Wednesday, April 2, 2014 — DT 27352

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27352
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27352]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By scchua
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

Today's puzzle from Jay is definitely one of his gentler offerings.

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   Offers supply vessel and leaves without permission (7)

5a   One might sink eight pints, full of energy! (7)

9a   Knit bag for loose change (5)

10a   What one does after an alarming breakdown? (9)

11a   Thrashing hit general badly (10)

12a   What the Irish used to gamble? (4)

Until the introduction of the euro in 2002, the punt^[5] was the basic monetary unit of the Republic of Ireland, equal to 100 pence.

Punt^[3] is a chiefly British slang term meaning to gamble.

14a   Sportsmen currently accommodated between son and lodgers (12)

18a   Authority from church to enter ruined tabernacle (5,7)

21a   Oil originally found in desiccated fish (4)

The dory^[5] is a narrow deep-bodied fish with a mouth that can be opened very wide.

22a   Sorted date out and had a trial run (4-6)

25a   Flower, for example, in say, seasonal fare (6,3)

This clue is almost seasonal; certainly much more so than when it appeared in the UK in December.

26a   Nothing carried by bamboo craft (5)

27a   Sit back drinking healthy infusions (7)

28a   Slate and pine — what style! (7)

Slate^[5] is an informal British term meaning to criticize severely ⇒ his work was slated by the critics.

Down

1d   Crown prince begins with the French drink (6)

According to The Chambers Dictionary, the abbreviation for Prince can be either Pr.^[1] or P^[1]. However, the setter does not rely on the use of an abbreviation and instead clues P as "prince begins" [the initial letter (beginning) of Prince].

In French,  le^[8] is the masculine singular form of the definite article.

2d   Country absolutely not accepting king (6)

Rex^[5] (abbreviation R^[5]) [Latin for king] denotes the reigning king, used following a name (e.g. Georgius Rex, King George) or in the titles of lawsuits (e.g. Rex v. Jones, the Crown versus Jones — often shortened to R. v. Jones).

3d   Fair — yet editor supports worker (4-6)

4d   Beatles’ final pathetic track (5)

The Beatles^[7] were an English rock band that formed in Liverpool in 1960 and broke up in 1970. Might the "track" in question be "The Long and Winding Road", the last Beatles single to be released — although only in North America, not Britain.

5d   Person with no experience of putting area on alarm (9)

6d   Whip remains suppressed by Left (4)

7d   Does away with administrators, sacking four in Rome (8)

8d   Keeping it in the family? (8)

13d   A Catholic head developed argument against Anglican clergyman (10)

RC^[5] is the abbreviation for Roman Catholic.

An archdeacon^[5] is a senior Christian cleric (in the early Church a deacon, in the modern Anglican Church a priest) to whom a bishop delegates certain responsibilities. In the Catholic, Anglican, and Orthodox Churches, a deacon^[5] is an ordained minister of an order ranking below that of priest. On the other hand, in some Nonconformist Churches [Protestant Churches which dissent from the established Church of England], a deacon is a lay officer appointed to assist a minister, especially in secular affairs.

15d   Reorganised Lakers vow easy victories (9)

In his review, scchua suggests that the clue may refer to the Los Angeles Lakers^[7] of the NBA. However, maybe the team is meant to be Doncaster RLFC^[7], a rugby league football club from Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Now officially nicknamed The Dons, they have previously been known as Doncaster Dragons and Doncaster Lakers.

16d   It might provide proof for detectives in a trial (4,4)

The Criminal Investigation Department (seemingly better known by its abbreviation CID^[2]) is the detective branch of the British police force.

17d   Checks about 1000 supports (8)

19d   New kitchen has no end of stock from foreign cultures (6)

The solution must be an adjective, with the definition being "from foreign cultures". If the definition were a noun "foreign cultures" (as scchua indicates in his review), then the solution would have to be ETHNICS.

20d   Stick present under notice (6)

23d   Unearth grub, oddly, during slump (3,2)

24d   Give instructions to cover vessel (4)

Once again, I had trouble seeing a solution hiding in plain view.

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