Friday, May 15, 2015 — DT 27661

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27661
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, December 1, 2014
Setter Rufus (Roger Squires)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27661]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Miffypops
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

There seems to be a bit of serendipity at play in today's puzzle from Rufus. First, in a comment on Big Dave's blog for the puzzle which appeared in the National Post on Monday, Miffypops told us that kittens would feature in his review of today's puzzle—and he has delivered. But Rufus has also delivered, with clue 4d. Second, we we have clue 11a, which could not have been timed more perfectly.

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   Teacher after clemency /for/ army officer (13)

Master^[5] is a British name for a male schoolteacher.

10a   Bounty, // big ship (7)

In Crosswordland, you will find that a ship is almost invariably a steamship, the abbreviation for which is SS^[10].

11a   Roman emperor linked with a // late former queen (7)

Julian^[5] (circa 331–363 AD) was Roman emperor 360-3, nephew of Constantine; full name Flavius Claudius Julianus; known as the Apostate. He restored paganism as the state cult in place of Christianity, but this move was reversed after his death on campaign against the Persians.

Juliana^[5] (1909–2004) was queen of the Netherlands 1948–80; full name Juliana Louise Emma Marie Wilhelmina. She was the daughter of Queen Wilhelmina and the mother of Queen Beatrix, in whose favor she abdicated.

What Impeccable Timing!

During the Nazi occupation of The Netherlands, Princess Juliana and her daughters, the Princesses Beatrix and Irene, resided in Ottawa. A third daughter, Princess Margriet, was born here. In appreciation for Canada's hospitality and in recognition of the role played by Canada in the liberation of The Netherlands, Juliana instituted an annual gift of tulip bulbs to Ottawa which became the foundation for Ottawa's annual Canadian Tulip Festival, the largest of its kind in the world, this year running from May 8-18.

12a   Payment // we will take in silver (4)

The symbol for the chemical element silver is Ag^[5] from Latin argentum.

In the wordplay, "take in" assumes the sense of "welcome in".

13a   Grain leaving tropic // island (5)

The tropic of Capricorn^[5] is the parallel of latitude 23°26ʹ south of the equator. It forms the southern boundary of the area of the Earth known as the tropics.

Capri^[5] is an island off the west coast of Italy, south of Naples.

14a   Run away, /having got/ left in charge (4)

17a   Score six to open // in a forceful way (7)

18a   A row about boy /appearing in/ pantomime (7)

If we parse the clue carefully, we find that "appearing in" is acting as a link phrase between the wordplay and the definition. Although they are one and the same, the solution is actually the name of the pantomime and not the principal character in it (as Miffypops has indicated in his review).

A pantomime^[5] is a traditional British theatrical entertainment, mainly for children, which involves music, topical jokes, and slapstick comedy and is based on a fairy tale or nursery story, usually produced around Christmas.

The story of Aladdin^[5] has been a popular subject for pantomime for over 200 years, having been dramatised as early as 1788 by John O'Keefe for the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden.

19a   Pip has taken dog in /to be/ tied up (7)

22a   China to broadcast /in/ town of early Christianity (7)

Antioch^[10] is a city in southern Turkey, on the Orantes River: ancient commercial centre and capital of Syria (300–64 BC); early centre of Christianity. Pop: 155 000 (2005 est)

24a   A curious // sort of plant (4)

"Curious" is used in the sense of odd.

Rum^[5] is a dated informal British term meaning odd or peculiar ⇒ it’s a rum business, certainly.

The arum^[5] is a European plant of the genus Arum which has arrow-shaped leaves and a broad leafy spathe enclosing a club-shaped spadix. Pollination is by small flies which are temporarily trapped by the plant.

In his review, Miffypops points to a different plant from the same family (Araceae) but a different genus. Arum lily^[5] is a chiefly British name for a tall lily-like African plant of the genus Zantedeschia which bears a large showy spathe. It is also called calla lily, especially in North America.

25a   Improve on // a repair (5)

I believe that Miffypops has slightly cropped the definition.

26a   Thanks to an American prosecutor /you get/ the facts (4)

The word "to" is used as a charade indicator in the sense of "pressed against" — as in expressions such as "shoulder to the wheel" or "nose to the grindstone".

In this case, the object being pressed follows the object against which it is pressed. However, I am sure that I have seen examples where the order is reversed. Of course, one may press one's shoulder to either side of the wheel—depending on whether one is attempting to move it or stop it.

Ta^[5] is an informal British exclamation signifying thank you ⇒‘Ta,’ said Willie gratefully.

In the US, a district attorney^[5] (abbreviation DA) is a public official who acts as prosecutor for the state in a particular district.

29a   No longer cares /and/ pulls out (7)

"Pulls out" in the sense of stretches.

30a   French friends set out /in/ poor visibility (3,4)

Ami^[8] (plural amis) is the masculine form of the French word meaning friend.

31a   Once again sort out // those of a certain age (13)

Down

2d   Not stooping to dishonesty (7)

This appears to be a definition within a definition. "Not stooping" denotes UPRIGHT (posture) and "Not stooping to dishonesty" denotes UPRIGHT (character).

3d   A knot // that seamen consider dangerous (4)

Despite telling us that this is a double definition, Miffypops doesn't mark it as such.

4d   Yes, cats may produce this feeling in people (7)

In this semi-&lit. (semi-all-in-one) clue, the entire clue is the definition while the portion with the dashed underline provides the wordplay.

Does Miffypops have ESP?
Five days previous, in a response to Comment #15 to the review of DT 27657 on Big Dave's blog, Miffypops wrote Mondays blog may have a kittenish theme.

5d   Island/'s/ chief accountant (7)

Majorca^[5] is the largest of the Balearic Islands; population 846,210 (2008) ; capital, Palma. The Balearic Islands^[5] (also the Balearics) are a group of Mediterranean islands off the east coast of Spain, forming an autonomous region of that country, with four large islands (Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza, Formentera) and seven smaller ones; capital, Palma (on Majorca).

The official designation CA^[5] for Chartered Accountant  is used in Scotland — and was formerly employed in Canada. However, as of January 2013, Canadian CA's have adopted the CPA (Chartered Professional Accountant) designation. In England and Wales, the designatory letters are ACA or FCA while in Ireland (including Northern Ireland) the acronym CAI is used.^[7]

6d   Initially supplied second-hand, /now/ disposed of (4)

The word "now" must be playing the role of a link between the wordplay and definition—at least that is the only explanation that I can come up with.

7d   Allowed /to be/ clever in the finish (7)

8d   No relations of newly-weds (3,5,5)

9d   Dare any health resorts residents walk out like this? (4,3,6)

15d   Kind of girl /to give/ Rex the quick run around (5)

I had difficulty spotting this girl until my wordfinder narrowed the field to a group of 28. Then she was easy to pick out.

Rex^[5] (abbreviation R^[5]) [Latin for king] denotes the reigning king, used following a name (e.g. Georgius Rex, King George) or in the titles of lawsuits (e.g. Rex v. Jones, the Crown versus Jones — often shortened to R. v. Jones).

16d   Thrown, we hear, /by/ the class system (5)

20d   Stinging // bill rises and is cut unexpectedly (7)

21d   The estate // needs me for organisation (7)

Historically, a demesne^[5] was (1) a piece of land attached to a manor and retained by the owner for their own use ⇒ because labour was cheap, there were ample advantages in cultivating the demesne; or (2) the lands of an estate ⇒ a levy of one tenth on property in the royal demesne.

22d   A name is confused -- result of this? (7)

23d   Love helping /to give/ speech (7)

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.

27d   Preposition // used in any amount of sentences (4)

28d   Tariff one/'s found in/ hired transport (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