Friday, October 31, 2014 — DT 27510

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27510
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Saturday, June 7, 2014
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27510 – Hints] Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27510 – Review]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Big Dave (Hints) crypticsue (Review)
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
As this was a Saturday "Prize Puzzle" in Britain, there are two entries related to it on Big Dave's Crossword Blog — the first, posted on the date of publication, contains hints for selected clues while the second is a full review issued following the entry deadline for the contest. The vast majority of reader comments will generally be found attached to the "hints" posting with a minimal number — if any — accompanying the full review.

Introduction

In my case, this puzzle was certainly not the walk in the park that it seems to have been for crypticsue. While I did eventually complete it without resorting to help from my electronic assistants, it was not done without working up a mild sweat.

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   English after morsel of food /and/ pickle (6)

4a   A small prayer // against being recorded in manuscript (6)

Here, "prayer" is used whimsically to mean one who prays. A mantis^[5] (also called praying mantis) is a slender predatory insect with a triangular head, which waits motionless for prey with its large forelegs folded like hands in prayer.

8a   Flower // appeared to get weak, left to go west (8)

A camellia^[5] is an evergreen East Asian shrub related to the tea plant, grown for its showy flowers and shiny leaves.

10a   Clergyman // to look after collection (6)

A curate^[5] is a member of the clergy engaged as assistant to a vicar, rector, or parish priest.

11a   Last // guy // to put off (4)

A triple definition.

12a   Four-footed form /of/ vehicle to wobble about (10)

A tetrameter^[10] is a line of verse consisting of four metrical feet.

13a   Area in front of stage /where/ theatric pros will cavort (9,3)

16a   Awkward // container ship carrying oil over America (12)

Awkward^[5] is used in the sense of deliberately unreasonable or uncooperative ⇒ you’re being damned awkward!.

In cricket, an over^[5] (abbreviation O^[5]) is a division of play consisting of a sequence of six balls bowled by a bowler from one end of the pitch, after which another bowler takes over from the other end.

20a   New stationer having reorganised first /is/ booming (10)

21a   Criminal group // go for Scots (4)

In the Scottish dialect, gang^[5] means go or proceed ⇒ gang to your bed, lass.

22a   Gave approval to // letter spelled out in dictionary (6)

OED^[5] is the abbreviation for Oxford English Dictionary.

23a   Emperor /gives/ his refusal to hold a stake (8)

I wasted a good deal of time trying to work Nero into the solution. I was also toying with an incorrect solution at 18d which further complicated the situation.

The nationality of this Emperor (being the antecedent of the pronoun "his") plays a significant role in the clue.

Napoleon I^[5] (1769–1821) was emperor of France 1804–14 and 1815; full name Napoleon Bonaparte; known as Napoleon. In 1799 Napoleon joined a conspiracy which overthrew the Directory, becoming the supreme ruler of France. He declared himself emperor in 1804, and established an empire stretching from Spain to Poland. After defeats at Trafalgar (1805) and in Russia (1812), he abdicated and was exiled to the island of Elba (1814). He returned to power in 1815, but was defeated at Waterloo and exiled to the island of St Helena.

The French word for no is non^[8].

24a   Overnight flight from America /carrying/ communist spy (3-3)

Red-eye^[5] (also called red-eye flight) is an informal, chiefly North American term for a flight on which a passenger cannot expect to get much sleep on account of the time of departure or arrival ⇒ she caught the red-eye back to New York.

25a   Man on board // to consider going back round Gibraltar initially (6)

A knight^[5] is a chess piece [in other words, a man on a chessboard], typically with its top shaped like a horse’s head, that moves by jumping to the opposite corner of a rectangle two squares by three. Each player starts the game with two knights.

Gibraltar^[5] is a British overseas territory near the southern tip of the Iberian peninsula, at the eastern end of the Strait of Gibraltar; population 28,800 (est. 2009); languages, English (official), Spanish. Occupying a site of great strategic importance, Gibraltar consists of a fortified town and military base at the foot of a rocky headland, the Rock of Gibraltar. Britain captured it during the War of the Spanish Succession in 1704 and is responsible for its defence, external affairs, and internal security.

Down

1d   Breaks /for/ mad fellow on board (8)

This time, "on board" does not refer to a chessboard. Rather, it indicates 'on a ship'. Of course, in Crosswordland, a ship is almost invariably a steamship, the abbreviation for which is SS^[10]. Thus "on board (ship)" is code for 'contained in SS'.

The Hatter^[7] (called Hatta in Through the Looking-Glass) is a fictional character in English writer Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and the story's sequel Through the Looking-Glass (1871). He is often referred to as the Mad Hatter, though this term was never used by Carroll. The phrase "mad as a hatter" pre-dates Carroll's works and the characters the Hatter and the March Hare are initially referred to as "both mad" by the Cheshire Cat, with both first appearing in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, in the seventh chapter titled "A Mad Tea-Party".

2d   Eating a lot but shunning starter /to get/ thin (5)

Starter^[5] is a chiefly British term [according to Oxford Dictionaries Online, but certainly a term that is far from being foreign to Canada] meaning the first course of a meal.

The solution is pretty much the opposite of 20a.

3d   Biblical judge's // exercises (7)

Pontius Pilate^[5] (died circa 36 AD) was a Roman procurator of Judaea circa 26-circa 36. He is remembered for presiding at the trial of Jesus Christ and authorizing his crucifixion.

Pilates^[10] is a system of gentle exercise performed lying down that stretches and lengthens the muscles, designed to improve posture, flexibility, etc. It is named after Joseph Pilates (1880–1967), its German inventor.

5d   Bright light /shows/ a king vice (3-4)

Rex^[5] (abbreviation R^[5]) [Latin for king] denotes the reigning king, used following a name (e.g. Georgius Rex, King George) or in the titles of lawsuits (e.g. Rex v. Jones, the Crown versus Jones — often shortened to R. v. Jones).

Vice^[5] is the British spelling of vise, a metal tool with movable jaws which are used to hold an object firmly in place while work is done on it, typically attached to a workbench.

6d   People in Twin Peaks // a cause of pain (9)

Twin Peaks^[7] is an American television serial drama set in a small, fictional Washington town of that name. The show which follows an investigation headed by FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) into the murder of homecoming queen Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) ran on ABC in 1990 and 1991.

7d   Group support // the chair (6)

9d   Nasty oriental cat // spat (11)

14d   Journalist's note viewed /as/ clichéd (9)

15d   Count rat that's treacherous /as/ one? (8)

The pronoun "one" is standing in for 'a rat'.

17d   Signal agreement holding on // when sun is hottest (7)

Ay is a variant spelling of aye^[5], an archaic or dialect — with a couple of exceptions — exclamation said to express assent ⇒ aye, you’re right there. The term is still used in voting to signify "I assent" ⇒ all in favour say aye and in nautical circles, in the form aye aye, as a response accepting an order ⇒ aye aye, captain.

18d   Relative gets doctor in /for/ most important person (7)

For a while, I worked on the eventually disproven theory that the definition might be "relative" with the solution being KINSMAN. I was far from sold on this approach as I was unable to come up with a viable — or any — explanation for the wordplay. However, it still managed to disrupt my efforts to solve 23a.

19d   He created a vampire // who feeds a furnace (6)

Bram Stoker^[5] (1847–1912) was an Irish novelist and theatre manager; full name Abraham Stoker. He was secretary and touring manager to the actor Henry Irving but is chiefly remembered as the author of the vampire story Dracula (1897).

21d   Some Caligula gaoled // where state's enemies were held (5)

Gaol^[5] is an alternative British spelling of jail.

Caligula^[5] (AD 12-41) was Roman emperor 37-41; born Gaius Julius Caesar Germanicus. His reign was notorious for its tyrannical excesses.

Gulag^[5] is the name for a system of labour camps maintained in the Soviet Union from 1930 to 1955 in which many people died. The name is Russian, from G(lavnoe) u(pravlenie ispravitelʹno-trudovykh) lag(ereĭ) 'Chief Administration for Corrective Labour Camps'.

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