Wednesday, April 9, 2014 — DT 27357

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27357
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27357]
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

Although Gazza found "nothing too tricky in this one", not only did I need a bit of electronic help to finish, I discovered that one of my answers was incorrect.

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

3a   One importuning, say, in dishevelled garb (6)

6a   Timeless meat dish that's ready to eat (4)

... but am I ready for it? Not something that is normally found in my diet.

8a   Recreational area requiring a coat (5)

9a   Fellow found among unusually nice cops in general (3-8)

F^[2] is the abbreviation for Fellow (of a society, etc). For instance, it is found in professional designations such as FRAIC (Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada).

10a   Some left on galleon for islands (5)

Tonga^[5] is a country in the South Pacific consisting of an island group south-east of Fiji.

11a   Bottle shown by rugby player in heart of operations (5,6)

Bottle^[5] is an informal British term meaning the courage or confidence needed to do something difficult or dangerous ⇒ I lost my bottle completely and ran.

A centre^[5] is the middle player in a line or group in certain team games.

16a   Musician not initially getting support (6)

17a   Each trip when reviewed divided circle (3,5)

19a   Hearing what batsman might get in practice (5,3)

I put TRIAL OUT here, thinking that it might be a British variant of "try out". Judging by Gazza's comments regarding the performance of English cricket players — who were competing in Australia at the time his piece was written — my solution may have been a better fit.

20a   Steamship moored in sound, in bother (6)

22a   Feel strongly preparation of a threat, token largely (4,2.5)

25a   One giving little room is erring essentially (5)

27a   Broadcast inside team's ground (11)

As an anagram indicator, ground is either the past tense or the past participle (used as an adjective) of the verb grind^[5]. An anagram indicator is a word that denotes movement or transformation. Grind denotes transformation in the sense of wheat being ground into flour.

In the surface reading, ground^[5] refers to an area of land, often with associated buildings, used for a particular sport ⇒ (i) a football ground; (ii) Liverpool’s new ground is nearing completion.

28a   Fatal device in feature that's empty? (5)

In this clue, "that's empty" is another way of saying "that has nothing inside it".

29a   Working body of Anglicans in the past (4)

An Anglican^[5] is a member of the Church of England (abbreviation CE^[10]) or any Church in communion with it.

30a   Principally, discover exactly the evidence coppers target? (6)

Down

1d   Identify point on snooker table (4)

In billiards and snooker terminology, spot^[5] refers to any of several small black dots on a table that mark where a ball is to be placed.

2d   Row after old criticism for make-up item (6,5)

An orange stick^[5] is a thin stick, pointed at one end and typically made of orange wood, used for manicuring the fingernails.

3d   Nuts left in squalid place for dessert (6,5)

4d   Worker in Greek yard getting platform (6)

5d   Playing of pale pipe in a virtuous form? (5-3)

In North America, apple pie^[5] is used to represent a cherished ideal of homeliness ⇒ to say I’m fed up with the Olympics is like being against motherhood and apple pie.

6d   Spell in office - and downfall, we hear (5)

7d   Former figure of authority in retreat (5)

A prior^[5] is the male head of a house or group of houses of certain religious orders, in particular the man next in rank below an abbot or the head of a house of friars.

12d   Transport in fairyland? (11)

In this cryptic definition, the word "transport" is the primary indication since we are looking for a word meaning transport, but not in the more common sense of the word — as we see from the subsidiary indication ("in fairyland").

13d   Vital exchange in a theatre? (11)

A cryptic definition for a vital exchange which takes place in a theatre — but not the kind of theatre that might first come to mind.

14d   Two directions before bay, say, to find course (6)

The bay^[5] is an evergreen Mediterranean shrub (Laurus nobilis) with deep green leaves and purple berries. Its aromatic leaves are used in cookery and were formerly used to make triumphal crowns for victors.

15d   Ageing wine imbibed during quiet time (4,2)

Asti^[7] (formerly known as Asti Spumante) is a sparkling white Italian wine that is produced throughout southeastern Piedmont but is particularly focused around the towns of Asti and Alba. Since 1993 the wine has been classified as a Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) and as of 2004 was Italy's largest producing appellation.

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   Singer Kate facing sack, a problem for Australians? (8)

Kate Bush^[7] is an English singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Her eclectic musical style and idiosyncratic vocal style have made her one of the United Kingdom's most successful solo female performers of the past 35 years.

21d   Taste shown by friend at start of exhibition (6)

23d   Pork pie consumed by a Northern outsider (5)

I was virtually certain that "pork pie" was rhyming slang — I just couldn't remember what it stood for.

Pork pie^[10] (or porky) is British rhyming slang for a lie.

24d   Follow tennis rules regularly (5)

26d   Rocks about going over eastern France (4)

The International Vehicle Registration (IVR) code for France is F^[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