Monday, December 22, 2014 — DT 27546

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27546
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Saturday, July 19, 2014
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27546 – Hints] Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27546 – Review]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Big Dave (Hints) gnomethang (Review)
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
As this was a Saturday "Prize Puzzle" in Britain, there are two entries related to it on Big Dave's Crossword Blog — the first, posted on the date of publication, contains hints for selected clues while the second is a full review issued following the entry deadline for the contest. The vast majority of reader comments will generally be found attached to the "hints" posting with a minimal number — if any — accompanying the full review.

Introduction

I was well into my first read through of the clues before anything clicked. Thus, I thought that I may be in for some tough sledding. However, the solutions gradually began to reveal themselves and I was able to complete the puzzle without resorting to electronic 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 (//). Definitions presented in blue text are for terms that appear frequently.

Across

1a   Messy sort // runs when brush is around (6)

On cricket scorecards [not to mention baseball scoreboards], the abbreviation R^[5] denotes run(s).

The Chambers Dictionary defines scuff^[1] (in part) as to brush, graze, scrape (especially shoes or heels while walking) ...

Scruff^[5] is an informal British term for a person with a dirty or untidy appearance.

4a   A detective force in charge /is/ sharp (6)

The Criminal Investigation Department (seemingly better known by its abbreviation CID^[2]) is the detective branch of a British police force.

8a   Wood /that can make/ wind instrument and timber (8)

The hornbeam^[5] is a deciduous tree of north temperate regions, with oval serrated leaves, inconspicuous drooping flowers, and tough winged nuts. It yields hard pale timber.

10a   A sign of ignorance // like this clue! (6)

I have no idea why gnomethang underlined the entire clue. The wordplay is A (from the clue) + CROSS (sign of ignorance; how an illiterate person would sign their name).

In his hint, Big Dave seems to suggest that CROSS as a sign of ignorance refers to the X that a teacher might place on an incorrect test or assignment. Nevertheless, I prefer my explanation.

11a   Run away // fast taking short cut (4)

12a   I called cop out /for/ minor offence (10)

Note that, in his review, gnomethang has misspelled PECCADILLO with a single C.

13a   Hosting // internet, gain trolls (12)

It is possible that troll^[1] is being used in one of the archaic senses of (1) to spin or (2) to circulate or pass around the table. These seem more plausible as anagram indicators than modern meanings of troll^[5], including ones such as (1) to sing (something) in a happy and carefree way ⇒ he trolled a note or two or (2) (a chiefly British usage) to walk in a leisurely way; in other words, to stroll ⇒ we all trolled into town.

I had discounted the fishing meaning of troll as I did not see how dragging a fishing line behind a boat could qualify it as an anagram indicator. Nevertheless, a comment on Big Dave's site explains it thus "To troll is a fishing term which may be understood in Xwords as anagram indicator! To troll about."

16a   Frustrated diarist // could be deserting job (7,5)

Bridget Jones's Diary^[7] is a 1996 novel by English novelist Helen Fielding. Written in the form of a personal diary, the novel chronicles a year in the life of Bridget Jones, a thirty-something single working woman living in London. She not only obsesses about her love life, but also details her various daily struggles with her weight, her over-indulgence in alcohol and cigarettes, and her career.

20a   There's something soothing about crooner /for/ a dance (10)

The numeration here should have been (4-6).

"The Loco-Motion" is a 1962 pop song written by American songwriters Gerry Goffin and Carole King. The song is notable for appearing in the American Top 5 three times – each time in a different decade, performed by artists from three different cultures: originally African American pop singer Little Eva in 1962 (U.S. No. 1); then White American band Grand Funk Railroad in 1974 (U.S. No. 1); and Australian singer Kylie Minogue in 1988 (U.S. No. 3).

The song is a popular and enduring example of the dance-song genre: much of the lyrics are devoted to a description of the dance itself, usually done as a type of line dance. However, the song came before the dance.

"The Loco-Motion" was also the second song to reach No. 1 by two different musical acts. The earlier song to do this was "Go Away Little Girl," also written by Goffin and King. It is one of only nine songs to achieve this feat.

It is interesting to discover that Big Dave and I have independently chosen the same YouTube clip to illustrate this clue.

Perry Como^[7] (1912–2001) was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he sold millions of records and pioneered a weekly musical variety television show, which set the standards for the genre and proved to be one of the most successful in television history. His combined success on television and popular recordings was not matched by any other artist of the time.

21a   Organised work session with loud // complaint (4)

Forte^[5] (abbreviation f^[5]) is a musical direction meaning (as an adjective) loud or (as an adverb) loudly.

22a   Gangster ducks // source of bad luck (6)

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.

A hoodoo^[5] [as used here] is a person or thing that brings or causes bad luck.

23a   Help to turn race, /getting/ stream of invective (8)

24a   Wading birds // like others, twitching tail (6)

The egret^[5] is a heron with mainly white plumage, having long plumes in the breeding season.

25a   Person in charge of columns // drove back without it (6)

As a containment indicator, without^[5] is used in the archaic or literary sense meaning outside ⇒ the barbarians without the gates.

Down

1d   Lowering // small engine cover (8)

2d   Cooker /is/ new being in fashion (5)

Cooker^[10] is a British term for a stove used for cooking food. It is usually made of metal and heated by gas, electricity, oil, or solid fuel. In North America, any such device would be known as a kitchen range or simply a range. In Britain, the term range has a much more restricted meaning. There, a range^[10] is a large stove with burners and one or more ovens, usually heated by solid fuel. Thus, in Britain, it would seem that a wood-burning or coal-burning stove could be called either a range or cooker while a stove fueled by gas or electricity could only be called a cooker. It appears that the distinguishing feature may be that a range has a firebox and the ovens and burners cannot be individually controlled. As for an oil stove, I suppose that it may or may not be considered a range depending on whether it has a central firebox or individually-controlled burners and ovens.

3d   Shabby cinema // to furnish around spring (7)

Fleapit^[3] is chiefly British slang for a room or building, especially a movie theatre, that is squalid or rundown.

5d   Man attending Indian's first served this (7)

In Indian cookery, a chapati^[5] (alternative spelling of chapatti) is a thin pancake of unleavened wholemeal bread cooked on a griddle.

Indian^[5] is an informal British term for an Indian meal or restaurant. This is an instance of replacing a noun (restaurant) and a modifying noun (Indian) by the modifying noun alone (Indian). Although this is also sometimes done in North America, I have observed that it seems to be a far more common practice in the UK. Another example from the UK is estate car (the British term for a station wagon) which is shortened to estate. In North America, we might shorten station wagon to wagon but certainly never to station. An example where this is done would be in the case of provincial examinations (province-wide exams that I wrote in high school) which we referred to as provincials.

Note that the setter has very deliberately employed an 's in the clue. Although this proves to be  somewhat awkward in the surface reading (where it constitutes a contraction for is), it becomes a possessive in the cryptic reading ("Indian's first" indicating the initial letter of 'Indian').

6d   Knightly adventure // going wrong in strange upset (7-2)

7d   Man // left in social group (6)

9d   Somehow mind big rock // singer copying others (11)

14d   Upcoming fashion designer wearing something hot /and/ elaborate (9)

Christian Dior^[5] (1905–1957) was a French couturier. His first collection (1947) featured narrow-waisted tightly fitted bodices and full pleated skirts; this became known as the New Look. He later created the first A-line garments.

For the benefit of those of you reading gnomethang's review, as pointed out in a comment on Big Dave's blog, Christian Dior was a man.

15d   Commemorate // sapper apparently (8)

The Corps of Royal Engineers^[7], usually just called the Royal Engineers (abbreviation RE), and commonly known as the Sappers^[7], is a corps of the British Army that provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces.

17d   Clear up // press in print (4,3)

18d   Mug /putting/ armoured vehicle on a little road (7)

19d   Surly // detective taking over (6)

Inspector Endeavour Morse^[7] 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. 

In cricket, an over^[5] (abbreviation O^[5]) is a division of play consisting of a sequence of six balls bowled by a bowler from one end of the pitch, after which another bowler takes over from the other end.

21d   Speculate about the Queen/'s/ headgear (5)

The regnal ciphers (monograms) of British monarchs are initials formed from the Latin version of their first name followed by either Rex or Regina (Latin for king or queen, respectively). Thus, the regnal cipher of Queen Elizabeth is ER^[5] — from the Latin Elizabetha Regina.

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