Tuesday, March 3, 2015 — DT 27597

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27597
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27597]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Big Dave
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

In today's offering, Jay has delivered a very enjoyable puzzle that should not prove to be an overly difficult challenge.

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

Dissecting the Comments
In Comment #1 at Big Dave's blog, Beaver writes "[I] quite enjoyed [the puzzle] with my egg and soldiers ...". Soldier[5] is an informal British term for a strip of bread or toast, used for dipping into a soft-boiled egg.

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   Chap's show of amusement /is/ a grave offence (12)

This offence is grave not only in the sense of being serious, but it literally puts someone in their grave.

9a   Cobbled together // dress given to model (9)

Come again!

I was surprised to see Big Dave, in his review, describe "shift" as "an archaic word for a woman's dress". I suspect he may have misread the entry in The Chambers Dictionary. It would appear to be the preceding entry that is archaic ("old" in Chambers terminology) rather than the entry for a dress. Shift[1] is defined, in part, as "... a woman's undergarment, a smock, chemise or slip (old); a loose dress, roughly triangular or oblong; ..."

10a   Lament // golf in dreadful environment (5)

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

11a   'Inculpate' /is/ found in certain dictionaries (6)

In fact, I found this word in all of my regular stable of dictionaries.

12a   Way to encourage // a swimmer (8)

Behind the Picture

Nicola Sturgeon[7] is the fifth and current First Minister of Scotland [a position roughly equivalent to that of the Premier of a Canadian province] and the Leader of the Scottish National Party. She is the first woman to hold either position. She assumed office in November 2014 [two months after this puzzle was published in the UK] after the former First Minister, Alex Salmond, resigned following the defeat of the Yes Scotland campaign in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum [which was held on the day after this puzzle appeared in The Daily Telegraph].

13a   Slump disheartened, facing heavy defeat, /but/ shoot (6)

Face^[5], as a charade indicator, is  used in the sense to cover the surface of (something) with a layer of a different material ⇒ the external basement walls were faced with granite slabs.

15a   Pretended // to have had an impact (8)

18a   Sack -- anticipating popular // news item (8)

Bullet^[10] is British slang for dismissal [from a job], sometimes without notice (especially in the phrases get or give the bullet). I think it would be rather unnerving, to say the least, for a North American posted to the UK to be told that if they didn't shape up, they would "get the bullet".

Anticipate^[5], as a charade indicator, is used in the sense to come or take place before (an event or process expected or scheduled for a later time) ⇒ this is to anticipate the argument.

19a   Slim // pickings ultimately on the African grasslands, say (6)

Veld^[5] (or veldt) is open, uncultivated country or grassland in southern Africa.

21a   Do nothing, // say, about a gun unloaded (8)

23a   Note revolutionary chasing unknown // soul (6)

Che Guevara^[7] (1928–1967) was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and military theorist. A major figure of the Cuban Revolution, his stylized visage has become a ubiquitous countercultural symbol of rebellion and global insignia within popular culture.

In mathematics (algebra, in particular), an unknown^[10] is a variable, or the quantity it represents, the value of which is to be discovered by solving an equation ⇒ 3y = 4x + 5 is an equation in two unknowns. [Unknowns are customarily represented symbolically by the letters x, y and z.]

Psyche^[5] denotes the human soul, mind, or spirit ⇒ I will never really fathom the female psyche.

26a   Conservative list // showing no criminal offences (5)

27a   Argue about crossing river with sick // fighter (9)

Apparently not every guerilla^[5] crosses a river, but this guerrilla^[5] certainly does.

28a   Element of grammar /found in/ extract from Hamlet's soliloquy, for example (4,2,6)

The wordplay works equally well when broken down into its individual components (as Big Dave does in his review) or when treated as a phrase.

Down

1d   Quiet semi designed /for/ people with children (7)

Scratching the Surface
According to Oxford Dictionaries Online, semi[5] is an informal British term for a semi-detached house ⇒ a three-bedroomed semi. However, one frequently sees this usage in Canada, although I am confident that we would say ⇒ a three-bedroom semi.

2d   Exposed // senior churchman flipped around end of week (5)

A dean^[7], in a religious context, is a cleric holding certain positions of authority within a religious hierarchy. The title is used mainly in the Anglican Communion, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Lutheran Church. In the Church of England and elsewhere in the Anglican Communion, the dean is the chief resident cleric of a cathedral or other collegiate church and the head of the chapter of canons. If the cathedral or collegiate church has its own parish, the dean is usually also rector of the parish.

3d   Bewildered at clues, so // struggle in vain (4,5)

As Big Dave points out in his review, the solution means "a vain struggle".

4d   Small fighting force/'s/ upper-class clown (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!.

5d   Quickly get on with // independent upper-class chap supporting strike (3,2,3)

I^[1] is the abbreviation for independent, likely in the context of a politician with no party affiliation.

Toff^[5] is an informal, derogatory British term for a rich or upper-class person.

6d   Duck // down behind this for cover (5)

I didn't completely get the meaning of the wordplay — mainly because I thought that eiderdown was the filling for a quilt rather than a quilt per se.

Eiderdown^[5] is a British term for a quilt filled with down (originally from the eider) or some other soft material.

Therefore the wordplay informs us that "this" (standing for the solution to the clue, or EIDER) when placed after (behind) "duck" produces a word meaning a quilt (cover).

7d   Old and terribly reliant // Asian, perhaps (8)

8d   Confined // writer on setting up of study (6)

14d   Issues // rental agreements after vacating residence (8)

16d   Listen, // this happens in autumn with leader being axed (9)

17d   Hold one's position -- /or/ pose drunkenly (3,5)

18d   Essentials /for/ graduates thus employed (6)

20d   Hair /of/ cat under storm centre? (7)

Cat^[5] is short for cat-o'-nine-tails^[5], a rope whip with nine knotted cords, formerly used (especially at sea) to flog offenders.

22d   Back in New Jersey, an // assassin (5)

A ninja^[5] (Japanese. literally 'spy') is a person skilled in the Japanese art of ninjutsu^[5], the traditional Japanese art of stealth, camouflage, and sabotage, developed in feudal times for espionage and now practised as a martial art. Or, as Chambers 21st Century Dictionary, defines it, a ninja^[2] is (especially in medieval Japan) one of a body of professional assassins trained in martial arts and stealth.

24d   Some local vets // produce young (5)

25d   Britain raised charge /for/ grouse (4)

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