Tuesday, August 12, 2014 — DT 27448

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27448
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, March 27, 2014
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27448]
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 reviewed this puzzle for Big Dave's Crossword Blog when the puzzle originally appeared in The Daily Telegraph in late March. At the time, I found it quite difficult — as did many of those who left comments on Big Dave's blog. Although I quickly recognized the puzzle as one that I had seen before, it still proved to be a rather tricky solve the second time around.

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   Where the icing on the cake may be too much (4,3,3)

6a   Cast-iron case for prison (4)

10a   Caught Gaelic as spoken word -- crude language (5)

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

Erse^[5] is the Scottish or Irish Gaelic language.

11a   End gossip about obesity (9)

Podginess is a noun derived from podgy^[5], an adjective used informally in Britain to denote (of a person or part of their body) rather fat; in other words, chubby ⇒ he put a podgy arm round Alan’s shoulders. Podgy would seem to mean the same thing as pudgy^[5]. However, whereas both versions appear to be used in the UK, only the latter is found in North America.

12a   Pay attention -- entry gate ahead! (4,4)

13a   Point out the similarity of so-called moss (5)

15a   Fill in claim (4,3)

17a   Dispatch date (4,3)

19a   Most orderly trial involving African dictator (7)

Idi Amin Dada^[7] (c. 1925–2003) was the third President of Uganda, ruling from 1971 to 1979. As commander of the Ugandan Army, he led a military coup in January 1971 that deposed Milton Obote. In 1977, when Britain broke diplomatic relations with Uganda, Amin declared he had defeated the British and added "CBE", for "Conqueror of the British Empire", to his title.

21a   Fashionable tweeds dominating northern shopping centre (4,3)

The West End^[5] is the entertainment and shopping area of London to the west of the City.

Take note that "the City" is not a reference to the city of London, but rather to the City of London (surely only a distinction the Brits could conjure up). The City^[5] (short for the City of London^[5]) is 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].

22a   Eager crowd in distress (5)

Although I have shown the definition as "distress" (a verb), it could equally well be "in distress" in which case the solution would become an adjective.

24a   Confused cavers heading for chasm (8)

To ensure that you are not confused by my hint on Big Dave's blog, Big Dave "lives in the beautiful Worcestershire village of Hanley Swan" which lies "about 30 miles south of Birmingham".

27a   Bronze aboard ship in main (9)

The word "in" is often employed as a link between the wordplay and definition. However, that is not the case here. The wordplay parses as TAN (bronze) contained in (aboard) IMPORT (ship in).

28a   One can see through this coercive (now and then) Labour leader (5)

Might this clue be a commentary on Ed Miliband^[7], a British Labour Party politician who is currently the Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition?

The Labour Party^[5] (abbreviation Lab.^[5]) in Britain is a left-of-centre political party formed to represent the interests of ordinary working people that since the Second World War has been in power 1945–51, 1964–70, 1974-9, and 1997–2010. Arising from the trade union movement at the end of the 19th century, it replaced the Liberals as the country’s second party after the First World War.

29a   Reporter's about to be replaced by raw beginner, 12 (4)

The numeral "12" in the clue is a cross reference indicator directing the solver to insert the solution to clue 12a in its place to complete the clue.

30a   'Victoria' perhaps a composition of Fats Waller? (10)

Victoria Falls^[5] is a spectacular waterfall 109 m (355 ft) high, located on the River Zambezi, on the Zimbabwe-Zambia border. Its native name is Mosi-oa-tunya, ‘the smoke that thunders’.

Fats Waller^[5] (1904–1943) was an American jazz pianist, songwriter, bandleader, and singer; born Thomas Wright Waller. He was the foremost exponent of the New York ‘stride school’ of piano playing.

Down

1d   Pained expression in appreciation of a hit out of bounds (4)

In fencing, touché^[5] is used as an acknowledgement of a hit by one’s opponent.

2d   Reserved English artist returning on old boat in sea (9)

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.

Noah's ark^[5] is the ship in which Noah, his family, and the animals were saved from the Flood, according to the biblical account (Genesis 6-8).

The Med^[5] is an informal, chiefly British name for the Mediterranean Sea.

3d   Tigerish wingers Everton's opening half-time topic (5)

Everton Football Club^[7] is an English professional football club based in Liverpool and currently playing in the Premier League [the top tier of the English football league system].

4d   Benefit from past conspiracy having taken one in (7)

5d   End with warning about bank payment on time (7)

DD^[10] (also dd.) is an abbreviation for direct debit^[10], an order given to a bank or building society [see following] by a holder of an account, instructing it to pay to a specified person or organization any sum demanded by that person or organization. 

In Britain, a building society^[5] is a financial organization which pays interest on investments by its members and lends capital for the purchase or improvement of houses. Building societies originally developed as non-profit-making cooperative societies from friendly societies [see following]. Since 1986 changes in legislation have allowed them to offer banking and other facilities, and some have become public limited companies.

In the UK, a friendly society^[5] is a mutual association providing sickness benefits, life assurance, and pensions. It was originally the name of a particular fire-insurance company operating circa1700.

7d   Make adjustments to width cutting timber (5)

8d   Edit what comes in? (6,4)

This is an example of what many call reverse wordplay, although I prefer to use the term inverse wordplay. In normal wordplay, one finds an indicator and its associated fodder (the words and letters on which the indicator operates) in the clue with the corresponding result of the operation in the solution. In the case of inverse wordplay, the situation is inverted or reversed — the indicator and its fodder are found in the solution and the result of the operation specified by the indicator is contained in the clue.

In the present clue, "edit" (found in the clue) is the result of a reversal operation specified by the solution to the clue, which is RISING TIDE. In a down clue, a reversal (rising) of TIDE would yield the result EDIT.

9d   Loathes type found in Norfolk town (8)

Like^[2] (usually preceded by a possessive pronoun) can mean the counterpart or equal of someone or something ⇒ people of their like.

Diss^[7] is a market town in Norfolk, England close to the border with the neighbouring East Anglian county of Suffolk, with a population of 7,503 (2011).

14d   The samurai could be surprisingly incompetent (10)

A samurai^[5] was a member of a powerful military caste in feudal Japan.

16d   Love greenery after change of heart in The Hebrides maybe (8)

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.

The concert overture The Hebrides^[7], also known as Fingal's Cave, was composed by German composer Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847) in 1830. The piece was inspired by Mendelssohn's visit to Fingal's Cave on the island of Staffa, located in the Hebrides archipelago off the west coast of Scotland.

As was common in the Romantic era, this is not an overture in the sense that it precedes a play or opera; it is a concert overture, a stand-alone musical selection, and has now become part of standard orchestral repertoire.

18d   In the past small price increases initially left fifty people moving from crowded city (9)

Overspill^[5] is a British term denoting a surplus population moving or forced to move from an overcrowded area to a less heavily populated one ⇒ organizing arrangements for overspill from the cities.

20d   Nothing outwardly classic in farewell piece of music (7)

In Britain, ta-ta^[5] is an informal way to say goodbye ⇒ well, I’ll say ta-ta, love.

A toccata^[5] is a musical composition for a keyboard instrument designed to exhibit the performer’s touch and technique.

21d   Wind resulting from change in weather (7)

23d   Splendid meal lacking source of protein (5)

25d   Cold potato in Indian cookery's fine (5)

Aloo^[5] (also alu) is the Indian name for potato.

26d   Almost lavish bonus (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