Tuesday, Septemberr 16, 2014 — DT 27475

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27475
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, April 28, 2014
Setter Rufus (Roger Squires)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27475]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Miffypops
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

According to Miffypops, this was "a breeze of a puzzle". While it didn't pose a huge challenge to me, I suspect that I needed to expend a bit more effort than he did in completing it.

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   Obtaining expert remedy before people's treatment's beginning (11)

9a   A new local's arranged to get grant (9)

In Britain, a local^[7] is a pub convenient to a person’s home ⇒ a pint in the local.

10a   Return first-rate piece of bone (5)

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.

11a   Turnovers in coats (6)

12a   Stop one on a horse (8)

13a   Military show that leaves a permanent impression on one (6)

15a   Linesman who is ready to help a player (8)

The setter would like us to fall into the trap of thinking that a linesman^[5] must be (in games played on a field or court) an official who assists the referee or umpire from the touchline, especially in deciding whether the ball is out of play.

18a   Accused in crash involving learner driver in blind alley (3-2-3)

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.

In his review, Miffypops offers a hint in the form of a quotation from a popular British work of fiction. The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾^[7] is a British television series based on the book of the same name written by English author Sue Townsend. The book is the first in a series featuring the fictional protagonist Adrian Mole^[7]. The books are written in the form of a diary, with some additional content such as correspondence. The first two books appealed to many readers as a realistic and humorous treatment of the inner life of an adolescent boy. They also captured something of the zeitgeist of the UK during the Thatcher period. The collection's bestseller success is due to, say some specialists, the relation that teenage people, the target public, feel towards Adrian.

19a   No way to finish port (6)

Ostend^[5] is a port on the North Sea coast of northwestern Belgium, in West Flanders; population 69,175 (2008). It is a major ferry port with links to Dover, England.

21a   Fashionable writer to give autograph (8)

23a   Beer UN brewed for old leader of Israel (6)

In his review, Miffypops has neglected to underline the first word of the definition.

In the Bible, Reuben^[5] was a Hebrew patriarch, eldest son of Jacob and Leah (Gen. 29:32).

26a   Maybe ski? OK -- here's where to get tickets (5)

27a   Measuring device for cats and dogs (4,5)

Rain cats and dogs^[5] means to rain very hard. Although the origin of the expression is uncertain, it was first recorded in 1738, used by Jonathan Swift, but the phrase rain dogs and polecats was used a century earlier in Richard Brome's The City Witt.

28a   His merchandise won’t be free (5-6)

Down

1d   Little work -- fun allowed (7)

A playlet^[3,4,11] is a short play.

2d   Neat border plant (5)

Neat^[5] is an archaic term for a bovine animal or, as a mass noun, cattle.

The oxlip^[5] is a woodland Eurasian primula (Primula elatior) with yellow flowers that hang down one side of the stem.

3d   Clue women possibly will find displeasing! (9)

There's an obvious typo in Miffypops' review. The wordplay is clearly an anagram (possibly) of CLUE WOMEN (not CLUE WOMAN).

4d   Bird from Northern England (4)

Erne^[5] is a literary name for the sea eagle^[5], a large Eurasian fish-eating eagle (of which there are several species) that frequents coasts and wetlands..

5d   They give a seat to one standing (8)

6d   Not qualified to give the final figure (5)

The setter intends the phrase "not qualified" to be interpreted as 'unqualified' as ⇒ his first attempt was certainly far from being an unqualified success.

7d   The team won't be prepared to play without him (7)

8d   Sailors in the drink (8)

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

Absinthe^[5,7,10] (also absinth) is a potent green aniseed-flavoured alcoholic drink, technically a gin, originally made with the shrub wormwood. For most of the twentieth century, absinthe was banned in the United States and much of Europe.

14d   Gossips going to dance discuss business (4,4)

16d   He takes note of bungling Green broadcast (9)

Bungling^[10] would seem to be used as a noun meaning mistakes and clumsiness.

17d   Australian capital ship (8)

Canberra^[5] is the capital of Australia and seat of the federal government, in Australian Capital Territory, an enclave of New South Wales; population 345,257 (2008).

SS Canberra^[7] was an ocean liner, which later operated on cruises, in the P&O fleet from 1961 to 1997. The ship, named after the federal capital of Australia, was launched in March 1960 and embarked on her maiden voyage in June 1961. In the 1982 Falklands War she served as a troop ship.

18d   Yellow bird (7)

20d   Nursed a disabled male ballet performer (7)

In his review, Miffypops has neglected to underline the first word in the definition.

22d   Has an inclination for men who are dissipated (5)

As an intransitive verb, rake^[5] means (of a ship’s mast or funnel) to incline from the perpendicular towards the stern or (of a ship’s bow or stern) to project at its upper part beyond the keel.

24d   Tied in the long jump (5)

25d   Correct pronunciation for ceremony (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