Friday, January 9, 2015 — DT 27560

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27560
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, August 5, 2014
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27560]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Gazza
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

This puzzle was far more difficult to review than it was to solve. In particular, parsing 25a proved to be especially problematic and I tried and rejected several possible parsings — and wrote and rewrote that portion of the review several times — before I was satisfied. Well, not really satisfied — more like I threw in the towel.

I also spent a good deal of time sorting through British clothing terms. In this area, the Brits often use the same names that we use, except with a somewhat — or even totally — different meaning. At least with automotive terms they use different names for things — such as boot, bonnet and lorry — so in that domain there is less chance of confusion.

I should make clear that I am by no means fluent in Brit-speak and my comments are based largely on trying to decipher the (sometimes subtle) distinctions between British and North American English based on comparing entries in several British and American dictionaries. If there happen to be any ex-pat Brits among the readership of this blog, I encourage you to leave a comment to correct any bloomers [not an article of clothing] that I may make in my attempts to explain British expressions.

By the way, Brits are known "to drop a clanger". By the same measure, do they also "drop bloomers"?

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

9a   Independent lawyer with house /in/ US state (5)

I^[1] is the abbreviation for independent, likely in the context of a politician with no party affiliation.

In the US, a district attorney^[5] (abbreviation DA) is a public official who acts as prosecutor for the state in a particular district.

10a   Grasp, by the sound of it, piece of cake /and/ cocktail (3,6)

Having never heard of the cocktail in question, I tried to formulate a mix of my own. Starting with SEAS — which sounds like SEIZE (grasp) — and adding SLICE (piece of cake), I ended up with an unpalatable mess.

A sea breeze^[5] is a cocktail typically consisting of vodka, grapefruit juice, and cranberry juice.

11a   Slip around wingless bird /and/ tall creature (7)

12a   Gear // about to be kept by a quiet companion (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.

13a   Person giving little away /is/ timeless gentleman (5)

14a   Plan boss devised touring India /to get/ table accessory (4,5)

In British English, a slop basin^[5] (or slop bowl) is a bowl for the dregs of cups of tea or coffee.

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

16a   Timid sort // sadly given toil when faced by psychiatrist (9,6)

19a   Big Serb I fancy beginning to hate // nonsensical talk (9)

21a   Urge, // say, shown by half-hearted fool (3,2)

In Britain, the word goon^[3,4,11] appears to be used only in the sense of a stupid or deliberately foolish person. While American dictionaries also list this sense of the word, the far more common meaning of goon on this side of the Atlantic would be a hoodlum or thug hired to commit acts of violence or intimidation, especially in an industrial dispute.

23a   On reflection, reveal film /in/ short letter (7)

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial^[7] (often referred to simply as E.T.) is a 1982 American science fiction film co-produced and directed by Steven Spielberg. It tells the story of a lonely boy who befriends an extraterrestrial, dubbed "E.T.", who is stranded on Earth. He and his siblings help the extraterrestrial return home while attempting to keep it hidden from their mother and the government.

25a   A book introducing set of words with ten gone -- /what's/ missing? (7)

I struggled to parse this clue, with the process seeming to take as long as solving the entire puzzle.

I found the parsing given by Gazza in his review:

• 25a   A book introducing set of words with ten gone -- // what's missing? (7)

to be unsatisfactory as I don't see "what's missing" as being a nounal phrase meaning absence.

After much contemplation — not to mention several false starts at composing this comment — I have come to the conclusion that the explanation must be that "missing" is a gerund and therefore can function as a noun. Thus, given the right context, the gerund "missing" can presumably be synonymous with the noun "absence". However, despite extensive searching and a great deal of mental effort, I am unable to come up with a single example where this would be the case.

27a   Fall guy /getting/ a leg caught in small garment (9)

Peg^[3,4,11] is an informal term for a leg, especially a wooden one.

28a   Actress Bette losing money, // one refusing work? (5)

The Chambers Dictionary lists M^[1] (or M.) as being the abbreviation for money.

Bette Midler^[7], also known by her informal stage name The Divine Miss M, is an American singer-songwriter, actress, comedian, film producer and entrepreneur.

My eyes initially became fixated on another Bette.

Down

1d   Celebrate // series of achievements in government (4)

2d   Brief rule was broken /showing/ facial hair (6)

Walrus^[1] is an informal name for a walrus moustache^[5], a long, thick, drooping moustache.

For hockey fans — especially those from Ottawa — this clue may stir memories.

During the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoff quarterfinal series between the Montreal Canadiens and the Ottawa Senators, Montreal player Brandon Prust referred to then Ottawa coach Paul MacLean as a "bug-eyed, fat walrus". The outcome? The "walrus" coached his team to a decisive victory — defeating the heavily favoured Canadiens in the best of seven series four games to one. [The title reads "Separated at birth". "Morse" is the French word for "walrus".]

3d   Study military outfit defended by criminal /in/ summit (10)

Con^[5] is an archaic term meaning to study attentively or learn by heart (a piece of writing)  ⇒ the girls conned their pages with a great show of industry.

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.

4d   Rate // a pair of ships around Spain (6)

In Crosswordland, a ship is rarely anything other than a steamship (abbreviation SS^[5]).

The International Vehicle Registration (IVR) code for Spain is E^[5] [from Spanish España].

5d   Follow uninvited // a lass in Chinese criminal group (3,5)

In the US, a tong^[5] is a Chinese association or secret society, frequently associated with organized crime ⇒ the tong wars in Chinatown.

6d   Cut // potatoes, say (4)

I toyed with several possibilities, including SNIP, CLIP and CHOP before my electronic assistants set me on the right track.

7d   Priest is blocking genuine // vindictive behaviour (8)

8d   Sound work got in new // city abroad (10)

Wellington^[5] is the capital of New Zealand, situated at the southern tip of the North Island; population 179,463 (2006). It became the capital in 1865, when the seat of government was moved from Auckland.

13d   One with an aversion to birds? (10)

Bird^[5] is an informal British term for a young woman or a man’s girlfriend.

15d   Overall troubles I doubly reviewed (6,4)

My attempts to explain this clue did cause troubles — and required more than two reviews. I have discovered that while Brits and North Americans share many of the same names for articles of clothing, the meaning of those terms is often quite different on either side of the pond.

Boiler suit^[5] is a British term for a one-piece suit worn as overalls [coveralls in North America (see below)] for heavy manual work.

In North America, overalls^[3,11] are loose-fitting trousers, usually of strong fabric, with a bib front and shoulder straps, often worn over regular clothing as protection from dirt. The British definition of overalls^[4] is broader, including not only garments with a bib and shoulder straps but also those having a jacket top. These latter garments are also known as boiler suits in the UK and would likely be called coveralls^[3] in North America.

Whereas, the term dungarees^[3,4,11] is used in North America to refer to either trousers or North American style overalls, in the UK it is used solely to mean the latter, i.e., a suit of workman's overalls made of dungaree [denim] consisting of trousers with a bib attached.

Note that I have avoided using the North American term "pants" in favour of the more universal term "trousers". In Britain, the term "pants" refers to underwear. Thus when I take my pants off in the UK, I am far more exposed than when I do so in North America!

Now what about the word "overall" in the clue — seemingly missing an "s". Overall^[4] is a British term for a a protective work garment usually worn over ordinary clothes. It would seem to be a general term that includes not only overalls (both British style dungarees and boiler suits) but also coat and smock type garments (such as lab coats perhaps).

17d   Coffee largely exceptional on reflection? /Here's/ disproof (8)

Uber-^[5] (also über-) is a prefix denoting (1) an outstanding or supreme example of a particular kind of person or thing ⇒ (i) she’s a self-proclaimed uberbitch; (ii) an audience composed largely of ubergeeks; or (2) to a great or extreme degree ⇒ an uber-cool bar.

Über^[7], sometimes written uber in English language publications, is a German language word meaning "over", "above" or "across". It is relatively well-known within Anglophone communities due to its occasional use as a hyphenated prefix in informal English, usually for emphasis. [Note that in English the word has assumed a usage that likely does not exist in German.]

The crossover of the term "über" from German into English goes back to the work of German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. In 1883, Nietzsche coined the term "Übermensch" to describe the higher state to which he felt men might aspire. The term was brought into English by George Bernard Shaw in the title to his 1903 play Man and Superman. During his rise to power, Adolf Hitler adopted Nietzsche's term, using it in his descriptions of an Aryan master race. It was in this context that American Jewish comic book creator Jerry Siegel encountered the term and conceived the 1933 story "The Reign of the Superman", in which the superman (not to be confused with his later superhero character) is "an evil mastermind with advanced mental powers". Shortly afterward, Siegel and artist Joseph Shuster recast Superman into the iconic American hero he subsequently became. It is through this association with the superhero that the term "über" carries much of its English sense implying irresistibility or invincibility.

18d   Dictatorial figure rising to fight // set in the corner? (5,3)

Idi Amin Dada^[7] (c. 1925–2003) was the third President of Uganda, ruling from 1971 to 1979. As commander of the Ugandan Army, he led a military coup in January 1971 that deposed Milton Obote. In 1977, when Britain broke diplomatic relations with Uganda, Amin declared he had defeated the British and added "CBE", for "Conqueror of the British Empire", to his title.

The clue is somewhat appropriate as Amin was the Ugandan light heavyweight boxing champion from 1951 to 1960. Some might argue that the first word of the clue also applies.

20d   Try, try right away /to be/ enthusiastic (6)

22d   Loosely put together // band lately disheartened (6)

24d   National symbol // that's improperly disclosed, we hear (4)

The leek^[5] is a plant (Allium porrum) related to the onion, with flat overlapping leaves forming an elongated cylindrical bulb which together with the leaf bases is eaten as a vegetable. It is used as a Welsh national emblem.

26d   Money // hoarded by entrepreneur oddly (4)

The euro^[5] is the single European currency, which replaced the national currencies of France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Greece, Portugal, Luxembourg, Austria, Finland, the Republic of Ireland, Belgium, and the Netherlands in 2002. Seventeen member states of the European Union now use the euro.

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