Monday, February 9, 2015 — DT 27581

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27581
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, August 29, 2014
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27581]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Deep Threat
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 got off to a quick start with this puzzle, then struggled a bit before hitting the wall on the last couple of clues. It did not take my electronic assistants long to point me in the right direction on 12a. However, the obscure composer at 24d was quite another matter. I managed to dredge up an even more obscure composer and then floundered trying to justify him.

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   Spread // support to get a number attending sports event (9)

9a   This person's role /is/ to communicate (6)

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 (in terms of the cryptic analysis) by combining "this person" with the verb "to be" producing "this person's" (contraction for "this person is") which must be replaced by "I'm" (I am).

10a   Chemical // in Thames I dissipated (9)

In biochemistry, a histamine^[5] is a compound which is released by cells in response to injury and in allergic and inflammatory reactions, causing contraction of smooth muscle and dilation of capillaries.

Scratching the Surface
The Thames[5] is a river of southern England, flowing 338 km (210 miles) eastwards from the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire through London to the North Sea.

11a   Colour /of/ Queen is seen in reflection (6)

Anne^[7] (1665–1714) became Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702. On 1 May 1707, under the Acts of Union, two of her realms, the kingdoms of England and Scotland, united as a single sovereign state, the United Kingdom of Great Britain. She continued to reign as Queen of Great Britain and Ireland until her death.

12a   Steven has one such partner -- it's Eve! (4,5)

A search on phrases matching the checking letters produced a "doh!" moment here.

13a   Islander // knocked out in trance (6)

Crete^[5] (whose inhabitants are called Cretans) is a Greek island in the eastern Mediterranean; population 630,000 (est. 2009); capital, Heraklion. It is noted for the remains of the Minoan civilization which flourished there in the 2nd millennium BC. It fell to Rome in 67 BC and was subsequently ruled by Byzantines, Venetians, and Turks. Crete played an important role in the Greek struggle for independence from the Turks in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, becoming administratively part of an independent Greece in 1913.

17a   Fasten // thus to the ear (3)

19a   Unruly gang invading toilet // many years back (4,3)

Loo^[5] is an informal British term for a toilet.

20a   Asian city // administered by stupid person (7)

In Britain, the word goon^[3,4,11] appears to be used only in the sense of a stupid or deliberately foolish person. While American dictionaries also list this sense of the word, the far more common meaning of goon on this side of the Atlantic would be a hoodlum or thug hired to commit acts of violence or intimidation, especially in an industrial dispute.

What did he say?
In his review, Deep Threat refers to "... a stupid person such as Eccles or Bluebottle".
Eccles[7] and Bluebottle[7] are characters from The Goon Show[7], a British radio comedy programme featuring Spike Milligan, Harry Secombe and Peter Sellers — originally produced and broadcast by the BBC Home Service from 1951 to 1960. "Mad" Dan Eccles was played by Spike Milligan and Bluebottle by Peter Sellers.

Rangoon^[5] is the former capital of Burma (Myanmar), a port in the Irrawaddy delta; population 4,088,000 (est. 2007). For centuries a Buddhist religious centre, it is the site of the Shwe Dagon Pagoda, built over 2,500 years ago. The modern city was established by the British in the mid 19th century and was the capital from 1886 until it was replaced by Naypyidaw in 2005.

21a   No // ships, five having been sunk (3)

23a   Idle folk // snored disgustingly (6)

27a   That man unfortunately harbouring a yen /for/ the mountains (9)

The yen^[5] (abbreviation Y^[5])  is the basic monetary unit of Japan.

The Himalayas^[5] are a vast mountain system in southern Asia, extending 2,400 km (1,500 miles) from Kashmir eastwards to Assam. The Himalayas consist of a series of parallel ranges rising up from the Ganges basin to the Tibetan plateau, at over 3,000 m above sea level. The backbone is the Great Himalayan Range, the highest mountain range in the world, with several peaks rising to over 7,700 m (25,000 ft), the highest being Mount Everest.

28a   Artist leading group // full of energy and enthusiasm (6)

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.

29a   Plant // I stuck in weedless ground (9)

Edelweiss^[5] is a European mountain plant (Leontopodium alpinum) which has woolly white bracts around its small flowers and downy grey-green leaves.

30a   Attempt to block yob /in/ exit (3,3)

Yob^[5] (back slang for boy) is an informal British term for a rude, noisy, and aggressive youth.

31a   Shrinking // German city Heather goes round (9)

Essen^[5] is an industrial city in the Ruhr valley, in northwestern Germany; population 583,200 (est. 2006).

Ling^[5] is another name for the common heather (Calluna vulgaris), a purple-flowered Eurasian heath that grows abundantly on moorland and heathland. 

Down

2d   University home given external colour /and/ spoilt (6)

3d   Bit of food /and/ old rubbish in post office (6)

Tat^[5] is an informal British term for tasteless or shoddy clothes, jewellery, or ornaments ⇒ the place was decorated with all manner of gaudy tat.

4d   Lark // putting doctor into prison (6)

In Britain, the degree required to practice medicine is a Bachelor of Medicine^[7] (MB, from Latin Medicinae Baccalaureus), which is equivalent to a North American Doctor of Medicine (MD, from Latin Medicinae Doctor). The degree of Doctor of Medicine also exists in Britain, but it is an advanced degree pursued by those who wish to go into medical research. Physicians in Britain are still addressed as Dr. despite not having a doctoral degree.

Gaol^[5] is an alternative British spelling of jail.

5d   Redeployed agent on // ship may have this duty (7)

Tonnage^[5] is a duty [tax] on ships based either on their capacity or their register tonnage.

6d   Italian entertains grim man, working // person who's entered country (9)

7d   Pink // vehicle followed by set of people (9)

A pink^[1] is any plant or flower of the caryophyllaceous genus Dianthus, including carnation and sweet william.

8d   Start of season -- preparing for game, // stretching (9)

14d   Regulation for piece of playground equipment? Engineers no longer find it useful (5,4)

What did he say?
In his review, Deep Threat refers to "a helter-skelter".
Helter-skelter[5] is a British name for a fairground amusement consisting of a tall spiral slide winding around a tower.

15d   A cure gone wrong /creates/ stir (9)

16d   Explorer of underground space needs common sense, /it being/ huge and dark (9)

Nous^[5] is an informal British term meaning common sense or practical intelligence ⇒ if he had any nous at all, he’d sell the film rights.

17d   Boy // star given an audition (3)

18d   Careful to avoid article /being/ sarcastic (3)

22d   An aider in a maze (7)

In Greek mythology, Ariadne^[5] was the daughter of King Minos of Crete and Pasiphaë. She helped Theseus to escape from the Minotaur’s labyrinth by giving him a ball of thread, which he unravelled as he went in and used to trace his way out again after killing the Minotaur.

24d   English composer // is soaring above (6)

Thomas Tallis^[5] (circa 1505–1585) was an English composer. Organist of the Chapel Royal jointly with William Byrd, he served under Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary, and Elizabeth I. His works include the forty-part motet Spem in Alium.

Like some of the British commenters. I tried to fit in a number of real and imaginary (English) composers — among them Elgar, Eagles and Agles (the former not finding a fit, the latter being a figment of my imagination and the one in the middle being discussed below).

While this composer seems to be pretty obscure, I may have managed to find one who is even more obscure.

Solomon Eccles^[7] (1618–1683), also known as Solomon Eagle, was an English composer.

EAGLES did match the checking letters although I was unable to fashion a compelling argument to explain the S.

Delving Deeper

Eccles/Eagle does seem to have been a rather interesting character. Both writer Daniel Defoe and diarist Samuel Pepys record an incident involving Eagle. Pepys writes in his diary, "... a man, a Quaker, came naked through the [Westminster] Hall, only very civilly tied about the privates to avoid scandal, and with a chafing-dish of fire and brimstone burning upon his head… crying, “Repent! repent!". As a Quaker, Eccles was prosecuted numerous times during the Restoration for civil disobedience. He was imprisoned for worshiping with other Quakers in contravention of a law banning more than three people from assembling for religious worship. Few if any of his works are extant since, when he became a Quaker, he burned all his books and compositions so as to distance himself from church music. Believing music to be a sinful vanity, he initially sold the compositions and his instruments, before taking them back and burning them to prevent the purchaser falling into sin.

25d   Backed down // avenue into trap (4,2)

A gin^[2] (also gin trap) is a wire noose laid as a snare or trap for catching game.

26d   DNA expert // who helped detective? (6)

James Watson^[5] is American biologist. Together with Francis Crick he proposed a model for the structure of the DNA molecule. He shared the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine with Crick and Maurice Wilkins in 1962.

John H. Watson, known as Dr. Watson^[7], is a fictional character in the Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Watson is Sherlock Holmes' friend, assistant and sometime flatmate, and the first person narrator of all but four of these stories.

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