Thursday, June 5, 2014 — DT 27400

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27400
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, January 30, 2014
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27400]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Falcon
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 think I was halfway through this puzzle before it began to dawn on me that I had done it before. Even having convinced myself that it was the second time around, I still had no recollection of many of the clues.

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   Kit is taken in by European and US politician in class (10)

Al Gore^[5] was US vice president 1993–2001. A Tennessee Democrat, he served in the US House of Representatives 1977–85 and US Senate 1985–93. He lost the 2000 presidential bid to George W. Bush in one of the closest and most controversial elections in US history. His book An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It (2006) was highly influential. Nobel Peace Prize (2007, shared with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change).

6a   On reflection, they show where to go for meat (4)

9a   Passing star in ground with politician (10)

10a   Cake with good sweetener (4)

In Britain, in addition to being another term for a bread roll, a bun^[5] may also be a small cake, typically one containing dried fruit ⇒ a currant bun.

The abbreviation G^[10] for good may relate to its use in grading school assignments or tests.

Bung^[5] is an informal British term for a bribe.

12a   Feared creature still on island (4)

13a   Uninformed sort or amusing eccentric (9)

15a   Publicly maintained company once into meat products (8)

Imperial Chemical Industries^[7] (ICI) was a British chemical company, the subject of a takeover completed in 2008 by AkzoNobel, a Dutch conglomerate. In its heyday, ICI was the largest manufacturing company in the British Empire, and commonly regarded as a "bellwether of the British economy".

16a   Gentle movement in bay, say, in American territory (6)

18a   Like a doctor, perhaps, working with heads? (2,4)

20a   Material about eastern Mediterranean (8)

23a   A representative in court getting soft fare (9)

24a   Leave out from old American college (4)

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology^[5] (abbreviation MIT) is a US institute of higher education, famous for scientific and technical research, founded in 1861 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

26a   Surprised expression heard in clever stratagem (4)

Coo^[5] is an informal British exclamation used to express surprise ⇒ ‘Coo, ain’t it high!’ Mary squeaked.

27a   Temporary building left by a bank I suspect (10)

Portakabin^[5] is a British trademark for a portable building, used as a temporary office, classroom, etc.

28a   Flat race maybe curtailed (4)

A flat race^[5] is a horse race over a course with no jumps, as opposed to a steeplechase or hurdles.

29a   Only temp struggles to cover this person in work (10)

It is a common cryptic crossword convention for the creator of the puzzle to use terms such as compiler, setter, author, writer, or this person to refer to himself or herself. To solve such a clue, one must generally substitute a first person pronoun (I or me) for whichever of these terms has been used in the clue.

Down

1d   Attractive economy beginning to expand (4)

2d   English beer consumed by unusually fat thief (3,4)

Tea leaf^[5] is British rhyming slang for a thief.

3d   Part of daily loss coming up for review (6,6)

4d   Playwright and artist with dry Scotsman grabbing last of seating (8)

A Royal Academician (abbreviation RA^[5]) is a member of the Royal Academy of Arts^[5], an institution established in London in 1768, whose purpose is to cultivate painting, sculpture, and architecture in Britain.

In Crosswordland, a Scotsman is almost invariably named Ian.

Sir Terence Rattigan^[5] (1911–1977) was an English dramatist. Notable plays: The Winslow Boy (1946) and The Browning Version (1948).

5d   Rush getting second feature in paper? (6)

7d   Plunge producing concerned expression in part (7)

Lumme^[5] [from (Lord) love me] is an informal, dated British exclamation used to express surprise or interest ⇒ ‘Lumme!’ said Quigley. ‘She isn’t half a size!’.

8d   A great mist swirled around one on bench? (10)

11d   Mechanic makes sound of country fiddle (6,6)

14d   Test facing men over period of time in transport (10)

In the UK, MOT^[5] (also MOT test) refers a compulsory annual test for safety and exhaust emissions of motor vehicles of more than a specified age. It is an abbreviation of Ministry of Transport, which introduced the original test.

In the British armed forces, the term other ranks^[5] (abbreviation OR^[5]) refers to all those who are not commissioned officers.

A cycle^[5] is the period of time taken to complete a cycle of events ⇒ the cells are shed over a cycle of twenty-eight days.

17d   Not being wet in any way? (8)

19d   Talk together, being co-operative (7)

21d   Friendly sailor entering a race (7)

In the Royal Navy, able seaman^[5] (abbreviation AB^[5]), is a rank of sailor above ordinary seaman and below leading seaman.

22d   Change religious education class (6)

In the UK, religious education^[10] is a subject taught in schools which educates about the different religions of the world.

In Britain, a form^[5] is a class or year in a school, usually given a specifying number. Thus the fifth form would be the counterpart to the fifth grade in North America and Form One would be like saying Grade One.

25d   Fool discussed contract (4)

Nit^[5] is an informal British term for a foolish person ⇒ you stupid nit!.

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