Wednesday, August 20, 2014 — DT 27454

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27454
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, April 3, 2014
Setter RayT (Ray Terrell)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27454]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Big Dave
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 we get a puzzle from a naughty RayT at the top of his game. As is normally the case with RayT's puzzles, I got off to a bit of a slow start but then made steady progress once the clues started to fill in.

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   Possibly voting yes to keep Queen's autonomy (11)

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.

 In his review, Big Dave alludes to the referendum on Scottish independence^[7] that will take place on Thursday 18 September 2014. The referendum question will be "Should Scotland be an independent country?" Scottish political parties are divided over the fate of the monarchy in an independent Scotland.

9a   Performer's parts listed endlessly (7)

10a   Hold sailors' ball (6)

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

12a   Try to accept everything's most unlikely (7)

13a   Space otherwise providing frozen water (7)

Although space is not a word that I would think of as being synonymous with orifice, it is considered to be so by both Chambers Thesaurus^[2] and Collins English Dictionary^[10].

Judging by the comments on Big Dave's blog, the Brits detected some cheeky humour in this clue that unfortunately has gone right over my head.

14a   Ale with no head that is not natural (5)

15a   Concealed nothing after gin and tonic's drunk (9)

17a   Seducer Romeo was in shambles, losing first love (9)

20a   City is winning for the audience (5)

Leeds^[5] is an industrial city in West Yorkshire, northern England; population 441,100 (est. 2009). It developed as a wool town in the Middle Ages, becoming a centre of the clothing trade in the Industrial Revolution.

22a   Run out and play guitar being put on stage (7)

In cricket, run out^[5] (abbreviation ro^[2]) means to dismiss (a running batsman) by breaking the wicket with the ball, or with the ball in the hand, while he is out of his ground^[10] (i.e., the area from the popping crease back past the stumps, in which a batsman may legally stand).

24a   Endure going in for each dressing (7)

In Britain, Australia and New Zealand, a plaster^[5] is an adhesive strip of material, usually medicated, for dressing a cut, wound, etc. It would be known as a band-aid^[5] to most North Americans.

25a   Fifty-one pounds ready to spend (6)

Quid^[5] (plural quid) is an informal British term for one pound sterling ⇒ we paid him four hundred quid.

26a   Approach to do performance, tense inside (7)

In Britain, do^[5] is an informal term for swindle ⇒ a thousand pounds for one set of photos — Jacqui had been done.

27a   Spreading sunscreen, say, topless is excessive (11)

Down

2d   Dirty old boy overlooking spectacle (7)

In Britain, an old boy^[5] (abbreviation OB^[2])  is (1) a former male student of a school or college ⇒an old boy of Banbury County School or (2) a former male member of a sports team or company ⇒the White Hart Lane old boy squared the ball to present an easy chance from 12 yards. It is also a chiefly British affectionate form of address to a boy or man ⇒ ‘Look here, old boy,’ he said.

3d   Wiring in circle -- set buzzing (9)

As an anagram indicator, buzz^[5] is to be interpreted in the sense of to move quickly or busily ⇒ she buzzed along the M1 [a highway in England connecting London to Leeds] back into town.

Electrics^[5] is a British term for the system of electric wiring and parts in a house or vehicle ⇒ there’s something wrong with the electrics.

4d   Muse, time and time over (5)

On cricket scorecards, the abbreviation O^[5] denotes over(s). An over^[5] is a division of play consisting of a sequence of six balls bowled by a bowler from one end of the pitch, after which another bowler takes over from the other end.

In Greek and Roman mythology, Erato^[5] is the Muse of lyric poetry and hymns.

5d   Bird's shy following pass (7)

Shy^[5] is a dated term meaning, as a noun, an act of flinging or throwing something at a target and, as a verb, to fling or throw (something) at a target ⇒ he tore the spectacles off and shied them at her.

6d   Tighter miniskirts hugging ends (7)

7d   China perhaps in fear, then war ensues (11)

8d   Flatter with small lie by Romeo (6)

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

11d   Move to arrest men for protest (11)

16d   Around Riviera borders, walks finding shells (9)

The Riviera^[5] is part of the Mediterranean coastal region of southern France and northern Italy, extending from Cannes to La Spezia, famous for its beauty, mild climate, and fashionable resorts.

18d   Girl, one concerned with exercise (7)

19d   Food cultivation (7)

20d   Redhead embraced by weedier novice (7)

Here the setter employs a not uncommon cryptic crossword construct, in which the word "redhead" is used to clue R, the initial letter (head) of Red.

21d   Opponent rapidly holding catch (6)

23d   Bug starts to move in dark, glowing endlessly (5)

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