Monday, January 5, 2015 — DT 27556

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27556
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, July 31, 2014
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27556]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Falcon
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

I recognized this puzzle very quickly as one that I had done before — which isn't always the case. I stand by my original assessment — not too difficult but quite enjoyable.

I invite you to leave a comment to let us know how you fared with the puzzle.

Heads Up

Be on the lookout for an error in tomorrow's puzzle. As originally published in the UK — which is the way we are likely to see it — the clue read:

• 9d           Disarray of some Ulster Protestants without leader falling into depression (11)

The clue was later changed on the Telegraph Puzzles website to read:

• 9d           Disarray of some Ulster Protestants, not extreme characters, falling into depression (11)

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   Bit of coffee offered by European, // tall figure (8)

5a   'Sun' involved in junk communication before news, finally, /in/ brief spurts (6)

The Sun^[7] is a daily tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and Ireland by a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

9a   A connection around university /that's/ widely evident (9)

11a   Musical work // stocked in shop eradicated (5)

12a   Like something sewn on // uniform? No (6)

13a   Sublime // speaker's device to include a quip (8)

15a   Top sportsman with time in heat set off scrap // to show impatience (5,2,3,3)

18a   Nominal candidate // rethinks goals when upset (8-5)

A stalking horse^[5] is a candidate in an election for the leadership of a political party who stands only in order to provoke the election and thus allow a stronger candidate to come forward.

As I wrote in a comment on Big Dave's blog "Stalking horse^[7] was originally a hunting term. Hunters noticed that fowl flew away when humans approached but ignored horses. Thus hunters hid behind a stalking horse until they got close enough to shoot. In politics, a politician may secretly begin a campaign to unseat an incumbent while hiding behind a stalking horse."

22a   One plays a small part in a downfall? (8)

23a   Burden // young offender with some medicine? Not at first (6)

26a   Follow // tense athletics event (5)

Tense is abbreviated as t.^[10] when used as a grammatical term.

27a   Standard often found flying abroad? (9)

28a   Dull-witted // baronet falls in river (6)

A baronet^[5] (abbreviation Bt^[5]) is a member of the lowest hereditary titled British order, with the status of a commoner but able to use the prefix ‘Sir’.

The River Ouse^[5] is a river of northeastern England, formed at the confluence of the Ure and Swale in North Yorkshire and flowing 92 km (57 miles) south-eastwards through York to the Humber estuary. There are also several other rivers in England having that name (or minor variations thereof).

29a   Scot heading for rope in bottom of boat /and/ fish (8)

More often than not, a Scot in Crosswordland bears the name Ian. However, that is not the case today.

Down

1d   Rowdy film stars /having/ part to play in rear (4,4)

The Brat Pack^[7] is a nickname given to a group of young actors who frequently appeared together in teen-oriented coming-of-age films in the 1980s. First mentioned in a 1985 New York magazine article, it is now usually described as the cast members of two specific films released in 1985 – The Breakfast Club and St. Elmo's Fire – although other actors are sometimes included. The "core" members are considered to be Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, and Ally Sheedy.

2d   Take over // training with fuss at the front (5)

PT^[5] is the abbreviation [characterized as British by Oxford Dictionaries Online] for physical training^[5], the systematic use of exercises to promote bodily fitness and strength.

3d   Fight /with/ drink on the increase? (5-2)

4d   Landed Scotsman, cut off // retreat (4)

In Scotland, laird^[5] denotes a person who owns a large estate.

6d   Show retired brother // familiar saying (7)

In genealogy, the abbreviation for brother is br^[10] and in a religious order the abbreviation for Brother is Br^[10].

7d   Tiny mark on potato picked up /for/ one in stand? (9)

8d   Leading companion /showing/ formality (6)

Starch^[5] means stiffness of manner or character ⇒ the starch in her voice.

10d   Greet effusively // good boy with promise of marriage (4-4)

14d   Start of strategy to withdraw // surveillance (5-3)

CID^[2] [mentioned in my review on Big Dave's blog] stands for Criminal Investigation Department, the detective branch of a British police force.

16d   Aggressive type /having/ trouble in a ship with colonist (9)

In Crosswordland, you will find that a ship is almost invariably a steamship, the abbreviation for which is SS^[10].

17d   Brainy // barrister discontented when tucking into breakfast dish (8)

19d   Speech /giving/ notice to groom? (7)

20d   Wine? A small measure's included in resting place (7)

Hock^[5] is a British term for a dry white wine from the German Rhineland.

21d   Cave /is/ reached around end of tour (6)

24d   Stink /created by/ party in time? That's not hard (5)

H^[5] is an abbreviation for hard, as used in describing grades of pencil lead ⇒ a 2H pencil.

25d   A short drink held up /in/ Italian city (4)

Pisa^[5] is a city in west central Italy, in Tuscany, on the River Arno; population 87,398 (2008). It is noted for the ‘Leaning Tower of Pisa’, a circular bell tower which leans about 5 m (17 ft) from the perpendicular over its height of 55 m (181 ft).

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