Tuesday, March 31, 2015 — DT 27617

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27617
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, October 10, 2014
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27617]
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

As is his custom, Giovanni throws a new word or two at us. However, I was able to work them out without calling in the electronic reinforcements.

At Comment #13 on Big Dave's blog, Rick sums up the puzzle by saying "as I was solving this I couldn’t get out of my mind how ‘old school’ it felt. There is nothing in the language or subject matter that would have fazed a fifth former [grader] at a 1960s grammar school – indeed nothing at all to suggest that the last forty years had ever happened! Rather like Mr Miliband [Ed Miliband, leader of the British Labour Party], the Don [a reference to Giovanni, the setter of the puzzle] was very much targeting his core constituency and, from the comments, successfully."

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   Substantial food // male chewed after nine? (6,4)

6a   Medicine /from/ doctor that gets you recovering finally (4)

Rightly or wrongly, I interpreted "finally" as indicating the final letters of the two words "yoU recoverinG". However, Deep Threat has a different explanation.

9a   Little sirs appearing // evenings Monday to Friday (10)

10a   Military supplies // carried by team mostly (4)

13a   Doomed rich man embraces trendy // theologians (7)

The parable of the rich man and Lazarus^[7] (also called the parable of Dives and Lazarus or Lazarus and Dives) is a well-known parable of Jesus appearing in the Gospel of Luke.

The Gospel of Luke (Luke 16:19–31) tells of the relationship, in life and in death, between an unnamed rich man and a poor beggar named Lazarus. The traditional name, Dives, is not actually a name, but instead a Latin word meaning "rich man" used in the text of the Latin Bible, the Vulgate.

By the way, the beggar is not to be confused with the more famous biblical figure Lazarus of Bethany, also known as Lazarus of the Four Days, who is the subject of a prominent miracle attributed to Jesus in the Gospel of John, in which Jesus resurrects him four days after his death.

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

15a   Lecturer /providing/ book of exercises (6)

Reader^[5] is a British term for a university lecturer of the highest grade below professor ⇒ Dr Gardiner is Reader in Mathematics.

16a   Dull little boy/'s/ nurse (6)

According to Oxford Dictionaries Online, mat^[5] is the US spelling of matt^[5] (or matte), an adjective used to describe a surface or colour which is dull and flat or without a shine ⇒ (i) prints are available on matt or glossy paper; (ii) a matt black. I am only familiar with the spelling matte.

Matron^[5] is a British term for the woman in charge of the nursing in a hospital (the official term is now senior nursing officer)  ⇒ she had been matron of a Belgian Hospital.

Behind the Video
The video shows Hattie Jacques as the Matron and Kenneth Williams as Dr. Tinkle in a scene from the 1967 British comedy Carry on Doctor[7], the fifteenth in the series of Carry On films.

17a   Time // of nourishment I'd arranged (6,9)

The fourth dimension^[5] is time regarded as analogous to linear dimensions.

18a   Frank // performed after John (6)

20a   Trifling // trickery from what we hear (6)

21a   Fearless // Tory without gold going after money (7)

Or^[5] is gold or yellow, as a heraldic tincture.

Doughty^[5] is an archaic or humorous term meaning brave and persistent ⇒ his doughty spirit kept him going.

22a   Facing notice say // a mild oath (4)

25a   Lacking a burden, // travelling light for picnic? (10)

26a   Big plant /in/ thoroughfare pruned at edges (4)

27a   Affluent // Italian duke meets American (10)

Prospero^[7] is a fictional character and the protagonist of William Shakespeare's play The Tempest. He is the rightful Duke of Milan, whose title has been usurped by his brother, Antonio, twelve years before the play begins.

Down

1d   Broadcast // offered to viewers, hard to miss (4)

H^[5] is an abbreviation for hard, as used in describing grades of pencil lead ⇒ a 2H pencil.

2d   Exercised /and/ entertained, but not in the morning (4)

3d   Artist // starts to receive eulogies -- number one, right? (6)

Auguste Renoir^[5] (1841–1919) was a French painter. An early impressionist, he developed a style characterized by light, fresh colours and indistinct, subtle outlines. Notable works: Les Grandes baigneuses (1884-7).

4d   Solution to a problem with troublesome little characters? (10,5)

5d   Two articles on musician's original // piece for church choir (6)

An anthem^[5] is a musical setting of a religious text to be sung by a choir during a church service, especially in Anglican or Protestant Churches.

7d   Second match /is/ rarer game, I fancy (10)

8d   Items of food /supplied by/ sporting venue not at all sensible (10)

Ground^[5] denotes an area of land, often with associated buildings, used for a particular sport ⇒ (i) a football ground; (ii) Liverpool’s new ground is nearing completion.

Delving Deeper

Although the dictionaries do not identify this as a British usage, I would say that it likely is when applied specifically to sports venues. Used in its more general sense of an area of land or sea used for a specified purpose, North Americans would certainly use terms such as "burial ground", "parade ground" or "fishing grounds". Despite the word "grounds" appearing in the name of least one Canadian sports venue — the Wanderers Grounds[7] in Halifax — I am confident that one would typically not hear the term ground used in North America to refer to a sports stadium.

In Britain and the South Atlantic US, groundnut^[3,5,11] is another name for peanut [thus explaining the illustration in Deep Threat's review].

More generally, the term groundnut^[3,5,11] means (1) any of several species of climbing vine of the genus Apios in the pea (or legume) family having clusters of fragrant brownish flowers, and small edible tubers; (2) any of several other plants having edible underground tubers or nutlike parts; or (3) the tuber or nutlike part of such a plant.

11d   Technically sound -- // if not, price must be adjusted (10)

12d   Misconstrue me a lunatic -- // smear! (10)

Calumniate^[5] is a formal term meaning to make false and defamatory statements about ⇒ he has been calumniating the Crown and all the conservative decencies.

13d   I toddle -- dislocated // muscle (7)

14d   Like a fox, inwardly isn't // very good (7)

19d   Antipathy // that destroys wonder (6)

The Chambers Dictionary [alone amongst those to which I regularly turn] defines downer^[1] as meaning a feeling of prejudice or dislike, antipathy.

20d   Devon town has barn set aside /for/ basic food (6)

Barnstaple^[7] is the main town of North Devon, England, and possibly the oldest borough in the United Kingdom. It is a former river-port, located at the lowest crossing-point of the River Taw, flowing into the Bristol Channel.

Delving Deeper
The Cape Cod town of Barnstable, Massachusetts[7] takes its name from Barnstaple. However, somewhere along the line, the "p" has morphed into a "b".

23d   Body that gets leader deposed // roughly (2,2)

24d   Teams heading off /for/ a day in Rome (4)

In North America, the term side^[3] is used in a very general fashion that can denote one of two or more opposing individuals, groups, teams, or sets of opinions. While this same general usage would seem to exist as well in the UK, the term side^[5] is also used there in a much more specific sense to mean a sports team ⇒ (i) Previous England rugby sides, and England teams in many other sports, would have crumbled under the weight of such errors.; (ii) They'll face better sides than this Monaco team, but you can only beat what's put in front of you..

In the ancient Roman calendar, ides^[5] was a day falling roughly in the middle of each month (the 15th day of March, May, July, and October, and the 13th of other months. In Shakespeare's play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar^[7], a soothsayer warns Caesar to "beware the Ides of March", which he ignores, culminating in his assassination on that day by a group of conspirators.

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

Monday, March 30, 2015 — DT 27616

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27616
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, October 9, 2014
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27616]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By pommers
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

With a couple of clues remaining, I finally surrendered after beating my head against a brick wall for far too long and called in my electronic assistants.to lend a hand. It would appear that pommers did not encounter the same difficulty.

As per usual, it has been necessary to restore a few illustrations in pommers' review which have mysteriously gone missing.

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

2a   Explanatory // representation of virus a little European contracted (12)

The overwhelming consensus on Big Dave's blog is that the setter misjudged the number of Es required in the anagram fodder.

The first part of the wordplay is sufficient to produce the solution; that is, an anagram of (representation of) VIRUS A LITTLE gives ILLUSTRATIVE.

The remainder of the wordplay, "European contracted", is likely clueing E (an abbreviation for "European"). However, the extra E is superfluous.

8a   Unruffled // learner entering river (4)

The cryptic crossword convention of L meaning learner or student arises from the L-plate^[7], a square plate bearing a sans-serif letter L, for learner, which must be affixed to the front and back of a vehicle in various countries (including the UK) if its driver is a learner under instruction.

The Cam^[10] is a river in eastern England, in Cambridgeshire, flowing through Cambridge to the Great Ouse (river). Length: about 64 km (40 miles).

Delving Deeper

The Great Ouse (which flows through East Anglia) is not to be confused with either the River Ouse in Yorkshire nor the River Ouse in Sussex — and certainly not with the Little Ouse, a river of East Anglia, which forms a tributary of the Great Ouse. East Anglia[5] [also mentioned by pommers in his review]  is a region of eastern England consisting of the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, and parts of Essex and Cambridgeshire.

9a   Son cutting meals by reforming // diet perhaps (8)

Diet^[2] is is the name of the legislative assembly of certain countries, e.g. Japan.

Delving Deeper

Historically, diet[10] was the name of the assembly of the estates of the Holy Roman Empire. The best remembered instance is undoubtedly the Diet of Worms[5], a meeting of the Holy Roman emperor Charles V’s imperial diet at Worms in 1521, at which Martin Luther was summoned to appear. Luther committed himself there to the cause of Protestant reform, and his teaching was formally condemned in the Edict of Worms.

10a   Source of deep delivery? (8)

A lifeboat^[5] can be either (1) a specially constructed boat launched from land to rescue people in distress at sea or (2) a small boat kept on a ship for use in emergency, typically one of a number on deck or suspended from davits. Clearly, pommers — and seemingly most Brits — envisaged the former while, for me, it was the latter that came to mind.

Missing Illustration
This is the lifeboat based at Moelfre in Angelsey

Delving Deeper

RNLI logo You will see quite a bit of discussion on Big Dave's blog about the Royal National Lifeboat Institution[7] (RNLI), this being the largest charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man as well as on some inland waterways. There are numerous other lifeboat services operating in the same area. Founded in 1824 as the National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck, the RNLI was granted Royal Charter in 1860 and is a charity in the UK and Republic of Ireland. Queen Elizabeth II is Patron. The RNLI is principally funded by legacies and donations with most lifeboat crew members being unpaid volunteers. The Institution has saved 140,000 lives since its foundation, at a cost of more than 600 lives lost in service.

11a   A French expert getting left inside // to remove trainer? (6)

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

12a   Promotion /to offer/ before agitation? (10)

I flailed around for a considerable amount of time trying to work "proffer" (which I was misspelling as 'profer') into the solution.

The phrase "to offer" is serving as a link between the definition and wordplay.

Preferment^[5] denotes promotion or appointment to a position or office ⇒ (i) after ordination, preferment was fast; (ii) most of her ministers owed their first preferment to her.

13a   Popular colleague // one's given time (6)

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.’.

16a   Mischievous // damsel finally gets detained (5)

The wordplay here does not quite work for me. It is not "damsel finally" that "gets detained" but rather "mischievous" (or, more properly, its synonym). What might have worked quite nicely (dare I say it) is "penetrated" in place of "detained".

Missing Illustration
The elfin Audrey Hepburn

17a   Shakespearean character/'s/ staying power (6)

Nick Bottom^[7] is a character in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream who provides comic relief throughout the play. He is famously known for getting his head transformed into that of a donkey by the elusive Puck.

Bottom^[5] is an archaic term meaning stamina or strength of character ⇒ whatever his faults, he possesses that old-fashioned quality—bottom.

18a   A floating can? (6,4)

21a   Obstacle about first piece of equipment /that's/ technologically advanced (2-4)

23a   Former person in union rung /and/ given praise (8)

24a   Criminal /having/ anxiety in Germany (8)

Scratching the Surface
As dutch points out in Comment #3, angst[8] is actually the German word for anxiety.

25a   Upper-class fool /in/ army group (4)

In Britain, U^[5] is used informally as an adjective (in respect to language or social behaviour) meaning characteristic of or appropriate to the upper social classes ⇒ U manners. The term, an abbreviation of  upper class, was coined in 1954 by Alan S. C. Ross, professor of linguistics, and popularized by its use in Nancy Mitford's Noblesse Oblige (1956).

Nit^[5] is an informal British term for a foolish person ⇒ you stupid nit!.

26a   I'm opposed to imperial figures? (6,6)

I toyed with the idea that we might be expected to interpret "I'm" as 1 m (one metre) which would be an example of expressing a distance in the metric system as opposed to the imperial system.

Down

1d   Artist overlooking seaside feature // that's pointedly offensive (6)

The word "that's" has to be included in the definition since the solution is a noun. We are meant to interpret the definition as "[somethng] that's pointedly offensive".

A Royal Academician (abbreviation RA^[5]) is a member of the Royal Academy of Arts^[5], an institution established in London in 1768, whose purpose is to cultivate painting, sculpture, and architecture in Britain.

What did he say?

In his review, pommers describes a pier as something you might find in a seaside resort such as Brighton. Brighton[5] is a resort on the south coast of England, in East Sussex; population 127,700 (est. 2009). The Brighton Marine Palace and Pier is a pleasure pier in Brighton, England. It is generally known as the Palace Pier for short, but has been informally renamed Brighton Pier[7] since 2000 by its owners, as it is now Brighton's only non-derelict pier.

2d   Tense /and/ suffering blemishes? (9)

3d   Work // occupying professional, a bourgeois (6)

4d   Landmark /that's/ disturbed by a tourist fleet? (6,2,7)

Missing Illustration

5d   Russian mystic // artist's given introduction (8)

Grigori Rasputin^[5] (1871–1916) was a Russian monk. He came to exert great influence over Tsar Nicholas II and his family during the First World War; this influence, combined with his reputation for debauchery, steadily discredited the imperial family, and he was assassinated by a group loyal to the tsar.

6d   Back including 'monsieur' /in/ Asian language (5)

In French, monsieur^[8] (abbreviation M^[8]) means 'gentleman' or 'man'.

Tamil^[5] is the Dravidian language of the Tamils, a people inhabiting parts of South India and Sri Lanka. The language, at least 2,000 years old, is spoken by about 68 million people.

7d   Speed // shown briefly by five in Rome? (8)

I must thank pommers for explaining the wordplay. In physics, the symbol (shown briefly) for VELOCITY is V which is also the symbol used in ancient Rome to represent the number five.

Missing Illustration
That's moving at a fair velocity - any excuse!

14d   Gold alone is kept in silence /in/ gloomy place (9)

The symbol for the chemical element gold is Au^[5] (from Latin aurum).

15d   Propose // flier in letter (8)

I became fixated on INDICATE — which probably satisfies the definition but certainly not the wordplay. It is strange how once an idea becomes entrenched in ones mind, it is virtually impossible to dislodge it — even though one realizes that it is obviously incorrect.

Mina^[2] is a seemingly rare alternative spelling of myna (also mynah), any of various large, southeast Asian birds of the starling family, some of which can be taught to imitate human speech. Among the several dictionaries that I consult on a regular basis, this spelling is found only in The Chambers Dictionary^[1] and the Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary^[11] in addition to the cited entry from Chambers 21st Century Dictionary.

16d   Time chap's got upset // showing stress? (8)

19d   Dismissed some tennis /in/ the beginning (6)

In tennis, darts, and other games, a set^[5] is a group of games counting as a unit towards a match ⇒ he took the first set 6-3.

20d   Peninsula /in/ Russian region lacking sun (6)

What did he say?
In his review, pommers describes Iberia as the European peninsula where I live. As you may have gleaned from his introduction, he lives in Vega Baja which located near the southern extremity of the province of Alicante on the Mediterranean coast of Spain.

Iberia^[10] is another name — and, according to Oxford Dictionaries Online, the ancient name^[5] — for the Iberian Peninsula.

Siberia^[5] is a vast region of Russia, extending from the Urals to the Pacific and from the Arctic coast to the northern borders of Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and China. Noted for the severity of its winters, it was traditionally used as a place of exile; it is now a major source of minerals and hydroelectric power.

Missing Illustration
Iberian peninsular (sic)

22d   Anxious // time in US medical facility (5)

Emergency room^[5] (abbreviation ER^[5]) is a North American term. The equivalent British term would be either accident and emergency^[5] (abbreviation A & E) or casualty department^[5] (or casualty ward).

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

Saturday, March 28, 2015 — Monkeys with a View

Introduction

I found the top half of today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvonto be virtually a write-in. The bottom half, on the other hand, required a bit of thought.

The monkeys in today's puzzle provide a view — no matter how you approach them — that is rather disconcerting.

I invite you to leave a comment to let us know how you fared with the puzzle.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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 █ - yet to be solved

Legend:	"*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed
	"( )" letters inserted; "_" letters deleted; "†" explicit in the clue
	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 (//).

Across

4a   Talk aimlessly /with/ Ron, taking stroll (6,2)

R(AMBLE) ON — RON (†) containing (taking) AMBLE (stroll)

8a   Sit across // street right before puzzle (8)

ST|R|ADDLE — ST (street) + R (right) + (before) ADDLE (puzzle)

9a   Backing in, scold // idiot (6)

NI<|TWIT — reversal (backing) of IN + TWIT (scold)

10a   Average jousting weapon, /in/ a manner of speaking (8)

PAR|LANCE — PAR (average; especially in golf) + LANCE (jousting weapon)

11a   Fat-covered pig // left on a ship (8)

LAR(BOAR)D — BOAR (pig) contained in (covered [by]) FAT (lard)

12a   Class parties // one ruins with changes (8)

REUNIONS* — anagram (with changes) of ONE RUINS

14a   National symbol on // wine container (6)

FLAG|ON — FLAG (national symbol) + ON (†)

16a   Greek deity // ate his bananas (6)

HESTIA* — anagram (bananas) of ATE HIS

In Greek mythology, Hestia^[3,4,11] is the goddess of the hearth, daughter of Cronus and Rhea. Her counterpart in Roman mythology is Vesta.

17a   Country’s // history, unwritten (8)

PAST|ORAL — PAST (history) + ORAL (unwritten)

A bit sneaky, this one, with the 's being part of the definition!

19a   Tennis star agreed with love // message on a wall (8)

GRAF|FIT|O — GRAF (tennis star; German tennis player Steffi Graf) + FIT (agreed with) + O (love)

Steffi Graf^[5] is German tennis player; full name Stefanie Maria Graf. She was ranked top women’s player at the age of 16 and won her seventh Wimbledon singles title in 1996.

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.

Graffito is the singular form of the plural noun graffiti^[5].

21a   Tie // game taken in by fuzz (8)

LI(GAME)NT — GAME (†) contained in (taken in by) LINT (fuzz)

23a   Submit // metal-clad vessel (4,2)

T(URN) IN — URN (vessel) contained in (clad [in]) TIN (metal)

24a   Writer MacLeod // preferred guests with distinctive quality (8)

ALIST|AIR — A LIST (preferred guests) + (with) AIR (distinctive quality)

Alistair MacLeod^[7] (1936–2014) was a Canadian novelist, short story writer and academic. His powerful and moving stories vividly evoke the beauty of Cape Breton Island's rugged landscape and the resilient character of many of its inhabitants, the descendants of Scottish immigrants, who are haunted by ancestral memories and who struggle to reconcile the past and the present. MacLeod has been praised for his verbal precision, his lyric intensity and his use of simple, direct language that seems rooted in an oral tradition.

Although he is known as a master of the short story, MacLeod's 1999 novel No Great Mischief was voted Atlantic Canada's greatest book of all time. The novel also won several literary prizes including the 2001 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.

25a   Man and wife’s // island group (8)

HE|BRIDE|S — HE (man) + (and) BRIDE (woman) + S ('s)

The Hebrides^[5] is a group of about 500 islands off the northwestern coast of Scotland. The Inner Hebrides include the islands of Skye, Mull, Jura, Islay, Iona, Coll, Eigg, Rhum, Staffa, and Tiree. The Little Minch separates this group from the Outer Hebrides, which include the islands of Lewis and Harris, North and South Uist, Benbecula, Barra, and the isolated St Kilda group.

Down

1d   A flirt // in a moment of relaxation (2,4)

A|T EASE — A (†) + TEASE (flirt)

2d   Stealing wrong // catch phrases (3,5)

{TAG LINES}* — anagram (wrong) of STEALING

3d   Norse god/’s/ patch of moodiness (4)

_ODIN_ — hidden in (patch of) moODINess

In Scandinavian mythology, Odin^[5] (also Woden or Wotan) is the supreme god and creator, god of victory and the dead. Wednesday is named after him.

4d   Staggers around five // parties (6)

RE(V)ELS — REELS (staggers) containing (around) V ([Roman numeral for] five)

5d   Male of our species trains // monkeys (9)

MAN|DRILLS — MAN (male of our species) + DRILLS (trains)

The mandrill^[5] is a large West African baboon with a red and blue face, the male having a blue rump.

6d   Drunk after starting // game of chance (5)

_LOTTO — [B]LOTTO (drunk) with the initial letter removed (after starting [initial letter])

7d   Awfully moronic // character of Greece (7)

OMICRON* — anagram (awfully) of MORONIC

Omicron^[5] is the fifteenth letter of the Greek alphabet (Ο, ο).

13d   Having a view // restricted, in back of ring (9)

O|PINIONED — PINIONED (restricted) following (in back of) O ([letter that looks like a] ring)

15d   Greek mantras about gathered // reinforcements (8)

GR|OM(MET)S — GR (Greek) + OMS (mantras) containing (about) MET (gathered)

Om^[5] is a mystic syllable, considered the most sacred mantra in Hinduism and Tibetan Buddhism. It appears at the beginning and end of most Sanskrit recitations, prayers, and texts.

16d   Said, “The woman’s outfit /is/ hairy” (7)

{HIR|SUTE}~ — sounds like (said) {HER (the woman's) + SUIT (outfit)}

17d   Dances // while following the eleventh U.S. president (6)

POLK|AS — AS (while) following (†) POLK (the eleventh U.S. president)

James Knox Polk^[5] (1795–1849) was an American Democratic statesman, 11th President of the US 1845-9. His term of office resulted in major territorial additions to the US: Texas was admitted to the Union in 1845 and conflict with Mexico resulted in the annexation of California and the south-west two years later.

18d   I need a terribly // long poem (6)

AENEID* — anagram (terribly) of I NEED A

The Aeneid^[5] is a Latin epic poem in twelve books by Virgil which relates the travels and experiences of Aeneas after the fall of Troy.

20d   Superior // punisher (5)

FINER — double definition

22d   Smile, /with/ hard work not quite finished (4)

GRIN_ — GRIN[D] (hard work) with the final letter removed (not quite finished)

Epilogue

The title of today's blog is inspired by 5d and 13d.

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

Friday, March 27, 2015 — DT 27615

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27615
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, October 8, 2014
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27615]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By 2Kiwis
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

Jay rarely disappoints — and today is no exception. I did need to fall back on assistance from my electronic helpers to get me across the finish line.

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   Leave drink, taking in small // talk (6)

5a   Irregular // role at home around South America (8)

9a   Time working on board /getting/ marine life forms (8)

10a   Schemes incorporating island/'s/ flat areas (6)

11a   Fellow listener a few // dread (8)

The definition is an adjective.

F^[2] is the abbreviation for Fellow (of a society, etc). For instance, it is found in professional designations such as FRAIC (Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada).

12a   Hoped /to see/ West End cast (6)

Even after I had the correct solution, it took a while for the penny to drop on the wordplay.

The West End of London (more commonly referred to as simply the West End) is an area of Central London containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings and entertainment venues (including the commercial West End theatres). The West End is largely contained within the City of Westminster (one of the 32 London boroughs).

The use of the term 'West End' began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross [which is considered to mark the centre of London].

While the City of London [not to be confused with the city of London] or the Square Mile is the main business and financial district in London, the West End is the main commercial and entertainment centre of the city. It currently ranks as the most expensive location in the world in which to rent office space, beating Tokyo in December 2013.

The boundaries of the West End coincide closely with those of the W1 postcode area^[7] [postcode being the British counterpart of the Canadian postal code or American zip code].

The wordplay is WI (West End; W1 [postcode] with the 1 expressed as a Roman numeral) + SHED (cast).

13a   Expanded // by serving lager in terminal (8)

15a   She gets disheartened during American // functions (4)

17a   Why some did less? (4)

At Comment #4 on Big Dave's blog, dutch says "11a and 17a are very nice clues but i wasn’t sure the answer quite matched the right part of speech". Several others make similar comments regarding 11a, but comments from Expat Chris and Deep Threat would appear to allay any concern about that clue. However, no one else appears to have any misgivings regarding 17a. To me, the answer to "Why some did less?" should be IDLENESS rather than IDLE.

19a   Story about Right /creates/ a state of conflict (8)

20a   Creature/'s/ show of hesitation in front of pit (6)

21a   Person lacking rank -- // one arriving around beginning of week (8)

A commoner^[5] is one of the ordinary or common people, as opposed to the aristocracy or royalty ⇒ this is the story of the commoner who married a king.

22a   Superficial impression made on a student // of teeth (6)

The cryptic crossword convention of L meaning learner or student arises from the L-plate^[7], a square plate bearing a sans-serif letter L, for learner, which must be affixed to the front and back of a vehicle in various countries (including the UK) if its driver is a learner under instruction.

23a   What identifies quality /of/ target by hawk? (8)

Like the 2Kiwis, I remembered the mark from a previous puzzle.

A kite^[10] is any of several species of diurnal bird of prey of the family Accipitridae (hawk family) typically having a long forked tail and long broad wings and usually preying on small mammals and insects.

In the UK, Kitemark^[5] (trademark) denotes an official kite-shaped mark on goods approved by the British Standards Institution.

24a   Clothes and weapon hidden in loo (8)

Loo^[5] is an informal British term for a toilet.

The gents^[5] is an informal British term for a men's public toilet.

25a   Company director's first German // buffer (6)

Buffer^[5] is an informal British term for an elderly man who is considered to be foolishly old-fashioned, unworldly, or incompetent ⇒ a distinguished old buffer.

Down

2d   Lies low, forced to cover lake /and/ fuel sources (3,5)

3d   Odd items perhaps /of/ washing hung out -- here's why? (8)

I'm including the word "perhaps" in the definition. It has to go somewhere!

4d   Post Office worker pockets black // book that's an earner (9)

5d   Excitedly contact speaker, importing fine // sweets (10,5)

Having deduced that the solution is an anagram, and having eventually determined all the checking letters, I arranged the remaining letters of the fodder in what I considered to be their most likely order and then verified the existence of what turned out to be a candy (rather than a dessert) on Wikipedia.

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].

In Britain, a sweet^[5] is a small shaped piece of confectionery made with sugar ⇒ a bag of sweets. In other words, sweets would be candy^[5] to us in North America and we would refer to a sweet as a piece of candy.

Pontefract cakes^[5] (also known as Pomfret cakes and Pomfrey cakes) are a type of small, roughly circular black sweet [candy] measuring approximately 2 cm in diameter and 4 mm thick, made of liquorice, originally manufactured in the Yorkshire town of Pontefract, England.

Health Advisory
Healthcare professionals have warned against overindulgence in liquorice after a 56-year-old woman was admitted to hospital following an overdose. The woman consumed about 200g daily leading to dangerously low potassium levels and subsequent muscle failure. The European Commission recommends limiting consumption of the active ingredient, glycyrrhizic acid, to 100 mg or less per day.

6d   Bound to include everybody, // agreed (7)

7d   Rebellious youth // almost broke the boss (8)

Skint^[5] is an informal British term denoting (of a person) having little or no money available ⇒ I’m a bit skint just now.

A skinhead^[5] is a young man of a subculture characterized by close-cropped hair and heavy boots, often perceived as aggressive.

8d   Made enquiries on one case of vehicle/'s/ sudden fall (8)

14d   Strange -- // credit is short in support of German war machine (9)

Tick^[5] (used in the phrase on tick) is an informal British term meaning credit ⇒ the printer agreed to send the brochures out on tick. The term apparently originates as a short form for ticket in the phrase on the ticket, referring to an IOU or promise to pay.

An Enigma machine^[7] was any of several electro-mechanical rotor cipher machines used in the twentieth century for enciphering and deciphering secret messages. Enigma was invented by the German engineer Arthur Scherbius at the end of World War I. Early models were used commercially from the early 1920s, and adopted by military and government services of several countries, most notably Nazi Germany before and during World War II. Several different Enigma models were produced, but the German military models are the most commonly recognised.

What did they say?
In their review, the 2Kiwis refer to Enigma as the [m]achine that Bletchley Park worked on. Bletchley Park[7], in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, was the central site of the United Kingdom's Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS), which during the Second World War regularly penetrated the secret communications of the Axis Powers – most importantly the German Enigma and Lorenz ciphers.

15d   Poorly grounded // person not expected to win (8)

16d   Auditor /of/ former dictator and heir oddly disappearing (8)

This auditor is not a listener but someone who goes over the books with a fine-tooth comb.

Idi Amin Dada^[7] (c. 1925–2003) was the third President of Uganda, ruling from 1971 to 1979. As commander of the Ugandan Army, he led a military coup in January 1971 that deposed Milton Obote. In 1977, when Britain broke diplomatic relations with Uganda, Amin declared he had defeated the British and added "CBE", for "Conqueror of the British Empire", to his title.

17d   Posted // popular class edition (8)

In Britain, a form^[5] is a class or year in a school, usually given a specifying number. Thus the fifth form would be the British linguistic counterpart (although, I believe, not the scholastic equivalent) to the fifth grade in North America and Form One would be akin to saying Grade One.

To keep someone posted is to keep them informed.

18d   Rising stink contained by West Coast city that is // a feature of North America (4,4)

19d   Showy display /from/ cool and distant European (7)

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