Wednesday, September 10, 2014 — DT 27471

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27471
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27471]
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

Today's puzzle is fairly light on British references and the few that do appear will mostly be familiar to those who have been doing British puzzles for even a brief period of time. Perhaps what will be most unfamiliar are the British terminology for the Christmas gifts, the radio band that is not used in North America, and the car that is not sold in North America (although, in the latter case, finding a solution to the clue does not depend on knowing what a Mondeo is).

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   Engages the man, surrounded by chaos (6)

5a   Earliest couple of subeditors quietly sat and thought (8)

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.

9a   Old boy's back, covered in Spanish wine and curry (8)

Here, Jay throws us a curve ball creating a bit of misdirection by giving us someone other than the customary "old boy". Such clueing would usually lead to the letters OB appearing in the solution — but not today.

In Britain, an old boy^[5] (abbreviation OB^[2])  is (1) a former male student of a school or college ⇒an old boy of Banbury County School or (2) a former male member of a sports team or company ⇒the White Hart Lane old boy squared the ball to present an easy chance from 12 yards. It is also a chiefly British affectionate form of address to a boy or man ⇒ ‘Look here, old boy,’ he said.

The Spanish word for wine is vino^[8].

Vindaloo^[10] is a type of very hot Indian curry.

10a   Arrangements for groups to incorporate raise (3-3)

11a   Dance parade follows low point (8)

12a   Scam discovered before vessel's collapse (4,2)

The setter uses "discovered" to indicate that the outer letters (cover) of "sCAm" are to be stripped away. This cryptic device is based on the whimsical logic that if disrobe means to remove one's robe (or other clothing), then it only stands to reason that discover must mean to remove one's cover.

13a   Do nothing for nation protecting a good name (8)

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

15a   In case of management, the Spanish soften (4)

In Spanish, the masculine singular form of the definite article is el^[8].

17a   Begrudge English city snatching victory (4)

V^[10] is the symbol for victory - the victory-freedom sign^[7] is commonly associated with British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill in World War II.

19a   Live rifles reassembled in rooms at the top (8)

20a   Carnivores good in rows? (6)

See comment at 13a.

21a   Check out family surrounded by proceeds of robbery, love (4,4)

In tennis, squash, and some other sports, love^[5] is a score of zero or nil ⇒ love fifteen. The resemblance of a zero written as a numeral (0) to the letter O leads to the cryptic crossword convention of the word "love" being used to clue this letter.

22a   Crew member's new idea on endless row (6)

23a   States finally increase motorway charges (8)

The M1^[7] is a north–south motorway [controlled access, multi-lane divided highway] in England connecting London to Leeds.

24a   Doctor with advantages, employing right cleaners of beds (8)

25a   A quarter got the broadcast (6)

Down

2d   Closing words of timeless poet drafted with guile (8)

3d   Pleasure-seeker and academic held hostage in robbery (8)

A don^[10] is a member of the teaching staff at a university or college, especially at Oxford or Cambridge.

4d   Eccentric late aunt's land (9)

A sultanate^[10] is the territory or a country ruled by a sultan.

5d   Terrible sticklers in golf for gifts (8,7)

In Britain, the stockings hung by the fireplace at Christmas are stuffed with stocking fillers^[5], whereas in North American they are filled with stocking stuffers.

6d   Churchman's first in poll recount (7)

Prelate^[5] is a formal or historical term for a bishop or other high ecclesiastical dignitary.

7d   Pot made of brass on slate (8)

Brass is an informal term for bold self-assurance or effrontery^[3]; excessive self-assurance or impudence^[11]; or bold self-confidence, cheek, or nerve ⇒ he had the brass to ask for more time^[4].

Sauce^[5] is an informal, chiefly British term for impertinence or cheek ⇒ ‘None of your sauce,’ said Aunt Edie — which, in North America, would be called sass^[5].

Slate^[5] is an informal British term meaning to criticize severely ⇒ his work was slated by the critics.

8d   One's own work must cover tabloid on Italian conflict (8)

DIY^[5] (abbreviation of do-it-yourself) is a chiefly British term for the activity of decorating, building, and making fixtures and repairs at home by oneself rather than employing a professional ⇒ DIY avoids the difficult relationship between householder and professional decorator. Despite being characterised as a "chiefly British" term by Oxford Dictionaries Online, I would think that the term is hardly unfamiliar to most North Americans.

The Sun^[7] is a daily tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and Ireland by a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. The Sun once had the largest circulation of any daily newspaper in the United Kingdom, but in late 2013 slipped to second largest Saturday newspaper behind the Daily Mail. In February 2012, The Sun on Sunday was launched to replace the defunct [and disgraced] News of the World, employing some of its former journalists. National editions of the paper are published in London (The Sun), Dublin (The Irish Sun) and Glasgow (The Scottish Sun).

It.^[10] is an abbreviation for Italian or Italy. The internet domain name for Italy is it^[10].

14d   Fitting rear end to Mondeo, make a call (9)

The Ford Mondeo^[7] is a large family car manufactured by the Ford Motor Company from 1992 onwards. However, it is only marketed under this name outside North America. First generation models were marketed in North America as the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique until 2000, and fourth generation models as the Ford Fusion from 2013 onwards. Second and third generation models were not sold in North America.

15d   Temperature in red meat possibly was important (8)

16d   Extended farewell from band on the radio (4,4)

Long wave^[5] refers to (1) a radio wave of a wavelength above one kilometre (and a frequency below 300 kHz) ⇒ long-wave radio or (2) broadcasting using radio waves of 1 to 10 km wavelength ⇒ listening to BBC Radio 4 on long wave. Long wave is also known as the LF^[7] (low frequency) band. AM long wave broadcasting is used in Europe and parts of Asia.

Test Match Special^[7] (also known as TMS) [mentioned by Big Dave in his review] is a British radio programme covering professional cricket, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 (long wave), Five Live Sports Extra (digital) and the internet to the United Kingdom and (where broadcasting rights permit) the rest of the world. TMS provides ball-by-ball coverage of most Test cricket, One Day International, and Twenty20 matches and tournaments involving the England cricket team.

Standard medium-wave AM broadcasting uses the MF^[7] (medium frequency) band which includes radio waves of a frequency of 300-3000 kHz and a wavelength of 100 metres-1 kilometres.

Short wave^[5] refers to a radio wave of a wavelength between about 10 and 100 m (and a frequency of about 3 to 30 MHz). Short wave is also known as the HF^[7] (high frequency) band.

The VHF band (used for television and FM radio) and UHF band (used for television) are higher frequency (shorter wavelength) bands than the short wave band.

VHF^[5] (very high frequency) denotes radio waves of a frequency of circa 30-300 MHz and a wavelength of circa 1-10 metres.

UHF^[7] (ultra-high frequency) denotes radio waves of a frequency of 300-3000 MHz and a wavelength of 100 millimetres-1 metre.

17d   Judge grounds holding one million (8)

18d   Clerical outfit's share capital, for example, lacking home (8)

Vestment^[5] (usually vestments) refers to a chasuble or other robe worn by the clergy or choristers during services ⇒ a priest in green vestments came and preached a long sermon. A chasuble^[5] is an ornate sleeveless outer vestment worn by a Catholic or High Anglican priest when celebrating Mass.

19d   Blocking call after pub (7)

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