Wednesday, November 12, 2014 — DT 27518

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27518
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27518]
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
Notes
The National Post has skipped DT 27517 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Monday, June 16, 2014. However, the solution shown today in the National Post is for DT 27517 (the skipped puzzle) rather than DT 27516 (the puzzle published on Monday).

Introduction

If you have trouble matching the answers from your Monday puzzle to the solution published today in the National Post, it is because the solution appearing today in the National Post is not for the puzzle which appeared on Monday but rather is for a puzzle which the National Post has skipped (see Notes above).

I would agree with the level of difficulty that Gazza has set for this puzzle. At the lower end of the three star range, my electronic reinforcements can usually count on a day off. When the difficulty level escalates to the upper end of the three star range, they can expect to receive a call for assistance.

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   Piece of writing right away /found in/ bar (6)

4a   Officer /with/ a jacket starts to upbraid tetchy worker (8)

Dinner jacket^[10] (abbreviation DJ or dj) is the British name for a tuxedo, a man's semiformal evening jacket without tails, usually black with a silk facing over the collar and lapels.

9a   Trace confusingly large // set of firms (6)

10a   Some ladies press on /to get/ coffee (8)

11a   Office drudge/'s/ pound going to drug- dealer (3-6)

Pen-pusher^[5] is an informal [seemingly British] term for a paper-pusher^[5], a person with a clerical job involving a lot of tedious and repetitive paperwork.

This pound is a place where lost dogs might be found.

13a   Appeal associated with German river /for/ couples (5)

"It"^[7] is a term that has come to mean sex appeal - although, in its earliest manifestation, it seems that the term pertained more to personality than to glamorous looks. Although the term had been used as early as 1904 by Rudyard Kipling, it was popularized  in the 1927 film It starring Clara Bow (who became known as the It Girl).

The Ems^[7] is a river in northwestern Germany. It runs through the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony, and discharges into the North Sea.

14a   Cold call area seen to be suspect /for/ retail event (9,4)

17a   Like a boozer, maybe, /with/ untold gin, ever drunk (13)

21a   A second film /in/ mould (5)

Mould^[2] is a term for a food (such as a jelly or other pudding) that has been shaped in a mould.

23a   Complete crane manoeuvres around posh // explorer's ship (9)

In Britain, U^[5] is used informally as an adjective (in respect to language or social behaviour) meaning characteristic of or appropriate to the upper social classes ⇒ U manners. The term, an abbreviation of  upper class, was coined in 1954 by Alan S. C. Ross, professor of linguistics, and popularized by its use in Nancy Mitford's Noblesse Oblige (1956). In Crosswordland, it is frequently clued by words denoting "characteristic of the upper class" (such as posh or superior) or "appropriate to the upper class" (such as acceptable).

Endurance^[7] was the three-masted barquentine in which Anglo-Irish explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton (1874–1922) sailed for the Antarctic on the 1914 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition.

24a   Father is back in seedy joint, // scoffing (8)

25a   Respect // a daughter facing messy situation (6)

26a   Not forthcoming // like table in popular restaurant? (8)

27a   Block // current politician with PM mostly (6)

In physics, I^[5] is the symbol for electric current.

In many Commonwealth countries (including Britain and Canada), a member of the House of Commons or similar legislative body is known as a Member of Parliament^[10] (or MP^[5] for short).

Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon (1897–1977) was a British Conservative statesman, Prime Minister 1955-7. His premiership was dominated by the Suez crisis of 1956; widespread opposition to Britain’s role in this led to his resignation.

Down

1d   Issue /in/ European painting having land obscured (6)

2d   Record // man among stylish outsiders in lounge (9)

3d   Avoid publicity showing first // Overture (7)

5d   Inspectors with infantry soldier came first /making one/ sulky (11)

A detective inspector (DI)^[5] is a senior police officer in the UK. Within the British police, inspector^[7] is the second supervisory rank. It is senior to that of sergeant, but junior to that of chief inspector. Plain-clothes detective inspectors are equal in rank to their uniformed counterparts, the prefix 'detective' identifying them as having been trained in criminal investigation and being part of or attached to their force's Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

Grunt^[3,4,11] is a US term for an infantry soldier or US Marine, especially in the Vietnam War.

The link phrase "making one" has the sense 'producing for the one doing the solving'.

6d   This country getting damp weather before Spain -- /and/ another (7)

"This country" refers to the nation in which the puzzle was originally published.

The International Vehicle Registration (IVR) code for Spain is E^[5] [from Spanish España].

The implied definition is "another [country]".

7d   Man, perhaps, addressed /in/ part of church (5)

The Isle of Man (abbreviation IOM)^[5] is an island in the Irish Sea which is a British Crown dependency having home rule, with its own legislature (the Tynwald) and judicial system.

8d   Hoisted swag the woman had /found in/ outhouse (4,4)

In Britain, an outhouse^[5] is a building such as a shed or barn that is built on to or in the grounds of a house rather than — as in North America — an outside toilet.

12d   Introductory cheer? (4,1'6)

Cheer^[3] is festive food and drink or refreshment.

15d   A time for putting on outdoor gear -- I have /to be/ alert (9)

16d   Lone card represented // kitchen item (8)

The past tense of the word "represent" is deceptively used in lieu of re-present^[5], meaning to present (something) again, especially for further consideration or in an altered form.

18d   A cutter of food in trap? (7)

19d   A queen enters form of model // aristocratic territory (7)

Regina^[5] (abbreviation R^[5]) [Latin for queen] denotes the reigning queen, used following a name (e.g. Elizabetha Regina, Queen Elizabeth) or in the titles of lawsuits (e.g. Regina v. Jones, the Crown versus Jones — often shortened to R. v. Jones).

Historically, an earldom^[5] is the territory governed by an earl.

The nobility in Britain or Ireland (whose members are known as peers^[5]) comprises the ranks of duke, marquess, earl, viscount, and baron.

20d   Get rid of // rental property bordered by Scottish river (6)

In Britain, a let^[5] is a property available for rent ⇒ an unfurnished let.

The Dee^[5] is a river in northeastern Scotland, which rises in the Grampian Mountains and flows eastwards past Balmoral Castle to the North Sea at Aberdeen. Another river of the same name rises in North Wales and flows past Chester and on into the Irish Sea.

22d   Standard is /set for/ Trojan hero (5)

In Greek mythology, Paris is a Trojan prince, the son of Priam and Hecuba. Appointed by the gods to decide who among the three goddesses Hera, Athene, and Aphrodite should win a prize for beauty, he awarded it to Aphrodite, who promised him the most beautiful woman in the world—Helen, wife of Menelaus king of Sparta. He abducted Helen, bringing about the Trojan War, in which he killed Achilles but was later himself killed.

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