Friday, October 3, 2014 — DT 27488

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27488
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27488]
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

I needed a little help from my electronic assistants today. I also did not fully understand the wordplay in one clue. It might have been more clear had I spent more time in the pool hall.

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   Cave-dweller /having/ year in grotto -- led out (10)

A troglodyte^[10] is a cave dweller, especially one of the prehistoric peoples thought to have lived in caves.

6a   Lincoln, familiarly and primarily // a murder victim (4)

Abraham Lincoln^[5] (1809–1865) was an American Republican statesman, 16th President of the US 1861-5. His election as President on an anti-slavery platform helped precipitate the American Civil War; he was assassinated shortly after the war ended. Lincoln was noted for his succinct, eloquent speeches, including the Gettysburg Address of 1863.

In the Bible, Abel^[5] was the second son of Adam and Eve, murdered by his brother Cain.

9a   Closely watch // board with regard to covering bills (4,4,2)

10a   Only // minutes before (4)

12a   Start of hymn tune/,/ it grows on one (4)

13a   A number with food in bag /leaving/ Cape Cod resort (9)

Tuck^[5] is an informal British term for food eaten by children at school as a snack ⇒ The projects being piloted in 500 schools across the country include a crackdown on unhealthy foods in school tuck shops and vending machines.

Nantucket^[5] is an island off the coast of Massachusetts, south of Cape Cod and east of Martha’s Vineyard. It was an important whaling centre in the 18th and 19th centuries.

15a   Grace ill? Could be // hypersensitive (8)

What role does the conditional expression "could be" play in this clue? In his review, Deep Threat shows it as being the anagram indicator. To some extent, it also seems to play the role of a link phrase. In fact, I suspect that there may be those who would argue that the anagram indicator is actually the question mark, with the expression "could be" acting as a link phrase. If so, the clue would be marked up as:

• 15a   Grace ill? /Could be/ hypersensitive (8)

I have opted to follow Deep Threat's lead and designate "could be" as the anagram indicator. See 21d where there is also a conditional expression used as an anagram indicator.

16a   Move at home // to intervene (4,2)

18a   Almost transfix a // creature with horns (6)

Transfix^[5] is used in the sense of to pierce with a sharp implement or weapon ⇒ a field mouse is transfixed by the curved talons of an owl.

20a   Carnivore/'s/ beginning to poke in ground (8)

This was certainly not the first carnivore to come to mind.

23a   One travelling from Earth // to Saturn, possibly around end of era (9)

24a   Dog // food (4)

The chow^[5] (also chow chow) is a dog of a sturdy Chinese breed with a broad muzzle, a tail curled over the back, a bluish-black tongue, and typically a dense thick coat.

26a   Took advantage of // American edition (4)

27a   Lacking up-to-date information // from contact (3,2,5)

28a   Mount // attending Newmarket -- name? (4)

In the surface reading, the mount is a horse.

Newmarket^[5] is town in eastern England, in Suffolk; population 18,300 (est. 2009). It is a noted horse-racing centre and headquarters of the Jockey Club. The Jockey Club is an organization whose stewards are the central authority for the administration of horse racing in Britain. It was founded in 1750.

Newmarket Racecourse^[7], which has a capacity of 45,000, is a British Thoroughbred horse racing venue in the town of Newmarket, Suffolk. Newmarket is often referred to as the headquarters of British horseracing and is home to the largest cluster of training yards in the country and many key horse racing organisations, including Tattersalls^[5] [an English firm of horse auctioneers founded in 1776 by the horseman Richard Tattersall (1724–1795)], the National Horseracing Museum and the National Stud [stud farm]. The racecourse hosts two of the country's five Classic Races - the 1,000 Guineas and 2,000 Guineas, and numerous other Group races. In total, it hosts 9 of British racing's 32 annual Group 1 races.

I first encountered the term "stud" being used to mean a stud farm as opposed to a stallion used for breeding purposes when I visited the Irish National Stud^[7] in Tully, Ireland. I could not resist buying a sweat shirt emblazoned with "Irish National Stud" — which certainly proved to be a great conversation piece with women when I returned to Canada.

Mount Etna^[5] is a volcano in eastern Sicily, rising to 3,323 m (10,902 ft). It is the highest and most active volcano in Europe.

29a   Technocrat ordered // waterproof item of clothing (6,4)

Down

1d and 25 Down:   What may be said after hit /for/ pop band? (4,4)

Take That^[7] are a British pop group that was originally formed in 1990, split up in 1996 and reformed in 2005.

2d   Comprehensive // cover? (7)

3d   C.S. Lewis, perhaps, /or/ his leading character? (8,4)

C. S. Lewis^[5] (1898–1963) was a British novelist, religious writer, and literary scholar; full name Clive Staples Lewis. He broadcast and wrote on religious and moral issues, and created the imaginary land of Narnia for a series of children’s books, which began with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (1950).

Aslan^[7] is the main character of C. S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia series. He is "the great Lion" of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and his role in Narnia is developed throughout the remaining books. He is also the only character to appear in all seven books of the series. Aslan is Turkish for "lion".

A literary lion^[5] is a notable or famous author.

4d   Refined // young socialite coming out very happily (8)

5d   Difficult, /with/ empty tummy, consuming cornet? (6)

In the surface reading, cornet^[5] is a British term for a cone-shaped wafer filled with ice cream. In the cryptic analysis, on the other hand, it is a brass instrument resembling a trumpet but shorter and wider.

7d   Finish // ahead following run of successful pots (5,2)

Despite coming up with the correct solution, I didn't fully comprehend the wordplay — although I did recognize that "pots" is a reference to billiards and snooker.

In billiards and snooker, a pot^[5] is a shot in which a player strikes a ball into a pocket ⇒ he put together a 36 clearance to blue which was full of difficult pots.

However, I was only familiar with break^[5] meaning (as a verb) to make the first stroke at the beginning of a game of billiards, pool, or snooker or (as a noun) a player’s turn to make the opening shot of a game ⇒ whose break is it?.

However, in snooker and billiards, break^[5] also means a consecutive series of successful shots, scoring a specified number of points ⇒ a break of 83 put him in front for the first time.

In his review, Deep Threat uses break up^[5] in a chiefly British sense meaning to end the school term ⇒ we broke up for the summer.

8d   Tune in late to get broadcast officer/'s given/ (10)

Although the words "'s given" ("is given" in the cryptic reading) appear at the end of the clue, they fulfill the same function as a link word or phrase. This can be seen if one removes the sentence inversion:

• 8d   Officer /is given [by]/ tune in late to get broadcast (10)

or if one converts the clue to the active voice from the passive voice:

• 8d   Tune in late to get broadcast /gives/ officer (10)

Of course, the surface reading of either of these alternative versions of the clue is in no way as elegant as that of the original.

11d   A sweet // Bordeaux, initially, say, then whisky (12)

The spelling alone rules out Irish whiskey.

Bordeaux^[5] is a red, white, or rosé wine from the district of Bordeaux in southwestern France.

Sweet^[5] is the British term for either (1) a piece of candy^[5] ⇒ a bag of sweets or (2) a sweet dish forming a course of a meal; in other words, a pudding or dessert.

14d   To lampoon // dude seen in one ancient city is in keeping (10)

Ur^[5] is an ancient Sumerian city formerly on the Euphrates, in southern Iraq. It was one of the oldest cities of Mesopotamia, dating from the 4th millennium BC, and reached its zenith in the late 3rd millennium BC.

17d   Imprisoned /in/ small hospital unit, suffering from depression (4,4)

In my experience, the busiest section, by far, of the Crosswordland Hospital is the ear, nose and throat (ENT^[2]) department.

 In Britain, the expression send someone down^[5] means to sentence someone to imprisonment ⇒ you’re going to get sent down for possessing drugs. In the US, the expression send someone up means the same thing.

19d   Lingo used by northern // model (7)

21d   Disgraced MP // may make up for way of working (7)

The conditional expression "may make" is the anagram indicator. Compare this to 15a where a conditional expression is also the anagram indicator.

John Profumo^[5] (1915–2006) was a British Conservative politician. In 1960 he was appointed Secretary of State for War under Harold Macmillan. Three years later news broke of his relationship with Christine Keeler, the mistress of a Soviet diplomat, raising fears of a security breach and precipitating his resignation.

22d   Rattle around most of Pacific island /in/ car (6)

Guam^[5] is the largest and southernmost of the Mariana Islands, administered as an unincorporated territory of the US; population 178,400 (est. 2009); languages, English (official), Austronesian languages; capital, Agaña. Guam was ceded to the US by Spain in 1898.

Jaguar Cars^[7] is a brand of Jaguar Land Rover, a British multinational car manufacturer headquartered in Whitley, Coventry, England, owned by Indian automaker Tata Motors since 2008.

25d   See 1 Down

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