Wednesday, September 30, 2015 — DT 27782

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27782
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27782]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By 2Kiwis
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

Jay gives us a very entertaining puzzle today. I especially enjoyed 3d and 18a, and thought that "left with no alternative options" in 22d was a very creative bit of wordplay.

For the second day in succession, we see a situation in which two versions of a clue appear in various media. To understand how this happens, it is informative to take a look at the likely path that a puzzle traverses on its route from conception to publication.

• The setter creates the puzzle and submits it to the puzzle editor. There may then be some back-and-forth between the editor and the setter before the puzzle is accepted by the editor.
• The puzzle is distributed in syndication. Although there is currently a five month delay between the puzzle being published in the UK and appearing in the National Post, the puzzle is carried much earlier by other publications — in some cases, I believe, on the very day it is printed in The Daily Telegraph.
• The puzzle is sent to the production processes for The Daily Telegraph (printed paper) and Telegraph Puzzles (website).

The version of the puzzle which appears in the printed edition of The Daily Telegraph is usually the same as the syndicated version. Occasionally, a change will be made to the puzzle after the syndicated version has been distributed but before the paper is printed. I even recall one instance where the syndicated puzzle was a completely different puzzle that did not appear in the UK. I can only surmise that — for whatever reason — the puzzle editor at The Daily Telegraph made a last minute decision to pull the originally scheduled puzzle and replace it with another.

Somewhat frequently (especially lately, judging by the last two days), a change will be made to the puzzle on the Telegraph Puzzles website after The Daily Telegraph  has been printed. This change may happen anytime during — and, conceivably, even after — the date of publication. It is not unusual to see a mid-day change to the website should an error be discovered in the puzzle.

Clues are changed for other reasons than merely to correct errors. In some cases, the clue (written far in advance of the date of publication) may be considered to be insensitive in light of some recent development in the news. At other times, there seems to be no apparent reason for changing the clue.

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   Undercover // family intended losing tail (11)

9a   Emergency worker /and/ cop crossing Madeira after crash (9)

PC^[5] is a British term for a police constable ⇒ PC Bartholomew made his report.

Scratching the Surface
Madeira[5] presumably refers to an island in the Atlantic Ocean off northwestern Africa, the largest of the Madeiras, a group of islands which constitutes an autonomous region of Portugal; population 247,161 (2007); capital, Funchal.

10a   Insect/'s/ victim agonised to some extent (5)

11a   NCO losing Post Office // pen (6)

12a   I have a partner /that's/ spoilt (8)

13a   Label container /for/ kid's protection (6)

Dubbin^[5] is a British term for prepared grease used for softening and waterproofing leather.

15a   Callous beast must keep profit /for/ this kind of woman (8)

18a   Public officials required to take stiff examinations? (8)

19a   Tied up // unprotected crew in temper (6)

21a   Determined // plunge to accept European Community rise at core (8)

The European Community^[10] (abbreviation EC) was an economic and political association of European States that came into being in 1967, when the legislative and executive bodies of the European Economic Community merged with those of the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Atomic Energy Community. It was subsumed into the European Union in 1993.

23a   Screen type /for/ blood? (6)

26a   Busy legate with no time, // high-flier (5)

27a   Hanging around back of these /must be/ punitive (9)

I had entered SHINGLING thinking it might mean to punish with a few good whacks on the backside with a shingle. Of course, I had no explanation whatsoever for the wordplay.

Swingeing^[5] is a British term meaning severe or extreme in size, amount, or effect ⇒ swingeing cuts in public expenditure.

28a   Dish /of/ starch often breaking up (6,5)

Down

1d   American resort/'s/ limit on English fish (4,3)

2d   Pair erring keeping // kind of horse? (5)

In compounds, horse^[2] denotes any of various types of supporting apparatus ⇒ (i) clothes-horse; (ii) saw-horse.

Airer^[5] is a British term for a frame or stand for airing or drying clothes.

3d   Oh dear, // it's a matriarchy! (9)

4d   Bread /and/ water? (4)

Soda bread^[5] is bread leavened with baking soda.

Soda^[5] (also soda water) is carbonated water (originally made with sodium bicarbonate) drunk alone or mixed with alcoholic drinks or fruit juice ⇒ a whisky and soda.

5d   Immigrants // pay heartless runners (8)

6d   Girl /from/ the United States missing mother on the way up (5)

Whatever is he talking about?

In Comment #2 on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Rabbit Dave comments that "6d (or to be accurate a homophone of 6d), reminded me of the epic streak at Twickenham in the early 80s." Erika Roe[5], also known as the Twickenham Streaker, is remembered for a topless run across the pitch of Twickenham Stadium (located in southwest London) during an England vs. Australia rugby union match on 2 January 1982. It has been described by the BBC as "perhaps the most famous of all streaks." Roe, who later attributed the inspiration to alcohol, ran onto the field during half time, exposing her 40-inch bosom. Roe and the friend who joined her streak (Sarah Bennett) were corralled by police officers on the field, one of whom covered Roe's chest with his helmet while leading her off the field. [Methinks unless said officer possessed a terribly swollen head, his helmet would have hardly been up to the task.] It also appears that he did not apply the helmet before he had had a good gander. Note: I can't fathom why Wikipedia spells her name "Erica" in the title and "Erika" in the body of the article.

7d   A helping of porridge, or diet /for/ a northerner (7)

A Geordie^[5] is an informal British term for a person from Tyneside^[5], an industrial conurbation on the banks of the River Tyne, in northeastern England, stretching from Newcastle upon Tyne to the coast.

8d   Who said // new arrival shortly gets a rise? (8)

A tor^[7] is a large, free-standing rock outcrop that rises abruptly from the surrounding smooth and gentle slopes of a rounded hill summit or ridge crest. In the South West of England, the term is commonly also used for the hills themselves – particularly the high points of Dartmoor in Devon and Bodmin Moor in Cornwall.

14d   Singer's home /in/ Cambridge, adaptable with no end of room (8)

Cambridge^[5] is a city in eastern England, the county town of Cambridgeshire; population 116,900 (est. 2009). Cambridge University is located there.

16d   Darkness surrounding weirdly lone // source of illumination (4,5)

17d   Clergyman with idiot in church // split (8)

"church" = CE (show explanation )

The Church of England^[10] (abbreviation CE^[10]) is the reformed established state Church in England, Catholic in order and basic doctrine, with the Sovereign as its temporal head.

hide explanation

18d   Director-General taken in by poor clues /for/ 'Beats' (7)

In the UK [and the Canadian Civil Service], DG^[5] is the abbreviation for director general.

Scratching the Surface
I was unable to identify any obvious explanation for "Beats" in the surface reading. I thought it might be the name of a BBC game show, but that avenue of exploration came up empty.

As expected, the National Post carries the version of the puzzle which was published in the printed edition of The Daily Telegraph. A different version of the clue appeared on The Telegraph website:

• 18d   Beats // BBC bigwig in resolving clues (7)

The Director-General of the British Broadcasting Corporation^[7] is chief executive and (from 1994) editor-in-chief of the BBC.

20d   Current // amount of water required to float ship (7)

22d   Support /for/ the girl left with no alternative options? (5)

There are two alternative series of letters in the word "left". One is the odd-number letters (LF) and the other is the even-numbered letters (ET). The 2Kiwis tell us to use the "first and third (alternative) letters of left". However, to be rigorous, the clue actually tells us to remove the "second and fourth (alternative) letters of left" (with no alternative options).

24d   Hindu deity/'s/ victory accepted by Islamic faith (5)

V^[10] is the symbol for victory - the victory-freedom sign^[7] is commonly associated with British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill in World War II.

Shia^[5] (also Shi'a or Shiah) is one of the two main branches of Islam, followed by about a tenth of Muslims, especially in Iran, that rejects the first three Sunni caliphs and regards Ali, the fourth caliph, as Muhammad’s first true successor.

In Hinduism, Shiva^[10] (a variant spelling of Siva^[10]) is the destroyer, one of the three chief divinities of the later Hindu pantheon, the other two being Brahma and Vishnu. Siva is also the god presiding over personal destinies.

25d   Element /of/ last letter home kept on carbon (4)

The symbol for the chemical element carbon is C^[5].

Zinc^[5] (symbol Zn) is the chemical element of atomic number 30, a silvery-white metal which is a constituent of brass and is used for coating (galvanizing) iron and steel to protect against corrosion.

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