Thursday, November 27, 2014 — DT 27529

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27529
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, June 30, 2014
Setter Rufus (Roger Squires)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27529]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Miffypops
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

This puzzle may have amounted to a mere two star difficulty effort for Miffypops but it presented a considerably stiffer challenge for myself.

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   He requires staff for the spring (4,7)

9a   It's for those who like to travel, but not fast (6-3)

Permanent way^[5] [used by Miffypops in his review]  is a British term for the finished trackbed of a railway together with the track and other permanent equipment ⇒ engineers are repairing the permanent way following the derailment.

10a   Concerning // a period of illness (5)

11a   Glossy appearance /is/ something attractive about a good man (6)

12a   Party member who went to pot (8)

I fell headlong into the trap set by Rufus — thinking that I was searching for some British politician who had been in the news for smoking weed. It also did not help that I was trying to make Iolanthe fir into 8d.

The March Hare and the Hatter put

 the Dormouse's head in a teapot.

Illustration by John Tenniel.

The Dormouse^[7] is a character in "A Mad Tea-Party"^[7], Chapter VII from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) by English writer Lewis Carroll. In the story, Alice becomes a guest at a "mad" tea party along with the March Hare, the Hatter, and a very tired Dormouse who falls asleep frequently, only to be violently woken up moments later by the March Hare and the Hatter — and eventually stuffed in a teapot.

13a   Ordered beer at // discount (6)

15a   George has me starting test /in/ maths subject (8)

In Britain, the short form for mathematics is maths^[5] ⇒ her mother was a maths teacher), rather than math^[5] as it is in North America ⇒ she teaches math and science.

The word "starting" (aside from being necessary in the surface reading) indicates that {GEO + ME} begins the solution (is "starting").

18a   A foundation garment is retired on /showing/ wear (8)

19a   Dances arranged // to scale (6)

21a   Insect /makes/ bird take to the air (8)

With all the checking letters in place, I initially — and incorrectly — guessed CRAKEFLY, the crake^[5] being a bird of the rail family with a short bill, such as the corncrake.

The crane fly^[10] (or cranefly) is any dipterous fly of the family Tipulidae, having long legs, slender wings, and a narrow body. Also called daddy-long-legs in Britain.

23a   Sort of pastry brought round to // spoil the appetite (3,3)

I found myself trapped in a standoff. I was unable to solve 23a without the solution to 20d — and vice versa.

26a   He takes to his bed, sharpish (5)

A fakir^[10] (or faqir or fakeer) is (1) a Muslim ascetic who rejects worldly possessions or (2) a Hindu ascetic mendicant or holy man. Fakirs are commonly pictured meditating on a bed of nails.

A bed of nails^[7] is an oblong piece of wood, the size of a bed, with nails pointing upwards out of it. It appears to the spectator that anyone lying on this "bed" would be injured by the nails, but this is not so. Assuming the nails are numerous enough, the weight is distributed between them such that the pressure exerted by each nail is not enough to break the person's skin. The bed of nails is used by some for meditation, particularly in Asia.

In the surface reading, sharpish^[5] is a British term meaning quickly or soon ⇒ I’d slip away sharpish if I were you.

27a   Article is made // true to life (9)

28a   Terms need no amending /for/ ratification (11)

In the UK [as Miffypops alludes to in his review], an endorsement^[5] is a note on a driving licence recording the penalty points incurred for a driving offence.

Down

1d   He goes barefoot in water, or by canoe (7)

2d   Rules // which are given to bad students (5)

3d   Thinks a great deal of // events are badly organised (9)

4d   Scotsman's strange? // Very (4)

In Scottish, unco^[5] is (1) an adjective meaning unusual or remarkable or (2) an adverb meaning remarkably or very ⇒ it’s got an unco fine taste. It can also be a noun meaning a stranger or (in the plural) news.

5d   Pass on // the takings (8)

Takings^[10] is a [most assuredly British] term for the income earned, taken or received by a shop, business, etc. ⇒ The pub said that their takings were fifteen to twenty thousand pounds a week.

6d   Actual number /in/ the kingdom (5)

Terms such as "[a] number", "[a] large number", or "[a] great many" are often indicators that a Roman numeral is required.

7d   It may be charged, /or/ one may be charged with it (7)

8d   She vainly seeks men's attention (8)

I initially set my sights on IOLANTHE as a possible solution. Iolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri^[7] is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. Iolanthe is a fairy who has committed the capital crime (under fairy law) of marrying a mortal human.

14d   Criticises // something Obama has, say? (8)

Barack Obama^[5] is an American Democratic statesman, 44th President of the US since 2009. He was the first African American to be elected to the presidency, and was re-elected in 2012 for a second term. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009.

16d   'Man' is clue possibly, /solution is/ 'male' (9)

17d   A clergyman may be // arrested (8)

18d   Horace set about female -- // the main opponent? (4-3)

Horace^[5] (65-8 BC) was a Roman poet of the Augustan period; full name Quintus Horatius Flaccus. A notable satirist and literary critic, he is best known for his Odes, much imitated by later ages, especially by the poets of 17th-century England. His other works include Satires and Ars Poetica.

20d   Loss of business (7)

22d   No head on ale, that is // strange (5)

24d   Extravagant /when/ out and about (5)

25d   /It's/ just // not raining (4)

Although it appears at the beginning of the the clue, the word "it's" serves a function similar to that of a link word.

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