Wednesday, February 11, 2015 — DT 27583

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27583
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, September 1, 2014
Setter Rufus (Roger Squires)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27583]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Miffypops
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 definitely found this puzzle to be far more difficult than the single star which has been awarded by Miffypops. I completed it over the course of several solving sessions. Having finished roughly half the puzzle, I ground to a complete halt. Fortunately, when next I picked it up, most of the remainder fell into place.

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   We hear he needs people (7)

... in other words, he "kneads" people!

5a   Log support // to sack scoundrel (7)

9a   Ron, e.g., may be // one beyond help (5)

10a   Battle // helmet (9)

The Battle of Balaclava^[5] was a battle of the Crimean War, fought between Russia and an alliance of British, French, and Turkish forces in and around the small port of Balaclava (now Balaklava) in the southern Crimea in 1854. The battle ended inconclusively; it is chiefly remembered as the scene of the Charge of the Light Brigade.

A balaclava^[5] (also balaclava helmet) is a chiefly British term [according to Oxford Dictionaries Online] for a close-fitting garment covering the whole head and neck except for parts of the face, typically made of wool.

I'm afraid that I always think of a helmet as being a piece of armour, but here helmet^[3] is used in the sense of a head covering, such as a balaclava, that is shaped like a helmet.

11a   It will enable the pupil to shine (10)

12a   Unidentified // girl accepts ring (4)

14a   A dangerous job /requires/ lot of money before final settlement (4,8)

A bomb^[5] is an informal British expression for a large sum of money ⇒ that silk must have cost a bomb.

18a   People who believe in one should have their heads examined (12)

21a   Decides // to change stop (4)

22a   Cold buffet /is/ a great disappointment (6,4)

Buffet^[5] is used in the sense of a dated term for a blow or punch.

25a   Get into debts // without interest (9)

26a   A bit // like audible tranquillity (5)

27a   The people who got cross during WW2 (7)

The George Cross was awarded to the island of Malta^[7] by King George VI of the United Kingdom to "bear witness to the heroism and devotion of its people" during the great siege it underwent in the early parts of World War II.

28a   Teams // of seven put out by the Spanish (7)

In Spanish, the masculine singular form of the definite article is el^[8].

Eleven^[5] is the number of players on a cricket^[7] side or an Association football^[7] [soccer] team — and is often used as a metonym for such a team ⇒ at cricket I played in the first eleven.

Down

1d   African politician // set upon Lincoln (6)

Abraham Lincoln^[5] (1809–1865) was an American Republican statesman, 16th President of the US 1861-5. 

Robert Mugabe^[5] is a Zimbabwean statesman, Prime Minister 1980-7 and President since 1987. He became Prime Minister in Zimbabwe’s first post-independence elections. In 1987 his party ZANU merged with ZAPU and Mugabe became executive President of a one-party state.

2d   Sombre at first and dark, /but/ not in shadow (6)

3d   Like an astronaut returning -- /or/ failing to get lift-off? (5-5)

4d   Bird // to take illegally home (5)

5d   Much activity // that could make up for an empty roundabout (4,5)

Roundabout^[10] is a British name for a merry-go-round.

Don't Step in this Trap
Roundabout[10] is a British name for a traffic circle.

What did he say?
In his review, Miffypops refers to "a saying that alludes to children’s playground equipment. What we lose on the roundabouts we gain on the ******."
Perhaps he has it backwards — but, then, it should work equally well in both directions. What you lose on the swings, you gain on the roundabouts (also it's swings and roundabouts) is a British and Australian idiom used to describe a situation in which there are as many advantages as there are problems  ⇒ (i) If you make more money, you have to pay more tax, so what we gain on the swings, we lose on the roundabouts.; (ii) It's swings and roundabouts, really. If you save money by buying a house out of town, you pay more to travel to work.

6d   People /in/ competition (4)

7d   A doctor might // mix a gin in medicine (8)

The definition becomes more meaningful once a bit of mental padding is added to get "[What] a doctor might [do]".

8d   Lots of flukes which prevent the balloon going up (8)

A grapnel^[5] is a small anchor with several flukes [a broad triangular plate on the arm of an anchor].

Scratching the Surface
A fluke[5] is an unlikely chance occurrence, especially a surprising piece of luck ⇒ their victory was a bit of a fluke.

Although I can't be certain, I doubt that grapnels are still used in hot air ballooning — but it seems that they once were, as witnessed by the following account.

Delving Deeper

Hot air ballooning in the 19th century would certainly seem to be a pastime not for the faint of heart. The grapnel or anchor is a large five-pronged hook attached to the ring by a rope 100 or 120 feet long. The first care of the aeronaut on leaving the earth is to lower the grapnel gently to the full extent that the rope will permit. Thus, when the balloon is in the air, the grapnel hangs down below it, and when the descent is being effected, is the first thing to touch the ground. If the descent is well managed, and the balloon is moving downwards slowly, the weight of which it is relieved when the grapnel is supported by the earth checks any further descent, and the wind carries the balloon along horizontally, the grapnel trailing over tho ground until it catches in some obstruction and is held fast. The balloon is then in much about the same position as a kite held by a string, and if the wind be strong, plunges about wildly, striking the ground and rebounding, until the aeronaut, by continued use of the valve-line, has allowed sufficient gas to escape to deprive it of all buoyancy and prevent its rising again. The chief danger attending ballooning lies in the descent; for if a strong wind be blowing, the grapnel will sometimes trail for miles over the ground at the rate of ten or twenty miles an hour, catching now and then in hedges, ditches, roots of trees, &c.; and, after giving the balloon a terrible jerk, breaking loose again, till at length some obstruction, such as the wooded bank of a stream, affords a firm hold. If the balloon has lost all its buoyant power by the escape of the gas, the car also drags over the ground. But even a very rough descent is usually not productive of any very serious consequences; as, although the occupants of the car generally receive many bruises, and are perhaps cut by the ropes, it rarely happens that anything worse occurs. Aeronautics, The Encyclopedia Britannica (Ninth Edition, 1878)

13d   Sign for a missing letter (10)

15d   Indian food with extra // port in America (9)

According to Oxford Dictionaries Online, balti^[5] is a term used in Pakistani cooking for a spicy dish cooked in a small two-handled pan known as a karahi. However, Collins English Dictionary defines balti^[10] as a spicy Indian dish, stewed until most of the liquid has evaporated, and served in a woklike pot. Finally, Chambers 21st Century Dictionary tells us that balti^[2] is a term used in Indian cookery for a style of curry, originating in Britain, in which the food is cooked in and eaten out of the same wok-like dish (which is also known as a balti).

16d    Metaphor is mixed but its content is pithy (8)

This clue seems to defy being rigorously parsed — which is a very good reason to call it a cryptic definition.

Had the definition been a synonym for "aphorism", then the clue would have been a straight-forward "hidden word" clue.

• Metaphor is mixed but its content /is/ [a synonym for aphorism] (8)

However, the word "pithy" is not a synonym for aphorism but, rather, an attribute of an aphorism. Thus, we must interpret the clue as "Metaphor is mixed but its content displays the characteristic of pithiness".

17d   In some danger /of/ finding fault (8)

19d   Maintain /there's/ some body in the beer (6)

20d   They have // news or distribute it (6)

23d   Head of state moves to centre, /showing/ discrimination (5)

24d   Payment including king's // ransom (4)

Rex^[5] (abbreviation R^[5]) [Latin for king] denotes the reigning king, used following a name (e.g. Georgius Rex, King George) or in the titles of lawsuits (e.g. Rex v. Jones, the Crown versus Jones — often shortened to R. v. Jones).

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