Tuesday, February 17, 2015 — DT 27587

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27587
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, September 5, 2014
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27587]
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
Notes
The National Post has skipped DT 27586 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Thursday, September 4, 2014.

Introduction

My gamble paid off, and the National Post has adhered to its recent practice of skipping puzzles which would have appeared on days when they do not publish. Thus although readers of the newspaper missed out on yesterday's puzzle, followers of this blog did not. If you didn't drop by yesterday, you can find yesterday's posting here.

It is rare that one completes a Giovanni puzzle without adding a word or two to one's vocabulary. Don Manley, as he is otherwise known, also serves as crossword editor of the Church Times (an independent Anglican weekly newspaper published in the UK) — which likely explains the common occurrence of religiously-themed clues in his puzzles.

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   Cavalier poet/'s/ infant still at mother's breast (8)

Sir John Suckling^[5] (1609–1642) was an English poet, dramatist, and Royalist leader. His poems include ‘Ballad upon a Wedding’, published in the collection Fragmenta Aurea (1646).

5a   Female music artist, mostly // very cold (6)

Frappé^[5] is a postpositive adjective meaning (of a drink) iced or chilled ⇒ a crème de menthe frappé. As a noun, frappé denotes a drink served with ice or frozen to a slushy consistency.

9a   VIP has to fall down before monarch, /that's/ an obvious thing (2-7)

Nob^[5] is an informal British term for a person of wealth or high social position ⇒ it was quite a do—all the nobs were there.

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 Elizabeth is ER^[5] — from the Latin Elizabetha Regina.

11a   Domineering woman has thrown out a // number of stars (5)

In astronomy, Virgo^[5] is a large constellation (the Virgin), said to represent a maiden or goddess associated with the harvest. It contains several bright stars, the brightest of which is Spica, and a dense cluster of galaxies.

12a   Garment /being/ worn by companion in Italian river (6)

A Companion of Honour (abbreviation CH) is a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour^[7], an order of the Commonwealth realms^[7] founded by King George V in June 1917 as a reward for outstanding achievements in the arts, literature, music, science, politics, industry or religion.

The Po^[7] is a river that arises in the Cottian Alps and flows eastward across northern Italy entering the Adriatic Sea through a delta near Venice.

13a   A good fortune pro's lost, /bringing/ harshness (8)

Those of us in the Ottawa area can certainly relate to the solution to this clue. Asperity^[3] means roughness or harshness, as of surface, sound, or climate ⇒ the asperity of northern winters.

15a   Camera mechanism // could be bodged up with maid's hairgrip (4,9)

An iris diaphragm^[5] (also know as an iris) is an adjustable diaphragm of thin overlapping plates for regulating the size of a central hole, especially for the admission of light to a lens.

18a   One reduces the price as a matter of policy (2-6,5)

No-claims bonus^[5] (also no-claims discount [as I expect most know the term in Canada]) is a British term for a reduction in the premium charged for insurance when no claim has been made during an agreed preceding period.

22a   Most unattractive // nuisance gets sprawled out to tuck in (8)

23a   Ruler // returning prohibits any dissent? Not entirely (6)

Answering the Call
In his review, Deep Threat asks "Hands up those who put ‘tyrant’ as their first answer!" Me! Me!

A dynast^[5] is a member of a powerful family, especially a hereditary ruler.

26a   Polish // relish? (5)

27a   Act on idea put out /by/ clerical office (9)

Diaconate^[5] means (1) the office of deacon, or a person’s tenure of it or (2) a body of deacons collectively.

I hampered myself in the southeast corner by carelessly entering DEACONITE without confirming that the letters in the "solution" actually matched the fodder. Only when 24d proved impossible did I demand a proper head count and discover my faux pas.

28a   Tidy up // kitchen finally, having had meal (6)

29a   Loud and wild tom cat intercepted by university // odd-job man (8)

Forte^[5] (abbreviation f^[5]) is a musical direction meaning (as an adjective) loud or (as an adverb) loudly.

Down

1d   Horse's knocked over little relative -- /that's/ the general view (8)

2d   Vehicle in // shed (5)

3d   Hated // the burden having to be carried around (7)

4d   Grandmother // not available more than once (4)

6d   One is surrounded by water -- // a popular holiday area (7)

The Riviera^[5] is part of the Mediterranean coastal region of southern France and northern Italy, extending from Cannes to La Spezia, famous for its beauty, mild climate, and fashionable resorts.

7d   Fruit // I am beginning to munch -- individual needing to eat that (9)

A persimmon^[5] is (1) an edible fruit that resembles a large tomato and has very sweet flesh or (2) the tree which yields this fruit, related to ebony.

8d   My negative response upset // Jeremiah maybe (6)

A Jeremiah^[5] is a person who complains continually or foretells disaster. The term is named after Jeremiah^[5] (circa 650-circa 585 BC), a Hebrew major prophet who foresaw the fall of Assyria, the conquest of his country by Egypt and Babylon, and the destruction of Jerusalem. The biblical Lamentations are traditionally ascribed to him.

An eponym^[5] is a person after whom a discovery, invention, place, etc., is named or thought to be named.

In his review, Deep Threat has thrown a slightly different slant on this word, using the definition found in The Chambers Dictionary which defines eponym^[1] as a person, real or mythical, from whose name another name, especially a place name, is derived; the name so derived; a hero invented to account for the name of place or people; a character who gives a play, etc its title; a distinguishing title.

In this regard, Deep Threat has related the Hebrew prophet to Jeremiah^[5], the book of the Bible containing his prophecies.

10d   Institution providing care, // established north of hospital in capital (4,4)

Rome^[5] is the capital of Italy, situated on the River Tiber about 25 km (16 miles) inland; population 2,724,347 (2008).

14d   Idiot will have rushed around, // under pressure (8)

In British usage, hare^[5] means to run with great speed ⇒ he hared off between the trees.

16d   A noise in a swirling // expanse of water (6,3)

The Ionian Sea^[5] is the part of the Mediterranean Sea between western Greece and southern Italy, at the mouth of the Adriatic.

17d   What's on meteorologist's chart /as/ part of his other map (8)

An isotherm^[10] is a line on a map linking places of equal temperature.

19d   Gather /as/ group of witches round start of night, end of June (7)

20d   Lad getting caught faces excessive // ban (7)

On cricket scorecards, the abbreviation c.^[2,10] or c^[5] denotes caught or caught by.

21d   Excellent // time in old-fashioned golf club (4-2)

Spoon^[5] is a dated term for a golf club with a slightly concave wooden head.

Spot on^[5] is an informal British expression that can be used either as an adjective or adverb meaning completely accurate or accurately ⇒ your reviews are spot on. [This may be a British expression — but I would say that it is a rather well-travelled one.]

24d   Stop // girl looking up and down on street (5)

Avast^[5] is a nautical exclamation directing (someone) to stop or cease ⇒ a sailor is expected to keep hauling until the mate hollers ‘Avast!.

25d   The old man // that's after Oscar (4)

Oscar^[5] is a code word representing the letter O, used in radio communication.

Papa^[5] is a code word representing the letter P, used in radio communication.

It is interesting to note that  papa^[5] is considered by Oxford Dictionaries Online to be a North American or dated term for one's father.

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