Thursday, January 15, 2015 — DT 27564

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27564
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Saturday, August 9, 2014
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27564 – Hints] Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27564 – Review]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Big Dave (Hints) gnomethang (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

Saturday prize puzzles (of which this is one) are typically among the easiest of the week — and this one is even gentler than most.

Just a reminder that the "Scratching the Surface" boxes — a new innovation in the blog this week — display comments intended to help readers better appreciate the surface reading of the clue, but which do not contribute to solving the clue (for which one must dig beneath the surface).


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   Knocked back excess fare (7)

9a   Remove article from newspaper perhaps. // That's enough! (3,2,3)

10a   Take a chance, about to take a chance /with/ beef (7)

11a   Painter, one of note? (8)

This is a cryptic definition (flagged by the question mark) where the primary indication is a very broad definition (painter) and the subsidiary indication is a bit of cryptic elaboration (one of note) that enables the solver to zero in on the correct solution.

James McNeill Whistler^[5] (1834–1903) was an American painter and etcher. Notable works: Arrangement in Grey and Black: The Artist’s Mother (portrait, 1872) [popularly known as Whistler's Mother].

12a   Space // dust? (6)

Big Dave and gnomethang seem to have differing ideas about what the question mark may mean. I initially thought it might signal that the clue is a cryptic definition. However, that proved not to be the case.

13a   As a nun, banished /for/ not working? (3,2,5)

An order^[5] (also Order) is a society of monks, nuns, or friars living under the same religious, moral, and social regulations and discipline ⇒ the Franciscan Order.

15a   Share // 50 per cent of religious studies (4)

Divi^[10] is an alternative spelling of divvy^[5,10], an informal British short form for dividend, especially (formerly) one paid by a cooperative society ⇒ the divvy is being held at 8.8p [8.8 pence]. In North America, divvy^[3,4,11] is a slang term denoting a share or portion and, as a verb (often followed by up), to divide and share ⇒ divvy up the loot.

Divinity^[5] is the study of religion ⇒ a doctor of divinity.

16a   Often trip over // bottom line (3,6)

21a   Blushing, having nothing // to perform again (4)

22a   Loud music -- regular boyfriend/'s/ not to be moved (4-6)

24a   Excellent unfinished elaborate // material (6)

25a   Malinger in resort // in early development (8)

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

27a   With 99 more, it would bring a German up to the mark (7)

Until the introduction of the euro in 2002, the pfennig^[5] was a monetary unit of Germany, equal to one hundredth of a mark.

28a   In principle guys /will provide/ accommodation (8)

In Britain, the word tenement seems not to carry the negative connotation that it does in North America. In Britain, a tenement^[4] is merely a room or flat [apartment] for rent or (also called tenement building) a large building divided into separate flats [apartments], whereas in North American, a tenement^[3,11] is generally regarded as a rundown, low-rental apartment building — often overcrowded and located in a poor section of a large city — whose facilities and maintenance barely meet minimum standards.

29a   Hold on extremely carefully first, // going for a ride (7)

Down

2d   Word for word, // brave novel by little man (8)

3d   Short headstrong Russian leader /and/ svengali (8)

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

A Svengali^[5] is a person who exercises a controlling or mesmeric influence on another, especially for a sinister purpose. The term comes from the name of a musician in George du Maurier's novel Trilby (1894), who controls Trilby's stage singing hypnotically.

Grigori Rasputin^[5] (1871–1916) was a Russian monk. He came to exert great influence over Tsar Nicholas II and his family during the First World War; this influence, combined with his reputation for debauchery, steadily discredited the imperial family, and he was assassinated by a group loyal to the tsar.

Scratching the Surface
Did the description "short headstrong Russian leader" bring anyone to mind?

4d   Device for regulating heat /and/ varied hot matters (10)

5d   Transport taking hour /in/ wild country (4)

6d   Lift provided when company /reveals/ disaster (6)

7d   Dog's died in // crash (7)

In both the surface reading and the cryptic analysis, the 's is a contraction for "has".

8d   Porridge and young fish // cook rapidly in pan (4-3)

Porridge is an informal British expression for either (1) jail^[1] or (2) time spent in prison^[5] ⇒ I’m sweating it out doing porridge.

Stir^[5] is an informal term for prison [on both sides of the Atlantic] ⇒ I’ve spent twenty-eight years in stir.

11d   Display of flower power coming down? (9)

The setter uses flower in a whimsical cryptic crossword sense meaning something that flows — in other words, a river.

14d   Just as likely to happen // literally in centre of Dallas (5-5)

"Literally" is used in a whimsical sense to mean 'pertaining to letters' (think literacy versus numeracy) and thus indicates the two letters found "in centre of DaLLas".

17d   Criminal brutal in // court (8)

18d   Drug habit, but not about /to get/ supplement (8)

19d   Father and I needing passage /for/ ship (7)

20d   Achieving one's goal? (7)

23d   Brand /of/ gas Tim exploded (6)

The Chambers Dictionary defines brand^[1] as (in part) a mark of infamy, stigma.

26d   Woman // that is leaving the BBC (4)

In Britain, Auntie^[10] is an informal name for the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation).

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