Wednesday, February 25, 2015 — DT 27593

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27593
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, September 12, 2014
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27593]
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

This puzzle has some quite tricky clues — not to mention a sprinkling of additions to my vocabulary — and I needed to use a bit of electronic help to complete it. Opinions were widely divergent on Big Dave's blog with some holding the view that the puzzle was quite difficult while others thought it to be on the easy side.

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   Principal holding school activity // in a bit of a mountain? (6)

In Britain, head^[5] is short for short for headmaster^[5] (a man who is the head teacher in a school), headmistress^[5] (a woman who is the head teacher in a school), or head teacher^[5] (the teacher in charge of a school).

PE^[5] is the abbreviation for physical education (or Phys Ed, as it was known in my school days). 

The question mark is a flag that the definition is a bit off the wall. Think of the solution being used in the context of dirty clothes heaped on the bed.

5a   Gets in touch with // prisoners, understanding being in confinement (8)

9a   Meat // bear rips into bits (5,3)

10a   Dead Queen's inscription on either side of that // old coin (6)

There were far too many unknowns in this clue for me to be able to solve it without a lot of help from my electronic assistants — and even then, I failed to fully decipher the wordplay.

Start with T (either side of that; either the initial letter or the final letter of ThaT). Then append ANNE R (the signature of Queen Anne).

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.

"Queen Anne is dead" is sarcastic way of saying: ‘That’s old news. I heard that weeks ago.’

Delving Deeper
The death of Queen Anne was officially hushed up for a while. News had leaked out, so when at last there was an official announcement of the Queen’s death, the crowd chanted in derision “Queen Anne is dead – didn’t you know?” and to this day “And Queen Anne is dead” is a standard rejoinder to somebody who bears stale news or states the obvious.

Regina^[5] (abbreviation R^[5]) [Latin for queen] denotes the reigning queen, used following a name (e.g. Elizabetha Regina, Queen Elizabeth) or in the titles of lawsuits (e.g. Regina v. Jones, the Crown versus Jones — often shortened to R. v. Jones).

Thus Queen Elizabeth signs her name as 'Elizabeth R' as seen here on Canada's paint-stained constitution.

Historically, tanner^[5] was an informal British name for a sixpence ⇒ a tanner for a packet of ten cigarettes.

11a   Poisonous type /offering/ holy love held in derision (8)

Pi^[5] is an informal British short form for pious.

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.

12a   Soldier 'done wrong' /according to/ judge (6)

A GI^[5] is a private soldier in the US army ⇒ she went off with a GI during the war. Contrary to popular belief, the term apparently is not an abbreviation for general infantryman, but rather derives from the term government (or general) issue (originally denoting equipment supplied to US forces).

A judge^[5] was a leader having temporary authority in ancient Israel in the period between Joshua and the kings.

In the Bible, Gideon^[5] is an Israelite leader, described in Judges 6:11 ff.

Delving Deeper
Judges[5] is the seventh book of the Bible, describing the conquest of Canaan under the leaders called ‘judges’ in an account that is parallel to that of the Book of Joshua and is probably more accurate historically. The book includes the stories of Deborah, Jael, Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson.

13a   /It's/ most mean /to be/ stricter than the rest? (8)

15a   Fruit // not ripening quickly, we hear? (4)

Sloe^[5] is another name for the blackthorn^[5], a thorny Eurasian shrub (Prunus spinosa) which bears white flowers before the leaves appear, as well as being the name of the small bluish-black fruit of this plant, with a sharp sour taste.

17a   Carry // little one home finally (4)

19a   Menace // spelt out in dire omen (8)

20a   Old country // hospital that has trail around it (6)

Thrace^[5] was an ancient country lying west of the Black Sea and north of the Aegean. It is now divided between Turkey, Bulgaria, and Greece.

21a   One maiden given job to lead men /is/ a fraud (8)

In cricket, a maiden^[5], also known as a maiden over, (abbreviation M)^[5] is an over in which no runs are scored. An over^[5] is a division of play consisting of a sequence of six balls bowled by a bowler from one end of the pitch, after which another bowler takes over from the other end.

In the British armed forces, the term other ranks^[5] (abbreviation OR^[5]) refers to all those who are not commissioned officers.

22a   Beginner // recognised insect's sound (6)

23a   Peg has hesitation stabling horse, // one not fully mature (8)

24a   Risk // death confronting sin (8)

In theology, the seven deadly sins^[10] are the sins of pride, covetousness, lust, envy, gluttony, anger, and sloth.

25a   Relation // is turning severe, almost totally (6)

Down

2d   Particular // sort of perception to get Alice perplexed (8)

Say Again!
In his review, Deep Threat alludes to ESP being "a sort of perception outside the normal six senses". Surely, he meant 'the normal five senses'.

3d   Spout // as star losing head, interrupting chatter (8)

Perorate^[5] [a word I've not previously encountered] means to speak at length ⇒ he perorated against his colleague.

4d   Bold act /of/ sinning admitted by divine circle (7-2)

Divine^[5] is a dated term for a cleric or theologian.

Doctor of Divinity^[7] (abbreviation D.D. or DD, Divinitatis Doctor in Latin) is an advanced academic degree in divinity. Historically, it identified one who had been licensed by a university to teach Christian theology or related religious subjects. In the United Kingdom, Doctor of Divinity has traditionally been the highest doctorate granted by universities, usually conferred upon a religious scholar of standing and distinction. In the United States, the Doctor of Divinity is usually awarded as an honorary degree.

5d   Government member -- // see me involved with sect in Britain (7,8)

6d   Like Russia once -- // in dire straits (7)

7d   Study something sure to be a winner -- old // piece of music (8)

Con^[5] is an archaic term meaning to study attentively or learn by heart (a piece of writing)  ⇒ the girls conned their pages with a great show of industry.

Cert^[5] is an informal British term for (1) an event regarded as inevitable ⇒ of course Mum would cry, it was a dead cert; (2) a racehorse strongly favoured to win a race; or (3) a person regarded as certain to do something ⇒ the Scottish [goal]keeper was a cert to play.

8d   Stop flow /in/ street right on corner (8)

14d   Shelter quiet little man needed aboard ship, // not getting off (9)

Piano^[3,5] (abbreviation p^[5]), is a musical direction meaning either (as an adjective) soft or quiet or (as an adverb) softly or quietly.

 In Crosswordland, you'll rarely go wrong by assuming that a ship is a steamship (abbreviation SS^[5]).

15d   Ruling /given in/ a few words? (8)

The question mark indicates that the second definition is but an example.

16d   Disconcerted // about a short working day? (8)

"About" is used in the sense of 'concerning'.

17d   Sin // very French to go unnoticed (8)

In French, très^[8] is an adverb meaning 'very'.

18d   In mountainous area /it can be/ sleety or windy (8)

As an anagram indicator, windy^[5] is likely used in the sense (of a road or river) following a curving or twisting course ⇒ the long windy path.

Tyrol^[5] is an Alpine state of western Austria; capital, Innsbruck. The southern part was ceded to Italy after the First World War.

19d   Speech /using/ 70 per cent of total vocabulary? (7)

What did he say?
In his review, Deep Threat mentions "the BRB". The BRB (Big Red Book) is a term frequently used on Big Dave's site to refer to The Chambers Dictionary.

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