Monday, February 23, 2015 — DT 27591

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27591
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27591]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By pommers
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

In his epilogue, pommers — writing from southern Spain in early September — mentions that "... at 0800 today it was 24C !" Stick a minus sign at the front of that and you are likely close to current conditions in Ottawa.

Once again, some of pommers' illustrations have gone missing. However, I have managed to recover them and you will find them included in my review (the captions are those applied to the illustrations by pommers in his review).

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   Cover // regularly left on fish (6)

I did myself no favour by initially entering TARPON here [TARP (cover) + ON (from the clue)]. Of course, I was at a bit of a loss to explain the "regularly left" part that was left over.

5a   Trained // cadet due for review (8)

9a   Turned tail during one-time Tory leader/'s/ diatribe (8)

William Hague^[7] is a British Conservative politician who has been the First Secretary of State and Leader of the House of Commons since 2014. He previously served as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs from 2010 until 2014 Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1997 to 2001, and he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) since 1989.

Restoring the Image
Now that's one to frighten the horses!

10a   Technology /used in/ commercial vehicle reversing after test (6)

National Curriculum assessments^[7] are a series of educational assessments, colloquially known as Sats or SATs, used to assess the attainment of children attending maintained schools in England. They comprise a mixture of teacher-led and test-based assessment depending on the age of the pupils. This test should not be confused with the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test or Scholastic Assessment Test), a Reasoning Test administered by the US examination boards College Board and Educational Testing Service and taken by high school students in the United States of America for admission into colleges.

Satnav^[7] is navigation dependent on information received from satellites.

11a   Short tea breaks /for/ the current controller (8)

12a   Feels the absence of // a married woman, by the sound of it (6)

13a   Article required in escape /from/ window (8)

In Britain, fanlight^[3,4,11] can (1) mean, as we know the term in North America, the semicircular or semielliptical window over a door or window or (2) denote the small rectangular window over a door that we call a transom; or (3) be an alternative name for a skylight.

15a   Probability // of dismissal drives salesmen using leads (4)

17a   When // love anticipates cold in the land of the Geordie (4)

In tennis, squash, and some other sports, love^[5] is a score of zero or nil ⇒ love fifteen. The resemblance of a zero written as a numeral (0) to the letter O leads to the cryptic crossword convention of the word "love" being used to clue this letter.

A Geordie^[5] is an informal British term for a person from Tyneside^[5], an industrial conurbation on the banks of the River Tyne, in northeastern England, stretching from Newcastle upon Tyne to the coast. This makes "the land of the Geordie" a way for the setter to clue NE.

19a   Bob turns nasty /and/ pig-headed (8)

20a   Dried fruit/'s/ mostly strengthening (6)

21a   Boozer/'s/ a bloodsucker, drinking meths regularly (8)

Boozer^[5] is a British term for a pub or bar.

Alehouse^[5] is a dated term for an inn^[5] [in the sense of a pub, typically one in the country, in some cases providing accommodation] or public house^[5] [formal British name for pub].

Restoring the Image
Apparantly (sic) there's (sic) over 3000 species of louse!

Scratching the Surface

My first thought was "Can you drink meths?". However, meth[5] refers neither to crystal meth (methamphetamine) nor even to methadone. Meths[5] is an informal British term for methylated spirit[5], alcohol for general use that has been made unfit for drinking by the addition of about 10 per cent methanol and typically also some pyridine and a violet dye. Pyridine[5] is a colourless volatile liquid with an unpleasant odour, present in coal tar and used chiefly as a solvent.

22a   Make an effort to carry one hundred kilos -- // difficult (6)

23a   Pound shop showing reduction of 75 per cent on last of desk // drawers (8)

Nicker^[5] is an informal [seemingly dated, going by comments on Big Dave's blog] British term for a pound sterling [the basic unit of currency in Britain] ⇒ a hundred and twenty nicker.

According to Oxford Dictionaries Online, knickers^[5] is a British term for a woman’s or girl’s undergarment, covering the body from the waist or hips to the top of the thighs and having two holes for the legs [panties^[5] to a North American; it would appear that panties is not exclusively a North American term as it also seems to be used in Britain].

However, Chambers 21st Century Dictionay and Collins English Dictionary extend the definition at bit, telling us that knickers are an undergarment with two separate legs or legholes. They are worn by women and girls, and cover part or all of the lower abdomen and buttocks and sometimes the thighs.^[2,10]

In his review, pommers provides even more cover, showing a garment that extends to mid-calf. But as Angel remarks in a response to comment #21 at Big Dave's blog, "To me illustration of 23a is rather more bloomers [than knickers]".

Wikipedia, which says that knickers is the typical British term for panties^[7], also tells us that while panties were originally designed to cover the entire lower half of the female torso, since the 1970s panties have had either no legs or, in some cases, very short ones, and have become increasingly briefer over time. In a remarkable feat of inconsistency, in the course of two sentences, Wikipedia manages to claim "In ... Canada ... panties are often referred to as knickers ..." and "The term [knickers] is little used in ... Canada ...".

24a   Shrink /must be/ against heartless commitment (8)

25a   Good profit by following a source of rare // stone (6)

The abbreviation G^[10] for good likely relates to its use in grading school assignments or tests.

Net means to "profit by". If one were to net $1000 on a transaction, they would profit by $1000.

Down

2d   Poor returns dividing amateur labourer /and/ an expert (1,3,4)

Dab hand^[5] is an informal British term for a person who is an expert at a particular activity ⇒ Liam is a dab hand at golf.

3d   Rewards incorporating student // games in finals (4-4)

The cryptic crossword convention of L meaning learner or student arises from the L-plate^[7], a square plate bearing a sans-serif letter L, for learner, which must be affixed to the front and back of a vehicle in various countries (including the UK) if its driver is a learner under instruction.

4d   Merry fool is said /to be/ closely organised (5-4)

Merry^[5,10] is an informal British term for slightly and good-humouredly drunk ⇒ after the third beer he began to feel quite merry. The expression used in Canada in these circumstances would be feeling happy.

Nit^[5] is an informal British term for a foolish person ⇒ you stupid nit!.

5d   It makes a powerful contribution for a comfortable retirement (8,7)

6d   A scream -- under church // carriage! (7)

At comment #29 on Big Dave's blog, skepticism reigns regarding whether "carriage" and "chariot" are synonyms. The exchange concludes with a comment by barrie that the expression "Your chariot awaits" in reference to transport of any type would explain the connection.

Restoring the Image

7d   African /seeing/ Inuits moving north across east of Canada (8)

8d   One's up after six, in disreputable club // causing confict (8)

14d   Housework // finished at home, with pig outside (9)

In the UK, hoover^[5] (a genericized version of the trademark Hoover) means (as a noun) a vacuum cleaner (from any manufacturer) and (as a verb) to clean (something) with a vacuum cleaner ⇒ he was hoovering the stairs.

Delving Deeper
The Hoover Company[7] started out as an American floor care manufacturer based in North Canton, Ohio. It also established a major base in the United Kingdom and for most of the early-and-mid-20th century, it dominated the electric vacuum cleaner industry, to the point where the "hoover" brand name became synonymous with vacuum cleaners and vacuuming in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Restoring the Image
This Hoover's a Dyson!

15d   Artist absorbed by poetic arranging // of 'Carmen', for example (8)

A Royal Academician (abbreviation RA^[5]) is a member of the Royal Academy of Arts^[5], an institution established in London in 1768, whose purpose is to cultivate painting, sculpture, and architecture in Britain.

Carmen^[7] is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet (1838–1875). The opera was first performed in Paris in 1875, and at first was not particularly successful. Its initial run extended to 36 performances, before the conclusion of which Bizet died suddenly, and thus knew nothing of the opera's later celebrity.

16d   Party worker /gets/ power (8)

17d   Working with attractive girl // spectator (8)

18d   Save // answer after study (8)

19d   A problem that's difficult /as/ second fiddle (7)

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