Wednesday, February 18, 2015 — DT 27588

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27588
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Saturday, September 6, 2014
Setter Cephas (Peter Chamberlain)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27588 – Hints] Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27588 – Review]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Big Dave (Hints) gnomethang (Review)
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
As this was a Saturday "Prize Puzzle" in Britain, there are two entries related to it on Big Dave's Crossword Blog — the first, posted on the date of publication, contains hints for selected clues while the second is a full review issued following the entry deadline for the contest. The vast majority of reader comments will generally be found attached to the "hints" posting with a minimal number — if any — accompanying the full review.

Introduction

As this was a Saturday puzzle in Britain, you should not find it overly taxing.

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

6a   Patient/'s/ protracted agony (4-9)

8a   Man/'s/ great upset before reaching hospital (6)

Gareth^[7] is a Welsh and English masculine given name of uncertain meaning. It first appeared in this form in Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, in which it belonged to Sir Gareth, a brother of Gawain and one of the Knights of the Round Table.

9a   Cry aloud // for one in shellfish’s grip (8)

10a   Regularly sourced // raw material (3)

11a   You should set down in lake and // away from the sea (6)

I saw the charade but failed to grasp the significance of the phrase "you should set down". In the word play, this phrase has nothing to do with aviation and everything to do with the use of pen on paper.

12a   Later, slightly confused, say nothing /for/ close friend (5,3)

It would appear that gnomethang himself may have been slightly confused. The wordplay is a smallish anagram (slightly confused) of LATER followed by ...

Alter ego^[5] can mean either (1) a person’s secondary or alternative personality or (2) an intimate and trusted friend. Thus Batman is Bruce Wayne's alter ego (in sense 1) and Robin is Batman's alter ego (in sense 2).

14a   Book hike /in/ bush (7)

16a   Bird /from/ Sweden going to bask (7)

The International Vehicle Registration (IVR) code for Sweden is S^[5].

Wallow^[2] is used in the sense of to to revel or luxuriate (in admiration, etc).

20a   Exotic scarab is /in/ plant (8)

The scarab^[5] (also sacred scarab) is a large dung beetle (Scarabaeus sacer) of the eastern Mediterranean area, regarded as sacred in ancient Egypt.

A brassica^[5] is a plant of a plant of a genus that includes cabbage, swede [also called Swedish turnip or, in North America, rutabaga^[4]], rape [likely better known in Canada as canola, although canola comprises only one group of cultivars of rape], and mustard.

23a   Beastly // bloomer needs earth (6)

The lupin^[5] is any of several species of plant plant of the pea family with deeply divided leaves and tall colourful tapering spikes of flowers.

E^[10] is a symbol for earth (as an electrical term).

Delving Deeper

In Britain, earth[5] is used as a noun to mean an electrical connection to the ground, regarded as having zero electrical potential ⇒ ensure metal fittings are electrically bonded to earth and as a verb to mean to connect (an electrical device) with the ground ⇒ the front metal panels must be soundly earthed. The equivalent term in North American is ground[5] (both as a noun and a verb). I can't help but note the irony that Oxford Dictionaries Online displays in defining earth as a British term meaning an "electrical connection to the ground" and ground as a North American term meaning an "electrical connection to the earth".

24a   Atlas, perhaps, // setter sent back (3)

In Greek mythology, Atlas^[5] was one of the Titans, who was punished for his part in their revolt against Zeus by being made to support the heavens. He became identified with the Atlas Mountains.

25a   Implication // concerning way of speaking (8)

26a   Frozen stiff /in/ fine outfit shown by papers (6)

F^[5] is an abbreviation for fine, as used in describing grades of pencil lead [a usage that Oxford Dictionaries Online surprisingly characterizes as British].

27a   Money-spinner? (8,5)

Down

1d   Type of bowling that's not on leg! (8)

In cricket, bowling^[5] is the action of a bowler in sending down balls towards the batsman’s wicket.

2d   Lops head off // flower (8)

The asphodel^[5] is a Eurasian plant of the lily family, typically having long slender leaves and flowers borne on a spike.

3d   Apres-ski, maybe // when it's less expensive? (7)

4d   Engineers wrong // to answer back (6)

The Corps of Royal Engineers^[7], usually just called the Royal Engineers (abbreviation RE), and commonly known as the Sappers^[7], is a corps of the British Army that provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces.

5d   For him, work is a grind (6)

6d   Nerd is in Shakespearean character on course, // moving student (7,6)

King Lear^[7] is a tragedy by English playwright William Shakespeare (1564-1616).

7d   In decline, // how long idling untidily? (5,8)

13d   When one expects // a letter from Crete? (3)

Crete^[5] is a Greek island in the eastern Mediterranean; population 630,000 (est. 2009); capital, Heraklion.

Eta^[5] is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet (Η, η).

15d   Public transport // isn't quite bankrupt (3)

17d   Game birds // -- or wolf, possibly? (8)

WOLF is an anagram (wild) of FOWL. Therefore, a crossword compiler might (possibly) clue WOLF as "wild fowl".

This is an inverse anagram, a type of clue in which the anagram result appears in the clue while the anagram indicator and fodder are found in the solution — which is the inverse of the usual situation.

18d   Ill-balanced // poles did topple (8)

19d   Fellow almost trapping spy // -- a kind of red (7)

21d   I won't visit grave // containing watery liquid (6)

22d   Had a good press? (6)

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