Thursday, October 1, 2015 — DT 27783

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27783
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, April 23, 2015
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27783]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Kath
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

While this is not an overly difficult puzzle, it does contain a fairly generous number of Briticisms to raise the ante for those of us on this side of the pond.

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   Say something tactless /and/ lose a real friend (4,1,5)

I made a wild stab and guessed that the expression might be "drop a crock" — but the dictionaries confirmed that it isn't.

Drop a brick^[5] is an informal British expression meaning to make an indiscreet or embarrassing remark ⇒ he dropped a brick when he admitted that he knew where we were going.

Brick^[5] is a dated informal British term for a generous, helpful, and reliable person ⇒ ‘You are really a brick, Vi,’ Gloria said.

Although Kath shows the latter part of the clue as being a cryptic definition, I have opted not to do so. This is not to say that her interpretation is incorrect, merely that I have a slightly different perspective.

In the sense "lose a real friend", I see the solution to the clue as being not so much a cryptic definition as it is a literal interpretation of an idiom, like saying that "raining cats and dogs" means "pets falling from the sky". As wordplay, the latter part of the clue can be parsed as DROP (lose) + A (from the clue) + BRICK (real friend).

After writing the above, I see that this very issue was discussed in the threads attached to at least two comments on Big Dave.s Crossword Blog (Comment #19 and Comment #31).

6a   Lie alongside // a capsized unwieldy vessel (4)

10a   Gusset /in/ cardigan and jumper Terry Wogan originally let out (5)

I initially attempted to parse the wordplay as IN (from the clue) + SET (cardigan and jumper). Of course that left half the words in clue unaccounted for. Eventually, the penny dropped, and I realized that the wordplay is [TW]INSET (cardigan and jumper) with TW (Terry Wogan originally; initial letters of Terry Wogan) removed (let out).

According to British dictionaries, twinset^[5] is a chiefly British term for a woman’s matching cardigan and jumper.

Delving Deeper

In Britain, a jumper[5] is a knitted garment typically with long sleeves, worn over the upper body (in North American parlance, a sweater — in particular, a pullover). What those of us in North America would call a jumper, the Brits would call a pinafore[5] (a collarless sleeveless dress worn over a blouse or [British] jumper [i.e., North American sweater]). Thus, if a British lass were to wear a pinafore over her jumper and a North American gal were to wear a jumper over her sweater, they would be dressed identically. The terms sweater and pullover would also appear to be in common use in the UK.

A gusset^[5] is a piece of material sewn into a garment to strengthen or enlarge a part of it.

An inset^[5] is a section of cloth or needlework inserted into a garment ⇒ elastic insets in the waistband.

Scratching the Surface

Sir Terry Wogan[7] is an Irish radio and television broadcaster who has worked for the BBC in the United Kingdom for most of his career. Before he retired from his weekday breakfast programme Wake Up to Wogan on BBC Radio 2 in 2009, it had eight million regular listeners, making him the most listened-to radio broadcaster in Europe. Wogan began his career at Irish broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTE) where he presented shows such as Jackpot in the 1960s. Wogan has been a leading media personality in the UK since the late 1960s and is often referred to as a "national treasure". He is known in the United Kingdom for his BBC One chat show Wogan, presenting Children in Need, Wake Up to Wogan, the game show Blankety Blank and Come Dancing and as the BBC's commentator for the Eurovision Song Contest from 1971 to 2008. Wogan currently presents a two-hour Sunday morning show, Weekend Wogan, on BBC Radio 2.

11a   Delinquent pedals around an English // seafront (9)

12a   Stout turned cheese /into/ silky stuff (7)

Taffeta^[5] is a fine lustrous silk or similar synthetic fabric with a crisp texture.

13a   Bird dips into quantity of money // that's hidden in chest (7)

14a   Author's head // failing to generate ideas (7,5)

18a   Memorably // observe eminent person pinching contents of till (12)

21a   Reserves // support look good (7)

"look" = LO (show explanation )

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.

hide explanation

"good" = G (show explanation )

The abbreviation G^[10] for good likely relates to its use in grading school assignments or tests.

hide explanation

Most dictionaries define backlog^[5] along the lines of an accumulation of uncompleted work or matters needing to be dealt with ⇒ the company took on extra staff to clear the backlog of work.

However, The Chambers Dictionary puts a positive spin on the term by listing backlog^[1] as a reserve or accumulation of business, stock, work, etc that will keep one going for some time. The American Heritage Dictionary seemingly goes even further in this direction, with its first definition for backlog^[3] being a reserve supply or source and it second being an accumulation, especially of unfinished work or unfilled orders.

23a   Very loud seaman in the drink? // Gracious! (7)

"very loud" = FF (show explanation )

Fortissimo^[5] (abbreviation ff^[5]) is a direction used in music to mean either (as an adjective) very loud  or (as an adverb) very loudly.

hide explanation

"seaman" = AB (show explanation )

In the Royal Navy, according to Oxford Dictionaries Online, able seaman^[5] (abbreviation AB^[5]), is a rank of sailor above ordinary seaman and below leading seaman. On the other hand, Collins English Dictionary tells us that an able seaman^[10] (also called able-bodied seaman) is an ordinary seaman, especially one in the merchant navy, who has been trained in certain skills.

hide explanation 

24a   One's got it all over /with/ tragic demise (RIP) (9)

25a   Chick might settle on this // jumper with short sleeves (5)

The jumper from 10a returns — at least as far as the surface reading is concerned. However, for purposes of cryptic analysis, it becomes an animal from Down Under. Roo^[5] is an informal Australian term for a kangaroo.

"Short sleeves" is used to denote the letters on each side of ShorT.

26a   Characters in Tokyo gangs /attaining/ spiritual discipline (4)

27a   Give up // present title for 24 hours? (4,2,1,3)

As in 1a, I will opt not to label this a double definition.

Think of the wordplay as "present title for [give a name to] 24 hours" or, in other words, "call it a day".

Down

1d   Delicacy // isn't commonly penetrating outskirts of Dudley (6)

Scratching the Surface

Dudley[7] is a large town in the West Midlands of England, 8 miles (13 km) north-west of Birmingham. The town is the administrative centre of a metropolitan area with a population of 312,900 at the 2001 census. Dudley is sometimes called the capital of the Black Country (see below). Originally a market town in the Middle Ages, Dudley was one of the birthplaces of the Industrial Revolution, and grew into an industrial centre during the 19th century with its iron, coal, and limestone industries. The air pollution produced by coal mines, coking operations, iron foundries and steel mills led to this area of the West Midlands being dubbed the Black Country[7].

2d   Rouse stiffly off and on /and/ become rigid (6)

In her review, Kath tells you to take the odd letters of "rouse stiffly". However, you would be well advised to take the even letters.

3d   Welsh factories redeveloped // directly (2,3,4,5)

4d   Civil War soldier perhaps // or a recent revolutionary (2-7)

5d   Policeman points /and/ carries on (5)

7d   Clever clogs // support popular TV (8)

Brainbox^[5] is an informal British term for a very clever person.

Clever clogs (also clever Dick^[5]) is an informal British term for a person who is irritatingly and ostentatiously knowledgeable or intelligent ⇒ she’s such a clever Dick—you can’t tell her anything.

Behind the Picture
What does the illustration have to do with the clue? Very little, Kath just likes dogs. The image is taken from the website of Clever Clogs Canine Training, a dog training business based in the Cheshire and South Manchester area of England.

8d   This lot going about in a frenzy, heading off /for/ London (3,5)

The Smoke^[5] (or the Big Smoke) is an informal British term for a big city, especially London ⇒ she was offered a job in the Smoke.

9d   Skip // how to find use for a nut? (4,1,4,3,2)

15d   Production of Lear outside picks up /in/ run-through (9)

Scratching the Surface
King Lear[7] is a tragedy by English playwright William Shakespeare (1564-1616).

16d   Pride // drooling -- lion's first to go out and last to tuck in (8)

17d   Carrying // hose (8)

19d   'Une route secondaire' // in France maybe (6)

In Great Britain, B roads^[7] are numbered local routes, which have lower traffic densities than the main trunk roads, or A roads. This classification has nothing to do with the width or quality of the physical road, and B roads can range from dual carriageways [divided highways] to single track roads with passing places.

The French phrase translates as "A secondary road" which, in Great Britain would be "A B road".

20d   One fat fly starts off // smartly (6)

22d   School waiving rights /for/ third grade (5)

Grammar school^[3] is a chiefly British term for a secondary or preparatory school.

Gamma^[5] is the third letter of the Greek alphabet (Γ, γ). Gamma^[5] is also a British term for a third-class mark given for an essay or other piece of work.

Scratching the Surface

As evidenced by dutch's confusion in Comment #8 at Big Dave's Crossword Blog ("third grade – couldn’t find evidence for this, when would you use this context?"), the Brits would not see the word "grade" as referring to a school class — instead, they would use the word "form". 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.

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