Thursday, February 5, 2015 — DT 27579

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27579
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, August 27, 2014
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27579]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By scchua
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

At Big Dave's blog, scchua posts his final review. Look for a new blogging team the next time we see a "Wednesday" puzzle (which should be a week from Friday).

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   Long to be in court /getting/ kudos (6)

I must admit that I had more than a little difficulty wrapping my head around the idea that cachet and kudos are synonymous. It certainly does not help that I — like most others — misuse the word kudos.

I was thinking of cachet^[5,10] in the sense of  prestige or distinction ⇒ no other shipping company had quite the cachet of Cunard.

However, I believe cachet^[1] is actually being used in the (subtly different) sense of something showing or conferring prestige.

Kudos^[5] is praise and honour received for an achievement ⇒ she was looking for kudos rather than profit. In a chiefly North American usage, kudos^[5] is employed informally to mean compliments or congratulations ⇒ kudos to everyone who put the event together.

Furthermore, Collins English Dictionary does list kudos as a synonym for cachet^[10].

Delving Deeper

Oxford Dictionaries Online takes a firm stance on the word kudos[5]: Kudos comes from Greek and means ‘praise’. Despite appearances, it is not a plural form. This means that there is no singular form kudo and that the use of kudos as a plural, as in the following sentence, is incorrect he received many kudos for his work (correct use is he received much kudos for his work). On the other hand, American dictionaries seem to recognize that the battle for linguistic purity with respect to kudos[3,11] has been lost. The American Heritage Dictionary says: Kudos is one of those words like congeries that look like plurals but are etymologically singular. Acknowledging the Greek history of the term requires Kudos is (not are) due her for her brilliant work on the score. But kudos has often been treated as a plural, especially in the popular press, as in She received many kudos for her work. This plural use has given rise to the singular form kudo. These innovations follow the pattern whereby the English words pea and cherry were shortened from nouns ending in an (s) sound (English pease and French cerise), that were mistakenly thought to be plural. The singular kudo remains far less common than the plural use; both are often viewed as incorrect in more formal contexts. It is worth noting that even people who are careful to treat kudos only as a singular often pronounce it as if it were a plural. Etymology would require that the final consonant be pronounced as a voiceless (s), as we do in pathos, another word derived from Greek, rather than as a voiced (z). while the Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary states: kudos entered English in the 19th century as a singular noun, a transliteration of a Greek singular noun meaning “praise or renown.” Used largely in university circles, it became popular among journalists in the 1920s, especially for headlines: Playwright receives kudos. Because such contexts often do not reveal whether the term is singular or plural, and because the word ends in -s, the usual marker of the English plural, kudos eventually came to be treated as a plural meaning “accolades.” The singular form kudo has been produced from this supposed plural by back formation and has developed the meaning “a statement of praise, accolade.” Usage guides generally advise against using kudo (with plural kudos), and sometimes even reject the singular word kudos. However, singular kudo and plural kudos are standard in all types of speech and writing.

5a   Underwear worn by bearer /for/ farce (8)

Might this clue itself not be a bit of a farce?

Usually when one word is worn by another, the word that is being worn goes on the outside like a jacket. Presumably given that we are dealing with underwear, the setter has decided to put the worn item on the inside. However, I'm not sure that I concur with him on this approach. My underwear is on the outside of my body even though it is under my outer clothing. A more appropriate wording for the clue might have been:

• 5a   Underwear eaten by bearer /for/ farce (8)

which would evoke the Bart Simpson^[7] catchphrase, "Eat my shorts".

In Britain, a vest^[5] is an undergarment worn on the upper part of the body, typically having no sleeves. The garment that North Americans call a vest is known in the UK as a waistcoat.

9a   Doctor worried about son /getting/ more dozy (8)

10a   Nasty experience // of French in exam (6)

In French, de^[8] is a preposition meaning 'of''.

11a   What soup must be served /for/ a left-hander? (8)

Knowing southpaw primarily as a baseball term, I wondered if this might not be an Americanism. However, the term seems to have travelled to the UK and been accepted there via its adopted sport of boxing.

Interestingly, two American dictionaries^[3,11] list only the baseball usage and make no mention of the boxing usage. On the other hand, three British dictionaries^[2,5,10] — while acknowledging its etymological roots in baseball — refer only to its boxing usage.

Delving Deeper
The term southpaw[3] as slang for a left-handed baseball pitcher comes from the practice in baseball of arranging the diamond with the batter facing east to avoid the afternoon sun. A left-handed pitcher facing west would therefore have his pitching arm toward the south of the diamond.

12a   Most of money at home -- nothing /for/ this establishment! (6)

13a   Former partner working in confined surroundings /is/ a skilled performer (8)

Exponent^[5] is used in the sense of a person who demonstrates a particular skill to a high standard ⇒ he’s the world’s leading exponent of country rock guitar.

15a   Mock // court clown dismissing man of God (4)

17a   Help to bottle cold // bitter (4)

Scratching the Surface
Bitter[5] is a British name for beer that is strongly flavoured with hops and has a bitter taste ⇒ (i) a pint of bitter; (ii) the company brews a range of bitters.

19a   Tars // stop, surrounded by snakes (8)

Scratching the Surface
Tar[5] is an informal, dated term for a sailor. The term, which dates from the 17th century, is perhaps an abbreviation of tarpaulin, which was also used as a nickname for a sailor at that time.

Let's Be Pedantic

Strictly speaking, it would appear that tar[10] [a product distilled from wood, coal or peat] and asphalt[2] [a naturally-occurring or refined petroleum product] are not the same thing although the terms do seem to be used interchangeably in common parlance. The word "tar"[7] is often used to describe several distinct substances which are not actually tar. Naturally occurring "tar pits" (e.g., the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles), actually contain asphalt rather than tar. Tar sands deposits (sometimes called oil sands) contain various mixtures of sand (or rock) with bitumen [another name for asphalt] or heavy crude oil and not tar.

20a   Physicist/'s/ cook disheartened by scheme (6)

Max Planck^[5] (1858–1947) was a German theoretical physicist who founded quantum theory, announcing the radiation law named after him in 1900. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1918.

21a   Court // hearing about short back-hander (8)

Even without knowing either of these British slang terms for a bribe, I was able to find the correct solution. You might say that I followed Miffypops' maxim "If it fits, bung it in". However, I needed some direction from scchua before I fully understood the wordplay.

A backhander^[5] (or back-hander^[1]) is an informal British term for a bribe ⇒ a fortune had been paid in backhanders to local officials.

Bung^[10] is British slang for a bribe.

22a   Do without love and avoid /being/ fool (6)

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.

23a   Prevarication -- // it's the middle-of-the-road thing, not new (5,3)

24a   Mate astride wild steed /needs/ support (8)

In Britain, mate^[5] is an informal term (1) for a friend or companion ⇒ my best mate Steve or (2) used as a friendly form of address between men or boys ⇒ ‘See you then, mate.’.

25a   Confess, accepting case of perjury -- /it's/ intelligence work (6)

Down

2d   Service // broadcast on behalf of church (3,5)

The Church of England^[10] (abbreviation CE^[10]) is the reformed established state Church in England, Catholic in order and basic doctrine, with the Sovereign as its temporal head.

3d   In what way it's a broadcast /as/ a weapon of war (8)

The surface reading appears to be spoken by an Italian!

The wordplay is HOW (in what way) + ITZER {sounds like (broadcast) IT'S A [well, it would sound like that to at least some Brits]}

The word "howitzer", when pronounced in a non-rhotic^[5] accent ("howitz'h"), sounds like "how it's a".

Delving Deeper

Non-rhotic accents omit the sound < r > in certain situations, while rhotic accents generally pronounce < r > in all contexts. Among the several dozen British English accents which exist, many are non-rhotic while American English (US and Canadian) is mainly rhotic. This is, however, a generalisation, as there are areas of Britain that are rhotic, and areas of America that are non-rhotic. For more information, see this guide to pronouncing < r > in British English.

4d   Dog whistles // which protrude from rear of car? (9)

In the definition, mentally insert the word "things" before the word "which".

Commentary on Commentary
In comment #3 at Big Dave's blog, Rabbit Dave complains that the puzzle was "spoilt for me only by the Americanism in 4d.".
As scchua notes in his review, tailpipe[5] is a chiefly North American term for the rear section of the exhaust pipe of a motor vehicle.

5d   Give up, /and/ include drier as part of the deal (5,2,3,5)

6d   Queen Victoria welcoming a single worker // of a different sort (7)

I have marked the definition as an adjective. However, it could also be a noun in which case the clue would be marked:

• 6d   Queen Victoria welcoming a single worker /of/ a different sort (7)

In either case, the wordplay is {VR (Queen Victoria; Victoria Regina) containing (welcoming) A (from the clue)} + I (single; Roman numeral for one) + ANT (worker).

Victoria^[5] (1819–1901) was queen of Great Britain and Ireland 1837–1901 and empress of India 1876–1901. She succeeded to the throne on the death of her uncle, William IV, and married her cousin Prince Albert in 1840. She took an active interest in the policies of her ministers, but largely retired from public life after Prince Albert’s death in 1861. Her reign was the longest in British history.

The regnal ciphers (monograms) of British monarchs are initials formed from the Latin version of their first name followed by either Rex or Regina (Latin for king or queen, respectively). Thus, the regnal cipher of Queen Victoria was VR^[5] — from the Latin Victoria Regina.

Commentary on Commentary
In comments #9 and #10 at Big Dave's blog, there is a discussion of this clue during which Big Dave states "It seems that there are 3 abbreviations for Queen Victoria – VIR, VR and VRI".
After becoming Empress of India in 1876, Victoria's regnal cipher was styled as either VIR[10], Victoria Imperatrix Regina (Latin for Victoria, Empress and Queen) or VRI[10], Victoria Regina et Imperatrix (Latin for Victoria, Queen and Empress).

7d   Precisely identified // southern ocean, possessing energy for area (8)

In physics, E^[5] is a symbol used to represent energy.

8d   Chicken feed lacking iron, /and/ showing signs of age (8)

The symbol for the chemical element iron is Fe^[5] (from Latin ferrum).

14d   Cancels training of fillies after a French uprising (9)

In French, the masculine singular form of the indefinite article is un^[8].

15d   /Being/ pretentious, // started improving (6-2)

The use of an inverted sentence structure in the clue places the link word "being" at the start of the clue rather than in the middle where it would have been had a normal sentence structure been utilized.

Jumped-up^[6] is an informal, chiefly British term denoting someone who considers themselves to be more important than they really are, or who has suddenly and undeservedly risen in status ⇒ she’s not really a journalist, more a jumped-up PR woman.

16d   Involved // hospital department and suffered (8)

In the Crosswordland Hospital, patients are rarely — if ever — found anywhere but in the ear, nose and throat (ENT^[2]) department.

17d   Cleverly // redesigned statue, largely hollow (8)

18d   Popular victory, when no one is up /for/ forced entry (8)

V^[10] is the symbol for victory - the victory-freedom sign^[7] is commonly associated with British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill in World War II.

19d   Agrees // bill with ranked players being listened to (7)

A seed^[5] is any of a number of stronger competitors in a sports tournament who have been assigned a specified position in an ordered list with the aim of ensuring that they do not play each other in the early rounds ⇒ he knocked the top seed out of the championships.

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