Friday, April 10, 2015 — DT 27626

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27626
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Setter Shamus (Philip Marlow)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27626]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Gazza
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

Having resorted to using a bit of electronic help, I was relieved to see that Gazza had felt compelled to award this puzzle three stars for difficulty — even though somewhat grudgingly.

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

7a   Argument that could take its toll? (4-4)

Ding-dong^[5] is an informal British term for a fierce argument or fight ⇒ they had a bit of a ding-dong.

9a   Motive /in/ crime not originally detected (6)

10a   Promise /revealed in/ part of sentence? (4)

11a   Brazen, // having spent too much time in hot water? (4-6)

12a   Bit of change /in/ mined material (6)

14a   Works of art, say, laid out to engage you in the Louvre?  (8)

The Louvre^[5] is the principal museum and art gallery of France, in Paris, housed in the former royal palace built by Francis I. The Louvre holds the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo.

In French, tu^[8] is the second person singular pronoun meaning 'you'. [The Louvre being in Paris, the language spoken there would be French].

15a   In ethos, a disturbing // giver of pain (6)

17a   Prize /gained by/ retired cartoonist? (6)

20a   Food /presented by/ firm American repeatedly (8)

Couscous^[5] is (1) a type of North African semolina in granules made from crushed durum wheat or (2) a spicy dish made by steaming or soaking couscous and adding meat, vegetables, or fruit.

22a   Crack /found in/ rear of gun, we hear (6)

23a   Place where one's amusement is stalled? (10)

24a   Struggle with women/'s/ opinion (4)

25a   King Edward maybe /getting/ trophy at second of jousts (6)

Pot^[5] is an informal [seemingly chiefly British] term for a prize in a sporting contest, especially a silver cup.

King Edward^[7] is a potato variety grown in the UK since 1902, making it one of the old varieties still grown commercially.

26a   Critical interpretation /of/ former sieges misplaced (8)

Exegesis^[5] is the critical explanation or interpretation of a text, especially of scripture ⇒ the task of biblical exegesis.

Down

1d   Strong // men entering Spanish city with American (8)

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

Vigo^[5] is a port on the Atlantic in Galicia, northwestern Spain; population 295,703 (2008).

2d   Getting on /with/ a good authoritative journalist (4)

The abbreviation G^[10] for good likely relates to its use in grading school assignments or tests.

3d   The two going on to A&E in America, /causing/ trouble (6)

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).

4d   Copy secure bridge player /in/ another card game (8)

In the game of bridge, North^[5] and South^[5] comprise one partnership and play against East^[5] and West^[5] who form the other partnership.

5d   Disorientated unit at place overlooking North // surrender (10)

6d   Pretentious sort // crafted prose about university (6)

8d   Dress, not new, /that's/ showy (6)

13d   Dull // figure in subway? (10)

In Britain, a subway^[5] is a tunnel under a road for use by pedestrians. An underground railway would be called the Underground^[5] or the Tube^[5].

16d   Quiet row possibly, on reflection low // place to find a car? (8)

18d   Like a crate, // mistakenly pierced close to vat (8)

19d   Wise // like undergraduate largely? (6)

A tutee^[5] is a student or pupil of a tutor, in which tutor^[5] may well be used in the chiefly British sense of a university or college teacher responsible for the teaching and supervision of assigned students.

21d   Two alternatives besetting a tense // public speaker (6)

Grammatically speaking, t.^[10] is the abbreviation for tense.

22d   Harry /is/ beginning to grow into flying ace (6)

Sir Douglas Bader^[5] (1910–1982) was a British airman. Despite having lost both legs in a flying accident in 1931, he saw action as a fighter pilot during the Battle of Britain (1940-1). After the war he was noted for his work on behalf of disabled people.

24d   Shift of direction // implicated in defensive error (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