Thursday, September 4, 2014 — DT 27467

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27467
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, April 18, 2014
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27467]
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

This puzzle appeared in the UK on Good Friday but that does not seem to factor into the puzzle — I see no clues pertaining to that event.

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   Chief's border guarded by friend (6)

5a   Behind soldier see heartless people in shades (8)

Para^[4,11] (short for paratrooper) is a soldier in an airborne unit.

9a   Opposing procedure and fighting against board (13)

This is not the first time that I have seen counter^[10] used as a synonym for board^[10] in a British puzzle. Although Collins English Dictionary does not show these words to be synonyms of each other, it does list them both as synonyms of table^[10].

I presume that one could say that these are related words — if not exactly synonyms. Board^[10] is an archaic term for a table, especially one used for eating at, and especially when laden with food. A counter^[10] is (in some cafeterias) a long table on which food is served to customers. Could this be referring to the same thing as Oxford Dictionaries Online which defines counter^[5] as a long flat-topped fitment across which business is conducted in a shop or bank or refreshments are served in a cafeteria?

10a   Perch by post where English journey may finish (5,3)

Land's End^[5] is a rocky promontory in southwestern Cornwall, which forms the westernmost point of England. John o'Groats^[5] is a village at the extreme northeastern point of the Scottish mainland. A journey by road from John o’Groats to Land’s End would cover approximately 1,400 km (876 miles) [about the same as the distance from Ottawa to Thunder Bay].

11a   See 4 Down

12a   This person's a good editor, as portrayed (6)

It is a common cryptic crossword convention for the creator of the puzzle to use terms such as compiler, setter, (this) author, (this) writer, or this person to refer to himself or herself. To solve such a clue, one must generally substitute a first person pronoun (I or me) for whichever of these terms has been used in the clue. Today, the setter has made the scenario slightly more complicated by combining "this person" with the verb "to be" producing "this person's" [this person is] which must be replaced by "I'm" [I am].

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

14a   Words at foot of page giving indication of monetary amount (8)

16a   Chemical compound with lead affected doctor's alter ego (8)

Dr. Jekyll^[5] is the central character of Scottish novelist Robert Louis Stevenson’s story The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886). He discovers a drug which creates a separate personality (appearing in the character of Mr Hyde) into which Jekyll’s evil impulses are channelled.

In chemistry, the term aldehyde^[5] denotes an organic compound containing the group —CHO, formed by the oxidation of alcohols. Typical aldehydes include methanal (formaldehyde) and ethanal (acetaldehyde). These substances are not to be confused with methanol and ethanol (which are forms of alcohol).

19a   Bit of grub accounting for one disease found in bird (6)

A tit^{[Britannica Concise Encyclopedia]} is any of several songbirds closely related to the chickadee, including the great tit (Parus major), found in Europe, North Africa, and Asia and the tufted titmouse (Parus bicolor), native to North America. These birds are called either "chickadees" or "titmice" in North America, and just "tits" in the rest of the English-speaking world.^[7]

21a   Lander crashing in grass (6)

Darnel^[5] is a Eurasian ryegrass.

23a   Mum needs time with hair -- it needs to lie flat (8)

25a   I'd grab iron and work --- see me in the kitchen! (8,5)

Draining board is the British name for a drainboard^[5].

26a   Duck escaping from wide expanse of water on road in city (8)

In cricket, a duck^[5] is a batsman’s score of nought [zero] ⇒ he was out for a duck. This is similar to the North American expression goose egg^[5] meaning a zero score in a game. In British puzzles, duck is used to indicate the letter "O" based on the resemblance of the digit "0" to this letter.

Bradford^[5] is an industrial city in West Yorkshire, northern England; population 280,400 (est. 2009).

27a   Guarantee Conservative will escape blame (6)

The Conservative Party^[5] (abbreviation C.^[10])  is a a major British political party that since the Second World War has been in power 1951–64, 1970-4, and 1979–97. It emerged from the old Tory Party under Sir Robert Peel in the 1830s and 1840s.

Down

2d   Rescue about 150 on train (7)

3d   Pattern in soft earth (5)

Mould^[5] (US spelling mold) is a chiefly British term for (1) soft loose earth ⇒ the ground was soft and damp, with old leaves thick in the mould or (2) the upper soil of cultivated land, especially when rich in organic matter ⇒ gravel and sand over clay, topped by fine vegetable mould.

4d   and 11 Across: Neat lady artists converted to become members of religious sect (6-3,6)

Oxford Dictionaries Online somewhat dismissively defines Latter-Day Saints^[5] (abbreviation LDS) as the Mormons' name for themselves.

5d   Green stone fairy placed on spot (7)

In Persian mythology, a peri^[5] is a mythical superhuman being, originally represented as evil but subsequently as a good or graceful genie or fairy.

Iolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri^[7] [mentioned by Deep Threat in his review] is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It is one of the Savoy operas and is the seventh collaboration of the fourteen between Gilbert and Sullivan.

Peridot^[5] is a green semi-precious mineral, a variety of olivine.

6d   Runs of cards starting with king (5)

Rex^[5] (abbreviation R^[5]) [Latin for king] denotes the reigning king, used following a name (e.g. Georgius Rex, King George) or in the titles of lawsuits (e.g. Rex v. Jones, the Crown versus Jones — often shortened to R. v. Jones).

7d   You must tell me what to do if mouth contains poison! (4,2,3)

8d   Aperture in instrument plugged with open fabric (7)

A lunette^[5] is an arched aperture or window, especially one in a domed ceiling.

13d   The Emerald Isle? Somewhere much further north (9)

Emerald Isle^[5] is a name for Ireland.

15d   Rubbish on a piece of furniture that can be shifted round (9)

Rubbish^[3,4,11] is used in the sense of foolish words or speech; in other words, nonsense. For some reason, Oxford Dictionaries Online considers the word rubbish^[5] to be chiefly British.

17d   Name assumed by boss, an enthusiastic swimmer (7)

Hero and Leander is the Greek myth relating the story of Hero, a priestess of Aphrodite who dwelt in a tower in Sestos on the European side of the Hellespont [the ancient name for the Dardanelles, a narrow strait between Europe and Asiatic Turkey, linking the Sea of Marmara with the Aegean Sea], and Leander, a young man from Abydos on the opposite side of the strait. Leander fell in love with Hero and would swim every night across the Hellespont to be with her. Hero would light a lamp at the top of her tower to guide his way.

Succumbing to Leander's soft words and to his argument that Venus, as the goddess of love, would scorn the worship of a virgin, Hero allowed him to become "special friends" with her. These trysts lasted through the warm summer. But one stormy winter night, the waves tossed Leander in the sea and the breezes blew out Hero's light; Leander lost his way and was drowned. When Hero saw his dead body, she threw herself over the edge of the tower to her death to be with him.

18d   Queen leads my people, with diamonds bedecked in the Lords? (7)

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.

Diamonds^[2]) (abbreviation D^[2]) is one of the four suits of playing-cards.

In the UK, the House of Lords^[5] (often referred to as the Lords) is the higher chamber of Parliament, composed of peers and bishops.

Ermine^[5] is the white fur of the stoat, used for trimming garments, especially the ceremonial robes of judges or peers ⇒ the men were dressed in costly ermine and sable-edged cloaks.

The stoat^[5] (also known as the ermine, especially when in its white winter coat) is a small carnivorous mammal (Mustela erminea) of the weasel family which has chestnut fur with white underparts and a black-tipped tail. It is native to both Eurasia and North America and in northern areas the coat turns white in winter. In North America, it is known as the short-tailed weasel.

20d   Person with confidential info is nerd, I fancy (7)

22d   Contributor to baffling office jargon (5)

24d   Ways Greek island gets reported (5)

Rhodes^[5] is a Greek island in the southeastern Aegean, off the Turkish coast, the largest of the Dodecanese and the most easterly island in the Aegean; population 130,000 (est. 2004).

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