Monday, June 8, 2015 — DT 27679

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27679
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, December 22, 2014
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27679]
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

In Comment #8 at Big Dave's site. Kitty writes that the puzzle did not feel "quite like a Rufus to me". And, it turns out, she was correct. In an unusual break from the normal routine, this "Monday" puzzle was not set by Rufus, as he himself explains in Comment #11.

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

3a   Schubert's fifth, with someone teaching // conductor (10)

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

Scratching the Surface
Franz Schubert[5] (1797–1828) was an Austrian composer. His music is associated with the romantic movement for its lyricism and emotional intensity, but belongs in formal terms to the classical age. His works include more than 600 songs, the ‘Trout’ piano quintet (1819), and nine symphonies.

8a   Daft jokes about parking /in/ capital (6)

"parking" = P (show explanation)

hide explanation

Skopje^[5] is the capital of the republic of Macedonia, situated in the north on the Vardar River; population 522,200 (est. 2006). Founded by the Romans, it became the capital of Macedonia in 1945.

9a   Token appointment /for/ a guide (8)

10a   Everyone needs permission, // OK? (3,5)

The word "needs" is used as a charade indicator, the wordplay being ALL (everyone) + (needs) + RIGHT (permission).

11a   Tense -- // certainly not going over border (2,4)

I failed to spot the reversal and the charade here, supposing that the latter part of the clue was merely a cryptic definition alluding to the fact that someone "on [the] edge" has obviously not gone over the border.

12a   Mad /as/ Humpty Dumpty in the end (3,3,4)

Off the wall^[5] is an informal North American expression meaning eccentric or unconventional ⇒ a zany, wacky, off-the-wall weirdo.

14a   Steam trains to Barking? One in charge there (13)

I think one must consider this to be an all-in-one clue as the phrase "one in charge there" is virtually meaningless without the context provided by the first part of the clue. In addition to setting the scene for the definition, the portion of the clue with the dashed underline also constitutes the wordplay.

As an anagram indicator, barking is used in an informal British sense meaning completely mad or demented ⇒ (i) we are all a bit barking; (ii) has she gone completely barking mad?.

Scratching the Surface
Barking[7] is an area of east London, England, and forms part of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. It is 8.8 miles (14.2 km) east of Charing Cross [considered to mark the centre of London]. Barking station[7], a railway station located in Barking, was opened in 1854 by the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway as one of the first stations on the route.

20a   One's mean // about musical girl entertaining masses (10)

Kiss Me, Kate^[7] is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The story involves the production of a musical version of William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew and the conflict on and off-stage between Fred Graham, the show's director, producer, and star, and his leading lady, his ex-wife Lilli Vanessi.

22a   Airman out of place /in/ yacht station (6)

23a   Playwright protecting fellow Irish /in/ sweeping conflagration (8)

Oscar Wilde^[5] (1854–1900) was an Irish dramatist, novelist, poet, and wit; full name Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde. His advocacy of ‘art for art’s sake’ is evident in his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890). As a dramatist he achieved success with the comedies Lady Windermere’s Fan (1892) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895). Wilde was imprisoned (1895-7) for homosexual offences and died in exile.

"fellow" = F (show explanation)

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).

hide explanation

24a   About to copy horror // film (4,4)

Cape Fear^[7] is a 1962 American psychological thriller film adapted from the novel The Executioners by John D. MacDonald. The movie concerns an attorney whose family is stalked by a criminal he helped to send to jail. Although the film was remade in 1991, one could hardly call it copy as the remake introduced significant differences in the storyline.

25a   Commercial outlet /in/ period leading up to Christmas (6)

In Christian theology, Advent^[5] denotes the coming or second coming of Christ. Advent^[5] is also the name of the first season of the Church year, leading up to Christmas and including the four preceding Sundays.

26a   Difficult terms ahead /for/ someone like Squeers? (10)

Wackford Squeers is the fictional headmaster of Dotheboys Hall boarding school in Charles Dickens' 1839 novel The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby^[7].

Down

1d   What may help winter sports types reach their peaks? (3,5)

2d   Silly to repeat // 'The Pirates of Penzance', for example (8)

The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty^[7] is a comic opera first performed in 1879, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert.

3d   Bird found by black // hunting dog (6)

Although I have never thought of the breed as hunting dogs, I discover that a beagle^[5] is a small hound of a breed with a short coat, used for hunting hares.

4d   Comfortable residence // in Marylebone street (4)

Scratching the Surface
Marylebone[5] is an affluent inner-city area of central London, located within the City of Westminster.

5d   Periodical spillage of oil in North American // plant (8)

6d   Private // papers forged (6)

A sapper^[5] is a private soldier in the Corps of Royal Engineers^[7], a corps of the British Army that provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces.

7d   Flag // officer in the US Navy (6)

An ensign^[5] is the lowest rank of commissioned officer in the US and some other navies, above chief warrant officer and below lieutenant.

What did he say?

In his review, Miffypops states The flag can be red, white or blue. The Red Ensign[7] is a flag that originated in the early 17th century as an English ensign flown by the Royal Navy and later specifically by British Merchant Seamen (The British Merchant Navy). It is currently used as the civil ensign of the United Kingdom. The White Ensign[7] is flown on British Royal Navy ships and shore establishments. It consists of a red St George's Cross on a white field with the Union Flag in the upper canton. The White Ensign is also flown by the Royal Yacht Squadron and ships of Trinity House escorting the reigning monarch. The Blue Ensign[7] is a flag used by certain organisations or territories associated with the United Kingdom.

13d   Musical girl /in/ Vienna, not very lively (5)

:Annie: Annie^[7] is a Broadway musical based upon the popular comic strip Little Orphan Annie created by American cartoonist Harold Gray (1894–1968). The original Broadway production, which opened in 1977, ran for nearly six years and won the Tony Award for Best Musical.

15d   Cinerama building /kept/ secret (2,6)

In his review, Miffypops has shown the definition as "kept secret". However, after a good deal of consideration, I have somewhat hesitantly concluded that the definition should just be "secret". Surely one would say that an "in camera meeting" is a "secret meeting" — not a "kept secret meeting".

Scratching the Surface

The "Cinerama building" presumably denotes a building housing offices or theatres of the Cinerama corporation. Cinerama[5] is a widescreen movie process that originally projected images simultaneously from three synchronized 35 mm projectors onto a huge, deeply curved screen. The trademarked process was marketed by the Cinerama corporation. It was the first of a number of novel processes introduced during the 1950s, when the movie industry was reacting to competition from television.

16d   Get hold of number, // jazz number (4,4)

"Take Five"^[7] is a jazz piece composed by Paul Desmond and performed by The Dave Brubeck Quartet on their 1959 album Time Out. The song became a Top 40 hit single and the biggest-selling jazz single ever. Included in numerous movie and television soundtracks, it still receives significant radio play. "Take Five" was for several years during the early 1960s the theme music for the NBC Today program, the opening bars being played half a dozen times or more each day.

17d   Coy // going to bed (8)

18d   Bottle /got by/ artist in inexpensive restaurant (6)

"artist" = RA (show explanation)

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. 

hide explanation

19d   Part of an engine -- // data in order (3,3)

Gen^[5] is an informal British term for information ⇒ you’ve got more gen on him than we have.

Big end^[10] (also called, in vertical engines, bottom end) is a British term for the larger end of a connecting rod in an internal-combustion engine. Guess what they call the other end? Why, little end^[10], of course.

21d   Mean to collect poorly // supporter (6)

In Britain, poorly^[5] is not only used as an adverb, but also as an adjective meaning unwell ⇒ she looked poorly.

Delving Deeper

The surface reading will likely seem bizarre to most North Americans. While we might use the word poorly[5] to mean 'in poor health', we would only do so in a statement such as I am feeling poorly today. On the other hand, Oxford Dictionaries Online provides the following examples of British usage: (i) I didn't manage too many lengths today but I haven't been for 2 weeks since being poorly sick.; (ii) Zoe Bird, 26, was forced to walk for an hour to reach her home with poorly toddler son Ryan after they were forced to leave the car.; (iii) Jakey on the other hand is poorly due to having an injection.

23d   Warrant // ingenuity is required to defend rook (4)

"rook" = R (show explanation)

R^[5] is an abbreviation for rook that is used in recording moves in chess.

hide explanation

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