Thursday, January 29, 2015 — DT 27574

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27574
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, August 21, 2014
Setter RayT (Ray Terrell)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27574]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Kath
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

RayT certainly seems to be in a relaxed mood today. He leads us through a very gentle workout and even gives Her Majesty the day off. The review at Big Dave's Crossword Blog is written by Kath who is once again flying solo. She usually appears as the alley cat half of the archy and mehitabel blogging duo.

In today's puzzle, RayT appears to have set out to give us a comprehensive course on how to select particular letters from words — either for inclusion or exclusion.

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   Clinical // test I panic about (10)

6a   Genuine // regret following Tory leader (4)

"Tory leader" indicates the leader (initial letter) of Tory. This is merely the first of many examples in today's puzzle illustrating a diversity of ways to select a particular letter or letters from a word.

9a   Not a fairy-tale maiden /in/ kingdom (5)

In cricket, a maiden^[5], also known as a maiden over, (abbreviation M)^[5] is an over in which no runs are scored. An over^[5] (abbreviation O^[5] [remember this, it will come in handy soon]) is a division of play consisting of a sequence of six balls bowled by a bowler from one end of the pitch, after which another bowler takes over from the other end.

10a   Shocking // former sweetheart, guy embraces redhead (9)

In the second and third examples of selecting letters, the setter employs two variations on a not uncommon cryptic crossword construct, in which the word "sweetheart" is used to clue E, the middle letter (heart) of swEet and the word "redhead" is used to clue R, the initial letter (head) of Red.

12a   Good man with a bird /showing/ vigour (7)

Mina^[2] is a seemingly rare alternative spelling of myna (also mynah) any of various large, southeast Asian birds of the starling family, some of which can be taught to imitate human speech. Among the several dictionaries that I consult on a regular basis, this spelling is found only in The Chambers Dictionary and the Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary^[11] in addition to the cited entry from Chambers 21st Century Dictionary.

13a   Thick // fog around daybreak (5)

In instance number 4, the setter uses the word "daybreak" to clue D, the initial letter (break) of Day. There may be a touch of cryptic licence involved here as "break"^[1] in daybreak actually means to come into view or appear suddenly which the setter appears to equate to start.

15a   Degradation /of/ Herod in Galilee (7)

Scratching the Surface
Herod the Great[5] (circa 74-4 BC) was a ruler of ancient Palestine who ruled 37-4 BC. According to the New Testament, Jesus was born during his reign, and he ordered the massacre of the innocents (Matt. 2:16). Galilee[5] was a northern region of ancient Palestine, west of the River Jordan, associated with the ministry of Jesus. It is now part of Israel.

17a   Ancient capital of Greece? (7)

The drachma^[5] was a a silver coin of ancient Greece. It is also the name of the former monetary unit of modern Greece, notionally equal to 100 lepta, replaced in 2002 by the euro.

19a   Sea creature // over sea expressed fantastic spout (7)

"Over" is a cricketing term. If you failed to heed my advice at 9a, you may wish to refer back there now.

21a   Lover allegedly gripping /in/ altogether (7)

22a   Starts to serve and lob volley /or/ volley (5)

In instance number 5, the setter uses "starts to" to indicate the initial letters of the five words which immediately follow.

24a   Remove // additional ends of corset (7)

In instance number 6, "ends of" indicates the initial and final letters of CorseT.

27a   Remedy sipped, say, /for/ indigestion (9)

28a   Quick // beer before restaurant emptied (5)

In instance number 7, "emptied" indicates to remove all the inner letters leaving only the two outer letters in RestauranT.

Quick^[5] (used in reference to a person’s eye or ear) means keenly perceptive or alert.

29a   Soundly construct // beams (4)

Scratching the Surface
By coincidence — or not — today's setter, Ray Terrell, uses the pseudonym Beam [beam being a synonym for ray] when setting The Toughie, another (more difficult) cryptic crossword that appears in The Daily Telegraph.

30a   Concerned // current setter's upset by editor (10)

Of course, with my electrical engineering background, my first thought was that "current" is being used to clue either I (the symbol used in physics for electrical current) or AC (alternating current). It took a while to get onto the right track.

Down

1d   Ethereal // nymph is topless (4)

Chambers Thesaurus lists nymph as a synonym for fairy.

In example number 8, "topless" is used to exclude the first letter of [F]AIRY. This construct really only works only in a down clue.

2d   Tar initially operated small harbour // ship perhaps (9)

In instance number 9, "initially" is used to clue the initial letter of Tar.

3d   Muscles to hold old lady up /for/ dance (5)

The samba^[5] is (1) a Brazilian dance of African origin or (2) a lively modern ballroom dance imitating the samba.

4d   Skinning // gutted plaice, English fish (7)

In example number 10, "gutted" is used to indicate that the inner letters of PlaicE are to be discarded.

he ling^[5] is any of a number of long-bodied edible marine fishes including various species of large East Atlantic fish related to the cod, in particular Molva molva, which is of commercial importance.

Scratching the Surface
The plaice[5] is a North Atlantic flatfish which is a commercially important food fish. The two species, a European one (Pleuronectes platessa), often found in very shallow water, and an American one (Hippoglossoides platessoides), found in deeper waters.

5d   Country /could be/ fine country without leader (7)

In instance number 11, "without leader" tells us to discard the initial letter of {[N]ICE LAND}.

7d   Dressed /in/ right old sack (5)

8d   United in level score // in the end (10)

By this point, one might easily jump to the conclusion that "score in the end" is clueing the final letter (end) of scorE. However, that would be the wrong direction to go.

In names of sports clubs, the abbreviation U^[5] stands for United.

11d   Sort of music generation holding mass // rave (7)

In physics, the symbol m^[5] is used to represent mass.

Rave^[5] is used in a sense meaning to address someone in an angry, uncontrolled way ⇒ ‘Never mind how he feels!’ Melissa raved.

14d   Think twice // about criminal ringleader outside bank (10)

In example number 12, the setter uses the word "ringleader" to clue R, the initial letter (leader) of Ring.

16d   Correct // the compiler's ramble around page (7)

It is a common cryptic crossword convention for the creator of the puzzle to use terms such as (the) compiler, (the) setter, (this) author, (this) writer, or this person to refer to himself or herself. To solve such a clue, one must generally substitute a first person pronoun (I or me) for whichever of these terms has been used in the clue. Today, the setter has made the scenario slightly more complicated by combining "compiler" with the verb "to be" producing "compiler's" (contraction for "compiler is") which must be replaced by "I'm" (I am).

18d   Uneven breath each time produces // throb (9)

20d   Puts foot down about // relative (7)

21d   Power cut without resistance giving shock (7)

In physics, the symbol R^[5] is used to represent electrical resistance.

23d   Tough // lout sat by, oddly (5)

In instance number 13, the word "oddly" is used to indicate the odd numbered sequence of letters found in the preceding three words.

25d   Native American cutting top of head // quickly (5)

In example number 14, "top of" is used to indicate the initial letter (top) of Head. This is another construct that works only in a down clue.

The Apache^[5] are an American Indian people living chiefly in New Mexico and Arizona. Under the leadership of Geronimo, the Apache were the last American Indian people to be conquered by the European settlers.

26d   Office doesn't end /for/ boss (4)

A boss^[5] is a stud on the centre of a shield.

In instance number 15, "doesn't end" is used to indicate that we must discard the final letter (end) of STUD[Y].

And thus endeth today's lesson.

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