Thursday, December 4, 2014 — DT 27534

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27534
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Saturday, July 5, 2014
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27534 – Hints] Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27534 – Review]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Big Dave (Hints) crypticsue (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

You should not find today's puzzle to be overly onerous. It was a Saturday "prize puzzle" in the UK, one for which solvers can submit their solutions for a chance to win a small prize (a pen and notebook, I believe). These puzzles are notoriously easy, designed — as recently put by Big Dave — to maximum the number of entries to enable The Daily Telegraph to harvest more addresses for marketing purposes.

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   Lusty // skill shown in country dance (6)

Hey^[10] (or hay) is (1) a circular figure in country dancing or (2) a former country dance in which the dancers wove in and out of a circle.

4a   Carrying // hose (8)

9a   Transform // dog biting a European (6)

10a   Close relative touring part of UK /is/ ominous (8)

The use of the word "tour" as an anagram indicator is predicated on it meaning 'to go around'.

Northern Ireland^[5] (abbreviation NI^[5]) is a province of the United Kingdom occupying the northeast part of Ireland; population 1,775,000 (est. 2008); capital, Belfast.

According to Oxford Dictionaries Online, Northern Ireland is the only major division of the United Kingdom to hold the status of province, with England^[5] and Scotland^[5] being considered countries, and Wales^[5] a principality.

11a   The French politician's not serious -- // it's illuminating (9)

In French, the feminine singular form of the definite article is la^[8].

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).

13a   Loner made // to join army? (5)

14a   Article among DJs' equipment // to overcome disadvantage (4,3,6)

17a   One provides entertainment supply (13)

I'm afraid that I have a small quibble with crypticsue's analysis. Clearly, supply is used as an adverb meaning in a supple manner or pliantly. The corresponding adjective would be supple.

21a   Go // over zero miles per hour? (5)

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.

23a   Like liberal // without commitments (5-4)

24a   Vegetarian /and/ soldier run off together (8)

25a   See transfixing crash /in/ skiing race (6)

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.

A slalom^[5] is a ski race down a winding course marked out by poles.

26a   Deeds // one's located in former plans (8)

27a   Crystal-gazer // frightening heartless queen (6)

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.

A scryer^[5] is someone who can [or purports to be able to] foretell the future using a crystal ball or other reflective object or surface.

This was a new term for me, one that I was able to work out from the wordplay [which is always a satisfying outcome].

Down

1d   Sermon, // religious, delivered without note (6)

In music, mi^[3] (in Britain, also spelled me) is the third note of the major scale in sol-fa notation.

2d   Trifling amount to a // robot (9)

3d   Gossip // rag featuring lovers primarily (7)

5d   It could be floating in the wind, lost (11)

This is a semi-&lit. (or semi-all-in-one) clue. The entire clue constitutes the the definition, while the portion marked with a dashed underline doubles as the wordplay — an anagram (floating in) THE WIND LOST.

One of my fellow bloggers, scchua, would refer to this type of clue as "a WIND (wordplay intertwined with definition) clue". That terminology adds a whole new dimension to the mental image of the solution "floating in the WIND".

6d   Monstrous creature // to strike a chord with artist (7)

A Royal Academician (abbreviation RA^[5]) is a member of the Royal Academy of Arts^[5], an institution established in London in 1768, whose purpose is to cultivate painting, sculpture, and architecture in Britain.

In Greek mythology, a chimera^[5] is a fire-breathing female monster with a lion’s head, a goat’s body, and a serpent’s tail.

I wondered if one can "strike a chord" on bells. Although I was not able to conclusively resolve the question, I did conclude that one likely can — at least within the limits of cryptic licence.

The figurative expression strike (or touch) a chord^[5] means to cause someone to feel sympathy, emotion, or enthusiasm ⇒ the issue of food safety strikes a chord with almost everyone. [with figurative reference to the emotions being the ‘strings’ of the mind visualized as a musical instrument].

However, in the wordplay, the setter uses the phrase "strike a chord" to mean literally produce a series of harmonious notes by striking bells.

A chord^[5] is a group of (typically three or more) notes sounded together, as a basis of harmony. As a noun, chime^[1] denotes (1) a set of bells tuned in a scale or (2) the harmonious sound of bells or other musical instruments and, as a verb, it means (1) to sound a chime or (2) to sound in chime (i.e., in a harmonious manner).

7d   Italian football team // sink in ground (5)

Football Club Internazionale Milano S.p.A., commonly referred to as Internazionale or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan^[7] outside of Italy, is a professional Italian football [soccer] club based in Milan, Lombardy, Italy that plays in Serie A, the top flight of Italian football.

In her review, crypticsue mentions that Inter Milan is one of two famous football teams based in Milan. The other is Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as A.C. Milan^[7] or simply Milan, that also plays in Serie A.

8d   Good morsels minced // thick (8)

Gormless^[5] is an informal British term meaning lacking sense or initiative; in other words, foolish ⇒ a constantly grinning, rather gormless boy.

12d   Learn precise words to // rap after chap embraces bird (3,2,3,3)

To have something off (or down) pat^[5] is to have something memorized perfectly ⇒ she has her answer off pat. I would say "down" rather than "off"; so it took me a while to fill in the missing word. I suppose that "having something off pat" refers to the end state of having successfully memorized something while "getting something off pat" refers to the process of memorizing.

I would think that the name Geoff is more common in the UK than it is in North America. I suspect that the name is more likely to be spelled Jeff on this side of the pond. In that respect, it would not be dissimilar to a British gaol versus a North American jail.

A tit^{[Britannica Concise Encyclopedia]} is any of several songbirds closely related to the chickadee, including the great tit (Parus major), found in Europe, North Africa, and Asia and the tufted titmouse (Parus bicolor), native to North America. These birds are called either "chickadees" or "titmice" in North America, and just "tits" in the rest of the English-speaking world.^[7]

Some may question the preciseness of the setter's claim that rap and pat are equivalent. One commenter on Big Dave's blog said "Mental note – if I ever meet Mysteron [a common nickname on Big Dave's blog for the mystery setter of the puzzle], don’t let them pat me on the head, if they think 'rap' and 'pat' are synonyms.".

15d   Improvement near end of game /going/ to one side? (9)

16d   Expert carrying mild illness receiving a // tribute (8)

18d   Shakespearean // greeting following ancient books (7)

In Crosswordland, the word "books" is often used to clue either the Old Testament (OT) or the New Testament (NT). [Often the clue does not specify whether the reference is to the former or the latter. However, today's setter leaves little doubt.]

Othello^[7] is the title character in The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice, a tragedy by English playwright William Shakespeare (1564–1616).

19d   Some Isles of Scilly districts turned // pleasantly rustic (7)

The Scilly Isles^[5] are a group of about 140 small islands (of which five are inhabited) off the south-western tip of England; population 2,200 (est. 2009); capital, Hugh Town (on St Mary’s).

20d   See me splitting batsman's head and ear! (6)

This is another instance of a semi-&lit. (or semi-all-in-one) clue. The entire clue constitutes the the definition, while the portion marked with a dashed underline providess the wordplay.

In cricket, a beamer^[5] is a ball bowled directly at a batsman’s head or upper body without bouncing (regarded as unsporting [or "not cricket"?]).

Although clearly unintended, the clue evokes the memory of the recent death of Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes after being hit in the head by a ball while batting. In his case, it was not a beamer which struck him, but a bouncer^[5] — a ball bowled fast and short so as to rise high after pitching.

This puzzle appeared in The Daily Telegraph five months ago in early July and the clue would have been composed by the setter sometime prior to that. It therefore seems a bit eerie that we see it a week following Hughes' death.

22d   This writer, with rising deposit, // had a get-together (3,2)

It is a common cryptic crossword convention for the creator of the puzzle to use terms such as compiler, setter, (this) author, (this) writer, or this person to refer to himself or herself. To solve such a clue, one must generally substitute a first person pronoun (I or me) for whichever of these terms has been used in the clue.

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