Friday, August 8, 2014 — DT 27446

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27446
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27446]
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

Today's puzzle — which appeared on a Tuesday in the UK — was created by an unknown setter. For more on the setters, see the following section.

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

A Note on The Setters

While The Daily Telegraph does not publish the names of the setters of the puzzles, many of them have become known. Puzzles appearing in the UK on Monday, Wednesday and Friday are almost invariably by Rufus (a pseudonym of Roger Squires), Jay (Jeremy Mutch), and Giovanni (Don Manley) respectively. Thursday puzzles alternate between ones set by RayT (Ray Terrell) and those compiled by an unknown setter. On Saturday, Cephas (Peter Chamberlain) shares duties with an unknown setter. Tuesday puzzles are always from an unknown setter. Occasionally, other setters such as Shamus (Philip Marlow) or Petitjean (John Pidgeon) will step forward and acknowledge that they are the author of one of the "unknown" puzzles.

Many of these setters compile puzzles for various publications under different pseudonyms. The pseudonyms attributed to setters on Big Dave's Crossword Blog are generally those used by the setters on "The Toughie" — a more difficult cryptic crossword puzzle published in The Daily Telegraph — or a username that the setter has adopted when commenting at Big Dave's blog.

On Big Dave's blog, an unknown setter is often referred to as a Mysteron. The Mysterons^[7] are a fictional race of extraterrestrials that appear in the British science-fiction Supermarionation [a puppetry technique] television series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons (1967–68) and Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet (2005). Among visitors to Big Dave's blog, this name has playfully evolved into Mr. Ron (which sounds like 'Mysteron').

Of course, since the National Post carries The Daily Telegraph six-day-per-week syndicated puzzle only five days per week (the Saturday puzzle in the National Post provided by American setters Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon), the puzzles rarely appear in the National Post on the same day of the week as they were published in The Daily Telegraph. However, every six weeks — barring other scheduling changes — the stars align and the puzzles appear on the "correct" day.

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

5a   Passionate Moor murdered in Australia (7)

A Moor^[5] is a member of a northwest African Muslim people of mixed Berber and Arab descent. In the 8th century they conquered the Iberian peninsula, but were finally driven out of their last stronghold in Granada at the end of the 15th century.

The International Vehicle Registration (IVR) code for Australia is AUS^[5].

7a   Modest receiving second prize (5)

9a   French local in British college (6)

Eton College^[7], often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent [private] school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor". It is located in Eton, near Windsor in England, and is one of the original nine English public schools as defined by the Public Schools Act 1868. [Note: In Britain, "public schools" are a special class of private school; what North Americans would call public schools seem to be referred to in Britain by terms such as state-run or state-funded schools].

As mentioned by Gazza, David Cameron^[7], Prime Minister of the UK, attended Eton College.

 A Breton^[5] is a native of Brittany^[5], a region and former duchy of northwestern France, forming a peninsula between the Bay of Biscay and the English Channel. It was occupied in the 5th and 6th centuries by Britons fleeing the Saxons, and was incorporated into France in 1532.

10a   Witticism about English vessel (3-5)

11a   The Romans' Chester declared ruined (10)

Deva Victrix^[5], or simply Deva, was a legionary fortress and town in the Roman province of Britannia. The settlement evolved into Chester, the county town of Cheshire, England.

13a   Boundary taken back by a military alliance (4)

In cricket, the term boundary^[10] refers to (1) the marked limit of the playing area, (2) a stroke that hits the ball beyond this limit, or (3) the four or six runs scored with such a stroke. If the ball touches the ground before crossing the boundary (similar to a ground rule double in baseball), four runs are scored. However, if the ball crosses the boundary without touching the ground (similar to a home run in baseball), six runs are scored.

In today's clue, the batsman has given the ball a good whack, driving it over the boundary without touching the ground on the way.

In general terms, an axis^[5] is an agreement or alliance between two or more countries that forms a centre for an eventual larger grouping of nations ⇒ the Anglo-American axis. More specifically, the Axis^[5] was the alliance of Germany and Italy formed before and during the Second World War, later extended to include Japan and other countries ⇒ the Axis Powers.

14a   I have indecent comic book (5,2,6)

Death in Venice^[7] is a novella written by the German author Thomas Mann, first published in 1912 as Der Tod in Venedig. The work presents a great writer suffering writer's block who visits Venice and is liberated, uplifted, and then increasingly obsessed, by the sight of a stunningly beautiful youth. Though he never speaks to the boy, much less touches him, the writer finds himself drawn deep into ruinous inward passion; meanwhile, Venice, and finally the writer himself, succumb to a cholera plague. A film version of Death in Venice starring English actor Dirk Bogarde was made by Italian filmmaker Luchino Visconti in 1971.

16a   Element of skill on piano (4)

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.

17a   Good scientist, almost an epicure (10)

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

19a   Horrible urge to break a few (8)

20a   Green permit stuck on front of cab (6)

22a   Servant passing round company wine (5)

Mâcon^[10] is a city in east central France, in the Saône valley: a centre of the wine-producing region of lower Burgundy. Pop: 34 469 (1999). The city has given its name to a red or white wine from the area, a wine which is heavier than the other burgundies.

23a   Hear about mature type of play (7)

Down

1d   Bishop abroad for a spell (4)

B^[5] is an abbreviation for bishop that is used in recording moves in chess.

2d   Highest score, first-class (3-5)

3d   Add a couple of pages to finish (6)

4d   Admission to ministry after row interrupted speech (10)

5d   Decide a European king needs to be deposed (5)

K^[5] is an abbreviation for king that is used especially in describing play in card games and recording moves in chess.

6d   Brandy, perhaps, with dessert -- nice while it lasts (5,3,5)

In Britain, a short^[5] is a drink of spirits served in a small measure^[5] [a container of standard capacity used for taking fixed amounts of a substance] or, as Collins English Dictionary puts it, a drink of spirits as opposed to a long drink such as beer^[10].

Sweet^[5] is the British term for either (1) a piece of candy^[5] ⇒ a bag of sweets or (2) a sweet dish forming a course of a meal; in other words, a pudding or dessert.

8d   Recluse before getting widow's money? (7)

A widow's mite^[5] is a small monetary contribution from someone who is poor ⇒ this is indeed the widow’s mite—it’s a whole shilling I’m giving you. The expression is an allusion to the Lesson of the widow's mite^[7] found in the Christian Gospels (Mark 12:41-44, Luke 21:1-4). In the story, a widow donates two small coins [mites], while wealthy people donate much more. Jesus explains to his disciples that the small sacrifices of the poor mean more to God than the extravagant, but proportionately lesser, donations of the rich.

The Gospel of Mark specifies that two mites (Greek lepta) are together worth a quadrans, the smallest Roman coin. A lepton was the smallest and least valuable coin in circulation in Judea, worth about six minutes of an average daily wage.

A chiefly British term, the Authorized Version^[5] (abbreviation AV)^[5] [mentioned by Gazza in his review] is an English translation of the Bible made in 1611 at the order of James I and still widely used, though never formally ‘authorized’. It is also called the King James Bible — a name by which it is undoubtedly better known in North America.

12d   Attach rest in circulation with some difficulty (2,1,7)

14d   Sarcastic remark about a zodiac sign in chart (7)

15d   Car route confused Brussels administrator? (8)

Eurocrat^[5] is an informal — and chiefly derogatory — term for a bureaucrat in the administration of the European Union [which has its headquarters in Brussels].

17d   Glider's beginning to circle stadium (6)

Ground^[5] denotes 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. Although the dictionaries do not identify this as a British usage, I would say that it likely is when applied specifically to sports venues. Used in its more general sense of an area of land or sea used for a specified purpose, North Americans would certainly use terms such as "burial ground", "parade ground" or "fishing grounds". However, I doubt very much if one would hear the term ground used to refer specifically to a sports stadium.

18d   Temperamental daughter seen in low comedy, ultimately (5)

Low^[5] is used in the sense of a sound made by cattle.

21d   German's song told a story (4)

A lied^[5] is a type of German song, especially of the Romantic period, typically for solo voice with piano accompaniment.

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