Thursday, November 13, 2014 — DT 27519

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27519
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27519]
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 completed this puzzle without having to call in the electronic reinforcements — but I think that I worked up more of a sweat in the process than would appear to be the case for scchua.

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   Flew, /though/ frustrated (6)

Dash^[5] is used in the sense of destroy or frustrate (hopes or expectations) ⇒ the budget dashed hopes of an increase in funding.

5a   Caught with dog trainer/'s/ supplier (8)

On cricket scorecards, the abbreviation c.^[2,10] or c^[5] denotes caught or caught by.

A chandler^[2,5,10] is (1) (also called ship chandler or ship's chandler) a dealer in ship's supplies and equipment; (2) a dealer in certain other goods • corn chandler; or (3) an obsolete British term for a grocer.

The illustration in scchua's review is from Female on the Beach^[7], a 1955 feature film starring Joan Crawford and Jeff Chandler in a story about a widow and her beach bum lover.

9a   Engineer reducing a rear // part of plane (13)

10a   Rolling Stone touring state /is/ an unconventional type (8)

As a containment indicator, "touring" is interpreted as 'going (travelling) around'.

Sir Mick Jagger^[5] is an English rock singer and songwriter who formed the Rolling Stones circa 1962 with guitarist Keith Richards, a childhood friend.

Maverick^[5] [used as a visual hint by scchua in his review] is an American Western television series with comedic overtones that ran from 1957 to 1962. The series stars James Garner as Bret Maverick and Jack Kelly as his brother Bart. The Mavericks were poker players from Texas who traveled all over the American Old West and on Mississippi riverboats, constantly getting into and out of life-threatening trouble of one sort or another, usually involving money, women, or both. They would typically find themselves weighing a financial windfall against a moral dilemma. More often than not, their consciences trumped their wallets since both Mavericks were intensely ethical.

When Garner left the series after the third season due to a legal dispute, Roger Moore was added to the cast as their cousin Beau Maverick. Robert Colbert appeared later in the fourth season as a third Maverick brother, Brent Maverick. No more than two of the series leads ever appeared together in the same episode, and usually only one.

Bret Maverick^[7] is a 1981-82 American Western television series starring James Garner in the role that made him famous in the 1957 series Maverick: a professional poker player traveling alone year after year through the Old West from riverboat to saloon. In this sequel series, Maverick has settled down in Sweetwater, Arizona Territory, where he owns a ranch (The Lazy Ace) and is co-owner of the town's saloon (The Red Ox). However, Maverick is still always on the lookout for his next big score, and continues to gamble and practice various con games whenever the chance arises.

The television series also served as the inspiration for Maverick^[7], a 1994 Western comedy film starring Mel Gibson as Bret Maverick. Ironically, James Garner appeared in this film in the role of lawman Marshall Zane Cooper.

For more on Bret Maverick, see the comment at 4d.

11a   Where the road is always up? (6)

I initially thought that SKYWAY was a pretty good answer. However, it proved not to be correct.

12a   Fit in // marathon -- on live! (6)

14a   Easily managed to cross motorway /to get/ home (8)

The M1^[7] is a north–south motorway [controlled access, multi-lane divided highway] in England connecting London to Leeds.

16a   Given an edge /and/ told to follow bishop (8)

B^[5] is an abbreviation for bishop that is used in recording moves in chess.

19a   Italian // trade union survey (6)

TU^[3,4,11] is the abbreviation for Trade Union.

21a   Mark found around rear of water // filter (6)

23a   Class in good time with no answer, /for/ once (8)

In Britain, a form^[5] is a class or year in a school, usually given a specifying number. Thus the fifth form would be the British linguistic counterpart (although, I believe, not the scholastic equivalent) to the fifth grade in North America and Form One would be akin to saying Grade One.

25a   Come up to standard, /being/ much trusted at planning (3,3,7)

26a   Complete // 18 holes of golf following a couple of learners (3-5)

The cryptic crossword convention of L meaning learner or student arises from the L-plate^[7], a square plate bearing a sans-serif letter L, for learner, which must be affixed to the front and back of a vehicle in various countries (including the UK) if its driver is a learner under instruction.

27a   Girlfriend/'s/ brace? (6)

Down

2d   Praise /from/ grown-up holding a note (7)

3d   Prevaricate, /seeing/ hotel has slight advantage (5)

Hotel^[5] is a code word representing the letter H, used in radio communication.

4d   Making a mistake in the German // gun (9)

In German, der^[8] is one of the several forms that the definite article may assume.

A derringer^[5] is a small pistol with a large bore, which is very effective at close range. As scchua points out in his review, the term derringer^[7] is a genericized misspelling of the last name of Henry Deringer (1786–1868), the American gunsmith who invented it.

The derringer was a favourite weapon of Bret Maverick. In Season 1, Episode 1 of Bret Maverick (the 1981 series), he surprises a competitor at the poker table by drawing a derringer on him after having been disarmed by the sheriff. He comments "Well, I never met a lawman yet that'd look for a second derringer up the same sleeve".

5d   Wound up /by/ eccentric boss at newspaper (7)

6d   Chelsea crescent covering // so much land (5)

Chelsea^[5] is a residential district of London, on the north bank of the River Thames.

7d   Disadvantages /of/ including defender in ties (9)

A back^[5] is a player in a team game who plays in a defensive position behind the forwards ⇒ their backs showed some impressive running and passing.

8d   Confront // pupil here? (7)

I must admit that I failed to see the first definition until scchua pointed it out in his review.

13d   Retired skipper /gets/ painting (3,6)

An old master^[5] is a painting by a great artist of former times, especially of the 13th-17th century in Europe ⇒ a large collection of old masters.

15d   Travellers /needing/ month with holidaymakers, forgetting university (9)

17d   Drink dispenser needing a line // of sight (7)

Optic^[5] is a British trademark for a device fastened to the neck of an inverted bottle for measuring out spirits.

18d   Smeared // theologian hugging European celebrity (7)

Doctor of Divinity^[7] (abbreviation D.D. or DD, Divinitatis Doctor in Latin) is an advanced academic degree in divinity. Historically, it identified one who had been licensed by a university to teach Christian theology or related religious subjects. In the United Kingdom, Doctor of Divinity has traditionally been the highest doctorate granted by universities, usually conferred upon a religious scholar of standing and distinction. In the United States, the Doctor of Divinity is usually awarded as an honorary degree.

20d   Referred // everybody due to be treated on day (7)

22d   Leader // executed Ben Hur in revolution (5)

In Crosswordland, you will find that executions are usually carried out by beheading.

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ^[7] is a 1880 novel by American author Lew Wallace (1827-1905). Considered "the most influential Christian book of the nineteenth century", it became a best-selling American novel, surpassing Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) in sales. The book also inspired other novels with biblical settings and was adapted for the stage and motion picture productions. Ben-Hur remained at the top of the bestseller lists until the publication of Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind (1936). Following the release of the 1959 MGM film adaptation of Ben-Hur, which was seen by tens of millions and won eleven Academy Awards in 1960, the book's sales increased and it surpassed Gone with the Wind. Blessed by Pope Leo XIII, the novel was the first work of fiction to be so honored.

Jawaharlal Nehru^[5] (1889–1964) was an Indian statesman, Prime Minister 1947–64; known as Pandit Nehru. Nehru was elected leader of the Indian National Congress in 1929. He was imprisoned nine times by the British for his nationalist campaigns, but went on to become the first Prime Minister of independent India.

24d   Cameron's up on energy // dodge (5)

David Cameron^[5] is a British Conservative statesman, Prime Minister since 2010 (in coalition with the Liberal Democrats).

"Call me Dave" is a facetious nickname that is widely used by the British media as illustrated by this imagined conversation between David Cameron and David Letterman.^[MailOnline] Cameron may well never have actually uttered the words "Call me Dave". The phrase seems to be a take-off on an incident "from the first days of the Blair government in 1997, when the Prime Minister told his Cabinet: 'Call Me Tony'."^[MailOnline] Thus "Call me Dave" may merely be a dig at the stuffed-shirt Cameron in contrast to the laid-back Blair.

Cameron is reported to be known to friends and family as "Dave", though he prefers to use "David'" in public.^[7] He told one interviewer "Lots of people call me Dave, my mum calls me David, my wife calls me Dave, I don't really notice what people call me."^[Wikiquote]

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