Monday, January 26, 2015 — DT 27571

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27571
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, August 18, 2014
Setter Rufus (Roger Squires)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27571]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Miffypops
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

The planets have once again aligned and The Daily Telegraph "Monday" puzzle actually appears in the National Post on a Monday. Given Miffypops' self-admitted condition, I wouldn't put too much stock in the ratings today. I suspect that he has once again neglected to set them and what we are seeing is the default ***/*** setting in the template.

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   Disturb canary perhaps, /in/ its nest here? (4,9)

It is not unusual for different observers to come to varying conclusions about how to classify clues set by Rufus. Miffypops views this as an "all-in-one" — although, to be precise, it would have to be a semi-all-in-one as the wordplay definitely only forms part of the clue.

I concluded that the clue is a regular clue with the definition ("its nest here?") in the form of a question which is equivalent to "where one might find a canary's nest".

10a   Available to customers, /or/ about to arrive (2,5)

11a   Some players will take a long time // dressing (7)

12a   Might it turn the tide for the overweight? (4)

I will generally agree with Miffypops here, although to be precise this is a semi-all-in-one clue and not an all-in-one clue.

13a   Form /of/ fungus (5)

14a   Heavy piece of wood, /though it could be/ light (4)

What did he say?
Miffypops said "... which is also Ray T’s toughie alias".
Explanation: Ray Terrell (known on Big Dave's blog as RayT), who sets alternate "Thursday" puzzles, uses the pseudonym Beam when setting The Toughie, another (more difficult) cryptic crossword that appears in The Daily Telegraph.

17a   Regret about arranging it en // suite (7)

A suite^[5] is a group of people in attendance on a monarch or other person of high rank ⇒ the Royal Saloon was built for the use of the Queen and her suite.

18a   Top gear // from St Neots (7)

Scratching the Surface
St Neots[5] is a town in Cambridgeshire, England, next to the Bedfordshire county border. It lies on the River Great Ouse in the Huntingdonshire District, 15 miles (24 km) west of Cambridge and 49 miles (79 km) north of central London.

19a   Bill, // an aristocrat we hear (7)

22a   About to cut a prison // stretch (7)

As it was for Miffypops, this was one of my last ones in. And judging by the comments on Big Dave's blog, this is likely the clue that caused problems for most solvers.

I actually arrived at the correct solution through the wordplay much earlier, but (without actually writing it down) dismissed the result as not possibly being a word. After revisiting the clue numerous times, it finally dawned on me that the combination of letters that I had come up with really was a word.

24a   Right-minded man // takes his from history (4)

25a   Reason // for which some people fight (5)

I will diverge from Miffypops lead and call this a double definition.

Initially entering PURSE here made the circus apparatus at 21d extremely difficult to discern.

26a   Prokofiev has no proof /it's/ a Ukrainian city (4)

Kiev^[5] is the capital of Ukraine, an industrial city and port on the River Dnieper; population 2,765,500 (est. 2009). Founded in the 8th century, it became capital of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1934. In 1991 it became capital of independent Ukraine.

Scratching the Surface
Sergei Prokofiev[5] (1891–1953) was a Russian composer. Notable works include seven symphonies, the opera The Love for Three Oranges (1919), the ballet music for Romeo and Juliet (1935-6), and Peter and the Wolf (1936), a young person’s guide to the orchestra in the form of a fairy tale.

29a   Offensive // rumour about retired doctor (7)

Surely, he didn't mean that?
Miffypops said "... one of our usual suspects for a doctor (medical orderly) ...".
Explanation: An orderly is not a doctor and I'm sure Miffypops knows better. However, he does admit to writing this review on the morning after the night before. MO[5] is the abbreviation for medical officer[5], a doctor in charge of the health services of a civilian or military authority or other organization.

30a   Having favourites, relatively speaking (7)

31a   The state of the fraternity // -- rows among monks (13)

Down

2d   Study // in group including party leader (7)

3d   Terrible fate /makes/ temper rise (4)

4d   Shocking /in/ respect to certain individuals (7)

5d   Repairs at last (7)

6d   Runs out, /but/ they may retain the Ashes (4)

Scratching the Surface

"Runs out" may be a play on the cricket term "run out". In cricket, run out[7] (abbreviation ro[2]) denotes the dismissal of a batsman by hitting a wicket with the ball while the batsman is out of his ground[10] (the area from the popping crease back past the stumps, in which a batsman may legally stand). The Ashes[10] is a cremated cricket stump in a pottery urn now preserved at Lord's [a cricket ground in London, England]. Victory or defeat in Test matches* between England and Australia is referred to as winning, losing, or retaining the Ashes. The concept of The Ashes originated in a satirical obituary published in a British newspaper, The Sporting Times, immediately after Australia's 1882 victory at The Oval [a cricket ground in London, England], their first Test win on English soil. The obituary stated that English cricket had died, and "the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia". The mythical ashes immediately became associated with the 1882–83 series played in Australia, before which the English captain Ivo Bligh had vowed to "regain those ashes". The English media therefore dubbed the tour the quest to regain the Ashes. * A Test match[5] is an international cricket or rugby match, typically one of a series, played between teams representing two different countries ⇒ the Test match between Pakistan and the West Indies.

7d   A newspaper's success depends more on these than its writers (7)

8d   Danger! Tinkers all over the place /in/ these schools! (13)

9d   What the Beefeater renders? (6,7)

A beefeater^[5] is a Yeoman Warder or Yeoman of the Guard in the Tower of London. The name was originally a derogatory term for a well-fed servant.

Yeoman service^[5] means efficient or useful help in need ⇒ the minister has performed yeoman service for Mulroney [a rather intriguing usage example for Oxford to choose].

Digging Deeper

The Tower of London[5] (or merely The Tower) is a fortress by the Thames just east of the City of London. The oldest part, the White Tower, was begun in 1078. It was later used as a state prison, and is now open to the public as a repository of ancient armour and weapons, and of the Crown Jewels. A Yeoman Warder[5] is a warder [British term for prison guard] at the Tower of London. A Yeoman of the Guard[5] is a member of the British sovereign’s bodyguard, first established by Henry VII, now having only ceremonial duties and wearing Tudor dress as uniform. The term is commonly used erroneously to refer to a Yeoman Warder. Both of the above are also called a beefeater.

15d   Putin ordered // data (5)

Scratching the Surface
Vladimir Putin[5] is a Russian statesman, President 2000-8 and since 2012, Prime Minister 2008–2012.

16d   Card showing where one's home is? (5)

Alluding to the proverb "Home is where the heart is." [which gets two quite different interpretations at link cited — one American and one British]

20d   Naval ship // that requires quarantine (7)

When definitions start with the word "that", I find it helpful to mentally insert the word 'something' or 'someone' before it.

21d   Circus hanger-on? (7)

22d   Magazine /for/ footballers (7)

Arsenal Football Club^[7] is an English professional association football [soccer] club based in Holloway, London that plays in the Premier League (the top level in the English football league system).

23d   Flies // east via resorts (7)

As an anagram indicator, "resort" is used in the somewhat whimsical sense of 'to sort again'.

27d   Left // harbour (4)

28d   Start work in French -- /at/ this university? (4)

Miffypops may have been labouring under the aftereffects of a bit of merrymaking the night before, but he was still sharp enough to pick up the second definition in this clue — which is more than I did.

In this clue, we have a bit of wordplay sandwiched between two definitions.

In music, Op.^[5] (also op.) is an abbreviation meaning opus (work). It is used before a number given to each work of a particular composer, usually indicating the order of publication.

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

In the UK, the Open University^[5] is a university that teaches mainly by broadcasting, correspondence, and summer schools, and is open to those without formal academic qualifications.

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