Wednesday, April 30, 2014 — DT 27374

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27374
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, December 31 2013
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27374]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By crypticsue
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

You shouldn't have too much difficulty with today's puzzle. In a couple of instances, my determination of the definition differs ever so slightly from what crypticsue shows in her review.

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.

Primary indications (definitions) are marked with a solid underline in the clue; subsidiary indications (be they wordplay or other) are marked with a dashed underline in all-in-one (& lit.) clues, semi-all-in-one (semi-& lit.) clues and cryptic definitions.

Across

5a   Like a Romantic poet of an earlier age — strange irony in that (7)

George Gordon Byron^[5], 6th Baron Byron (1788–1824), commonly known simply as Lord Byron^[7], was an English poet. Byron’s poetry exerted considerable influence on the romantic movement, particularly on the Continent. Having joined the fight for Greek independence, he died of malaria before seeing serious action. Among Byron's best-known works are the lengthy narrative poems Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage (1812–18) and Don Juan (1819–24) and the short lyric She Walks in Beauty (1814).

7a   Light weight for a wild cat (5)

Ounce^[5] is another term for snow leopard^[5], a rare large cat (Panthera uncia) which has pale grey fur patterned with dark blotches and rings, living in the Altai mountains, Hindu Kush, and Himalayas.

9a   Start meal, first drop of ale included (6)

10a   Equestrian reportedly caught before winning trophy (5,3)

On cricket scorecards, the abbreviation c^[5] denotes caught (by).

The Ryder Cup^[5] is a golf tournament held every two years and played between teams of male professionals from the US and Europe (originally Great Britain), first held in 1927. It is so named because the trophy [naturally also known as the Ryder Cup] was donated by Samuel Ryder (1859–1936), an English seed merchant.

11a   Diversion embarrassed the woman with band (3,7)

13a   Parking skill character’s shown (4)

After some contemplation, I have concluded that the definition is merely "character". The phrase "(i)s shown" fulfills the function of a link phrase — even though it comes at the end of the clue. This becomes evident when the wordplay is rephrased in the active voice rather than the passive voice:

• Parking skill shows character (4)

14a   Group of undesirables regularly goes abroad (6,7)

16a   Young woman sneaking into film is sixteen (4)

17a   Opinion given in short testimonial, freely (10)

19a   American involved kept secret (2,6)

Here, I would say that the definition is merely "secret". I suspect that the word kept^[5] may have been  used as a link word, perhaps in the sense of continued or caused to continue in a specified condition, position, course, etc.

20a   New marker is strict (6)

22a   Refuse to sleep across river (5)

Doss^[5] is an informal British term meaning to sleep in rough accommodation or on an improvised bed : he dossed down on a friend’s floor.

23a   Back nag that comes in last, commonly (7)

The "nag that comes in last" would be the END HORSE. A common person (as opposed to one from the upper class) — especially should they be a Cockney — might well pronounce this as END 'ORSE.

A cockney^[5] is a native of East London. Cockney is also the name of the dialect or accent typical of cockneys, which is characterised by dropping the H from the beginning of words and the use of rhyming slang^[5].

Down

1d   Smooth things out in golf club (4)

2d   Managing care home, initially (2,6)

3d   Keen on pet food from a stand? (3,3)

4d   Mason’s beginning to enter unexpectedly repentant defendant’s plea? (10)

The setter could have begun this clue with any word whose initial letter is M. His choice may be an allusion to Perry Mason^[7], the fictional defense attorney who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by American author Erle Stanley Gardner (1889–1970).

5d   Hardy book getting extravagant praise (5)

By placing the word "hardy" at the beginning of the clue, the setter is able to capitalize it, thus making it appear to be the surname of English novelist and poet Thomas Hardy^[5] (1840–1928). Much of his work deals with the struggle against the indifferent force that inflicts the sufferings and ironies of life. Notable novels: The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), Tess of the D’Urbervilles (1891), and Jude the Obscure (1896).

6d   Business from upper-class customers from Surrey, say, poorly rated (8,5)

Here, the setter can't force "surrey" to the start of the clue, but capitalizes it anyway. This "misleading capitalization" is a bit of misdirection that is commonly exercised by the compilers of puzzles.

Surrey^[5] is a county of southeastern England; county town, Kingston upon Thames.

A surrey^[5] is a light four-wheeled carriage with two seats facing forwards. According to Oxford Dictionaries Online, this is a US term. However, neither Collins English Dictionary^[10] nor Chambers 21st Century Dictionary^[2] characterize it as such. The name originally denoted a Surrey cart, first made in Surrey, from which the carriage was later adapted.

8d   Head of embassy has question about king for royal attendant (7)

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).

An equerry^[5] is an officer of the British royal household who attends or assists members of the royal family ⇒ he became equerry to the Duke of Kent. Historically, the term denoted an officer of the household of a prince or noble who had charge over the stables.

12d   Sharp temper in peak tourist period (4,6)

14d   Was monarch pelted, as stated? (7)

15d   Article in French newspaper promoting drink (8)

Le Monde^[7] (English: The World) is a French daily evening newspaper continuously published in Paris since its first edition in December 1944. It is one of two French newspapers of record — the other being Le Figaro.

17d   Very moving verse heading start of obituary (4,2)

18d   Ring precinct for gas (5)

21d   Uncommon poison copper overlooked (4)

Curare^[5] is a bitter resinous substance obtained from the bark and stems of some South American plants. It paralyses the motor nerves and is traditionally used by some Indian peoples to poison their arrows and blowpipe darts.

The symbol for the chemical element copper is Cu^[5] (from Latin cuprum).

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