Monday, June 30, 2014 — DT 27417

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27417
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27417]
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

I thought that today's puzzle was a fairly typical offering from him. He did throw in a couple of words that were new to me — the Australian tree found at 16d and the British booby prize at 7d.

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

1a   Evocative of cars coming in late? (11)

Taking slight issue with scchua's review, the definition is clearly "evocative" and not "evocative of".

Mini^[7] is an automobile brand, currently owned by BMW, but originally introduced as a model under the Austin and Morris marques by the British Motor Corporation (BMC).

9a   Unconventional females worn out by love (7)

In tennis, squash, and some other sports, love^[5] is a score of zero or nil ⇒ love fifteen. The resemblance of a zero written as a numeral (0) to the letter O leads to the cryptic crossword convention of the word "love" being used to clue this letter.

10a   Live musical turns including Chopin’s first (6)

Evita^[7] is a musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. It concentrates on the life of Argentine political leader Eva Perón, the second wife of Argentine president Juan Perón. The story follows Evita's early life, rise to power, charity work, and eventual death.

Frédéric Chopin^[5] (1810–1849) was a Polish-born French composer and pianist. Writing almost exclusively for the piano, he composed numerous mazurkas and polonaises inspired by Polish folk music, as well as nocturnes, preludes, and two piano concertos (1829; 1830).

12a   Trading area of London linked to Germany (7)

Ealing^[7] is a major suburban district of west London, England, and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Ealing.

The International Vehicle Registration (IVR) code for Germany is D^[5] [from German Deutschland].

13a   The girl will shortly account for varnish (7)

In accounting, a/c^[10] is the abbreviation for account.

14a   Scandinavian mostly adopting married standards (5)

15a   The original model of ‘P’ in layout of eye chart (9)

17a   A blunt instrument might be useless (9)

20a   Hairdresser’s lad crossing a line (5)

22a   In theory working with soft food, exhibitor loses heart (2,5)

24a   Part of agenda in a blasted backward country (7)

25a   Man of God involved in blessing city (6)

26a   Repeat charge applied to unprotected sites (7)

27a   Google Conservatives posse? (6,5)

Down

2d   Laments English that is accepted by members (7)

3d   Mingle where the fire may be after endless winter (9)

4d   A case of members supporting one million religious leaders (5)

5d   Case yet to be developed for item pertaining to road safety (4-3)

The cat's eye^[7] (also cat's-eye^[10] or Catseye^[2]/catseye^[5], the later being a British trademark) is a retroreflective safety device used in road marking and was the first of a range of raised pavement markers. It originated in the UK in 1933 and is today used all over the world.

6d   Tolstoy losing heart after book’s unexpected appearance (7)

Count Leo Tolstoy^[5] (1828–1910) was a Russian writer. He is best known for the novels War and Peace (1863-9), an epic tale of the Napoleonic invasion, and Anna Karenina (1873-7).

7d   Prize awarded for a chef’s aid? (6,5)

In Britain, the expression wooden spoon^[5] refers to an imaginary prize said to be awarded to the person who is last in a race or other competition ⇒ they finished with the wooden spoon after losing a penalty shoot-out.

8d   A fine and equitable business (6)

F^[5] is an abbreviation for fine, as used in describing grades of pencil lead [a usage that Oxford surprisingly characterises as British].

11d   Vets say something that might appear on monitor (6,5)

16d   Mostly relaxed, artist captures popular tree (9)

The casuarina^[5] (also called she-oak) is a tree with slender, jointed, drooping twigs which resemble horsetails and bear tiny scale-like leaves, native to Australia and southeast Asia.

18d   Earnestly solicit the knowledge of the little people! (7)

19d   Tout’s two notes on theory regularly ignored (7)

In music, ti^[2] is the seventh note of the major scale in sol-fa notation. This seems to be the customary spelling in the US whereas, in the UK, ti^[3,4,11] is an alternative spelling of te^[3,4,11] which would appear to be the more common spelling.

20d   Undermine rebellious brutes, grabbing victory (7)

V^[2] is the symbol for victory.

21d   Secure area on top of Ukrainian carriage (6)

23d   Lost colour on church spread (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

Saturday, June 28, 2014 — Spending Time in the Sun

Introduction

I found one of the clues in today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon to be very apropos. I solved the puzzle while basking in the sun beside a lake.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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 █ - yet to be solved

Legend:	"*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed
	"( )" letters inserted; "_" letters deleted; "†" explicit in the clue
	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

1a   Brief message, not by error (4)

NOT|E — NOT (†) + (by) E (error)

3a   Sloppy part of a meal the First Lady started (10)

DISH|EVE|LED — DISH (part of a meal) + EVE (the First Lady) + LED (started; e.g., played the first card in a trick in a game of bridge)

In the Bible, Eve^[5] is the first woman, companion of Adam and mother of Cain and Abel.

9a   Kind of ice cream truck sickened one (7)

VAN|ILL|A — VAN (truck) + ILL (sickened) + A (one)

11a   Slows down sailor in Reds (7)

RE(TAR)DS — TAR (sailor) contained in (in) REDS (†)

12a   Drops off buildings (5)

SHEDS — double definition

13a   Give birth to alien in chopper (7)

HATCH|ET — HATCH (give birth to) + ET (alien)

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial^[7] (often referred to simply as E.T.) is a 1982 American science fiction film co-produced and directed by Steven Spielberg. It tells the story of a lonely boy who befriends an extraterrestrial, dubbed "E.T.", who is stranded on Earth. He and his siblings help the extraterrestrial return home while attempting to keep it hidden from their mother and the government.

15a   Awfully tedious in the open air (7)

OUTSIDE* — anagram (awfully) of TEDIOUS

16a   Veggie sack in taxi, empty (7)

CAB(BAG)E — BAG (sack) contained in (in) {CAB (taxi) + E (empty)}

18a   Understanding of night is confused (7)

INSIGHT* — anagram (confused) of NIGHT IS

21a   Model passing with a tattered item on (7)

P|A|RAG|ON — P (passing; a successful outcome on a pass/fail exam) + (with) A (†) + RAG (tattered item) + ON (†)

23a   Virginia forest animal split (7)

VA|MOOSE — VA ([US Postal Service abbreviation for] Virginia) + MOOSE (forest animal)

25a   Atmosphere in a city of Italia (5)

A|ROMA — A (†) + ROMA (city of Italia)

Rome^[5] (Italian name Roma) is the capital of Italy (Italian name Italia) and of the Lazio region, situated on the River Tiber about 25 km (16 miles) inland; population 2,724,347 (2008).

27a   Shorten a bird's front crest (7)

A|B|RIDGE — A (†) + B (bird's front; initial letter (front) of the word "Bird") + RIDGE (crest)

28a   For a second time, saint opposed (7)

AGAIN|ST — AGAIN (for a second time) + ST (saint)

29a   Let's create new Fender guitar model (10)

TELECASTER* — anagram (new) of LETS CREATE

The Fender Telecaster^[7] is the world's first commercial solid-body, single-cutaway electric guitar made by Fender, typically dual-pickup in configuration.

30a   Mostly make high-fiber food (4)

BRAN_ —BRAN[D] (make) with the final letter removed (mostly)

Fiber is the US spelling of fibre^[5].

Down

1d   Weird avocations in a Canadian province (4.6)

{NOVA SCOTIA}* — anagram (weird) of AVOCATIONS

2d   Touching line for a guy who's been in the sun? (7)

TAN|GENT — TAN GENT (a guy who's been in the sun)

4d   I have no moves for a knight (7)

IVANHOE* — anagram (moves) of I HAVE NO

Ivanhoe^[7] is a historical novel by Sir Walter Scott published in 1820 and set in 12th-century England. Wilfred of Ivanhoe, the titular character, is a knight and son of Cedric the Saxon.

5d   A kind of rebel stirred the rice (7)

HERETIC* — anagram (stirred) of THE RICE

6d   Plant found in privet chopped (5)

_VET|CH_ — hidden in (found in) priVET CHopped

7d   Rum or latte for Ms. Lynn (7)

LORETTA* — anagram (rum) of OR LATTE

Rum^[5] is a dated informal British term meaning odd or peculiar ⇒ it’s a rum business, certainly. It is used frequently in British cryptic crosswords as an anagram indicator — and not so much in American puzzles.

Loretta Lynn^[5] is a US country singer and songwriter; born Loretta Webb. She had hits with songs such as “Honky Tonk Girl” (1960), “Don’t Come Home A-Drinkin' (With Loving on Your Mind)” (1966), and “Coal Miner’s Daughter” (1970). The movie Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980) was based on her 1976 autobiography of the same name. She was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1988.

8d   500 = 100 = O (4)

D|IS|C — D ([Roman numeral for] 500) + IS (=) + C ([Roman numeral for] 100)

The definition is given by "O", a letter that looks like a disc. The second equals sign serves as a link between the wordplay and definition.

10d   Los Angeles con going on and on (7)

LA|STING — LA (Los Angeles) + STING (con)

14d   Strange man at diner is a singer (4.6)

{DEAN MARTIN}* — anagram (strange) of MAN AT DINER

Dean Martin^[5] (1917–1995) was an American singer and actor; born Dino Paul Crocetti. He joined with Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr in a number of films, including Bells are Ringing (1960), and had his own television show from 1965.

17d   Two taverns with a tag for a woman (7)

BAR|BAR|A — BAR ([first] tavern) + BAR ([second] tavern) + (with) A (†)

Tag is a slang term for name — although I did not find it defined explicitly as such in any of the several dictionaries that I consulted.

19d   Cut off a large, unspecified number (7)

SEVER|A|L — SEVER (cut off) + A (†) + L (large)

20d   Listened to teacher's flute players (7)

TOOTER|S — sounds like (listened to) TUTOR (teacher) + S ('s)

21d   Clip including official introduction (7)

P(REF)ACE — PACE (clip) containing (including) REF (official)

22d   Bad pun on range roving (7)

GROANER* — anagram (roving) of ON RANGE

24d   Some dictator's keeping doctor in the army (5)

_ME|DIC_ — hidden in (keeping) soME DICtators

26d   Leave snare set the wrong way (4)

PART< — reversal (set the wrong way) of TRAP (snare)

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

Friday, June 27, 2014 — DT 27416

Vacation Edition

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27416
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27416]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Gazza
BD Rating
Difficulty - ★	Enjoyment - ★★
Notes
I am currently on vacation. Today's abbreviated posting was prepared prior to my departure and provides a link to the review at Big Dave's Crossword Blog for the puzzle that I expect to be published today. However, the National Post has been known to alter its publication schedule unexpectedly, so there is no guarantee that my forecast will necessarily prove to be accurate.

Introduction

It is shaping up to be a busy Canada Day extra-long weekend. As a result, the blog will scale back to Vacation Mode until the craziness subsides.

Signing off for today — Falcon

Thursday, June 26, 2014 — DT 27415

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27415
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, February 17, 2014
Setter Rufus (Roger Squires)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27415]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Miffypops
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

A typically fun — but not overly taxing — puzzle from Rufus.

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

1a   Talent shown by a number in entertainment (5)

Terms such as "a number", "a large number", or "a great many" are often indicators that a Roman numeral is required.

4a   French beard and pigtail, say, put on for party (8)

In French, barbe^[8] means beard.

8a   Winning, making bad move and lose (8)

Lovesome^[5] is a literary term meaning lovely or lovable.

9a   As Roy rides out it's laughable (8)

11a   Sing in French first to delight (7)

In French, en^[8] is a preposition meaning in.

13a   Get leader moved and demoted (9)

15a   Propellers of jumbo jets? (9,6)

18a   Work of a forger, bent but possibly lucky (9)

In Britain, the word bent^[5] has the same connotation (dishonest or corrupt) as does the word crooked^[5] in North America. [It would appear that the British use both bent and crooked in this sense].

21a   Possibly pressed to make one go down (7)

I would say that the definition encompasses a bit more of the clue than Miffypops has chosen to include. If the definition were simply "go down", then I think that the solution would have to be an intransitive verb (which depress^[10] is not). Therefore, the definition must be "to make one go down" (to lower in spirits, make gloomy, or deject) which would make the solution a transitive verb.

22a   It strengthens the wall -- still needs a lock (8)

24a   Sulky demeanour (8)

25a   Chinese official in loose jacket (8)

Although, like Miffypops, I parsed this as a double definition, it could equally well be interpreted as a triple definition:

• 25a   Chinese official in loose jacket (8)

where the first definition is a form of Chinese (language), the second is a term that has come to be applied to any powerful official or senior bureaucrat, and the third being the loose jacket.

26a   In a way quite small, but totally delightful (5)

Wee^[5] is a chiefly Scottish adjective meaning little ⇒ (i) when I was just a wee bairn; (ii) the lyrics are a wee bit too sweet and sentimental. The word may be of Scottish origin but, like the Scots themselves, it has migrated around the world.

Down

1d   They have no real bite (5,5)

2d   He should know how to press a suit (8)

An advocate^[5] is a person who pleads his client's cause in a court of law.

3d   Here cars will be involved in scientific inquiry (8)

4d   Brought up with money, by the sound of it (4)

5d   Revealing report about Rhode Island (6)

The US Postal Service abbreviation for the state of Rhode Island^[7] is RI. 

Rhode Island^[5] is a state in the north-eastern US, on the Atlantic coast; population 1,050,788 (est. 2008); capital, Providence. Settled from England in the 17th century, it was one of the original thirteen states of the Union (1776) and is the smallest and one of the most densely populated.


Rhode Island^[7], despite being the smallest state by area, has the longest official name of all the US states — State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. The name of the state comes from an island near the mouth of Narragansett Bay which Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano, in a letter written in 1524, likened to the Island of Rhodes in the Mediterranean.

6d   Company show displeasure with failure to accept responsibility (3-3)

Miffypops should have said "split (2-4)" rather than "split (4-2)".

7d   Discover theories Pythagoras penned (4)

Pythagoras^[5] (circa 580–500 BC) was a Greek philosopher; known as Pythagoras of Samos. Pythagoras sought to interpret the entire physical world in terms of numbers, and founded their systematic and mystical study; he is best known for the theorem of the right-angled triangle. His analysis of the courses of the sun, moon, and stars into circular motions was not set aside until the 17th century.

10d   Came into force (8)

The solution might also have been ENROLLED. I didn't fill in the middle part of the answer until the correct choice was revealed by solving 13a.

12d   Defence cuts (8)

14d   Press cited for spreading contempt (10)

16d   Racket skills which are used defensively (8)

I solved the clue without understanding the connection between ramp and racket. A bit of research revealed that there is indeed a connection — just not the one I anticipated.

Ramp^[5] is an informal British term for a swindle, especially one involving a fraudulent increase of the price of a share ⇒ the Stock Exchange is investigating two blatant share ramps.

17d   One having the same calling (8)

19d   Give back profit (6)

20d   Mistakes are holding sailor up (6)

22d   Ray gives us a big smile (4)

Perhaps this is a tip of the hat to fellow setter RayT (Ray Terrell) who also sets puzzles under the pseudonym Beam.

23d   Caught cutting Sun article to copy electronically (4)

It is interesting to observe that the word "Sun" is italicized in the National Post — which it was not in the UK (at least, not in the online version of the puzzle).

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

The Sun^[7] is a daily tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and Ireland by a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

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

Wednesday, June 25, 2014 — DT 27414

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27414
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Saturday, February 15, 2014
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27414 - Hints] Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27414 - Review]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Big Dave (Hints) crypticsue (Review)
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
Notes
As this was a Saturday "Prize Puzzle" in Britain, there are two entries related to it on Big Dave's Crossword Blog — the first, posted on the date of publication, contains hints for selected clues while the second is a full review issued following the entry deadline for the contest. The vast majority of reader comments will generally be found attached to the "hints" posting with a minimal number — if any — accompanying the full review.

Introduction

The string of relatively gentle puzzles continues. I got the two long horizontal clues despite not knowing my positions in rugby or the British sock puppet.

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

1a   Following leads in special operations, spies left party (6)

The Central Intelligence Agency^[5] (abbreviation CIA) is a federal agency in the US responsible for coordinating government intelligence activities. Established in 1947 and originally intended to operate only overseas, it has since also operated in the US.

4a   Successfully woo girl holding diamonds - that can give you a lift (8)

Diamonds^[2]) (abbreviation D^[2]) is a suit of cards.

A windlass^[5] is a winch, especially one on a ship or in a harbour.

9a   Roughen up a certain Mr Pitt with energy (6)

Brad Pitt^[7] is an American actor and film producer.

10a   Some gent renovated jewel (8)

11a   Showing respect if no choir performing (9)

Although the solution can also be a noun, here it is used as an adjective.

13a   Good-for-nothing makes Bette lose head (S)

Bette Midler^[7], also known by her informal stage name The Divine Miss M, is an American singer-songwriter, actress, comedian, film producer and entrepreneur.

14a   One back in rugby team leaving space between locks (6,7)

In the definition, "lock" refers to hair but in the surface reading, it is a position on a rugby team.

(Click to enlarge)

In rugby, a lock^[5] (also called lock forward) is a player in the second row of a scrum (see diagram).

The positions on a rugby team^[7] are divided into forwards and backs. There are four three quarter positions (situated between the half-backs and the fullback). Two of these positions are known as inside centre and outside centre (see diagram). Therefore a centre (either the inside one or the outside one) is a "back in [a] rugby team".

Parting^[5] is the British term for a part^[5] in the hair ⇒ his hair was dark, with a side parting.

17a   Children’s puppet directors win everything (5,3,5)

Sweep^[7] is a British puppet and TV character popular in the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and other countries. Sweep is a grey glove puppet dog with long black ears who joined The Sooty Show in 1957, as a friend to fellow puppet Sooty.

21a   Grub of regular variety (5)

23a   Engineer fuelled in US city as a requirement (9)

24a   August? Put in danger around its beginning (8)

Interpret the clue as if it were written "August? Put in danger around the beginning of August".

25a   Person engaging lawyer right in court (6)

Ct^[2] is the abbreviation for Court in street addresses — and seemingly in other senses as well.

26a   Restrained old hooligan given anaesthetic (8)

Ted^[2] is short for Teddy boy^[5], a slang term originally applied to a young man belonging to a subculture in 1950s Britain characterized by a style of dress based on Edwardian fashion (typically with drainpipe trousers, bootlace tie, and hair slicked up in a quiff) and a liking for rock-and-roll music.The name comes from from Teddy, pet form of the given name Edward (with reference to Edward VII's reign). Judging by the entry in the Chambers 21st Century Dictionary, it would appear that the term Teddy boy^[2] is now applied to any unruly or rowdy adolescent male.

27a   Ploy to get one caught following diplomacy (6)

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

Down

1d   Shop initially with two articles to wrap up (6)

2d   Dreadful cliche about king, concerning history (9)

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   Unknown author takes director in bar with log fire (7)

5d   Sort of banal piece's impossible to get away from (11)

6d   Rough sleeper holds single record (7)

In Britain, dosser^[5] is an informal and derogatory term for a tramp or someone who 'sleeps rough'^[5] — a British expression meaning to sleep in uncomfortable conditions, typically out of doors ⇒ "he spent the night sleeping rough on the streets".

7d   Bikini, perhaps, has a price (5)

Bikini^[5] is an atoll in the Marshall Islands, in the western Pacific, used by the US between 1946 and 1958 as a site for testing nuclear weapons. Its name was given to the swimsuit because of the supposed 'explosive' effect created by the garment.

8d   Eagerest to make trip in cheapest place on ship (8)

12d   Habit of Victorians taking very cheap beer even for them! (11)

Historically, a farthingale^[5] was a hooped petticoat or circular pad of fabric around the hips, formerly worn under women’s skirts to extend and shape them. As the discussion on Big Dave's blog concludes, this was an Elizabethan — not a Victorian — garment.

A farthing^[5] is a former monetary unit and coin of the UK, withdrawn in 1961, equal to a quarter of an old [pre-decimal] penny.

15d   Dig tunnel for redevelopment that's gratifying (9)

16d   One looking into the future admitting son may become religious writer (8)

18d   Plain damage I repair (7)

19d   Ramsey perhaps doubled a source of fodder (7)

Sir Alfred "Alf" Ramsey^[7] (1920–1999) was an English footballer and manager of the English national football team from 1963 to 1974. His greatest achievement was winning the 1966 World Cup with England.

20d   My staff endlessly hard to fathom (6)

22d   Drunk comes up to plant again (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

Tuesday, June 24, 2014 — DT 27413

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27413
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, February 14, 2014
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27413]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Deep Threat
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

Oh dear! I was feeling pretty smug this morning, having completed this without electronic assistance. This despite not solving a single across clue on the first read through (fortunately, the down clues were not so obstinate). Then my balloon is burst when I discover that Deep Threat has rated it as meriting only a single star for difficulty.

Happy St-Jean Baptiste Day to readers in Québec. Unfortunately, it looks like celebrations will be more than a touch soggy.

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

1a   Some wrote to musician about choral composition (5)

A motet^[5] is a short piece of sacred choral music.

4a   Sound and smell coming from game (4-4)

Pong^[5] is an informal British term that means (1), as a noun, a strong, unpleasant smell ⇒ corked wine has a powerful pong and (2), as a verb, to smell strongly and unpleasantly ⇒ the place just pongs of dirty clothes.

In his review, Deep Threat refers to a discredited claim made at the Beijing Olympics by London mayor Boris Johnson^[7] that ping-pong was originally a Victorian English invention called whiff-whaff.

8a   Mathematically able to work out true mean (8)

In mathematics, mean^[5] is another name for average.

9a   To our sort, piece of jewellery is outstanding (8)

11a   City house — one no good is coming back (7)

The City^[5] [or here, simply City] is short for the City of London. Take note that the City of London^[5] is not the same thing as the city of London, but merely the part of London situated within the ancient boundaries and governed by the Lord Mayor and the Corporation^[5] [in Britain, a group of people elected to govern a city, town, or borough is called a Corporation].

The City is also a metonym for the financial and commercial institutions located in the City of London ⇒ (i) the Budget got a stony reception from the City; (ii) a City analyst. This is analogous to the use of the terms Wall Street and Bay Street to refer to the financial institutions located in New York and Toronto respectively.

In the clue, the setter uses "City" as a surrogate for for the EC postcode which serves the City of London [postcode being the British counterpart of the Canadian postal code or American zip code]. The EC (Eastern Central) postcode area^[7] (also known as the London EC postcode area) is a group of postcode districts in central London, England. It includes almost all of the City of London as well as parts of several other London boroughs.

13a   What’s offensive in goon’s laughter (9)

15a   Curse Tom, possibly, as someone who won’t conform (7,8)

This is an inverse wordplay type of clue — specifically an inverse anagram (or, as Deep Threat refers to it in his review, a reverse anagram). The solution to the clue consists of an anagram indicator and its fodder, with the result of the anagram operation being found in the clue itself. The solution to the clue is AWKWARD CUSTOMER (someone who won't conform) which, in a cryptic crossword, could be (possibly) used as wordplay indicating an anagram (awkward) of CUSTOMER giving the result CURSE TOM.

An awkward customer^[2] is someone who is difficult or inconvenient to deal with.

18a   Dwelling — note how that’s arranged to accommodate you and me (4,5)

21a   Gather information from socialite on fire with excitement (7)

22a   Flower arrangements placed initially in holiday cottages? (8)

A chaplet^[5] is a garland or circlet for a person’s head.

Butlins^[7] (also Butlin's) [mentioned by Deep Threat in his review] is a chain of large holiday camps in the United Kingdom. Holiday camp^[5] is a British term for a site for holidaymakers with accommodation, entertainment, and leisure facilities.

24a   Travel to old city at the back of tribe making noise (8)

Ur^[5] is an ancient Sumerian city formerly on the Euphrates, in southern Iraq. It was one of the oldest cities of Mesopotamia, dating from the 4th millennium BC, and reached its zenith in the late 3rd millennium BC.

25a   Take as a hypothesis charged particle’s location (8)

26a   Far end of chapel possesses a particularly sacred place (5)

Lhasa^[5] is the capital of Tibet; population 156,100 (est. 2006). It is situated in the northern Himalayas at an altitude of 3,600 m (circa 11,800 ft), on a tributary of the Brahmaputra. Its inaccessibility and the unwillingness of the Tibetan Buddhist priests to receive foreign visitors—to whom Lhasa was closed until the 20th century—earned it the title of the Forbidden City. The spiritual centre of Tibetan Buddhism, Lhasa was the seat of the Dalai Lama until 1959, when direct Chinese administration was imposed on the city.

Down

1d   Personal assistant in isle’s new tavern (3-7)

The Isle of Man (abbreviation IOM)^[5] is an island in the Irish Sea which is a British Crown dependency.

2d   Weapon making man a war-oriented type (8)

3d   Taro — it’ll get cooked for food (8)

4d   Love delving into favourite writer (4)

In tennis, squash, and some other sports, love^[5] is a score of zero or nil ⇒ love fifteen. The resemblance of a zero written as a numeral (0) to the letter O leads to the cryptic crossword convention of the word "love" being used to clue this letter.

5d   European city has information on girl (6)

Gen^[5] is British slang for information ⇒ you’ve got more gen on him than we have.

Geneva^[5] is a city in southwestern Switzerland, on Lake Geneva; population 179,971 (2007). It is the headquarters of international bodies such as the Red Cross, various organizations of the United Nations, and the World Health Organization.

6d   Having gin, now get drunk (6)

7d   Drink 80% of stuff served up (4)

10d   Old item of furniture in which second dog is hidden (8)

12d   Burst of passion about ancient diamonds and other valuable stuff (4,4)

In addition to being a sudden strong rush of wind, gust^[5] may mean a sudden burst of something such as rain, sound, or emotion.

Diamonds^[2]) (abbreviation D^[2]) is a suit of cards.

14d   Land volunteers admitting blunder before wood starts to mature again (5,5)

In the UK, the Territorial Army (TA)^[5] is a volunteer force locally organized to provide a reserve of trained and disciplined manpower for use in an emergency.

16d   Court has judicial proceeding with break for food (8)

17d   Canadian location of boatman sailing freely round island (8)

19d   In the country it’s hard to find big animals (6)

H^[5] is an abbreviation for hard, as used in describing grades of pencil lead ⇒ a 2H pencil.

20d   Wood inside the plastic protective covering (6)

22d   Homeless composer from Poland is cut up (4)

To aid in interpreting the clue, it may help to replace "homeless composer" with "composer with no home".

Frédéric Chopin^[5] (1810–1849) was a Polish-born French composer and pianist. Writing almost exclusively for the piano, he composed numerous mazurkas and polonaises inspired by Polish folk music, as well as nocturnes, preludes, and two piano concertos (1829; 1830).

23d   Third grade in hospital’s medical examination (4)

San^[5] is an informal term for what is known in Britain as a sanatorium^[5] and in the US as a sanitarium^[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