Thursday, September 24, 2015 — DT 27778

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27778
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, April 17, 2015
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27778]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Deep Threat
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

I came close to success with this puzzle, but failed to parse the wordplay on 25d and needed to look at Deep Threat's analysis of the clue to figure it out.

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   This person's clutching short order /for/ something from pharmacy (8)

"this person's" = MINE (show explanation )

It is a common cryptic crossword convention for the creator of the puzzle to use terms such as (the) compiler, (the) setter, (this) author, (this) writer, or this person to refer to himself or herself. To solve such a clue, one must generally substitute a first person pronoun (I or me) for whichever of these terms has been used in the clue.

Today, the setter has added a wrinkle by making the construction possessive (this person's) meaning that we need to substitute a possessive pronoun (mine).

hide explanation

5a   Little person, not half // unhappy type? (6)

Wee^[5] is a chiefly Scottish adjective meaning little ⇒ (i) when I was just a wee bairn; (ii) the lyrics are a wee bit too sweet and sentimental. The word may be of Scottish origin but, like the Scots themselves, the word has migrated around the world.

9a   Bird // beginning to roost on old rubbish receptacle (5)

Rubbish^[5] (characterized by Oxford Dictionaries Online as being a chiefly British term) is the British term for garbage^[5] (characterized by Oxford Dictionaries Online as being a chiefly North American term) — although I think garbage is likely more North American than rubbish is British (while Oxford Dictionaries Online considers the word rubbish to be chiefly British, this view does not appear to be shared by American dictionaries).

North Americans place their trash in a garbage can^[5] (or garbage bin) while the Brits put their refuse in a dustbin^[5].

The European Robin (as you can see from the illustration in Deep Threat's review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog) is quite a different bird from the American Robin — and different yet again is the Australian robin.

A robin^[5] is:

European Robin

1. any of numerous species in several genera of small Old World thrush related to the chats, typically having a brown back with red on the breast or other colourful markings, in particular the European robin or redbreast (Erithacus rubecula), which has an orange-red face and breast;





American Robin

2. a large New World thrush of the genus Turdus, in particular the American robin (Turdus migratorius); or





Australian robin

3. any of several genera of small Australasian songbird related to the flycatchers.

10a   Old people, // quiet folk in Moscow maybe (9)

"quiet" = P (show explanation )

Piano^[3,5] (abbreviation p^[5]), is a musical direction meaning either (as an adjective) soft or quiet or (as an adverb) softly or quietly.

hide explanation

A Prussian^[5] is a a native or inhabitant of Prussia^[5] (show more ), a former kingdom of Germany.

Originally a small country on the southeastern shores of the Baltic, under Frederick the Great it became a major European power covering much of modern northeastern Germany and Poland. After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1 it became the centre of Bismarck’s new German Empire, but following Germany’s defeat in the First World War the Prussian monarchy was abolished.

hide explanation

12a   False Messiah, nut /showing/ zeal (10)

13a   Auntie seen on reflection not to have changed (4)

Auntie^[10] and Beeb^[5] are informal British names for the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation^[5]) (show more ), a public corporation for radio and television broadcasting in Britain..

The BBC was established in 1927 by royal charter and held a monopoly until the introduction of the first commercial TV station in 1954. It is financed by the sale of television viewing licences rather than by revenue from advertising and has an obligation to remain impartial in its reporting.

hide explanation

15a   Search endlessly for item of furniture // nice to sit in (11)

16a   Nasty smell associated with a // snake (3)

A boa^[5] is any of numerous species in several genera of constrictor snake from the family Boidae which bears live young and may reach great size, native to America, Africa, Asia, and some Pacific islands.

17a   Nothing // left after home's been gone over (3)

18a   Son messing with art covered in dye -- // George is that? (6,5)

St George^[5] is the patron saint of England. He is reputed in legend to have slain a dragon, and may have been martyred near Lydda in Palestine some time before the reign of Constantine. His cult did not become popular until the 6th century, and he probably became patron saint of England in the 14th century. Feast day, 23 April.

In his review, Deep Threat lists the patron saints of the other constituent parts of Britain. Of course, most of us would also know that St Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland. But who is the patron saint of Canada^[7]? Well, it would seem that we could not settle on one as we seem to have ten — Saint Anne, Saint Jean de Brébeuf, Saint Joseph, and the North American Martyrs (St René Goupil, St Isaac Jogues, St Jean de Lalande, St Antoine Daniel, St Jean de Brébeuf, St Noël Chabanel, St Charles Garnier, and St Gabriel Lalemant) — one of whom, St Jean de Brébeuf has managed to make it onto the list twice, once in his own right and once as part of the group of martyrs.

20a   Refusal by jolly folk /is/ what you'd expect (4)

Jolly^[10] is British slang for a member of the Royal Marines^[5] (abbreviation RM^[5]), a British armed service (part of the Royal Navy) founded in 1664, trained for service at sea, or on land under specific circumstances.

21a   I have two lines in small part // as an old man? (10)

24a   Was one of the top performers // about to bite into apple? (2-7)

Costard^[5,10] is an English variety of apple tree or the large ribbed cooking apple of this tree.

26a   Gangster's inner // apprehension (5)

27a   Climatic effect // has impacted on Nile (2,4)

El Niño^[5] is an irregularly occurring and complex series of climatic changes affecting the equatorial Pacific region and beyond every few years, characterized by the appearance of unusually warm, nutrient-poor water off northern Peru and Ecuador, typically in late December. The effects of El Niño include reversal of wind patterns across the Pacific, drought in Australasia, and unseasonal heavy rain in South America.

Scratching the Surface
The Nile[5] is a river in eastern Africa, the longest river in the world, which rises in east central Africa near Lake Victoria and flows 6,695 km (4,160 miles) generally northwards through Uganda, South Sudan, Sudan, and Egypt to empty through a large delta into the Mediterranean.

28a   Better // teams possibly in Germany? Not a lot (8)

The phrase "Not a lot" is used by the setter to indicate that we need an abbreviation for Germany.

A gamester^[10] is a person who habitually plays games for money; a gambler.

Down

1d   With the knot tied, not one /to be/ spoiled (6)

2d   Little lady with oomph /is/ no credit (5)

"It"^[7] is a term that has come to mean sex appeal - although, in its earliest manifestation, it seems that the term pertained more to personality than to glamorous looks. Although the term had been used as early as 1904 by Rudyard Kipling, it was popularized  in the 1927 film It starring Clara Bow (who became known as the It Girl).

3d   Perfect // little rug -- use outside (10)

4d   Sin? // Last thing to be found with the bishop (3)

"bishop" = RR (show explanation )

Right Reverend^[5] (abbreviation RR^[2]) is a title given to a bishop, especially in the Anglican Church ⇒ the Right Reverend David Jenkins, Bishop of Durham.

hide explanation

6d   Having got rid of cold, stop /and/ relax (4)

7d   At the bottom of empty pool a sticky substance /is/ setting (9)

8d   Ornamental container // woman has to deliver (8)

Deliver^[5] is used in the sense of to launch or aim (a blow, ball, or attack). A delivery^[5] is an act of throwing, bowling, or kicking a ball, especially a cricket ball.

In cricket, bowl^[5] means (for a bowler) to propel (the ball) with a straight arm towards the batsman, typically in such a way that the ball bounces once.

10d   Greek character, see, with concessionary gift -- offered to the female // wisdomseeker? (11)

Phi^[5] is the twenty-first letter of the Greek alphabet (Φ, φ).

Lo^[5] is an archaic exclamation used to draw attention to an interesting or amazing event ⇒ and lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them.

11d   Discontented, /being/ not fully paid (11)

14d   Get rid of // nasty boil -- treat with calamine finally (10)

15d   Outside a capital city study // a type of ornamentation (9)

Con^[5] is an archaic term meaning to study attentively or learn by heart (a piece of writing)  ⇒ the girls conned their pages with a great show of industry.

A caparison^[5] is an ornamental covering spread over a horse’s saddle or harness.

16d   Goose /in/ farm building disturbed Alec (8)

A barnacle goose^[5] is a goose (Branta leucopsis) with a white face and black neck, breeding in the arctic tundra of Greenland, Spitsbergen, and Novaya Zemlya.

19d   Media story must avoid all extremes -- I'll see to that? (6)

This is a semi-&lit. (semi-all-in-one) clue in which the entire clue is the definition and the portion with the dashed underlining is the wordplay. The entire clue describes a job function of the person who is the solution to the clue.

22d   Quick-moving // match? (5)

23d   Wagon /is/ secure with article locked inside (4)

Wain^[5] is an archaic term for a wagon or cart.

25d   This food is in bar for one who can't pay his way (3)

This clue reverses the situation found in 19d. The entire clue is the wordplay and the portion with the solid underlining is the definition.

This is actually a type of inverse wordplay clue. As a normal containment-type clue, it would parse as:

• This food is in bar /for/ one who can't pay his way (3)

in which "bar" is the container, "this food" is the contents, "in" is the containment indicator, and "one who can't pay his way" is the definition. However, in the current instance, the setter has chosen to make the contents of the container be the definition in the clue.

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