Monday, October 12, 2015 — DT 27785 (Bonus Puzzle)

Prologue

It being Thanksgiving Day in Canada, no edition of the National Post will be published today. As many readers find it difficult to forgo their daily crossword fix, here is DT 27785 to help you occupy your time as you digest your turkey dinner. This puzzle is one of two that the National Post skipped on Monday, October 5, 2015.

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27785
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Saturday, April 25, 2015
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27785 – Hints] Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27785 – Review]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Tilsit (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
Notes
The National Post skipped this puzzle on Monday, October 5, 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

Today's puzzle delves into topics such as cricket and Scottish architects of which I had little knowledge. However, I was able to decipher the clues from the wordplay and checking letters and confirm my suspicions from my reference sources.

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   Fishmonger's special offer /for/ Scrooge (10)

6a   A barrier /for/ architect (4)

William Adam^[7] (1689–1748) was a Scottish architect, mason, and entrepreneur. He was the foremost architect of his time in Scotland, designing and building numerous country houses and public buildings, and often acting as contractor as well as architect. His individual, exuberant style was built on the Palladian style, but with Baroque details inspired by Vanbrugh and Continental architecture. He was the father of three architects; John, Robert and James, the last two were the developers of the "Adam style".

Robert Adam^[5] (1728–1792) was a Scottish architect. He was influenced by neoclassical theory and, assisted by his brother James ( 1730–1794), he initiated a lighter, more decorative style than the Palladianism favoured by the British architecture of the previous half-century.

The Adam style^[7] (or Adamesque and "Style of the Brothers Adam") is an 18th-century neoclassical style of interior design and architecture, as practised by three Scottish brothers, of whom Robert Adam (1728–1792) and James Adam (1732–1794) were the most widely known.

Note that Tilsit refers in his review to the son, Robert, who designed the now-demolished Theatre Royal in Drury Lane while gnomethang mentions the father, William.

9a   Character in The Odyssey returning after the blast destroyed // fighting vessel (10)

The Odyssey^[5] is a Greek hexameter epic poem traditionally ascribed to Homer, describing the travels of Odysseus during his ten years of wandering after the sack of Troy. He eventually returned home to Ithaca and killed the suitors who had plagued his wife Penelope during his absence.

Pi^[5] is the sixteenth letter of the Greek alphabet (Π, π).

10a   It takes a stiff // pint by the sound of it (4)

12a   Arrive by gold // carriage (6)

"gold" = AU (show explanation )

The symbol for the chemical element gold is Au^[5] (from Latin aurum).

hide explanation

A landau^[5] is a horse-drawn four-wheeled enclosed carriage with a removable front cover and a back cover that can be raised and lowered.

13a   Payment /from/ trade about to unravel somewhat (8)

15a   Certain bet's stupid without right // means to pay (7,5)

If you are following Tilsit's or gnomethang's directions, don't forget (as they both seem to have done) to include the S (from 's) in your solution.

Banker^[5] is a British term for a supposedly certain bet ⇒ the horse should be a banker for him in the Members' race.

Banker's draft^[5] is another term for bank draft^[5], a cheque drawn by a bank on its own funds.

18a   Form of cricket in which score is doubled (6-6)

Twenty20 cricket, sometimes written Twenty-20, and often abbreviated to T20, is a short form of cricket. It was originally introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for professional inter-county competition in England and Wales. In a Twenty20 game the two teams have a single innings each, which is restricted to a maximum of 20 overs).

In cricket, an over^[5] is a division of play consisting of a sequence of six balls bowled by a bowler from one end of the pitch, after which another bowler takes over from the other end.

hide

In cricket, innings^[5] (plural same or informally inningses) denotes:

1. each of two or four divisions of a game during which one side has a turn at batting ⇒ the highlight of the Surrey innings; or
2. a player’s turn at batting ⇒ he had played his greatest innings; or
3. the score achieved during a player’s turn at batting ⇒ a solid innings of 78 by Marsh.

hide

A typical Twenty20 game is completed in about three hours, with each innings lasting around 75–90 minutes and a 10–20-minute interval [intermission]. This is much shorter than previously-existing forms of the game, and is closer to the timespan of other popular team sports. It was introduced to create a fast-paced form of the game which would be attractive to spectators at the ground [stadium] and viewers on television. The ECB did not intend that Twenty20 would replace other forms of cricket (such as 40-50 over one day and multi-day first class formats), and these have continued alongside it.

21a   Snare // fish after net is broken (8)

22a   Artillerymen landing // weapon (6)

The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery^[7] (RA), is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it comprises a number of regiments.

24a   Millions have got // cut (4)

Rather than merely "have" (which gnomethang states in his review), I would say that the second part of the charade is actually "have got".

25a   Working in Capitol I /could be/ Congressman (10)

26a   Discharge lieutenant /for/ dope (4)

Rather than meaning 'fire' (as gnomethang states in his review), I believe that "discharge" is being used in the sense of 'perform' (discharge one's duties).

27a   Pillar of the underground /in/ prison having served time (10)

In the Second World War, a stalag^[5] was a German prison camp, especially for non-commissioned officers and privates.

A stalagmite^[5] is a mound or tapering column rising from the floor of a cave, formed of calcium salts deposited by dripping water and often uniting with a stalactite.

A stalactite^[5] is a tapering structure hanging like an icicle from the roof of a cave, formed of calcium salts deposited by dripping water.

Down

1d   Metal // business, Latvian perhaps (6)

A Balt^[5] is a speaker of a Baltic language; a Lithuanian or Latvian.

Cobalt^[5] (symbol Co) is the chemical element of atomic number 27, a hard silvery-white magnetic metal.

2d   Navigator's instrument with top knocked off // still surviving (6)

A sextant^[5] is an instrument with a graduated arc of 60° and a sighting mechanism, used for measuring the angular distances between objects and especially for taking altitudes in navigation and surveying.

3d   Influence a sprinter // to cheat (4,1,4,3)

4d   A little peck is suggested (4)

Although the setter may intended there to be an indirect allusion in the clue to a "kiss" being a "suggestion", surely the word "suggested" cannot be considered to be a synonym for "kiss" (as gnomethang would have us believe). Rather, this is an &lit. (all-in-one) clue in which the entire clue is the definition as well as the wordplay which is hidden in (a little) pecK IS Suggested. [I see that Gazza has also pointed this out in Comment #1 to gnomethang's review.]

5d   Hard worker mostly tests // grooming products (10)

7d   Neat worker // repaired mainyard (8)

Neat^[5] is an archaic term for a bovine animal or, as a mass noun, cattle.

8d   Examination's just the thing to probe my // virtue (8)

It^[5] is used in the sense of exactly what is needed or desired ⇒ (i) they thought they were it; (ii) you’ve either got it or you haven’t; (iii) That's it!.

11d   Believe sailor/'s/ justification for advance (6,6)

Rating^[5] is a British term for a non-commissioned sailor in the navy ⇒ the rest of the new crew was made up of naval ratings. [So named from the position or rating held by a sailor, recorded on a ship's books]

14d   Quickly dismiss parody on solicitor protecting the French (7,3)

A tout^[10] is a person who solicits business in a brazen way.

As gnomethang indicates in his review, tout^[5] (also ticket tout) also happens to be the British term for a scalper^[5], a person who buys up tickets for an event to resell them at a profit.

"the French" = LE (show explanation )

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

hide explanation

In cricket, skittle out^[5] means to get (batsmen) out in rapid succession ⇒ Pakistan were skittled out for 93.

16d   Master arranged education // sorted by ability (8)

Stream^[5] is a British term meaning to put (schoolchildren) in groups of the same age and ability to be taught together ⇒ streaming within comprehensive schools is common practice.

Scratching the Surface
In the surface reading, master[5] is a British term for a male schoolteacher.

17d   Extremely studious person bags top-class // award (8)

An owl^[2] is someone thought to look or behave like an owl, especially by looking solemn or wise, or sitting up late at night.

Owls are proverbially wise. A studious person might be called an OWL; among a group of studious persons, the one who is the most extremely studious would be the BEST OWL.

What did he say?

In his hints, Tilsit advises us to ⇒ think of a nickname for Billy Bunter!. Billy Bunter[7] is a fictional schoolboy created by English writer Charles Hamilton (1876–1961) using the pen name Frank Richards. He features in stories set at Greyfriars School, originally published in the boys' weekly story paper The Magnet from 1908 to 1940. Subsequently, Bunter has appeared in novels, on television, in stage plays, and in comic strips. Bunter's defining characteristic is his greediness and dramatically overweight appearance. His big round spectacles and rolling gait earned him the nickname the "Owl of the Remove". Remove[10] is a British term for a class or form [see below] in certain schools, especially one for children of about 14 years, designed to introduce them to the greater responsibilities of a more senior position in the school. In Britain, a form[5] is a class or year in a school, usually given a specifying number. Thus the fifth form would be the British linguistic counterpart (although not the academic equivalent) of the fifth grade in North America and Form One would be akin to saying Grade One. The Bunter reference — despite obviously being well-known to a British readership — may be a poor one in the context, as the student seems not to have earned his nickname based on studiousness.

19d   Border with Italy shelters popular // Adriatic resort (6)

"Italy" = I (show explanation )

The International Vehicle Registration (IVR) code for Italy is I^[5] [from Italian Italia].

hide explanation

Rimini^[5] is a port and resort on the Adriatic coast of northeastern Italy; population 140,137 (2008).

20d   Group in church // make obeisance (6)

"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

23d   Penny, out of sorts, needs this (4)

This is a semi-&lit. (semi-all-in-one) clue. The entire clue is the definition while the portion with the dashed underline provides the wordplay.

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