Monday, October 19, 2015 — DT 27799

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27799
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, May 12, 2015
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27799]
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
Notes
The National Post has skipped DT 27797 and DT 27798 which were published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, May 9, 2015 and Monday, May 11, 2015.

Introduction

The editors at the National Post are at it again — playing games with the schedule. Today they skipped ahead two puzzles.

I didn't find the puzzle too difficult, but I did manage to get bogged down in the southwest corner and — wishing to get on with writing the review — called in my electronic assistants to help me out.

Hopefully, you sped through this quickly and found time to get out and vote.

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   Taking meal when touring a flat -- useful start? (9-3)

In Britain, the term flat^[5] is used for what would be called an apartment in North America. The term apartment is used in Britain, but seemingly in a more restricted sense than in North America  applying to temporary or more classy accommodation. From the perspective of Oxford Dictionaries Online, apartment^[5] is

1. a British term for a flat, typically one that is well appointed or used for holidays ⇒ self-catering holiday apartments; or
2. a North American term for any flat ⇒ the family lived in a rented apartment.

Pad^[5] is an informal term for a person's home ⇒ the police raided my pad.

8a   Endless time OAP's spent /in/ type of painting (7)

It was not immediately obvious to me why "spent" would be considered to be an anagram indicator. However, I discover that one of the meanings given by The Chambers Dictionary for spend^[1] is to give, bestow, employ, for any purpose — so I guess one of those purposes is as an anagram indicator!

Impasto^[5] is the process or technique of laying on paint or pigment thickly so that it stands out from a surface.

Scratching the Surface
In Britain, the abbreviation OAP[5] stands for old-age pensioner.

9a   Advice /from/ local authority reportedly (7)

The council^[5] (sometimes the Council) is a British [or maybe not so British] term for the local governing authority of a town, county, etc.

11a   Modelled a toga -- it /is/ done in a ruffled style (7)

Agitato^[5] is a musical term denoting (especially as a direction) agitated in manner ⇒ allegro agitato.

12a   Religious class on island /for/ one having finished work (7)

In the UK, religious education^[10] (abbreviation RE^[5]) is a subject taught in schools which educates about the different religions of the world.

Tiree^[5] is an island in the Inner Hebrides, to the west of the isles of Mull and Coll.

13a   Victor fit? /It's/ far from clear (5)

Victor^[5] is a code word representing the letter V, used in radio communication.

14a   Hint // is in a tune that's off-key (9)

16a   One selling in the rag trade? (9)

I first tried NEWSSHEET — although I did have serious doubts about it. This poor choice certainly did me no favours when it came to solving 18d.

Newsagent^[5] is a British term for a person or shop selling newspapers, magazines, confectionery, etc.

19a   Elevated position /in/ game but bowled out first (5)

Although the word "bowled" has different meanings in the surface reading and the cryptic reading, both meanings come from cricket.

On cricket scorecards, the abbreviation b^[5] denotes bowled (by).

Scratching the Surface

In the surface reading, I would guess that "elevated position" refers to a cricket player being moved higher (earlier) in the batting order. In cricket: bowl[5] (also bowl someone out) means to dismiss (a batsman) by knocking down the wicket with the ball which one has bowled ⇒ Stewart was bowled (or bowled out) for 33; bowl a side out[5] means to get an entire team out ⇒ they bowled Lancashire out for 143.

21a   Criminal seizing power /in/ America and Peru possibly? Right (7)

23a   Fuss among two notes /in/ computer data (4-3)

In music — specifically, in tonic sol-fa — re is the second note of a major scale. In Britain, where the more common spelling is ray^[5], re^[5] is seen as a variant [or worse, American] spelling.

In music, ut^[2] is the syllable (now called doh) once generally used for the first note of a scale and for the note C.

A read-out^[5] is a visual record or display of the output from a computer or scientific instrument ⇒ a digital read-out of latitude and longitude.

24a   Leading journalist on way out // in a turbulent state? (7)

25a   Medical device // in hospital curtailed alarm (7)

26a   White gel twerp spilt after removing onset of pain /for/ boxer (12)

Down

1d   Bird /having/ a plaintive warble initially in heather (7)

Ling^[5] is another name for the common heather (Calluna vulgaris), a purple-flowered Eurasian heath that grows abundantly on moorland and heathland.

The lapwing^[5] is any of several species of large plover typically having a black-and-white head and underparts and a loud call, in particular the (northern) lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) of Eurasia (also called the green plover or peewit), which has a dark green back and a crest.

2d   Winning part of cycling race /is/ put in the shade (7)

3d   Group of pupils on walk /to find/ powerful animal (9)

Crocodile^[5] is an informal British term for a line of schoolchildren walking in pairs.

4d   At home leaders of company under review // suffer (5)

5d   One overly full of cheer? (7)

Cheer^[5] is food and drink provided for a festive occasion ⇒ they had partaken heartily of the Christmas cheer.

6d   American tenor featuring in song /in/ country (7)

In music, t.^[10] is the abbreviation for tenor.

In music, an aria^[5] is a long accompanied song for a solo voice, typically one in an opera or oratorio.

7d   I'm getting over second season on river /bringing/ bad luck (12)

In Christian theology, Advent^[5] denotes the coming or second coming of Christ. Advent^[5] is also the name of the first season of the Church year, leading up to Christmas and including the four preceding Sundays.

The River Ure^[7] is a stream in North Yorkshire, England, approximately 74 miles (119 km) long from its source to the point where it changes name to the River Ouse.

10d   They reveal specialists in invention? (3,9)

15d   Gloomy // figure after part of weekend with university rector, in short (9)

R.^[10] is the abbreviation for rector.

17d   Aspiring // blue down, having left North, for training (5-2)

Scratching the Surface

In the surface reading, I take blue[5] to mean a person who has represented Cambridge University (a Cambridge blue) or Oxford University (an Oxford blue) at a particular sport in a match between the two universities ⇒ a flyweight boxing blue. This usage almost certainly arises from the colours associated with these universities — and hence the colour of the uniforms worn by their athletes. Cambridge blue[5] is a pale blue colour, while Oxford blue[5] is a dark blue, typically with a purple tinge. I would say that down[5] is expressing movement or position away from the north ⇒ they’re living down south.

18d   Place in office /getting/ a purpose, we're told (7)

19d   Selfish type in an estate? (4,3)

In the UK, estate^[5] is short for estate car^[5], the British name for a station wagon^[5].

20d   Abandon rental property /in/ tiny amount of rain (7)

In Britain, a let^[5] is a property available for rent ⇒ an unfurnished let.

22d   Jolly character/'s/ word of acknowledgement (5)

I take it that the setter is being a bit whimsical here, supposing that their may be a character named Jolly Roger.

The Jolly Roger^[5] is a pirate’s flag with a white skull and crossbones on a black background. The name apparently comes from jolly (happy and cheerful) + the male given name Roger, possibly in the old dialect sense 'the Devil'.

In radio communication, roger^[5] is used to indicate (to the sender) that a message has been received ⇒ Roger; we’ll be with you in about ten minutes. More generally, roger^[5] is an informal term used to express assent or understanding ⇒ ‘Go light the stove.’ ‘Roger, Mister Bossman,’ Frank replied.

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