Wednesday, November 5, 2014 — DT 27513

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27513
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27513]
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

It is not an overtaxing puzzle today. Fortunately, I had solved 1a before getting to 5d — otherwise I might have found myself in some difficulty. Those who think that British and North American brains are wired diametrically in reverse have only to look to the solution to 5d for proof.

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   Astounded /by/ second pick-up following boom (13)

9a   Fundamental // precursor to invention (9)

The proverb necessity is the mother of invention^[5] tells us that when the need for something becomes essential, you are forced to find ways of getting or achieving it.

10a   Escaped // ducks adopted by London college (5)

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 London School of Economics and Political Science^[7] (informally the London School of Economics or LSE) is a public research university specialised in social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Despite its name, LSE conducts teaching and research across a range of social sciences, as well as in mathematics, statistics, media, philosophy and history.

11a   Complete // some without territorials (5)

12a   Lacking authorisation /for/ recess? (4)

Several visitors to Big Dave's site failed to comprehend scchua's explanation of the wordplay. Another term for "authorisation" is OK, so "lacking authorisation" would be NO OK.

13a   Scottish family forgets name for daughter /getting/ dressed (4)

15a   Found // date upset by unprotected sheep (7)

In the phrase "unprotected sheep", the word "unprotected" directs one to remove the initial and final letters of a term for a group of sheep.

17a   The blighter /is/ average, covering a case of need (2-3-2)

Blighter^[5] is an informal British term for a person who is regarded with contempt, irritation, or pity ⇒ you little blighter!

Whereas, in the previous clue, the indicator "unprotected" was used to discard the outer letters of the fodder, in the present clue the indicator "case of" is used to select the outer letters of the fodder.

18a   Fine ducks on view, say, with day's // main course (7)

F^[5] is an abbreviation for fine, as used in describing grades of pencil lead [a usage that Oxford surprisingly characterises as British].

The ducks from 10a reprise their performance.

The main^[5] is an archaic or literary term for the open ocean.

20a   Play, /but/ be absorbed by match being fixed (7)

MacBeth^[5] (circa 1005–1057) was king of Scotland 1040–57. He came to the throne after killing his cousin Duncan I in battle, and was himself defeated and killed by Malcolm III. Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth considerably embroiders the historical events.

21a   A bit of an idiot, actually! (4)

In this clue, one could view the entire clue as being the wordplay with "a bit" being the definition. This is the approach that scchua takes in his review. However, I would take issue with him when he refers to the clue as a WIWD (wordplay intertwined with definition). In fact, I would say that it is quite the opposite, DIWW (definition intertwined with wordplay).

One might also interpret the clue as:

• 21a   A bit // of an idiot, actually! (4)

where the definition remains "a bit" but the wordplay takes the form of a hidden word (of) in "an idiot actually".

22a   Look after contents of lost // city (4)

Lo^[5] is an archaic exclamation used to draw attention to an interesting or amazing event ⇒ and lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them.

Oslo^[5] is the capital and chief port of Norway, on the south coast at the head of Oslofjord; population 839,423 (2007). Founded in the 11th century, it was known as Christiania (or Kristiania) from 1624 until 1924 in honour of Christian IV of Norway and Denmark (1577–1648).

23a   Parrot // beginning to make a crow cry (5)

A macaw^[5] is a large long-tailed parrot with brightly coloured plumage, native to Central and South America.

26a   Waistline /that's/ roughly right (5)

27a   Jet has to carry // animal (5,4)

Jet^[5] is (1) a hard black semi-precious variety of lignite, capable of being carved and highly polished  ⇒ jet beads and (2) (also jet black) a glossy black colour ⇒ her jet-black hair.

28a   Removed religious restriction // -- and secret code changes (13)

Down

1d   Rebukes // lots after language (6-8)

Lashings^[5] is an informal British term for a copious amount of something, especially food or drink ⇒ chocolate cake with lashings of cream.

2d   A French copper on time -- rough as a diamond (5)

In French, the masculine singular form of the indefinite article is un^[8].

The symbol for the chemical element copper is Cu^[5] (from Latin cuprum).

3d   Diplomacy /means/ freedom (10)

4d   One involved in gender-bending // ruled (7)

5d   A cougar's victims? (3,4)

Toy boy^[5] is an informal British term for a male lover who is much younger than his partner. This is a reversal of the way that the term is known in North America, namely boy toy^[3,11]. It would seem that, in Britain, boy toy^[5] is an informal term for a young woman considered sexually attractive to men. Thus North Americans interpret the expression "boy toy" as 'a boy who is a toy (for an older woman)" while the Brits interpret the same expression as '(a young woman who is) a toy for a boy'.

In his review, scchua illustrates this clue with images of Italian actress Lory Del Santo^[7]. At one time Del Santo was in the gossip columns mainly for her relationship with Eric Clapton (who dedicated the song "Lady of Verona" to her) and for the tragic death of their son, Conor, who died in 1991, at the age of four and a half, when he fell out of an open bedroom window on the 53rd floor of a Manhattan apartment building. Today, it seems she makes the Italian gossip pages for her "penchant for toy boys".

6d   Threatening // good learner in university year (4)

The abbreviation G^[10] for good likely relates to its use in grading school assignments or tests.

 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.

7d   Learning // to recognise ridge (9)

8d   Poor toddler who ate lizard's tail /is/ unconscious (4,2,3,5)

14d   Cupid/'s/ rival god (10)

The setter cleverly places the word "cupid" at the beginning of the clue so that the capitalization will misdirect solvers into thinking of the Roman god.

In Roman mythology, Cupid^[5] is the god of love. He is represented as a naked winged boy with a bow and arrows, with which he wounds his victims. The equivalent in Greek mythology is Eros.

16d   Cold and rather stupid editor // took out a lease (9)

19d   Where to put dead stub out at home? (7)

This is a semi-&lit. (semi-all-in-one) clue which could also be called — as scchua characterises it — a WIWD (wordplay intertwined with definition) clue. The entire clue forms the definition, while the portion with the dashed underlining provides the wordplay.

In a chiefly British usage, dust^[3,4,11] means ashes or household refuse. In Britain a dustbin^[5] (in North America, a garbage can^[5] or, less commonly, a garbage bin) is a container for household refuse, especially one kept outside and a dustman^[5] (in North America, a garbage man^[5]) is a man employed to remove household refuse from dustbins.

20d   Harbour fee /from/ North African on time (7)

A Moor^[5] is a member of a northwestern African Muslim people of mixed Berber and Arab descent. In the 8th century they conquered the Iberian peninsula, but were finally driven out of their last stronghold in Granada at the end of the 15th century.

24d   Do // church and have dinner (5)

In Britain, do^[5] is an informal term for swindle ⇒ a thousand pounds for one set of photos — Jacqui had been done.

25d   Elegant hotel in island group west of Cuba (4)

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

The Channel Islands^[5] (abbreviation CI^[5]) are a group of islands in the English Channel off the northwestern coast of France, of which the largest are Jersey, Guernsey, and Alderney. Formerly part of the dukedom of Normandy, they have owed allegiance to England since the Norman Conquest in 1066, and are now classed as Crown dependencies. 

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