Tuesday, September 2, 2014 — DT 27465

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27465
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27465]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By scchua
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
Notes
The National Post has skipped DT 27464 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Tuesday, April 15, 2014.

Introduction

Given enough time, I can usually complete a two star puzzle unaided. Today, I chose not to throw in the towel early and managed to accomplish that feat.

In my review, I have pointed out a couple of errors in scchua's review. That is not meant to belittle his efforts. These sort of mistakes happen when working to a deadline. I sometimes find similar errors in my own reviews that I wrote for Big Dave's blog — and I draw attention to them as well.

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   Escapes from rich people on cul-de-sacs (5,6)

Close^[5] (often found in street names) is a British term for a residential street without through access ⇒ she lives at 12 Goodwood Close.

9a   Sign of remorse seeing material on fire? (9)

Sackcloth^[5] is a very coarse, rough fabric woven from flax or hemp. The phrase sackcloth and ashes is an allusion to the wearing of sackcloth and having ashes sprinkled on the head as a sign of penitence or mourning (Matt 11:21) ⇒ they should, at least, be wearing sackcloth and ashes in token penance of the wrongs committed.

10a   Run away from revolutionary European, free at last! (5)

I notice that scchua has mixed up the the fodder and indicator in his hint. His hint should read:

• Reversal of (revolutionary) [an Eastern European national] + the last letter of (at last) “free“

11a   Short article -- very dry -- about parking (6)

The adjective brut^[5] (used to describe sparkling wine) means unsweetened; or, in other words, very dry.

12a   Budding setter's back with new genre, not without a negative reaction (8)

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 thrown in a twist by adding a reversal.

13a   Demand points to follow (6)

15a   Barack's worried about new cafe! (5,3)

Surely the President of arguably the world's most powerful nation has more important things with which to concern himself.

18a   Sheet iron reshaped as a form of entertainment (4,4)

Film noir^[5] is a style or genre of cinematographic film marked by a mood of pessimism, fatalism, and menace. The term was originally applied (by a group of French critics) to American thriller or detective films made in the period 1944–54 and to the work of directors such as Orson Welles, Fritz Lang, and Billy Wilder.

19a   Assorted nuts covering each throw (6)

21a   Prepare a team reserve (3,5)

In North America, the term side^[3] is used in a very general fashion that can denote one of two or more opposing individuals, groups, teams, or sets of opinions. While this same general usage would seem to exist as well in the UK, the term side^[5] is also used there in a much more specific sense to mean a sports team ⇒ (i) Previous England rugby sides, and England teams in many other sports, would have crumbled under the weight of such errors.; (ii) They'll face better sides than this Monaco team, but you can only beat what's put in front of you..

23a   Country needing man with an answer (6)

Guyana^[5] is a country on the northeastern coast of South America; population 752,900 (est. 2009); languages, English (official), English Creole, Hindi; capital, Georgetown. Official name Cooperative Republic of Guyana.

The Spaniards explored the area in 1499, and the Dutch settled there in the 17th century. It was occupied by the British from 1796 and established, with adjacent areas, as the colony of British Guiana in 1831. In 1966 it became an independent Commonwealth state.

In his review, scchua alludes to the fact that American singer-songwriter Madonna^[7] was married to English filmmaker Guy Ritchie^[7] from 2000 to 2008.

26a   Type of woodwork popular with non-specialist (5)

27a   Wearing down, turning it into art (9)

28a   Rocket, say, for second eleven needing to change, lacking core (5,6)

The first thing to come to mind was SPACE ENGINE and it took some time to realize that I should be looking for a vehicle that runs on the ground, not one that flies through the heavens.

Eleven^[5] is the number of players on a cricket^[7] side or an Association football^[7] [soccer] team — and is often used as a metonym for such a team ⇒ at cricket I played in the first eleven. See the comment at 21a concerning the British use of the word "side" to mean a team.

Stephenson's Rocket^[7] was an early steam locomotive, built in 1829 by Robert Stephenson and Company in Newcastle Upon Tyne, England. Though the Rocket was not the first steam locomotive, it was the first to bring together several innovations to produce the most advanced locomotive of its day.

It is the most famous example of an evolving design of locomotives by Stephenson that became the template for most steam engines in the following 150 years. The locomotive was preserved and is now on display in the Science Museum in London.

Down

1d   Falls for bounder in suit (7)

Bounder^[5] is a dated informal British term for a dishonourable man ⇒ he is nothing but a fortune-seeking bounder.

Cad^[5,10] is a dated informal British term for a man who behaves dishonourably, especially towards a woman ⇒ her adulterous cad of a husband.

2d   Award for boys regularly on wheels (5)

An Oscar^[5] (a trademark in the US) is the nickname for a gold statuette given as an award by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Hollywood, US) presented annually since 1928 for achievement in the film industry in various categories.

3d   It proves the rule, but no one returns (9)

"The exception [that] proves the rule"^[7] means that the presence of an exception applying to a specific case establishes ("proves") that a general rule exists. For example, a sign that says "parking prohibited on Sundays" (the exception) "proves" that parking is allowed on the other six days of the week (the rule). A more explicit phrasing might be "The exception that proves the existence of the rule."

4d   Criminal needing specs to be included in high definition (4)

This is a 'visual' or 'looks like' clue. The word "specs" (short for spectacles) clues OO because these letters look like a pair of spectacles.

5d   Forceful opening across European border (8)

6d   Cornish listener's curse? (5)

The adjective Cornish^[5] denotes a relation to Cornwall or its people or language. Cornwall^[5] is a county occupying the extreme south-western [hint, hint!] peninsula of England; county town, Truro.

7d   One who wields a cross in Spain with moulded Celt gold (7)

The International Vehicle Registration (IVR) code for Spain is E^[5] [from Spanish España].

Or^[5] is gold or yellow, as a heraldic tincture. In heraldry, a tincture^[5] is any of the conventional colours (including the metals and stains, and often the furs) used in coats of arms.

8d   Endearing label designed to cover the centre of Dover (8)

It would seem that scchua has made another slip. His comment should clearly read "... the 3 inner letters of (the centre of) 'Dover'".

Dover^[5] is a ferry port in Kent, in England, on the coast of the English Channel; population 35,200 (est. 2009). It is mainland Britain’s nearest point to the Continent, being only 35 km (22 miles) from Calais, France.

14d   Revealing story supports Swiss marksman (8)

William Tell^[5] was a legendary hero of the liberation of Switzerland from Austrian oppression. He was required to hit with an arrow an apple placed on the head of his son, which he did successfully. The events are placed in the 14th century, but there is no evidence for a historical person of this name, and similar legends are of widespread occurrence.

16d   Discoloration of skin of onions cut in pieces (9)

The anagram indicator (in pieces) would seem to indicate that one disassemble the fodder (ONIONS CUT) into its individual components (letters). I take it that we are to infer that we then reassemble these pieces in a different order.

17d   Time to lock up for a walk in London (8)

In British slang, do (one's) bird^[5] means to serve a prison sentence [i.e., time] [bird from rhyming slang birdlime 'time']. Birdlime^[5] is a sticky substance spread on to twigs to trap small birds.

The wordplay parses as BIRD (time; prison sentence) + CAGE (to lock up).

Birdcage Walk^[7] is a street in the City of Westminster in London, England. It runs east-west as a continuation of Great George Street, from the crossroads with Horse Guards Road and Storey's Gate, to a junction with Buckingham Gate, at the southeast corner of Buckingham Palace.

18d   Refusing to eat following an insect bite (7)

In publishing, f. (plural ff.) is used to denote following (page).

20d   Fall in support on course for novice (7)

22d   Problems for viewers in street, of course (5)

24d   Politician protected by first-class defence (5)

The Liberal Party^[5] (abbreviation Lib.^[5] [used to indicate the affiliation of a politician with the party]) in Britain emerged in the 1860s from the old Whig Party and until the First World War was one of the two major parties in Britain. In 1988 the party regrouped with elements of the Social Democratic Party to form the Social and Liberal Democrats, now known as the Liberal Democrats; a small Liberal Party still exists.

A1^[4][5] or A-one^[3] meaning first class or excellent comes from a classification for ships in The Lloyd's Register of Shipping where it means equipped to the highest standard or first-class. 

25d   Shred a short book (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