Friday, September 12, 2014 — DT 27473

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27473
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, April 25, 2014
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27473]
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

I really enjoyed this puzzle, in particular 14a and 16a. It was typical of a Giovanni puzzle — a few quick hits and then a lot of hard work leading to an immense feeling of satisfaction upon completion.

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

9a   Letting learner relax (5)

As a noun, letting^[5] is a British term meaning (1) the action of renting out a property ⇒ the renovation of houses for letting; (ii) she arranged lettings or (2) a property that is let or available to be let ⇒ large houses were subdivided into multiple lettings.

10a   Recalling a beating (5-4)

Is this a double definition (as Deep Threat indicates) or not? That depends on whether the solution to both parts of a double definition must match the numeration given.

The first part of the clue, "recalling", would seem to lead to a result (going over) that has a numeration (5,4) which does not match that of the clue (5-4) ⇒ going over the events of the night before in his mind, he suddenly realized his error. Therefore, I have elected not to mark this as a double definition. See also 15d.

11a   Girl given a drink -- stony one brought to life (7)

Perhaps "stony" refers to her demeanour rather than her construction, as the statue was made of ivory rather than stone.

In Greek mythology, Pygmalion^[5] was a king of Cyprus who fashioned an ivory statue of a beautiful woman and loved it so deeply that in answer to his prayer Aphrodite gave it life. The woman (at some point named Galatea) bore him a daughter, Paphos.

12a   One against joining companion for a drink (7)

Deep Threat has omitted one element of the charade in his explanation. He should have written "The Roman numeral for one and an adjective meaning against follow a Companion of Honour".

A Companion of Honour (abbreviation CH) is a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour^[7], an order of the Commonwealth realms^[7] founded by King George V in June 1917 as a reward for outstanding achievements in the arts, literature, music, science, politics, industry or religion.

Chianti^[5] is a dry red Italian wine produced in Tuscany named after the Chianti Mountains, Italy.

13a   Poet's name retained by boyfriend? (5)

Dante^[5] (1265 – 1321), full name Dante Alighieri, was an Italian poet. His reputation rests chiefly on The Divine Comedy (circa 1309–20), an epic poem describing his spiritual journey through Hell and Purgatory and finally to Paradise. His love for Beatrice Portinari is described in Vita nuova (circa 1290-4).

14a   Boss that needs others to give a hand? (3,6)

I like this clue a lot, even though I struggled to classify it. In the end, I have opted to label it a cryptic definition — one in which the primary indication (definition) is "boss" and the subsidiary indication is the portion of the clue marked by the dashed underline. The clue would be interpreted as calling for a name for a "boss" that in some way relates to a banana.

I decided that it can't be a double definition as "[something] that needs others to give a hand" would clue merely BANANA and not TOP BANANA.

A hand^[9] is a bunch, cluster, or bundle of various leaves, fruit, etc., as a bundle of tobacco leaves tied together or a cluster of bananas.

16a   One of the houses lit up at night (4,2,3,6)

Another cryptic definition that I really enjoyed.

19a   Improving he-men don't spread out (2,3,4)

21a   Little folk sheltering in chapel vestry (5)

23a   Food snack I love cold for eating (7)

A tapa^[3,11] (often tapas) is any of various small, savory Spanish dishes, often served as a snack or appetizer (typically with wine or beer) or with other tapas as a meal.

Among the online sources that I consult on a regular basis, the singular version (tapa) is found in the two American dictionaries, but not in the three British dictionaries (which list the word only in the plural, tapas). However, the singular version is found in my hard-copy edition of The Chambers Dictionary.

25a   Fail to get into competition photograph (5-2)

Cup^[5] is a contest in which the winners are awarded a cup ⇒ playing in the Cup is the best thing ever.

27a   Bridge-crosser providing protection (9)

28a   Row in a place where guns are used (5)

A range^[4,11] is a rank, row, line or series, as of persons or things.

Down

1d   Spell of hard work finally produces record (4)

2d   Visit everyone in confidence shortly (4,2)

3d   Game which could yield gold and amount of money, we hear? (10)

4d   Dismayed Arab commander, one of the very good people (6)

In the Ottoman Empire, agha^[10] (a variant spelling of aga) could be either (1) a title of respect, often used with the title of a senior position or (2) a military commander.

5d   I put in record request -- a disregarded follower (8)

6d   Something fruity in jug -- lime? (4)

The ugli or ugli fruit^[7] is a Jamaican form of tangelo, a citrus fruit created by hybridizing a grapefruit (or pomelo), an orange and a tangerine. UGLI is a registered trademark of Cabel Hall Citrus Limited, under which it markets the fruit. It was discovered growing wild (possibly having developed in the same way grapefruit was created) in Jamaica, where it is mainly grown today. The name is a variation of the word "ugly", which refers to the fruit's unsightly appearance, with rough, wrinkled, greenish-yellow rind, wrapped loosely around the orange pulpy citrus inside.

7d   Angel is v. perverse, becoming a bad character (8)

A Svengali^[5] is a person who exercises a controlling or mesmeric influence on another, especially for a sinister purpose. The term comes from the name of a musician in George du Maurier's novel Trilby (1894), who controls Trilby's stage singing hypnotically.

8d   Men having social gatherings outside home? There must be rules (10)

In the British armed forces, the term other ranks^[5] (abbreviation OR^[5]) refers to all those who are not commissioned officers.

13d   Criticise the substance, being unhappy (10)

15d   Chess player's hand moves here without deception (5-5)

I would say that the clue is not a double definition as the first part of the clue would seem to lead to a result (above board) that has a numeration (5,5) which does not match that of the clue (5-5). See also discussion at 10a.

17d   Get a new job as agricultural supporter? (8)

18d   Youngster upsetting a gent 'ere (8)

20d   Tube from what we hear must be avoided (6)

22d   Capital city in which Queen turns up after six (6)

Anne^[7] (1665–1714) became Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702. On 1 May 1707, under the Acts of Union, two of her realms, the kingdoms of England and Scotland, united as a single sovereign state, the United Kingdom of Great Britain. She continued to reign as Queen of Great Britain and Ireland until her death.

Next week, Scotland will vote on dissolving the union.

Vienna^[5] is the capital of Austria, situated in the north-east of the country on the River Danube; population 1,661,206 (2006). From 1278 to 1918 it was the seat of the Habsburgs. It has long been a centre of the arts, especially music; Mozart, Beethoven, and the Strauss family were among the great composers who lived and worked there.

24d   After successive failures with bat note apology (4)

A "failure with bat" in cricket would result in no runs being scored — what the Brits refer to as a duck^[5] (equivalent to our expression goose egg^[5]).

26d   Noble and quiet always (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.

The nobility in Britain or Ireland (whose members are known as peers^[5]) comprises the ranks of duke, marquess, earl, viscount, and baron.

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