Monday, September 29, 2014 — DT 27484

 

Although posted on September 30, 2014, this entry has been backdated to maintain sequence.

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27484
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, May 8, 2014
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27484]
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

Having abandoned the keyboard for some time outdoors in the sunshine over the weekend, I find myself running a day behind in my blogging.

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. Explicit link words and phrases are enclosed in forward slashes (/link/) and implicit links are shown as double forward slashes (//).

Across

1a   Old firearm // London police found round river (6)

The Metropolitan Police Service^[7] (widely known informally as the Met^[5]) is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement in Greater London, excluding the "square mile" of the City of London which is the responsibility of the City of London Police. The Met also has significant national responsibilities such as co-ordinating and leading on counter-terrorism matters and protection of the British Royal Family and senior figures of Her Majesty's Government. The Met is also referred to by the metonym Scotland Yard after the location of its original headquarters in a road called Great Scotland Yard in Whitehall. The Met's current headquarters is New Scotland Yard, in Victoria.

The River Usk^[7] is a river in Wales that rises on the northern slopes of the Black Mountain in Brecon Beacons National Park and flows into the Severn estuary at Uskmouth, south of Newport.

4a   Dogsbody/,/ it's undeniable, without a belly? (8)

According to Big Dave, the wordplay parses as FACT (it's undeniable) + O (without) + TUM (a belly)

The only explanation that I can come up with as to why the letter O might be clued by "without" is because if you are without, you have nothing.

Dogsbody^[5] is an informal British term for a person who is given menial tasks to do, especially a junior in an office ⇒ I got myself a job as typist and general dogsbody on a small magazine.

Tum^[2] is a colloquial British name for the stomach.

Corporation^[3,4,5,11] [a term used by Big Dave in his review] is a dated humorous term for a large paunch or pot belly.

9a   River // ban due to be overturned (6)

The Danube^[5] is a river which rises in the Black Forest in SW Germany and flows about 2,850 km (1,770 miles) into the Black Sea. It is the second-longest river in Europe after the Volga; the cities of Vienna, Budapest, and Belgrade are situated on it.

10a   Formal English girl, in short/,/ of ancient origins? (8)

12a   Big load divided by wife /in/ community (4)

13a   It's helpful in building // supportive character (5)

Brick^[5] is a dated informal British term denoting a generous, helpful, and reliable person ⇒ ‘You are really a brick, Vi,’ Gloria said.

14a   Impulse /that's/ restrained by surgeon (4)

17a   Petty point /in/ college attended by a learner in Belfast? (12)

Tech^[5] is an informal British [really!] name for a technical college. I find the characterisation of the term as British to be a bit odd given that I graduated from the Nova Scotia Technical College (usually referred to as Nova Scotia Tech). Of course, the institution has since undergone a couple of name changes — maybe the original name was too British.

The cryptic crossword convention of L meaning learner or student arises from the L-plate^[7], a square plate bearing a sans-serif letter L, for learner, which must be affixed to the front and back of a vehicle in various countries (including the UK) if its driver is a learner under instruction.

Northern Ireland^[5] (abbreviation NI^[5]) is a province of the United Kingdom occupying the northeast part of Ireland; population 1,775,000 (est. 2008).

Belfast^[5] is the capital and chief port of Northern Ireland; population 260,700 (est. 2009) — and, thus, a NI (Northern Ireland) City.

20a   Owner of place with good cheer? (12)

A restaurateur^[3,4,11] is a person who owns or runs a restaurant. Although the spelling restauranteur occurs frequently, it is a misspelling and should be avoided — especially in today's puzzle. Americans appear to be more willing to embrace the misspelling than are the the British.

23a   Couple /in/ piece on bulletin (4)

24a   Perhaps lead // musician's first and others will follow (5)

25a   Quick car ride /producing/ error in parking? The opposite (4)

The phrase "The opposite" indicates that the wordplay is the opposite of what is stated; i.e. the wordplay is actually "parking in error".

28a   Unoriginal work? // It's cheap when reviewed (8)

As an anagram indicator, review^[5] is used in the sense of to read through or go over in order to correct.

29a   Facial hair /shown by/ carpenter's companion? (6)

"The Walrus and the Carpenter"^[7] is a narrative poem by English writer Lewis Carroll that appeared in his book Through the Looking-Glass, published in December 1871. The poem is recited in chapter four, by Tweedledum and Tweedledee to Alice.

A walrus moustache^[5] is a long, thick, drooping moustache.

I have observed that the Brits have a propensity for turning adjectives into nouns. Thus an Indian restaurant is called an Indian and an estate car [British term for station wagon] is known as an estate. I would imagine that a walrus moustache might well be referred to as a walrus.

During the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoff quarterfinal series between the Montreal Canadiens and the Ottawa Senators, Montreal player Brandon Prust "referred to Ottawa coach Paul MacLean as a "bug-eyed, fat walrus". The outcome? The "walrus" coached his team to a decisive victory — defeating the heavily favoured Canadiens in the best of seven series four games to one. [The title reads "Separated at birth". "Morse" is the French word for "walrus".]

30a   Note chap that's devious? // Whitehall's famous for it (8)

Whitehall^[5] is a street in Westminster, London, in which many government offices are located. The name is commonly used as an allusive reference to the British civil service or to the British government, its offices, or its policy ⇒ critics claim that councils are being railroaded by Whitehall into approving the schemes.

The Cenotaph^[7] is a war memorial situated on Whitehall in London. It began as a temporary structure erected for a peace parade following the end of the First World War but following an outpouring of national sentiment it was replaced in 1920 by a permanent structure and designated the United Kingdom's primary national war memorial.

31a   Minister touring yard /in/ natural hollow (6)

As a containment indicator, touring is used in the sense of travelling around — with the emphasis on around.

Down

1d   Consider carefully /what's/ correct in end of game? (8)

Mate^[5] is short for checkmate^[5], the winning position that ends a game of chess.

2d   Perhaps, a submarine  course (8)

The clue may be a play on the British term sandwich course.

In Britain, sandwich^[5] denotes relating to a sandwich course ⇒ the degree includes a sandwich year.

Sandwich course^[5] is a British term for a training course with alternate periods of formal instruction and practical experience.

Big Dave parses the clue as a double definition:

• Perhaps, a submarine // course (8)

where he interprets the second definition to be a reference to the Royal St George's Golf Club^[7] located in Sandwich, Kent, England which is one of the premier golf clubs in the United Kingdom, and one of the courses on The Open Championship [British Open to the rest of the world] rotation. 

3d   Island // taken in by genteel bathers (4)

Elba^[5] is a small island off the west coast of Italy, famous as the place of Napoleon’s first exile (1814–15).

5d   Like farmed area /in/ a good state showing refinement (12)

The US Postal Service abbreviation for the state of Rhode Island^[7] is RI.

6d   Office worker/'s/ mood changed by losing ruler (4)

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.

7d   Retired priest entering brief function /in/ drinking establishment (6)

In mathematics, tan^[5] is the abbreviation for tangent^[5], the trigonometric function that is equal to the ratio of the sides (other than the hypotenuse) opposite and adjacent to an angle in a right-angled triangle.

8d   Hairstyle /one gets/ to ponder on film (6)

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial^[7] (often referred to simply as E.T.) is a 1982 American science fiction film co-produced and directed by Steven Spielberg. It tells the story of a lonely boy who befriends an extraterrestrial, dubbed "E.T.", who is stranded on Earth. He and his siblings help the extraterrestrial return home while attempting to keep it hidden from their mother and the government.

11d   Excellent article on Western joint /getting/ to impose authority (5,3,4)

15d   Incense /found in/ crate with top missing (5)

16d   Southern group of sportsmen /showing/ energy (5)

18d   Cat left out in January after vacation /is/ hazard (8)

Vacation^[5] is the action of leaving something one previously occupied ⇒ his marriage was the reason for the vacation of his fellowship.

19d   Relative // managed to intercept stray dogs close to station (8)

21d   Writer about Oscar associated with goody-goody // type of film (6)

The ballpoint pen is well-known not only in the UK but also in North America.

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

Pi^[5] is an informal British short form for pious.

22d   Largely genuine lad /in/ grounds (6)

26d   Comedian around 50 /showing/ loss of energy (4)

27d   Sparkling wine /offered by/ knight? Not half (4)

Cavalier^[2] is an old name for a horseman or knight.

Cava^[5] is a Spanish sparkling wine made in the same way as champagne.

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