plant known in North America (as well as Australia and New Zealand) as corn^[5], is called maize^[5] in the UK. In Britain, corn refers to the chief cereal crop of a district, especially (in England) wheat or (in Scotland) oats.

10a   Delegates sort out dispute with Middle West (9)

I don't recall ever having encountered this version of the name, but Middle West^[5] is another term for Midwest^[5], the region of northern states of the US from Ohio west to the Rocky Mountains.

11a   Bacterium may be found on all meals badly cooked (10)

12a   Frozen field left in the grip of the enemy (4)

14a   Messes about with examiner’s marks? Nonsense (12)

18a   Worshipful company? (12)

21a   Fancy a little hideaway (4)

22a   What you face in the teeth of a gale? (6,4)

25a   Lush crepe put round burial place (9)

With Easter approaching, a rather timely clue.

Even having all the letters (it is an anagram, after all), I struggled to spell the solution correctly.

26a   Beat unconscious, then execute! (5)

27a   Contracts provided by psychiatrists (7)

28a   Make fun of the French politician with nothing on (7)

In French, la^[8] is the feminine singular form of the definite article.

Down

1d   Proviso for Santa to head East (6)

This clue would have been more timely when it appeared in The Daily Telegraph in December.

2d   Greek god’s head set in a ring (6)

In Greek mythology, Apollo^[5] is a god, son of Zeus and Leto and brother of Artemis. He is associated with music, poetic inspiration, archery, prophecy, medicine, pastoral life, and the sun.

The American Heritage Dictionary defines poll^[3] as the head, especially the top of the head where hair grows [... or not!]. Oxford Dictionaries Online gives a similar meaning, defining poll^[5] as a dialect word for a person's head or, more specifically, the part of the head on which hair grows; in other words,the scalp. The Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary has the most extensive range of meanings, defining poll^[11] as (1) the head, especially the part of it on which the hair grows; (2) the back of the head; (3)  the rear portion of the head of a horse; in other words, the nape; or (4) the part of the head between the ears of certain animals, as the horse and cow.

3d   Craftsmen do in G & S role, possibly (10)

G&S refers to Gilbert and Sullivan^[7], the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900). The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado are among the best known.

The clue is particularly clever as the solution is actually the name of a work by Gilbert and Sullivan.

The Gondoliers^[7] is a comic opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It ran at the Savoy Theatre in London from December 1889 through June 1891. This was the twelfth comic opera collaboration of fourteen between Gilbert and Sullivan.

4d   From old-timer I’d get a wrinkle (5)

5d   It’s revolting, drive away fast! (9)

The word "it's" is — for want of a better term — what I will call a "framework" word. It exists merely to provide a structure on which to mount the core elements of the clue. In essence, the clue could be interpreted as "[The solution to this clue is a word meaning] revolting, drive away fast!" where "it's" substitutes for the lengthy bit of italicised text. A link word between the definition and wordplay in a clue would be another example of a "framework" word.

6d   Place to view, we hear (4)

7d   Girl’s taking position as cashier (8)

Crosswordland would seem to be overrun with girls named Di.

8d   The last thing a crowd will do (8)

13d   Safe place in a bank? (10)

15d   Boxer takes on contests at a higher level (9)

16d   Cuts in diocese set up blackouts (8)

A see^[10] is the diocese of a bishop, or the place within it where his cathedral or procathedral is situated.

17d   Poor pun, drear and not up to scratch (5,3)

19d   Writer, good man at heart, seen in French bar (6)

Biro^[7], a British term for a ballpoint pen, is a trademark which — similar to kleenex — has entered the language as a generic term. This brand of writing implement was named after László József Bíró (1899–1985), the Hungarian inventor of the ballpoint pen.

20d   Meet Di and Joan when out (6)

The ubiquitous Crosswordland girl makes another appearance, this time stepping out of the shadows into the spotlight.

23d   Me to serve? Perfect! (5)

Serve up a hand of cards, that is.

24d   Left in cooler, it may get jammed (4)

I went down the wrong path here, putting L (left) inside (in) CAN (cooler; jail). Although this wordplay worked perfectly, I doubted that it was correct as I could not explain the definition. With a gentle nudge from one of my electronic assistants, I discovered that an entirely different type of cooler was needed.

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