Tuesday, October 14, 2014 — DT 27495

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27495
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27495]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By scchua
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 have no argument with scchua's assessment of this puzzle — either with respect to difficulty or enjoyment.

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   Fellow serving spinach dish /for/ dinner maybe (4,3,5)

F^[2] is the abbreviation for Fellow (of a society, etc). For instance, it is found in professional designations such as FRAIC (Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada).

In scchua's review, the illustration on the left (from 2001) shows then British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Chancellor of the Exchequer (and future Prime Minister) Gordon Brown. That on the right shows current British Prime Minister David Cameron.

9a   What cook may need /to provide/ popular starter on time? (3,6)

Tin opener^[5] would appear to be the more commonly used name in Britain for a can opener^[5].

In cricket, an opener^[5] is a batsman who opens the batting.

10a   Show contempt /for/ name adopted by prophet (5)

11a   The centre of that unusual // capital in Africa (6)

Harare^[5] is the capital of Zimbabwe; population 1,696,000 (est. 2009). Former name (until 1982) Salisbury.

12a   Footballers? // Small people who cry! (8)

In soccer [football to the Brits], a sweeper^[5] is a player stationed behind the other defenders, free to defend at any point across the field and sometimes initiating and supporting attacks.

13a   Hold // Basque separatists during ruckus (6)

ETA^[5] (Basque acronym, from Euzkadi ta Azkatasuna 'Basque homeland and liberty') is a Basque separatist movement in Spain, founded in 1959, which is waging a terrorist campaign for an independent Basque state.

15a   Four absorbed by frantic search /for/ record collections (8)

18a   Daughter cooking strange // fish caught by these (8)

In his review, scchua makes pictorial reference to the American radio, television and motion picture series Dragnet^[7] which chronicled the cases of a dedicated Los Angeles police detective, Sergeant Joe Friday, and his partners.

The original Dragnet starring series producer Jack Webb as Sgt. Friday ran on radio from 1949 to 1957, and on television from 1952 to 1959. Webb revived the series which ran from 1967 to 1970. There were three Dragnet feature films, a straight adaptation starring Webb in 1954; a TV movie produced in 1966; and a comedy spoof in 1987.

The picture on the left in scchua's review shows Jack Webb as Sgt. Joe Friday and Harry Morgan as his partner Officer Bill Gannon from the 1960s revival of the series. The picture on the right shows Dan Aykroyd (as Sgt. Joe Friday) and Tom Hanks (as Det. Pep Streebek) from the 1987 film.

19a   Footballers book most of lush // material (6)

The Football Association^[7], also known simply as the FA, is the governing body of football [soccer] in England. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world and is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the amateur and professional game in England.

21a   Laid-back /approach to/ date with personal defeat (8)

The words "approach to" must be acting as a link phrase in this clue. As such, approach to^[5] is likely used in the sense of an approximation (to something) ⇒ the past is impossible to recall with any approach to accuracy.

23a   An apartment with nothing in it, // on the surface (6)

Flat^[5] is a chiefly British term for what would be called an apartment in North America — a set of rooms forming an individual residence, typically on one floor and within a larger building containing a number of such residences ⇒ a block of flats.

26a   Carbon test /for/ marine growth (5)

The symbol for the chemical element carbon is C^[5].

27a   Tradesman handing out medals? (9)

28a   Part of a convict's biography? (4,8)

Down

1d   Sold for // church during fair on day (7)

In Britain, a fete^[5] is a public function, typically held outdoors and organized to raise funds for a charity, including entertainment and the sale of goods and refreshments  ⇒ a church fete.

2d   Equipment // carried by sailors on a raft (5)

3d   When one caught by individual /is/ slander (9)

4d   Depression /created by/ study on origin of Twitter (4)

Twitter^[10] is the trademark for a website where people can post short messages about their current activities.

5d   Tough battle with electronic // computer components (8)

6d   Lick /and/ stick (5)

7d   On which one takes a call /from/ a fence? (8)

8d   Cold precedes increases /in/ emergencies (6)

14d   Troubled mate has job /getting/ cooperation (8)

In Britain, mate^[5] is an informal term (1) for a friend or companion ⇒ my best mate Steve or (2) used as a friendly form of address between men or boys ⇒ ‘See you then, mate.’.

16d   How a diver usually gets in // top gear to start (4,5)

The wordplay is HEAD (top) + FIRST (gear to start; the gear one uses to start a car in motion).

I must admit that I failed to notice the wordplay. I presumed that the clue was simply a cryptic definition of a diver putting on the top part of a two-piece wetsuit.

However, it did not escape my attention that the diving girls in scchua's illustration are not wearing wetsuits.

17d   Cover /for/ dried salt processed without one (8)

18d   Reason /given/ from French and Italian leader (6)

In French, de is a preposition meaning 'from''^[8].

20d   Group /from/ Ireland set up after bed (7)

Eire^[5] is the Gaelic name for Ireland, the official name of the Republic of Ireland from 1937 to 1949.

22d   An Indian // sea cut off at the south? (5)

The Baltic Sea^[5] is an almost landlocked sea of northern Europe, between Sweden, Finland, Russia, Poland, Germany, and Denmark. It is linked with the North Sea by the Kattegat strait and the Øresund channel.

A Balti^[5] is a native or inhabitant of Baltistan^[5], a region of the Karakoram range of the Himalayas, to the south of K2 [the world's second highest mountain]. Since 1947, the region is divided by the Line of Control, with four of its five districts being controlled by Pakistan with the remaining one being part of Indian-administered Kashmir.^[7]

24d   Frequently // possessed by 'X' (5)

25d   A credit expert's beginning /to get/ the measure of land (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