Tuesday, December 9, 2014 — DT 27537

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27537
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27537]
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

For the second day in a row, we are presented with a puzzle that was rated at a single star for difficulty on Big Dave's blog. However, given that it was scchua who wrote the review for today's puzzle, I would add at least another star for difficulty. I find that he invariably rates puzzles as far less difficult than I find them to be.

What were the Brit's talking about on the day that this puzzle appeared in The Daily Telegraph? For one thing, Germany's 7-1 drubbing of host country Brazil in the semi-finals of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. For a second thing, the 2014 Tour de France (jokingly dubbed the Tour de Yorkshire), the first three stages of which were conducted in England.

You may notice an innovation in today's blog. I have presented frequently appearing terms —  such as Royal Academician at 9a or runs at 15a — in blue text. Even though these terms have appeared many times before, I continue to repeat them for the benefit of new readers.

With respect to abbreviations, you might wonder how I draw the line between what to include and what to exclude from the review. Generally, if the source of the abbreviation is blatantly obvious (like H and C for hot and cold respectively coming from the markings on water faucets), I will exclude them. On the other hand, sometimes even though the abbreviation itself is obvious, the source is not necessarily readily apparent. Such is the case with H and F for hard and fine respectively coming from markings on pencils.

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   Stays if worried about performer // meeting requirements (12)

9a   Continuing drama, like this artist pursuing a religious leader (4,5)

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.

10a   Music written /for/ twenty? (5)

11a   Traces /of/ European Commission houses without us (6)

The European Commission^[5] (abbreviation EC^[5]) is a group, appointed by agreement among the governments of the European Union, which initiates Union action and safeguards its treaties. It meets in Brussels.

In his review, scchua makes reference to Greek mythology. Echo^[5] is a nymph deprived of speech by Hera in order to stop her chatter, and left able only to repeat what others had said. Narcissus^[5] is a beautiful youth who rejected the nymph Echo and fell in love with his own reflection in a pool. He pined away and was changed into the flower that bears his name.

12a   Some compromise, as on a limit // at a particular time of the year (8)

13a   A particularly intimidating woman // doctor gets pain reduced (6)

It would seem that the term dragon carries a different connotation in the UK than in North America. The American dictionaries define dragon as a fiercely vigilant or intractable person^[3] or a fierce, combative person or a very strict, protective woman^[11]. British Dictionaries, on the other hand, have it as a fierce or intractable person, especially a woman^[10], a frighteningly domineering woman^[2], or a fierce and intimidating woman ⇒ his wife is a real dragon^[5].

15a   Runs into president after broadcast // to improve image (8)

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

George Bush^[5] is an American Republican statesman who was the 41st President of the US 1989–1993; full name George Herbert Walker Bush. 

His son, George W. Bush^[5] is an American Republican statesman who was the 43rd President of the US 2001–2009; full name George Walker Bush.

18a   Story told to support // cause of delay on the road (8)

I hadn't encountered this term before but was able to correctly piece it together from the wordplay.

Tailback^[5] is a British term for a long queue [line] of stationary or slow-moving traffic extending back from a busy junction or similar obstruction on the road ⇒ tailbacks affected all roads into Leeds.

19a   Songbird flying over lake -- // quail? (6)

21a   Area for discussion /of/ poor match played with no pressure (4,4)

23a   Put down // all outsiders in dispute -- more aggression (6)

26a   Finish after getting half of them // correct (5)

27a   Run test in new // substances that provide food (9)

28a   Pathetic story -- /it's/ a comparatively inferior thing (4,8)

Down

1d   Hang // revolutionary American outlay! (7)

2d   Temperature and skin infection? // Rubbish! (5)

3d   One goes off and hides // large sum of money needed to support London? (5,4)

A bomb^[5] is an informal British expression for a large sum of money ⇒ that silk must have cost a bomb.

The Smoke^[5] (or the Big Smoke) is an informal British term for a big city, especially London ⇒ she was offered a job in the Smoke.

The term Big Smoke^[7] is commonly applied in North America to New York City or Toronto. However, the most deserving candidate must surely be Mexico City.

4d   Jump on ice /and/ cut line (4)

An axel^[5] is a jump in skating from the forward outside edge of one skate to the backward outside edge of the other, with one (or more) and a half turns in the air.

In his review, scchua illustrates the clue with a picture of Russian skaters Ekaterina Rubleva and Ivan Shefer performing at the 2009 European Figure Skating Championships in Helsinki, Finland. I have watched their performance carefully and can attest that they do not perform any sort of an axel — after all, they are ice dancers, not pairs skaters. While she does encounter a "wardrobe malfunction", you will need to be extremely observant to spot it in the video — high speed cameras can capture so much more than the human eye. After her right shoulder strap breaks, I think she has to tuck herself back into her dress a couple of times — but never misses a step.

5d   Recognised artist holding up // exchanges in commerce (6,2)

6d   Sprays /of/ flowers (5)

In the surface reading, spray^[5] denotes a bunch of cut flowers arranged in an attractive way ⇒ a spray of yellow chrysanthemums and red roses.

However, in the cryptic reading, the word takes on a different sense. A spray^[1] is (1) a cloud of small, flying drops; (2) an application or dispension of such a cloud; or (3) an apparatus or preparation for so dispensing. It is the latter definition which is of particular interest — and, in particular, an apparatus for dispensing such a cloud.

A rose^[5] is a perforated cap attached to a shower, the spout of a watering can, or the end of a hose to produce a spray.

7d   Quickly drink and go -- /there's/ a recession! (8)

8d   Breaking the law /may provide/ an abundance of material possessions (6)

14d   Lively // article made it absurd (8)

I would apply a slightly different interpretation to the clue than does scchua in his review. I see the wordplay as AN ([indefinite] article) + an anagram (absurd) of {MADE + IT}.

16d   Dance with the Queen at home -- a // pirouetting star! (9)

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.

17d   Glass // preferably found outside church (8)

A schooner is a drinking glass on both sides of the pond. However, in Britain a schooner^[5] is a glass for drinking a large measure of sherry, whereas in North American — not to mention Australia and New Zealand — the term refers to a tall beer glass.

18d   Watch // credit here, lacking protection (6)

Tick^[5] (used in the phrase on tick) is an informal British term meaning credit ⇒ the printer agreed to send the brochures out on tick. The term apparently originates as a short form for ticket in the phrase on the ticket, referring to an IOU or promise to pay.

20d   Practical // lad follows script (5-2)

Hand^[5] denotes a person's handwriting ⇒ he inscribed the statement in a bold hand.

22d   Show // runs rings around disheartened debutante (5)

The cricketers from 15a score more runs.

24d   Tedium // in French? Yes, in French, we hear (5)

In French, en^[8] is a preposition meaning 'in'.

In French, oui^[8] is an adverb meaning 'yes'.

When strung together (EN + OUI), the combination sounds like (we hear) ENNUI (a French word that has been adopted into English).

25d   Visual problem /caused by/ dropping line from fashion (4)

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