Tuesday, October 21, 2014 — DT 27500

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27500
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27500]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Gazza
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

As Gazza points out in his introductory comments, this is puzzle to bring back memories — provided one is of a certain age and possessed of a remarkable long term memory.

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

7a   Adult favouring wearing long // apron (8)

The A (Adult) certificate is a former film certificate^[7] issued by the British Board of Film Classification. This certificate existed in various forms from 1912 to 1985, when it was replaced by the PG (Parental Guidance) certificate.

In Britain, pinafore^[2] can mean either (1) an apron, especially one with a bib (sometimes shortened to pinny) or (2) (also pinafore dress) a sleeveless dress for wearing over a blouse, sweater, etc. The name comes from from "pin + afore", because it was formerly 'pinned afore', i.e. pinned to the front of a dress.

9a   Definitely // in a bad way on express (3,3)

In his review, Gazza remarks "I anticipate some complaints about the enumeration ..." alluding to the fact that the apostrophe is not explicitly shown in the enumeration. If it were to be shown, the enumeration would be (1'2,3). However, it is common for apostrophe's not to be shown.

10a   Female collecting round // Oxford, perhaps (4)

The word "perhaps" indicates that "Oxford" is an example of the solution.

11a   One poem (abridged) penned by one of the Mitfords /in/ Cambridge? (10)

Here, it is the question mark that indicates that "Cambridge" is an example of the solution.

The Mitford family^[7] is a minor aristocratic English family whose main family line had seats at Mitford, Northumberland. A junior line, with seats at Newton Park, Northumberland, and Exbury House, Hampshire, descends via the historian William Mitford (1744–1827).

The Mitford sisters are William Mitford's great-great-great-granddaughters. The sisters, six daughters of David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale (1878–1958), and Sydney Bowles, became celebrated, and at times scandalous, figures that were caricatured, according to The Times journalist Ben Macintyre, as "Diana the Fascist, Jessica the Communist, Unity the Hitler-lover; Nancy the Novelist; Deborah the Duchess and Pamela the unobtrusive poultry connoisseur".

12a   'Sweet' // clued badly by third of setters (6)

14a   Gang leader in yarn, detective // novel (4,4)

Dick^[5] is a dated, informal, chiefly North American term for a detective.

15a   More than one // place in the country where river's dropped (6)

Pl.^[5] (also pl.) is the abbreviation for Place (in street addresses) ⇒ 3 Palmerston Pl., Edinburgh.

17a   Soldier's taken over facilities /in/ homes up north (6)

A GI^[5] is a private soldier in the US army ⇒ she went off with a GI during the war. Contrary to popular belief, the term apparently is not an abbreviation for general infantryman, but rather derives from the term government (or general) issue (originally denoting equipment supplied to US forces).

Loo^[5] is an informal British term for a toilet.

20a   Secretary, calm, appears with Ecstasy // tablet (8)

22a   Manage // to come to party (4,2)

23a   On top of everything else, // item for auction rejected across London, for instance (2,3,2,3)

24a   English philosopher // poorly following onset of mumps (4)

Poorly^[3,4,11] is an adjective meaning in poor health or ill. In the UK, one might see it used in the sense ⇒ She is poorly today whereas in North America one would likely see it used as She is feeling poorly today.

John Stuart Mill^[5] (1806–1873) was an English philosopher and economist. Mill is best known for his political and moral works, especially On Liberty (1859), which argued for the importance of individuality, and Utilitarianism (1861), which extensively developed this theory which had originally been proposed by English philosopher Jeremy Bentham.

25a   Ghost, // one consumed by anger (6)

26a   Rolling Stones song -- // lyric about diamonds, with cartoon heroine (4,4)

Diamonds^[2]) (abbreviation D^[2]) is one of the four suits of playing-cards.

In the wordplay, lyric^[5] (usually lyrics) is to be interpreted in the sense of a lyric poem or verse ⇒ an edition of Horace’s Lyrics — and not as the words of a popular song.

Jane^[5] was a comic strip created and drawn by Norman Pett exclusively for the British tabloid newspaper The Daily Mirror from 5 December 1932 to 10 October 1959. Originally entitled Jane's Journal, Or the Diary of a Bright Young Thing, the salacious comic strip featured the misadventures of the title ingenue. The heroine had a habit of frequently (and most often inadvertently) losing her clothes.

Down

1d   Having taken drugs, start // field event (4,4)

2d   Pay // wife to go on date (4)

3d   Clouts buzzing // insect (6)

4d   Western star with badge performing /in/ variety (5,3)

Tom Mix^[5] (1880–1940) was an American film actor and the star of many early Western movies. Between 1909 and 1935, Mix appeared in 291 films, all but nine of which were silent movies. He was Hollywood's first Western megastar and is noted as having helped define the genre for all cowboy actors who followed.

5d   Completed novel, // a mystery (6,4)

Literally, the wordplay is CLOSED (completed) + BOOK (novel). In his review, Gazza points out that wordplay could also work in a more figurative fashion.

A closed book^[5] is a subject or person about which one knows nothing ⇒ accounting has always been a closed book to me.

6d   Coming from Tallinn, perhaps // caught short after Indian restaurant meal (6)

Tallinn^[5] is the capital of Estonia, a port on the Gulf of Finland; population 397,000 (est. 2007). Estonia^[5] is a a Baltic country on the south coast of the Gulf of Finland; population 1,299,400 (est. 2009).

In Pakistani cooking, balti^[5] is a spicy dish cooked in a small two-handled pan known as a karahi.

8d   Mystery // in game unravelled (6)

13d   Jazz pianist/'s/ number I introduced to camp (5,5)

Count Basie^[5] (1904–1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, and bandleader; born William Basie. In 1935 he formed a big band, known as the Count Basie Orchestra, which became one of the most successful bands of the swing era.

16d   Nothing left /in/ safe (3,5)

18d   Second job /in/ food shop during function (8)

In mathematics, the term sine^[5] denotes the trigonometric function that is equal to the ratio of the side opposite a given angle (in a right-angled triangle) to the hypotenuse.

19d   A particular // detachment of troops (6)

21d   A plank // on a yacht, maybe (6)

22d   A boy enthralled by my // illness (6)

24d   Jack, coming in low, /exudes/ charm (4)

J^[5] is an abbreviation for Jack that is used in describing play in card games.

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