Wednesday, April 16, 2014 — DT 27363

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27363
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27363]
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 was a fairly gentle workout today with scarcely any British terms — and certainly none that we haven't seen before.

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   Fly into a rage at failure to find sandal (4-4)

6a   Unconventional exit (3-3)

9a   Ugly mob after nervous pal — coolness is required (6)

10a   Church with a candid clergyman (8)

11a   Delicacy got from fair goes off (4,4)

Foie gras^[5] (short for pâté de foie gras^[5]) is a smooth rich paste made from the liver of a specially fattened goose or duck.

12a   Female let down in the prime of life (6)

13a   Transfer duke speedily (4,4,4)

16a   Dread arrest (12)

19a   Sexy Italian breaking heart? The reverse (6)

21a   Leave out sailor’s fish (8)

The name skipjack^[2] is applied to any of a number of different species of fish which are able to jump out of the water, in particular the skipjack tuna^[5], Katsuwonus (or Euthynnus) pelamis, a small tuna with dark horizontal stripes, widely distributed throughout tropical and temperate seas.

23a   Priggish girl, 12 (8)

The numeral 12 in the clue is a cross reference indicator directing the solver to insert the solution to clue 12a in its place to complete the clue.

24a   Support reportedly required by Austria’s first capital city (6)

25a   Mistreated a book, second-hand (6)

26a   Conjectures made by rightwingers entertaining ambassador (8)

A Tory^[4] is a member or supporter of the Conservative Party in Great Britain or Canada. Historically, a Tory was a member of the English political party that opposed the exclusion of James, Duke of York from the royal succession (1679-80). Tory remained the label for subsequent major conservative interests until they gave birth to the Conservative Party in the 1830s.

HE^[2] is the abbreviation for His or Her Excellency, where Excellency^[2] (usually His, Her or Your Excellency or Your or Their Excellencies) is a title of honour given to certain people of high rank, e.g. ambassadors.

Down

2d   Scoundrel after drink for pet (6)

3d   Examine top of posh gown (5)

4d   It may be difficult to get out of bra, thinly fashioned (9)

5d   Constable I included as very good painter (7)

After providing an explanation in which the definition is "painter", Gazza goes on to say "This also works with the definition being ‘good painter’ and the short word at the end of wordplay just meaning ‘very’, but I prefer the first explanation." Could that be an indication that he does not deem Picasso to be a "good painter"? Or, does he simply prefer the former explanation of the wordplay?

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

The expression very good^[5] (a dated variant of very well) is used to express agreement or consent ⇒ very good, sir, will that be all?. 

So^[5] is a conjunction that can be used to introduce a question (so, what did you do today?) especially one following on from what was said previously (so what did he do about it?).

One can certainly imagine an English butler saying Very good, sir, will that be all?, while someone a bit less refined might express this same idea as "So, will that be all?".

6d   Conflict involving hospital and fellow in dock (5)

7d   A tuna in foil, newly cooked (9)

The yellowfin^[5] (or yellowfin tuna), Thunnus albacares, is a widely distributed, commercially important tuna that has yellow anal and dorsal fins.

8d   All that is acceptable in revolutionary rhyme (8)

In Britain, U^[5] is used informally as an adjective (in respect to language or social behaviour) meaning characteristic of or appropriate to the upper social classes ⇒ U manners. The term, an abbreviation of  upper class, was coined in 1954 by Alan S. C. Ross, professor of linguistics, and popularized by its use in Nancy Mitford's Noblesse Oblige (1956). In Crosswordland, it is frequently clued by words denoting upper class such as posh or superior — or, as today, acceptable.

13d   Novel had to contain right dates (4,5)

As I said recently, I always think of "date" and "time" as being quite different — they are certainly different parameters when I configure my computer. However, Collins English Dictionary does list time, along with stage and period, as being synonyms of date^[10].

Hard Times – For These Times (commonly known as Hard Times^[7]) is the tenth novel by English author Charles Dickens (1812–1870), first published in 1854. The book appraises English society and is aimed at highlighting the social and economic pressures of the times.

14d   Murder in the Spanish Main — it involved Drake, ultimately (9)

In Spanish, el^[8] is the masculine singular form of the definite article.

The Spanish Main^[5] is the former name for the north coast of South America between the Orinoco River and Panama, and adjoining parts of the Caribbean Sea.

Sir Francis Drake^[5] (circa 1540–96) was an English sailor and explorer. He was the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe (1577–80), in his ship the Golden Hind. He played an important part in the defeat of the Spanish Armada.

15d   Adam, apparently, had one piece of pork (5,3)

Adam must have had an extra one — the one from which Eve was created^[7].

17d   Budding early in north, with a pleasant smell (7)

18d   Few panic catching cold (6)

20d   Social set boast over duke (5)

22d   Card trickster (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