Friday, October 10, 2014 — DT 27493

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27493
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, May 19, 2014
Setter Rufus (Roger Squires)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27493]
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

I fared much better with this puzzle than I did with the one yesterday. Still, I needed a gentle nudge from my electronic assistants to finish. The fact that Miffypops awarded it only a single star for difficulty did nothing to boost my confidence after yesterday's debacle.

Monday being the Thanksgiving Day holiday in Canada, the National Post will almost certainly not publish an edition on that day. However, if you can't bear a day without a puzzle, check the blog on Monday for a special Bonus puzzle.

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   Help // to drink wine (7)

As a verb, sup^[5] is a dated or Northern English term meaning to take (drink or liquid food) by sips or spoonfuls ⇒ (i) she supped up her soup delightedly; (ii) he was supping straight from the bottle. As a noun, it means (1) a sip of liquid ⇒ he took another sup of wine or (2) in Northern England or Ireland, an alcoholic drink ⇒ the latest sup from those blokes at the brewery.

Port^[5] is a strong, sweet dark red (occasionally brown or white) fortified wine, originally from Portugal, typically drunk as a dessert wine.

5a   Won't he be found out? (7)

9a   The way /to get/ out and about outside (5)

10a   Joins forces again /to/ disturb listeners (2-7)

As a link word, to^[10] would be a preposition used to indicate equality ⇒ 16 ounces to the pound.

11a   Part // of trial can collapse (10)

Since part is a noun and fractional is an adjective, the only way that I can see that they can be synonyms is when part is used as a modifier in compound words such as part-owner, part-payment, or part-time.

12a   One short month to love // a beautiful woman (4)

In Roman mythology, Juno^[5] was the most important goddess of the Roman state, wife of Jupiter — her counterpart in Greek mythology being Hera.

Juno is said always to be represented as a tall, beautiful woman — but who would dare not describe a goddess as beautiful. As we see from the following episode, even Zeus ducked the question.

A dispute arose among the goddesses Aphrodite, Hera and Athena as to which one was the most beautiful. The goddesses chose to place the matter before Zeus, who, not wanting to favor one of the goddesses, put the choice into the hands of Paris, a Trojan prince. After bathing in the spring of Mount Ida where Troy was situated, they appeared before Paris to have him choose. The goddesses undressed before him, either at his request or for the sake of winning. Still, Paris could not decide, as all three were ideally beautiful, so they resorted to bribes. Hera offered Paris control over all Asia and Europe, while Athena offered wisdom, fame, and glory in battle, and Aphrodite offered the most beautiful mortal woman in the world as a wife, and he accordingly chose her. This woman was Helen, who was, unfortunately for Paris, already married to King Menelaus of Sparta. The other two goddesses were enraged by this and through Helen's abduction by Paris they brought about the Trojan War.^[7]

14a   Minor role /in/ yet another swindle (6,6)

Fiddle^[5] is an informal, chiefly British term for an act of defrauding, cheating, or falsifying ⇒ a major mortgage fiddle.

18a   Find luggage missing /but/ fail to get legal redress (4,4,4)

21a   Stuff // to study for an exam (4)

22a   Aristocratic // sixth form? (5,5)

Miffypops tells his British readers "Another double definition and both rather obvious. That is all the help you need." Well, perhaps some North American readers will need a bit more assistance.

In Britain, a form^[5] is a class or year in a school, usually given a specifying number. Thus fifth form would be the British linguistic counterpart (but not necessarily represent the same educational level) to fifth grade in North America and Form One would be akin to saying Grade One.

A form^[7] is a class or grouping of students in a school. The term is used predominantly in the United Kingdom, although some schools, mostly private, in other countries also use the title. Pupils are usually grouped in forms according to age and will remain with the same group for a number of years, or sometimes their entire school career.

Forms are normally identified by a number such as "first form" or "sixth form". A form number may be used for two year groups and differentiated by the terms upper and lower. The sixth form is the senior form of a school, and is usually divided into two year groups: the lower sixth and upper sixth. If there is more than one form for each year group they will normally be differentiated by letters, e.g., "upper four B", "lower two Y". Schools do not follow a consistent pattern in naming forms.

25a   The only waiting here is at the counter (9)

I have no idea why "[t]he pedantic may have cause for concern". In a restaurant, staff would wait on customers at their tables; in a cafeteria, the customers would wait in a line at the counter.

26a   One thousand years old // statue? (5)

"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image ..." Exodus 20:4 (KJV)

27a   She may be // used to describe Biblical epistles (7)

Interpret "she may be" as meaning "her name may be".

Pauline^[5] is an adjective meaning relating to or characteristic of St Paul, his writings, or his doctrines ⇒ the Pauline Epistles.

28a   Volunteers drank rum -- from this? (7)

In the UK, the Territorial Army (TA)^[5] is a volunteer force locally organized to provide a reserve of trained and disciplined manpower for use in an emergency.

Rum^[5] is a dated informal British term meaning odd or peculiar ⇒ it’s a rum business, certainly.

Down

1d   He looks as though he hasn't washed // the back of the neck (6)

Scruff^[5] is an informal British term for a person with a dirty or untidy appearance.

2d   No single word will fit here (6)

I initially thought that PHRASE made a pretty good fit. Of course, that misstep slowed progress in the northwest quadrant considerably.

3d   Too far // into no-man's-land? (4,3,3)

The initial part of Miffypops' hint has nothing to do with World War I memoirs. Chris Tarrant^[7] is a British radio and television broadcaster who hosted a British children's Saturday morning television show called Tiswas between 1974 and 1982. In 1982, he hosted a short-lived Saturday evening show O.T.T., which was billed as an adult version of Tiswas, but this was not such a success.

OTT^[5] (short for over the top) is an informal British expression denoting excessive or exaggerated ⇒ presenting him as a goalscoring Superman seems a bit OTT.

4d   Roots developing /into/ a trunk (5)

5d   Cecil and I chewed // cold tongue (9)

"Cold tongue" refers to a language spoken on a northern island.

6d   A swimmer /--/ the only one to be seen (4)

7d   Issue dad is out // to advise against (8)

8d   Magazine in colour // given back (8)

13d   Some analytical piecework? (10)

The setter uses piecework in a whimsical sense meaning the task of reducing something to pieces.

15d   Frank gets contract /showing/ unlimited resources (4,5)

16d   It meant sentence of death /or/ some bird (8)

The blackcap^[5] is a mainly European warbler (Sylvia atricapilla) with a black cap in the male and a reddish-brown one in the female.

In English law, the black cap^[7] was worn by a judge when passing a sentence of death. Although it is called a "cap", it is not made to fit the head like a typical cap does; instead it is a simple plain square made of black fabric. It was based on Tudor Court headgear. When worn, it is placed on the head on top of the judicial wig, with one of the four corners of the black fabric facing outward.

The death penalty has now been abolished in England and Wales, but the black cap is still part of a judge's official regalia, and as such it is still carried into the High Court by each sitting judge when full ceremonial dress is called for. It is worn every year on 9 November when the new Lord Mayor of the City of London is presented to the Law Courts.

17d   Gold in finals round? Quite the opposite, /producing/ serious complaint (5,3)

In Crosswordland, a complaint is usually of the medical variety.

The symbol for the chemical element gold is Au^[5] (from Latin aurum).

19d   Capital city /--/ the Big Smoke? (6)

Havana^[5] is the the capital of Cuba, situated on the north coast; population 2,148,132 (2008). It was founded in 1515 by Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar.

Although the nickname Big Smoke^[7] has been bestowed on many cities, Havana is not among them.

My copy of The Chambers Dictionary (11th Edition) defines Havana^[1] as a fine-quality cigar, made in Havana or Cuba generally. I much prefer the listing that apparently appeared in some earlier edition(s), defining a Havana cigar as a fine quality of cigar, named from Havana, the capital of Cuba, fondly supposed to be made there.

20d   Negotiate a rise? (6)

Although this clue is not the least bit cryptic for North American readers, Brits will interpret (or, at least, are expected by the setter to interpret) rise^[5] to mean an increase in salary or wages ⇒ non-supervisory staff were given a 5 per cent rise. In North America, this would be known as a raise rather than a rise. Thus, solvers on this side of the pond will likely not fall into the setter's trap.

23d   Outdated law, /to be/ precise (5)

24d   Some private tuition // that's for benefit of the seamstress (4)

Etui^[5] is a dated term for a small ornamental case for holding needles, cosmetics, and other articles ⇒ an exquisite etui fitted with scissors, bodkin, and thimble.

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