Wednesday, November 19, 2014 — DT 27523

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27523
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, June 23, 2014
Setter Rufus (Roger Squires)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27523]
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

I am sitting here on a cold November morning looking out at the snow-covered lawn. It would have been quite a different situation for the Brits on that Monday in late June when this puzzle appeared in the UK. They were merrily working in their gardens, still bemoaning England's elimination from World Cup contention and looking forward to Wimbledon.

Today's puzzle is the typical fare from Rufus — fairly gentle on the difficulty scale but well up there on the enjoyment scale.

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   Compelled // company to have new creed (7)

5a   Quits at university // levels (5,2)

Quits^[3] is used as an adjective meaning on even terms with by payment or requital ⇒ I am finally quits with the loan.

Evens^[5] is a British term meaning even money^[5], viz. odds offering an equal chance of winning or losing, with the amount won being the same as the stake ⇒ the colt was 4-6 favourite after opening at evens.

In Britain, up^[5] means at or to a university, especially Oxford or Cambridge ⇒ they were up at Cambridge about the same time.

9a   Could be a periodical // dispute (5)

10a   Hold rates for building in // garrison town (9)

Aldershot^[7] is a town in the English county of Hampshire, located on heathland about 60 km (37 mi) southwest of London. It is known as the "Home of the British Army". In 1854, at the time of the Crimean War, Aldershot Garrison was established as the first permanent training camp for the British Army.

11a   It dawns on most people while they're in bed (5,2,3)

12a   Too // wrapped up in financial solvency (4)

14a   Where members are entitled to sit (5,2,5)

In the UK, the House of Lords^[5] is the higher chamber of Parliament, composed of peers and bishops. Peers are "entitled members" — that is, members possessing titles. The nobility in Britain or Ireland (whose members are known as peers^[5]) comprises the ranks of duke, marquess, earl, viscount, and baron.

One could also look at this as an allusion to the fact that when one is granted a peerage (is entitled), one gains the right (is entitled) to sit in the House of Lords.

18a   Score with awkward truths /in/ clever argument (3,3,6)

21a   Cite // a famous person (4)

22a   Horologist // to keep eye on manufacturer (10)

Miffypops would seem to be somewhat of a fan of horology, rhyming off the names of several horologists.

John Harrison^[7] (1693–1776) was a self-educated English carpenter and clockmaker (he also made watches). He invented the marine chronometer, a long-sought after device for solving the problem of establishing the East-West position or longitude of a ship at sea, thus revolutionising and extending the possibility of safe long-distance sea travel in the Age of Sail.

Abraham-Louis Breguet^[7] or Bréguet (1747–1823) was a Swiss-born horologist who made many innovations in the course of a career in watchmaking in France. In his lifetime he was considered the leading watchmaker of his day, and he built up a clientele that included many leading public figures and members of the European nobility. Alongside his friend and contemporary John Arnold, Breguet is now widely acknowledged as one of the greatest horologists of all time. He is the founder of the Bréguet company, which is now the luxury watch division of the Swiss Swatch group.

George Daniels^[7] (1926–2011) was a British horologist who was considered to be the best in the world during his lifetime. He was one of the few modern watchmakers who built complete watches by hand (including the case and dial). But it was his creation of the coaxial escapement for which he will be most remembered. The movement, which removed the need to add a lubricant, has been used by Omega in their highest-grade watches since 1999.

Roger W. Smith^[7] is an independent British watchmaker and a protégé of the late George Daniels.

25a   Drinks /for/ parties, if stirred (9)

26a   Drawn towards marriage! (5)

This proved to be a very difficult clue to mark. The definition is "drawn" and I have indicated this by the solid underline.

But, then, what is the wordplay? I considered the possibility of "TO (towards) + WED (marriage)". However, the latter part of that charade does not work as WED is a verb and "marriage" is a noun. I eventually concluded that the entire clue is the wordplay. So look very carefully and you may be able to discern that the dashed line underlies the entire clue. If one is "drawn towards marriage", it is likely that one is TO WED.

27a   Tramples // relative? (7)

This is not considered to be a double definition as the result clued by "tramples" does not satisfy the numeration given.

28a   They look round, // quietly present on board (7)

Piano^[3,5] (abbreviation p^[5]), is a musical direction meaning either (as an adjective) soft or quiet or (as an adverb) softly or quietly.

"On board" implies "on board a ship". In Crosswordland, you will find that a ship is almost invariably a steamship, the abbreviation for which is SS^[10]. Thus "on board" is code for 'contained in SS'.

Down

1d   Rises /for/ many members (6)

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

2d   Terse arrangement about a // holiday that's not fixed (6)

3d   What made chicken opt /for/ a secure road crossing (10)

The wordplay is an anagram (what made) of CHICKEN OPT.

Checkpoint Charlie^[7]. (or "Checkpoint C") [mentioned by Miffypops in his review] was the name given by the Western Allies to the best-known Berlin Wall crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War.

4d   Overshadow // friend of Snow White (5)

This friend is any of the seven dwarfs in Walt Disney's 1937 animated musical fantasy film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs^[7] based on a German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. The dwarfs are not given names in the fairy tale. In a 1912 Broadway play, they were named Blick, Flick, Glick, Snick, Plick, Whick and Quee. Disney rechristened them Doc, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, Bashful, Sneezy, and Dopey.

5d   Try // an overdue reform (9)

Inspector Endeavour Morse^[7] [mentioned by Miffypops in his review] is a fictional character in the eponymous series of detective novels by British author Colin Dexter, as well as the 33-episode 1987–2000 television drama Inspector Morse^[7], with the character played by John Thaw. Morse is a senior CID (Criminal Investigation Department) officer with the Thames Valley Police force in Oxford, England.

I think Miffypops is being very subtle in his comment "For fans of Inspector Morse, [the solution] is his middle name". Of course, Endeavour is really his first name. However, "Morse prefers to use only his last name, and is generally evasive when asked about his first name, sometimes joking that it is Inspector".

6d   American water goes up /in/ S Ireland (4)

Lake Erie^[5] is one of the five Great Lakes of North America, situated on the border between Canada and the US. It is linked to Lake Huron by the Detroit River and to Lake Ontario by the Welland Ship Canal and the Niagara River, which is its only natural outlet.

Eire^[5] is the Gaelic name for Ireland, the official name of the Republic of Ireland from 1937 to 1949.

7d   Pupils // start to sing newly composed chorals (8)

8d   Pastor to cook // Sunday lunch perhaps? (3,5)

13d   Tight struggle // to end with marriage (5,5)

15d   Thrown into a suit // case (9)

16d   Look at lads running amok -- // they're shocking (8)

17d   A run caused by panic in the stock market? (8)

This "stock market" might be the site for an auction of live cattle.

19d   A sticker for the traditional method of roasting (6)

The clue is a cryptic definition of a SKEWER.

In the surface reading, the setter is attempting to make us think of sticker^[3] as meaning a tenacious, diligent, or persistent person.

20d   They were banned /from/ moving debris (6)

A whimsical definition (after all, this is Rufus) alludes to banns^[5], a notice read out on three successive Sundays in a parish church, announcing an intended marriage and giving the opportunity for objections. The setter appears to have invented a new verb, bann, meaning to read the marriage banns.

23d   Price of a suit? (5)

... a lawsuit, that is.

24d   An inclination /to show/ prejudice (4)

This double definition is somewhat problematic in that the two definitions can be essentially identical.

Bias^[5] means an inclination or prejudice for or against one person or group, especially in a way considered to be unfair.

Perhaps the first definition relies on bias^[5] being used in the sense of a concentration on or interest in one particular area or subject ⇒ his work showed a discernible bias towards philosophy.

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