Wednesday, October 14, 2014 — DT 27496

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27496
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, May 22, 2014
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27496]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Big Dave
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

A strategically placed Briticism can easily escalate the difficulty level of a puzzle for a North American solver. Such was the case with today's puzzle which Big Dave rated as meriting a mere two stars for difficulty. I, on the other hand, found it to be a definite three star effort due primarily to the unknown British expression at 28a whose absence also hampered me on 19d.

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   Share the cost of a trip to Amsterdam?  (2,5)

I have marked the clue as a cryptic definition because the phrase "a trip to Amsterdam", while suggestive of, is truly not a definition for, GO DUTCH. The solid underline indicates the portion of the cryptic definition which is a straight definition (primary indication) and the dashed underline shows the portion that is the subsidiary indication.

5a   Friendly /or/ dreadfully cold air (7)

9a   Deadly game // as routine result is brought about (7,8)

Russian roulette^[5] is the practice of loading a bullet into one chamber of a revolver, spinning the cylinder, and then pulling the trigger while pointing the gun at one’s own head. The term has come to denote any activity that is potentially very dangerous ⇒ we can’t afford to play Russian Roulette with our existing antibiotics.

10a   Return of jackal/fox hybrid /prompts/ criticism (4)

As a link word, prompt^[5] is used in the sense of to cause or bring about.

11a   Decrepit old car /found in/ packing-case (5)

12a   Dissident /with/ a saint's heart providing accommodation for conservationists (4)

In Britain, the National Trust^[5] (abbreviation NT) is a trust for the preservation of places of historic interest or natural beauty in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, founded in 1895 and supported by endowment and private subscription. The National Trust for Scotland^[7], a separate organization, was founded in 1931.

In this clue, the word "with" serves as a link (expressing causality) between the definition and wordplay. The preposition with^[5] may be used to indicate the cause of a condition ⇒ he was trembling with fear. Used in this sense, the word "with" essentially means "resulting from".

15a   Turned out // detective's all over the place, wasting time and energy (7)

16a   Camera movement hurt // sense of style (7)

17a   Fan loves Northern // comic (7)

In tennis, squash, and some other sports, love^[5] is a score of zero or nil ⇒ love fifteen. The resemblance of a zero written as a numeral (0) to the letter O leads to the cryptic crossword convention of the word "love" being used to clue this letter.

19a   Rude about bishop getting ordained finally? // It's far from clear (7)

Comparing definitions among the three dictionaries at The Free Dictionary website, it would appear that the word "rude" carries a connotation in the UK that may be largely over and above the way the term is used in North America. In Britain, rude^[4] can mean vulgar or obscene ⇒ a rude joke. In North America, I would think that one might be more likely to say a crude joke in this context. A person could be considered to exhibit rude (uncouth) behaviour by telling a crude (off-colour) joke in polite company.

Right Reverend^[5] (abbreviation RR^[2]) is a title given to a bishop, especially in the Anglican Church ⇒ the Right Reverend David Jenkins, Bishop of Durham.

21a   Roguish /and/ dry but not quiet (4)

22a   Issue /makes one/ meditate moodily (5)

The link phrase "makes one" has the sense 'produces for one' ("one" referring to the solver of the puzzle).

23a   Pole lacking in energy /to make/ side (4)

Steam^[5] is used in the sense of energy and momentum or impetus ⇒ the anti-corruption drive gathered steam.

26a   Mate or sailor welcoming kinky goings-on /with/ physical presence (6-3-6)

In the surface reading, a mate^[5] is an officer on a merchant ship subordinate to the master. However, the cryptic analysis calls for a different meaning.

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.’.

Brick^[5] is a dated informal British term for a generous, helpful, and reliable person ⇒ ‘You are really a brick, Vi,’ Gloria said.

S and M^[2] stands for sadism and masochism.

See comment on "with" as a link word at 12a.

27a   He sang jazzily -- a // god (7)

In Hinduism, Ganesh^[5] (also Ganesha) is an elephant-headed deity, son of Shiva and Parvati. He is usually depicted coloured red, with a pot belly and one broken tusk, riding a rat.

28a   Spooner's cherished vessel said /to be/ square one (4,3)

Here, the best I could do on my own was PEAR DOT, a Spoonerism for DEAR POT (a cherished [cooking] vessel). Not only was this inexplicable with respect to the wordplay, it also certainly didn't help with 19d.

A spoonerism^[5] is a verbal error in which a speaker accidentally transposes the initial sounds or letters of two or more words, often to humorous effect, as in the sentence you have hissed the mystery lectures. It is named after the Reverend W. A. Spooner (1844–1930), an English scholar who reputedly made such errors in speaking.

A cherished vessel would be a "dear yacht". However, Rev. Spooner would have been likely to have pronounced (said) this as "year dot".

The year dot^[5] is an informal British term for a very long time ago ⇒ that wallpaper has been there since the year dot.

Down

1d   One with a lot of neck /in/ blunder involving taxman (7)

In the surface reading, neck^[4] is an informal [seemingly British] term meaning impudence or audacity ⇒ he had the neck to ask for a rise [a raise (in pay) for a North American].

In the UK, IR^[10] is the abbreviation for Inland Revenue^[5], the former name of the department of the British government responsible for assessing and collecting Public revenue consisting of income tax and some other direct taxes (such Public revenue being known in Britain as inland revenue). In 2005, Inland Revenue was merged with HM Customs and Excise (Her Majesty's Customs and Excise) to form HM Revenue and Customs (Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs).^[7]

2d   Regret // James turning up second at one's party (15)

Sid James^[7] (1913–1976), born Solomon Joel Cohen, was a South African-born English actor and comedian.

He is particularly known as English comedian Tony Hancock's co-star in Hancock's Half Hour, which ran on British television from 1956 until 1960, and as a regular performer in the Carry On films, a sequence of 30^{[see note]} low-budget British comedy motion pictures produced between 1958 and 1978.

[Note: I have ignored one film which Wikipedia includes in its count. Carry on Columbus was made after a fourteen year hiatus in 1992 by a different film company, with a largely different cast, and with a greatly increased production budget.]

3d   Get // stick (4)

4d   German dog, setter perhaps, /found in/ local district (7)

In German, the word for dog is hund^[8].

Although there are other breeds of setters^[7], this clue almost certainly refers to the Irish Setter^[7] (also known as the Red Setter).

Historically, in Britain, a hundred^[5] was a subdivision of a county or shire, having its own court ⇒ Wantage Hundred. Wantage^[7] is a market town and civil parish in the Vale of the White Horse, Oxfordshire, England. Historically part of Berkshire, it is notable as the birthplace of King Alfred the Great in 849.

5d   Yield to pressure /to show/ revealing garment (4,3)

A crop top^[5] (also known as a cropped top) is a woman’s casual sleeveless or short-sleeved garment or undergarment for the upper body, cut short so that it reveals the stomach.

6d   Anger // about embracing the Italian (4)

In Italian, the masculine singular form of the definite article is il^[8].

7d   Acknowledgement of mistake /given/ doctrines traced incorrectly (1,5,9)

8d   Dregs I would start to empty /in/ sheltered spot (3,4)

13d   Fit of temper // that provides an edge? (5)

Strop^[5] is an informal British term for a bad mood or a temper ⇒ Nathalie gets in a strop and makes to leave.

Read the second definition as "that (which) provides an edge" or "(something) that provides an edge".

14d   Finish // pointless parody (3,2)

17d   Go on and on about cover of bulky // cushion for lounging on (4,3)

18d   New rule stopping terrible fellow attaining a // blissful state (7)

In legal documents, r^[5] is used as the abbreviation of rule ⇒ under r 7.4 (6) the court may hear an application immediately.

Ivan^[5] is the name of six rulers of Russia, the most famous being Ivan IV (1530–84), grand duke of Muscovy 1533–47 and first tsar of Russia 1547–84; known as Ivan the Terrible. He captured Kazan, Astrakhan, and Siberia, but the Tartar siege of Moscow and the Polish victory in the Livonian War (1558–82) left Russia weak and divided. In 1581 he killed his eldest son Ivan in a fit of rage, the succession passing to his mentally disturbed second son Fyodor.

In Buddhism, nirvana^[5] is a transcendent state in which there is neither suffering, desire, nor sense of self, and the subject is released from the effects of karma and the cycle of death and rebirth. It represents the final goal of Buddhism.

19d   Punch cutting? // Cut probably occurred before this (4-3)

20d   Weary about accepting the writer /may be/ failing (7)

It is a common cryptic crossword convention for the creator of the puzzle to use terms such as compiler, setter, (this) author, this person, or (this) writer (or, today, the writer) to refer to himself or herself. To solve such a clue, one must generally substitute a first person pronoun (I or me) for whichever of these terms has been used in the clue.

24d   Downhill runners? (4)

25d   Articulate IT worker /forming/ conclusion (4)

The word "coder", when pronounced in a non-rhotic^[5] British accent ("codah"), sounds like "coda". Non-rhotic accents omit the sound /r/ in certain situations, while rhotic accents generally pronounce /r/ in all contexts.

In music, a coda^[5] is (1) the concluding passage of a piece or movement, typically forming an addition to the basic structure ⇒ the first movement ends with a fortissimo coda or (2) the concluding section of a dance, especially of a pas de deux or the finale of a ballet in which the dancers parade before the audience.

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