Friday, October 23, 2015 — DT 27803

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27803
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Saturday, May 16, 2015
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27803 – Hints] Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27803 – Review]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Big Dave (Hints) gnomethang (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

Introduction

This seems to be fairly typical fare for a "Saturday" prize puzzle. You should finish in lots of time to catch the ball game.

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   Decision /given by/ Italian who made notes before court (7)

Giuseppe Verdi^[5] (1813–1901) was an Italian composer. His many operas, such as La Traviata (1853), Aida (1871), and Otello (1887), emphasize the dramatic element, treating personal stories on a heroic scale and often against backgrounds that reflect his political interests. Verdi is also famous for his Requiem (1874).

"court" = CT (show explanation )

Ct^[2] is the abbreviation for Court in street addresses — and possibly in other contexts as well.

hide explanation

5a   Nickname promises /to be/ questionable (7)

9a   Over half of publicity /is/ allowable (5)

I initially fell into the trap of trying to use over half the letters starting with the first letter. However, nowhere does it state that we must start at the beginning.

10a   Lying // about joining with criminal (9)

While cum is a Latin word meaning 'with' (as gnomethang tells us in his review), I think the wordplay may actually be RE (about) + CUM (joining with) + BENT (criminal).

Cum^[5] is a preposition meaning combined with or used as (used to describe things with a dual nature or function) ⇒ a study-cum-bedroom.

In Britain, the word bent^[5] has the same connotation (dishonest or corrupt) as does the word crooked^[5] in North America. [It would appear that the British use both bent and crooked in this sense].

11a   Percussion in a medley // above audible limit (10)

12a   Stop /in/ area to follow TV doctor (4)

Doctor Who^[7] is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC which has had widespread distribution in North America. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior appears as a blue police box.

14a   Strangely enough it's a large sum of money (5,7)

18a   Part of body /of/ country, large and wild to the west (7,5)

21a   Composer has dropped in /for/ some meat (4)

Frédéric Chopin^[5] (1810–1849) was a Polish-born French composer and pianist. Writing almost exclusively for the piano, he composed numerous mazurkas and polonaises inspired by Polish folk music, as well as nocturnes, preludes, and two piano concertos (1829; 1830).

22a   Vehicle /for/ transferring property (10)

25a   Fans // staying behind (9)

26a   Popular at present /yet/ without any chance of success (2-3)

27a   Pine needs support, // one standing near the boundary (4,3)

In cricket, the term boundary^[10] can refer to:

1. the marked limit of the playing area;
2. a stroke that hits the ball beyond this limit; or
3. the four or six runs scored with such a stroke.

In cricket, long leg^[5] is a fielding position far behind the batsman on the leg side.

In cricket, the leg^[5] (also called leg side) is another name for the on^[5] (also known as on side), the half of the field (as divided lengthways through the pitch) away from which the batsman’s feet are pointed when standing to receive the ball ⇒ he played a lucky stroke to leg. The other half of the field is known as the off^[5] (also called off side).

28a   Ruler // more troubled for each being imprisoned (7)

Down

1d   French dance in which I'll get covered up, /in/ case (6)

The French word for waltz is valse^[8].

Valise^[8], the French word for suitcase, has been adopted into English.

2d   Formula /for/ rice pudding and pie one's left (6)

As an anagram indicator, pudding^[10] is almost certainly being used in the sense of a sausage-like mass of seasoned minced meat, oatmeal, etc, stuffed into a prepared skin or bag and boiled where the key word is "minced".

3d   Knight invading being put in grave // captivity (10)

"knight" = N (show explanation )

N^[5] is the abbreviation for knight used in recording moves in chess [representing the pronunciation of kn-, since the initial letter k- represents 'king'].

As an aside, it is interesting to note that the Chambers 21st Century Dictionary defines: 

• K^[2] as an abbreviation used in chess for knight. 
• K^[2] is a symbol used in chess to represent a king. 
• N^[2] is a symbol used in chess to represent a knight.

The dictionary fails to specify how one differentiates an abbreviation from a symbol.

hide explanation

I don't think that gnomethang has got the wordplay quite right in his review. I see it as N (knight) contained in (invading) INTERMENT (being put in grave).

4d   Trunk // found along equator somewhere (5)

5d   Lying /revealed in/ deft clue I compiled (9)

6d   Married in bar -- coming up, // sign of baby on the way? (4)

7d   Rigorous examination // about catch at sea (8)

Over^[10] is used in the sense of on the subject of or about ⇒ an argument over nothing.

8d   Places // university knocked back, held by models (8)

13d   Biscuit /you'll need/ spirit to break (6,4)

The British use the term biscuit^[3,4,11] to refer to a range of foods that include those that would be called either cookies or crackers in North America. A North American biscuit^[5] is similar to a British scone.

Brandy snap^[5] is a British term for a crisp rolled gingerbread wafer, usually filled with cream.

15d   Laugh out loud, striding along /and/ bounding about (9)

LOL^[5] is an informal abbreviation for laughing out loud or laugh out loud (used chiefly in electronic communication to draw attention to a joke or amusing statement, or to express amusement) ⇒ I love how you said ‘coffee is not my cup of tea’. LOL!.

Lollop^[11] means to to move forward with a bounding or leaping motion.

16d   Fabulous /being/ cooler -- then caught island flu outbreak (8)

"caught" = C (show explanation )

In cricket, similar to baseball, one way for a batsman to be dismissed is to be caught out^[5], that is for a player on the opposing team to catch a ball that has been hit by the batsman before it touches the ground.

On cricket scorecards, the abbreviation c.^[2,10] or c^[5] denotes caught or caught by.

hide explanation

17d   Stream and lake going over rising New York // borough (8)

Brooklyn^[5] is a borough of New York City, at the south-western corner of Long Island. The Brooklyn Bridge (1869–83) links Long Island with lower Manhattan.

19d   Menswear designed without accommodating this writer/'s/ solution (6)

"this writer" = ME (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.

hide explanation

20d   One laments being more intense (6)

23d   Lacking precision // against malaria? (5)

24d   Snake // Pass contains one (4)

Scratching the Surface
Snake Pass[7] is a hill pass in the Derbyshire section of the Peak District, crossing the Pennines between Glossop and the Ladybower Reservoir at Ashopton. The road was engineered by Thomas Telford and opened in 1821. The pass carries the A57 road between Manchester and Sheffield, but it is no longer the main signposted route between those two cities.

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