Friday, August 1, 2014 — DT 27441

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27441
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27441]
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

We are served up a fairly typical offering from Jay today which did not present much difficulty. However, I did fail to recognize that minute is not just a measure of time.

I invite you to leave a comment to let us know how you fared with the puzzle. 

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   Self-assured, virtually laid back, private (12)

9a   Type of excellent painting reproduced? (4,5)

This is the tiny type at the bottom of an ad that explains that everything in the ad really isn't true, that statements made in the ad apply only under certain extremely restrictive conditions, and that the product or service advertised will not necessarily be available when and where you want it — and most certainly not at the price the ad appears to promise.

A print^[5] is a picture or design printed from a block or plate or copied from a painting by photography.

10a   Sacrifice self-respect with daughter going for leader of Conservatives (5)

11a   Surviving Texan shot twin, dismissing victory (6)

As an anagram indicator, shot^[5] might be used either in the sense of (1) damaged (by a missile discharged from a weapon) or, possibly, (2) moved very rapidly or darted. The latter would not be dissimilar to the use of trip (to dance) as an anagram indicator.

12a   Very famous person playing games with sailor (8)

13a   Sally's sensitive about note (6)

In music, ti^[2] (or te) is the seventh note of the major scale in sol-fa notation. Judging by entries in American and British dictionaries, the only recognized spelling in the US would seem to be ti^[3,4,11] whereas, in the UK, the principal spelling would appear to be te^[2,3,4,11], with ti as an alternative spelling in some dictionaries. Oxford Dictionaries Online provides less leeway, giving the spelling as te^[5] with ti shown as the North American spelling.

15a   Time's run out -- it's the end of the road! (8)

18a   Equipment put into steaming water (8)

19a   He leaves non-believers to get capital (6)

Athens^[5] is the capital of Greece; population 745,500 (est. 2009).

21a   Attractive female shown by engraving (8)

23a   Qualification obtained in 60 minutes? (6)

A minute^[5] (also called arc minute or minute of arc) is a sixtieth of a degree of angular measurement (symbol: ʹ) ⇒ Delta Lyrae is a double star with a separation of over 10 minutes of arc.

26a   Fleece quiet listener (5)

Fleece^[11] is used as a verb meaning to to remove the fleece of (a sheep).

27a   Generous, and in favour of French wine during musical performance (9)

The French word for wine is vin^[8].

28a   Spies succeeded on centre stage, bizarrely (6,6)

The abbreviation s^[5] stands for succeeded, in the sense of to have become the new rightful holder of an office, title, or property ⇒ he succeeded to his father’s kingdom. It might be seen, for instance, it charts of royal lineages.

Down

1d   Amounts charged by company head of finance for drinks (7)

2d   Not a single person has time for composition (5)

A nonet^[5] is a musical composition for nine voices or instruments.

3d   Death of a little devil is nigh! (9)

I think the easiest way to understand the wordplay in this clue is to interpret it as a phrase. Thus "death of a little devil" equates to "imp ending" [IMP (little devil) + ENDING (death)].

4d   Bad experience on the way up (4)

5d   Restrained and looking embarrassed by horrible teeth (8)

6d   Letter from mountain hospital on source of antidote (5)

An alp^[5] is a high mountain, especially a snow-capped one. In Switzerland, alp can also mean an area of green pasture on a mountainside.

The Alps^[5] are a mountain system in Europe extending in a curve from the coast of southeastern France through northwestern Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, southern Germany, and Austria into Slovenia. The highest peak of the Alps, Mont Blanc, rises to a height of 4,807 m (15,771 ft).

Hotel^[5] is a code word representing the letter H, used in radio communication.

7d   Aloofness in cadets being retrained (8)

8d   Decide Bristol is full of rubbish (6)

Bristol^[5] is a city in southwestern England; population 374,000 (est. 2009). Situated on the River Avon about 10 km (6 miles) from the Bristol Channel, it has been a leading port since the 12th century.

14d   Peculiarities of surreal satire around religious instruction (8)

The abbreviation for religious instruction is RI^[10]. According to Wikipedia, "In secular usage, religious education^[7] is the teaching of a particular religion (although in England the term religious instruction would refer to the teaching of a particular religion, with religious education referring to teaching about religions in general) and its varied aspects — its beliefs, doctrines, rituals, customs, rites, and personal roles."

16d   Sound of complaint, say, welcomed by Chinese dynasty (9)

Ming^[5] is the name of the dynasty that ruled China 1368–1644 founded by Zhu Yuanzhang (1328–1398).

17d   Represent spectators' area, following heartless owner (5,3)

In this clue, the setter has kindly included a comma. We must interpret the clue as a set of instructions: (1) [start with a word meaning] spectator's area, (2) following [this place] heartless owner. Had the setter omitted the comma, we would still be expected to recognize its implicit existence.

Although the word is perhaps more likely to be seen in the plural ⇒ the suspended coach watched from the stands, a stand^[5] is a large raised tiered structure for spectators, typically at a sporting venue. The plural use may be premised on there typically being more than one such structure at a sporting venue. It is ironic that spectators today typically sit in the stands, although I would imagine that in the original version they stood.

18d   Information is short on employment for soak (6)

I have learned that when the surface reading of a clue seems a bit bizarre, it is because I am unfamiliar with the sense in which a word is used — the present clue being a case in point.

Soak^[3] is slang for a drunkard.

20d   Finishes off broadcast vehicles being towed (7)

22d   Establish orders for protection of vast crowd (5)

24d   Rule to check about golf (5)

Golf^[5] is a code word representing the letter G, used in radio communication.

25d   Guitar bar's worry? (4)

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