Tuesday, November 25, 2014 — DT 27527

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27527
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, June 27, 2014
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27527]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Deep Threat
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 found this puzzle from Giovanni to more difficult than the two stars awarded by Deep Threat. After failing to solve 10a — even with the assistance of my electronic helpers — I resorted to Big Dave's Blog for help. Of course, once I had seen the solution, I was unable to comprehend how it possibly eluded me.

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   How a pest's ruined // workplace -- not nice! (9)

9a   Like a ring // set aside to be given to a king (7)

Rex^[5] (abbreviation R^[5]) [Latin for king] denotes the reigning king, used following a name (e.g. Georgius Rex, King George) or in the titles of lawsuits (e.g. Rex v. Jones, the Crown versus Jones — often shortened to R. v. Jones).

10a   Metal casing for river // plant that's productive (7)

Easy solution — in hindsight.

11a   An animal doctor's taking in duck and a hundred // other birds (7)

The definition is "other birds" — i.e., birds other than ducks.

In cricket, a duck^[5] is a batsman’s score of nought [zero] ⇒ he was out for a duck. This is similar to the North American expression goose egg^[5] meaning a zero score in a game. In British puzzles, duck is used to indicate the letter "O" based on the resemblance of the digit "0" to this letter.

The avocet^[5] is a long-legged wading bird with a slender upturned bill and strikingly patterned plumage.

12a   Felt diets should be changed /in/ one sort of experiment (5,4)

14a   Drink needed by man -- one brought out /for/ truck driver (8)

Note that the setter has used the North American term "truck driver" rather than the British term "lorry driver". This may well have been intended as subtle hint — although perhaps The Daily Telegraph puzzles editor found it to be too subtle. As we learn from Deep Threat's review, the word "American" was introduced into the clue in the version of the puzzle which appeared on The Daily Telegraph website. This change was obviously made after the print edition of The Daily Telegraph had gone to production as the print edition carried the clue as we see it today in the syndicated version of the puzzle in the National Post.

Although the puzzle appears in the National Post some five months after it is published in the UK, I am quite certain that the syndicated puzzle is actually distributed prior to the publication date in the UK. I understand that some papers around the world even carry the puzzle on the same day that it appears in The Daily Telegraph. Therefore any changes to the puzzle that are made during the production process at The Daily Telegraph do not get reflected in the syndicated puzzle.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters^[7] (IBT) is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of several local and regional locals of teamsters, the union now represents a diverse membership of blue-collar and professional workers in both the public and private sectors. Naturally truckers — being the successors to teamsters — form one of its principal membership groups.

Thus a unionized "American truck driver" would quite likely be a teamster while a British lorry driver would certainly not be one.

15a   Hair // English girl combed back when going to gym (6)

In zoology, pelage^[5] is a term for the fur, hair, or wool of a mammal.

17a   Row left editor // embittered (7)

20a   Firm /in/ Home Counties needing fix (6)

The Home Counties^[5] are the counties surrounding London in southeast (SE) England, into which London has extended.

However, no exact definition of the term exists and the composition of the home counties remains a matter of debate. Oxford Dictionaries Online restrictively lists them as being chiefly Essex, Kent, Surrey, and Hertfordshire.

On the other hand, Wikipedia tells us that the Home Counties^[7] are generally considered to include Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Surrey and Sussex (although Sussex does not border London).

Other counties more distant from London, such as Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Dorset, Hampshire and Oxfordshire are also sometimes included in the list due to their close proximity to the capital and their connection to the London regional economy.

23a   Nurse of yesteryear drinking coffee, // an untidy woman (8)

Formerly in Britain, a State Registered Nurse^[5] (abbreviation SRN) was a nurse who had extensive training and passed examinations enabling him or her to perform all nursing services. This designation may have been replaced by Registered General Nurse.

25a   What bargain-hunters look for? // Very much (1,4,4)

26a   The woman's quote about // one who doesn't conform (7)

27a   Cycling is no good /in/ swimwear (7)

28a   Nonsense // initially talked before a sort of walk (7)

29a   Williams who wrote /in/ an American state (9)

Tennessee Williams^[5] (1911–83) was an American dramatist; born Thomas Lanier Williams. He achieved success with The Glass Menagerie (1944) and A Streetcar Named Desire (1947), which deal with the tragedy of vulnerable heroines living in fragile fantasy worlds shattered by brutal reality. Other notable works: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955) and The Night of the Iguana (1961).

Down

2d   Tiny fellow enters Herts town -- // no peace now (7)

Timothy Cratchit, called "Tiny Tim"^[7], is a fictional character from the 1843 novel A Christmas Carol by English writer Charles Dickens (1812–1870). He is a minor character, the young son of Bob Cratchit, and is seen only briefly, but serves as an important symbol of the consequences of the protagonist's choices.

Herts.^[5] is the abbreviation for Hertfordshire^[5] , a county of southeastern England, one of the Home Counties; county town, Hertford.

Ware^[5] is a town of around 18,000 people in Hertfordshire, England close to the county town of Hertford.

John Gilpin^[7] was featured as the subject in a well-known comic ballad of 1782, entitled The Diverting History of John Gilpin. The poem tells how Gilpin and his wife and children became separated during a journey to the Bell Inn, Edmonton, after Gilpin loses control of his horse, and is carried ten miles further to the town of Ware.

3d   In the morning snatch a // flask for holy journey (7)

An ampulla^[7] (plural ampullae) was, in Ancient Rome, a "small nearly globular flask or bottle, with two handles" (OED). The word is used of these in archaeology, and of later flasks, often handle-less and much flatter, for holy water or holy oil in the Middle Ages, often bought as souvenirs of pilgrimages.

4d   Peat's spread for the planting of small // plant (5,3)

5d   Relish /shown by/ dad having got out of office (6)

Apparently, in addition to meaning dead, the term late^[3] can mean having recently occupied a position or place ⇒ the company's late president gave the address. Nevertheless, were I to see this statement, I would certainly envision a message from beyond the grave!

Relish^[5] is used in the sense of a distinctive taste or tinge ⇒ the relish of wine.

Palate^[5] is used in the sense of the flavour of wine or beer ⇒ a wine with a zingy, peachy palate.

6d   Trouble /getting/ revenue, defence ministry admitted (9)

In the UK, the acronym MOD^[5] stands for Ministry of Defence.

7d   Part of Canada, // lively area for bishop to live in (7)

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

8d   Racing driver gaining speed /gets/ completely exhausted (9)

Alain Prost^[7] is a French racing driver. A four-time Formula One Drivers' Champion, only Sebastian Vettel (four championships), Juan Manuel Fangio (five championships), and Michael Schumacher (seven championships) have equalled or surpassed his number of titles.

13d   Betting /is/ smart when top two cards are held (7)

15d   Hopes path can be transformed /by/ chemical (9)

16d   One is thankful to have it (9)

18d   One saint wandering // in a northern land (8)

Note that the word "in" is part of the definition, making the solution an adjective.

19d   Had Scot separated by barrier finally? (7)

In this &lit.^[7] (all-in-one) clue, the implied definition is "[He who] had Scot separated by barrier finally?".

Hadrian's Wall^[5] is a Roman defensive wall across northern England, stretching from the Solway Firth in the west to the mouth of the River Tyne in the east (about 120 km, 74 miles). It was begun in AD 122, after the emperor Hadrian’s visit, to defend the province of Britain against invasions by tribes from the north.

21d   Club assistants (7)

22d   Feel strongly, // demonstrating a combination of ire and zeal (7)

I presume the implication here is that to feel is to suspect, while to feel strongly is to realize ⇒ I felt that our relationship may be trouble when she did not answer my call. I realized that our relationship was in deep trouble when I saw her passionately kissing another man.

24d   One on court maybe /making/ fuss (6)

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