Monday, September 14, 2015 — DT 27767

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27767
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Saturday, April 4, 2015
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27767 – Hints] Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27767 – Review]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Big Dave (Hints) crypticsue (Review)
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
Notes
The National Post has skipped DT 27766 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Friday, April 3, 2015. As this was a Saturday "Prize Puzzle" in Britain, there are two entries related to it on Big Dave's Crossword Blog — the first, posted on the date of publication, contains hints for selected clues while the second is a full review issued following the entry deadline for the contest. The vast majority of reader comments will generally be found attached to the "hints" posting with a minimal number — if any — accompanying the full review.

Introduction

By accident or design, the National Post has skipped the puzzle which was published in the UK on Friday, April 3, 2015. That day happened to be Good Friday, and the puzzle — a rather difficult one by Giovanni — had a minor Easter theme.

I needed a bit of help to finish today. In hindsight, I can't see why I needed help with a couple of those for which I sought help from my electronic friends. However, I make no apology for my lack of familiarity with London postcode districts.

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   Front drive in SW19? (8)

The SW (South Western and Battersea) postcode area^[7], also known as the London SW postcode area, is a group of postcode districts covering part of southwest London, England. The SW postcode area is subdivided into 29 postcode districts, one of them being SW19 which serves Wimbledon (among other places).

Wimbledon^[5] is an annual international tennis championship on grass for individual players and pairs, held at the headquarters of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in the London suburb of Wimbledon. Now one of the world’s major tennis championships, it has been played since 1877.

9a   Thunder /and/ lightning's beginning to penetrate lower down (6)

10a   This woman /wants/ olive in a cocktail -kind of square? (6)

11a   Take part in cruise, as on a liner // during summer, perhaps? (8)

12a   Back number about getting in sunscreen, say, // creating film externally (2,8)

14a   I would put in directions /to get/ extra (4)

In cricket, an extra^[5] is a run scored other than from a hit with the bat, credited to the batting side rather than to a batsman.

In cricket, a wide^[5] (also wide ball) is a ball that is judged to be too wide of the stumps for the batsman to play, for which an extra is awarded to the batting side. 

15a   Communication from solicitor (7,6)

Begging letter^[10] is a [seemingly British] term for a letter asking for money sent especially by a stranger to someone known to be rich.

17a   Garry leaves cap /in/ valley (4)

I failed to decipher the wordplay even though the solution was obvious.

A glengarry^[5] is a brimless boat-shaped hat with a cleft down the centre, typically having two ribbons hanging at the back, worn as part of Highland dress.

18a   On the radio, Christopher angry // with lines cutting across one another (5-5)

20a   Munich running wild, as having been held // in so far (8)

21a   Carry On // Nurse, seen with former partner (6)

Scratching the Surface

Carry On Nurse[7], released in 1959, is the second in the series of Carry On films. Of the regular team, it featured Joan Sims (in her Carry On film debut), Kenneth Williams, Kenneth Connor and Charles Hawtrey, with Hattie Jacques and Leslie Phillips. It was the top grossing film of 1959 in the UK and, with an audience of 10.4 million, had the highest cinema viewing of any of the "Carry On" films. Perhaps surprisingly, it was also highly successful in the US, where it was reported that it played at some cinemas for three years.

23a   Half score before point is added /in/ game (6)

24a   State // of the French pottery (8)

"of the French" = DE LE (show explanation )

In French, de^[8] is a preposition meaning 'of''.

 In French, the masculine singular form of the definite article is le^[8].

hide explanation

Down

1d   Thought // it should be taken up to be wrapped by midday (6)

2d   Scoundrel /making/ one downtrodden? (4)

3d   A tramp is cooking // meat (8)

4d   Get // on a bit clumsily (6)

5d   Overflowing river // moved towards floe (not south) (10)

6d   Think about getting mother involved /in/ ball, that will add fragrance (8)

8d   Made out /to be/ famous (13)

In the first definition, I relied on distinguish^[5] meaning manage to discern (something barely perceptible) ⇒ it was too dark to distinguish anything more than their vague shapes.

13d   Arranging // instrument with which I make notes (10)

15d   Objective /of/ man, 100 -- to stay in bed! (8)

16d   Set out to get inside before time /in/ wind (8)

18d   Not very careful /with/ chimneys in outskirts of Cromarty (6)

Lum^[5] is a Scottish and Northern English term for a chimney.

Scratching the Surface
Cromarty[7] is a town, civil parish and former royal burgh in Ross and Cromarty, in the Highland area of Scotland. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 719.

19d   Despatched railway // guard (6)

22d   Urban area // to west and north (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