Friday, July 18, 2014 — DT 27431

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27431
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, March 7, 2014
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27431]
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

While Deep Threat has rated this puzzle as two stars for difficulty, I found it a bit more challenging. The southwest quadrant took as long to solve as the entire remainder of the puzzle. The last clue in was 1a, a word with which I am not familiar (at least not as a verb). Once I had all the checking letters — and overcame my obsession with student drivers — I was able to come up with the solution (although I did need to consult a dictionary to verify that such a word actually exists).

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   Slander a hundred old students at start of event (10)

Calumniate^[5] is a formal term meaning to make false and defamatory statements about ⇒ he has been calumniating the Crown and all the conservative decencies.

6a   Something fraudulent in this campaign (4)

10a   Nymph shown in tedious commercial (5)

In folklore and Greek mythology, a dryad^[5] is a nymph inhabiting a tree or wood.

11a   Place controlled by editor laid waste (9)

Pl.^[5] is an abbreviation for Place in street addresses ⇒ 3 Palmerston Pl., Edinburgh.

12a   One with difficult tasks needing the woman’s clues worked out (8)

In Greek and Roman mythology, Hercules^[5] was a hero of superhuman strength and courage who performed twelve immense tasks or ‘labours’ imposed on him and who after death was ranked among the gods.

13a   Fairy by lake may be menace (5)

In Persian mythology, a peri^[5] is a mythical superhuman being, originally represented as evil but subsequently as a good or graceful genie or fairy.

15a   Notice any number in muddle — it’s bedlam (7)

The letter n^[10] is used (especially in mathematics) as a symbol to represent an indefinite number (of) ⇒ there are n objects in a box.

17a   First hint of 20 and northern river offers minimal flow (7)

The numeral "20" in the clue is a cross reference indicator directing the solver to insert the solution to clue 20d in its place to complete the clue.

The River Ribble^[7] is a river that runs through North Yorkshire and Lancashire in Northern England.

19a   Expose boss as simpleton (7)

21a   Special utterances of fellow, mostly rubbish (7)

Originally in Hinduism and Buddhism, a mantra^[5] was a word or sound repeated to aid concentration in meditation ⇒ a mantra is given to a trainee meditator when his teacher initiates him. The word has come to mean a statement or slogan repeated frequently ⇒ the environmental mantra that energy has for too long been too cheap.

22a   ‘Abrasive’ is ‘hard as hard’? That’s about right (5)

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

24a   Fantastic scene with Ron as seen by TV viewers? (2-6)

27a   Youngster terribly dainty getting to trouble important lady (9)

Twee^[5] is a British term meaning excessively or affectedly quaint, pretty, or sentimental ⇒ although the film’s a bit twee, it’s watchable.

The regnal ciphers (monograms) of British monarchs are initials formed from the Latin version of their first name followed by either Rex or Regina (Latin for king or queen, respectively). Thus, the regnal cipher of Queen Elizabeth is ER^[5] — from the Latin Elizabetha Regina.

Tweenager — a word formed by mashing together the words "(be)tween" and "(teen)ager" — is an informal name applied to some children. The British dictionaries don't agree on its precise definition and the American dictionaries don't list it at all. Oxford Dictionaries Online defines a tweenager^[5] as a child between the ages of about 10 and 14 while Collins English Dictionary stretches the range to a child of approximately eight to fourteen years of age^[10]. The Chambers Dictionary has by far the best definition — and avoids specifying an age range. It defines a tweenager^[1] as a child who, although not yet a teenager, has already developed an interest in fashion, pop music, and exasperating his or her parents.

28a   Bird crossing river in horde (5)

A drove^[5] is a large number of people or things doing or undergoing the same thing ⇒ tourists have stayed away in droves this summer.

29a   Moulded social group, not English (4)

A caste^[5] is each of the hereditary classes of Hindu society, distinguished by relative degrees of ritual purity or pollution and of social status ⇒ members of the lower castes .

30a   Reportedly stuff in office cupboard’s gathering dust maybe (10)

Down

1d   Drug given to fish? There’s a set of rules (4)

E^[5] is an abbreviation for the drug Ecstasy or a tablet of Ecstasy ⇒ (i) people have died after taking E; (ii) being busted with three Es can lead to stiff penalties.

2d   Church assistant and boss seen round outskirts of Scottish town (3,6)

Ayr^[5] is a port in southwestern Scotland, on the Firth of Clyde, the administrative centre of South Ayrshire council area; population 45,900 (est. 2009).

In the Anglican Church, a lay reader^[5] is a layperson licensed to preach and to conduct some religious services, but not licensed to celebrate the Eucharist.

3d   This person needs medical practitioner — something drunk (5)

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

Médoc^[5] is a red wine produced in Médoc, the area along the left bank of the Gironde estuary in southwestern France.

4d   Spikes drink to be imbibed by troublemakers (7)

5d   Faith said to be tied up (7)

7d   Attendant about to get into vehicle (5)

Carer^[5] is a British term for a family member or paid helper who regularly looks after a child or a sick, elderly, or disabled person ⇒ elderly people and their carers need long-term support. The equivalent North American term is caregiver^[5].

8d   Laddies met abroad in hot part of the world (6,4)

This part of the world has become even "hotter" since the original publication of this puzzle in The Daily Telegraph in March.

Laddie^[5] is an informal, chiefly Scottish term for a boy or young man (often as a form of address) ⇒ he’s just a wee laddie.

9d   A possibility for welcoming in ‘daughter’? (8)

This type of clue is formally known as an &lit. clue^[7] (or, as Deep Threat informally styles it, an all-in-one clue). The entire clue (when read one way) is the the definition, but under a different interpretation takes on the roll of wordplay.

The definition alludes to the fact that one way to welcome a daughter into your life is through ADOPTION.

14d   Approach when beset by something that makes one sick? Showing understanding (10)

16d   Huge beast from alien planet, he (8)

18d   Narco able to move round European city (9)

Narco^[5] is US slang for (1) narcotics or illegal drugs ⇒ the multi-billion dollar narco trade; or (2) a drug trafficker or dealer ⇒ political bosses who may have links to the narcos.

Barcelona^[5] is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain, capital of Catalonia; population 1,615,908 (est. 2008).

20d   Beginning of December, unpleasant time — not what you expect then? (7)

21d   Destroying this creature could be rum task (7)

Deep Threat refers to this as a reverse anagram, but I do not see it as such. In a reverse anagram (or, as I prefer to call it, inverse anagram), the solution to the clue consists of both an anagram indicator and its fodder, with the result of the anagram operation being found in the clue itself. For instance:

• [DT 27413] 15a   Curse Tom, possibly, as someone who won’t conform (7,8)

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. Thus the anagram indicator (awkward) and the anagram fodder (customer) are both found in the solution to the clue, while the result of the anagram operation (Curse Tom) us contained in the clue itself.

Contrast this with the situation in the present clue. The solution is MUSKRAT. The clue tells us that performing an anagram operation on (destroying) the solution (MUSKRAT) might produce (could be) the the result RUM TASK. Thus two out of three conditions for a reverse anagram are satisfied; (1) the anagram fodder is found in the solution and (2) the anagram result is found in the clue. However, the third condition is not met, as the anagram indicator is found in the clue rather than in the solution.

Drawing on the well-established distinction made between an &lit. (all-in-one) clue and a semi-&lit. (semi-all-in-one) clue, perhaps one could call this a semi-reverse anagram.

23d   Famous film director’s providing orchestral instruments (5)

I would not categorize this clue as a double definition (as Deep Threat appears to have done). The first part is actually a bit of wordplay being REED (famous film director) + S ('s).

Sir Carol Reed^[5] (1906–76) was an English film director. His films include Odd Man Out (1947), The Third Man (1949), and the musical Oliver! (1968), for which he won an Oscar.

25d   In port notice piece of electronic equipment (5)

Rio de Janeiro^[5] (commonly known as Rio) is a city in eastern Brazil, on the Atlantic coast; population 6,093,472 (2007). The chief port of Brazil, it was the country’s capital from 1763 until 1960, when it was replaced by Brasilia.

26d   Cathedral city south of river bank (4)

The Diocese of Ely^[5] is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury, headed by the Bishop of Ely, who sits at Ely Cathedral in the city of Ely.

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