Monday, September 28, 2015 — DT 27780

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27780
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, April 20, 2015
Setter Rufus (Roger Squires)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27780]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Kitty & 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

The editors at the National Post sprung another surprise on me today — they didn't skip a puzzle!

The review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog is a joint effort between Kitty and Miffypops. This is actually the fourth formally acknowledged collaboration between the two although — as Miffypops alluded to at the time (response to Comment #8) — Kitty did contribute the hints for half a dozen clues in Miffypops' review of DT 27756 (which appeared in the National Post on Wednesday, September 2, 2015). The National Post has skipped the puzzles (DT 27762, DT 27768, and DT 27774) which were the subjects of the first three reviews by this duo.

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   Alterations /in/ the bell-ringer's programme (7)

Change^[5] (usually changes) denotes an order in which a peal of bells can be rung. The expression ring the changes^[5] means to vary the ways of expressing or doing something. [With allusion to bell-ringing and the different orders in which a peal of bells may be rung.]

5a   The last section // to have a complaint in mind (4,3)

I interpreted AIL to be a verb clued by the phrase "to have a complaint". However, as Kitty points out in her review, The Chambers Dictionary defines ail^[5] to be a noun meaning trouble or indisposition — a sense of the word seemingly yet to be discovered by any other dictionary (including Chambers 21st Century Dictionary).

Should one choose to accept that AIL can be a noun, the parsing would become:

• 5a   The last section /to have/ a complaint in mind (4,3)

9a   I complain /when/ she // comes over (5)

More complaining!

The clue states that a reversal (comes over) of the solution would lead to a phrase meaning "I complain" which also implies that the solution is a reversal (comes over) of {I (from the clue) + MOAN (complain)}.

10a   Radio users /may get/ faulty set in ships (9)

11a   Cliques in the Lords -- // they've much in common (4,6)

I interpreted this clue a bit differently than did Kitty. I thought the latter part "they've much in common" to be a "straight" definition of a PEER GROUP with the former part "cliques in the Lords" being a cryptic definition of the same.

In the UK, the House of Lords^[5] (or, more informally, the Lords^[5]) is the higher chamber of Parliament, composed of peers and bishops. A  peer^[5] is a member of the nobility in Britain or Ireland, comprising the ranks of duke, marquess, earl, viscount, and baron.

12a   A student is after an alternative // test (4)

"learner" = L (show explanation )

The cryptic crossword convention of L meaning learner or student arises from the L-plate^[7], a square plate bearing a sans-serif letter L, for learner, which must be affixed to the front and back of a vehicle in various countries (including the UK) if its driver is a learner under instruction.

hide explanation

14a   Travels far /and/ makes one's mark in the world (4,1,4,3)

18a   Professional comes in to introduce new // generation (12)

Generation can mean production and regeneration can mean reproduction, but I am yet to be convinced that generation can mean reproduction.

21a   Barrel // end of a gun (4)

Precisely the other end of a gun.

A butt^[5] is a cask, typically used for wine, beer, or water ⇒ a butt of malmsey [a fortified Madeira wine of the sweetest type].

With regard to Kitty's comment at clue 5a ("Another definition [for tail end] could be the answer to 21a"), butt^[5] is an informal, chiefly North American term for a person’s buttocks or anus ⇒ I was being paid to sit on my butt and watch television.

22a   One's put in by an attendant (10)

25a   Put in a drink, it // could knock Argonauts out (9)

In order for the solution to be a noun, I think one must consider the word "it" to be included in the definition which one would interpret to mean "It (the solution) is something put in a drink".

Angostura^[5] is short for Angostura bitters^[5], a trademark for a kind of tonic [carbonated soft drink with a bitter flavour] first made in Angostura.

Angostura^[5] was the former name (until 1846) for Ciudad Bolívar^[5], a city in southeastern Venezuela. The name was changed to honour the country’s liberator, Simón Bolívar.

Scratching the Surface
Not the Toronto Argonauts — though maybe the RedBlacks should have slipped some Angostura into the Argos' Gatorade on the weekend. In Greek mythology, the Argonauts[5] were a group of heroes who accompanied Jason on board the ship Argo in the quest for the Golden Fleece.

26a   A leading publication? (5)

27a   Back // possibly sore after final (7)

28a   Boring // outside broadcast (7)

Are Kitty's guidebooks misplaced or does she find them boring?

Down

1d   Cover // story with article inside (6)

Copy^[5] is material for a newspaper or magazine article ⇒ it is an unfortunate truth of today’s media that bad news makes good copy.

2d   Maintained // a five-nil lead over United (6)

Scratching the Surface

In Britain, United[5] is commonly used in the names of soccer and other sports teams formed by amalgamation ⇒ Oxford United. Perhaps the best known example would be Manchester United Football Club[7] (often referred to simply as United), an English professional football [soccer] club, based at Old Trafford [football stadium] in Old Trafford [district of Manchester], Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League (the top level in the English football league system).

3d   Deteriorating /and/ becoming a drug-taker (5,2,3)

4d   Broadside // written in colossal volume (5)

5d   One who is often up for trial (4,5)

6d   Beginning of last month turned // very cold (4)

Not the previous month but the final month in the year.

7d   You may be surprised if they are arched (8)

8d   I spy lads going round /in/ spectacles (8)

13d   In the finish bravery /is/ cheered (10)

15d   Solid achievement by an artist (9)

16d   Cheat to secure point /in/ card game (8)

17d   Went back to secure an advantage over a fellow player? (8)

I first thought of upstage^[5] merely in the sense of to divert attention from (someone) towards oneself ⇒ they were totally upstaged by their co-star in the film.

I then surmised (correctly, as it turned out) that upstage^[5] might mean at or towards the back of a theatre stage ⇒ (i) Hamlet turns to face upstage; (ii) an upstage exit.

This led me to initially markup the clue as follows:

• 17d   Went back to secure an advantage over a fellow player? (8)

where the definition ("secure an advantage") alludes to upstage (divert attention) and "went back" alludes to "going upstage" and "fellow player" reinforces the theatrical setting. I was a bit uneasy with this as the definition ("to secure an advantage") is in the present, whereas the solution is in the past. However, when read in concert with the opening ("went back"), it seemed to work (at least, within the bounds of a Rufus clue).

However, I then discovered that there is a far less convoluted explanation of the clue.

Upstage^[5] is a theatrical term meaning (of an actor) to move towards the back of a stage to make (another actor) face away from the audience ⇒ when he tried to upstage her she sauntered down to the front of the stage.

19d   Duke Ellington's mood? (6)

"Mood Indigo"^[7] (1930) is a jazz composition and song, with music by Duke Ellington and Barney Bigard with lyrics by Irving Mills.

20d   Small containers // which eliminate waste (6)

23d   Demand and get payment // absolutely right (5)

24d   It's sure to upset // an employer (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