Thursday, October 22, 2015 — DT 27802

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27802
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, May 15, 2015
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27802]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Gazza
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

It was somewhat demoralizing to see that Gazza awarded this puzzle a mere one star for difficulty. I did manage to complete it without calling in my electronic assistants, but the time and effort required to solve it would place the puzzle solidly in the lower end of the three star range. However, looking back at the clues in hindsight, it is hard to see why it was such a challenge — a situation I often find with Giovanni's creations.

It seems that I made a rather blatant faux pas (or perhaps choked) in my review of Tuesday's puzzle. On 9a, I was so certain that I had come up with the intended solution that I did not even bother to verify my result by clicking on the answer in Dutch's review at Big Dave's Crossword Blog. I then proceeded to write a lengthy dissection of a solution that wasn't even correct. Thank you to Richard for pointing out the error of my ways. The correct solution was CLOSE UP (which parses perfectly) and not CHOKE UP (as I came up with). A contributing factor may have been my lateness in writing the review. I was polishing it off while burning the midnight oil.

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

7a   Singer /in/ pub, one having vocal expression (8)

9a   Essex town // not totally tough and mean! (6)

Harlow^[7] is a town in the west of Essex, England, situated on the border with Hertfordshire.

10a   Man by the briny // in a deck chair, say? (6)

11a   Improper posturing // where mountaineers gather (4,4)

As a gerund, "posturing" could be used as a noun as well as an adjective which would make the phrase "improper posturing" equivalent to "base camp" (where "camp" is also used as a noun).

12a   There is apparel specially designed /for/ artists (3-11)

A Pre-Raphaelite^[5] is a member of a group of English 19th-century artists, including Holman Hunt, Millais, and D. G. Rossetti, who consciously sought to emulate the simplicity and sincerity of the work of Italian artists from before the time of Raphael.

Delving Deeper

Seven young English artists and writers founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848 as a reaction against the slick sentimentality and academic convention of much Victorian art. Their work is characterized by strong line and colour, naturalistic detail, and often biblical or literary subjects. The group began to disperse in the 1850s, and the term became applied to the rather different later work of Rossetti, and that of Burne-Jones and William Morris, in which a romantic and decorative depiction of classical and medieval themes had come to predominate. As an adjective, Pre-Raphaelite[5] denotes (especially of a woman) reminiscent of a Pre-Raphaelite painting, typically in having long, thick, wavy auburn hair, pale skin, and a fey demeanour.

15a   To move house /is/ appropriate when lake encroaches (4)

As a verb, flit^[5] is a chiefly Scottish and Northern English term meaning to move house or leave one’s home, typically secretly so as to escape creditors or obligations. As a noun, flit^[5] is an informal British term meaning an act of moving house or leaving one’s home, typically secretly so as to escape creditors or obligations ⇒ moonlight flits from one insalubrious dwelling to another. The definitions would suggest that the expression enjoys more extensive use as a noun than as a verb.

17a   Move // sack (5)

A sack^[5] (also sack dress) is a woman’s short loose unwaisted dress, typically narrowing at the hem, popular especially in the 1950s.

A shift^[5] (also shift dress) is a woman’s straight unwaisted dress.

19a   Frame // awkwardly rigid I removed (4)

20a   Firm's reputation? // Distinct danger that will be ruined (6,8)

23a   Short piece delivered to the world /is/ uncompromising (8)

25a   Virtuous // husband, individual type to be given halo (6)

27a   Stick together // at this place having joined company (6)

HERE (at this place) comes after CO (company) because in order for the former to join the latter, the latter must have arrived first.

28a   Fellows count // without using pencil and paper? (8)

Down

1d   Power with which great performer's gained // speed (4)

"power" = P (show explanation )

In physics, P^[10] is a symbol used to represent power (among other things).

hide explanation

2d   Model // that may get someone easily caught out (6)

Sitter^[5] is an informal British sports term for an easy catch or shot ⇒ he scored some great goals but missed some sitters. Thus a cricket batsman who hits a sitter is likely to be easily caught out by a fielder.

3d   Rosemary maybe /wants/ some other boy (4)

HERB is not the "other boy" but is hiding in otHER Boy.

4d   Meeting the Spanish, Greek characters // cheat (6)

"the Spanish" = EL (show explanation )

In Spanish, the masculine singular form of the definite article is el^[8].

hide explanation

Chi^[5] is the twenty-second letter of the Greek alphabet (Χ, χ).

As the "Greek characters" are meeting "the Spanish", the former arrive first just as when you are meeting someone at the airport, I am sure you would ensure that you arrive in time to greet them as they step off the plane.

I do realize that this argument is open to questioning since if you are to meet someone at a restaurant, more often than not, they arrive first.

5d   An attachment to what money will buy (5,3)

6d   Order // money to be paid to agent (10)

A commission^[5] is an order for something, especially a work of art, to be produced specially ⇒ Mozart at last received a commission to write an opera.

8d   /See/ tragic king // die horribly in classical work (7)

The word "see" — despite not being positioned between the definition and the wordplay — essentially fills the role of a link word. I think of it is a framework element on which the definition and wordplay are hung. The overall sense of the clue is that the name of a "tragic king" can be seen by executing the wordplay.

In music, an opus^[5] (plural opuses or opera) is a separate composition or set of compositions.

The abbreviation Op.^[5] (also op.), denoting opus, is used before a number given to each work of a particular composer, usually indicating the order of publication. The plural form of Op. is Opp..

Opus^[5] can also be used in a more general sense to mean an artistic work, especially one on a large scale ⇒ he was writing an opus on Mexico.

As Gazza explains in his review, "classical work" might be a reference to the fact that "opus" is a Latin word. On the other hand, it might also relate to the fact that term is customarily applied to works of classical music.

13d   Member of family carries nothing around? // Big van can do that job (10)

14d   A deceiver's no right /to get/ assumed 24 (5)

The numeral 24 is a cross reference indicator directing the solver to insert the solution to clue 24d in its place to complete the clue. The directional indicator is customarily omitted in situations such as this where only a single clue starts in the grid cell that is being referenced.

16d   Outside entrance to minster more than one choirboy // shakes (8)

A treble^[5] is a boy (or girl) with a high-pitched singing voice ⇒ we had sung together as trebles in the choir.

Scratching the Surface
Minster[5] is a British term for a large or important church, typically one of cathedral status in the north of England that was built as part of a monastery ⇒ York Minster.

18d   Session of instruction // a prominent feature after meal (5-2)

Tea may be either a drink or a meal, especially in Britain. (more )

The British distinguish between afternoon tea and high tea, although both may be referred to simply as tea^[10]. Afternoon tea^[2,5,7,10] (or Low Tea) is a light afternoon meal, typically eaten between 3:00 pm and 5:00 pm, at which tea, sandwiches, biscuits [British term for cookies or crackers] and cakes are served.

High tea^[7] (also known as meat tea) is the evening meal or dinner of the working class, typically eaten between 5:00 pm and 7:00 pm. It typically consists of a hot dish such as fish and chips, shepherd's pie, or macaroni cheese [macaroni and cheese to North Americans], followed by cakes and bread, butter and jam. Occasionally there would be cold cuts of meat, such as ham salad. Traditionally high tea was eaten by middle to upper class children (whose parents would have a more formal dinner later) or by labourers, miners and the like when they came home from work. The term was first used around 1825 and high is used in the sense of well-advanced (like high noon, for example) to signify that it was taken later in the day.

hide explanation

A teach-in^[5] is an informal lecture and discussion or series of lectures on a subject of public interest ⇒ a teach-in on the Vietnam war.

21d   Evening worker (6)

22d   Rejection /of/ agreement restricting one part of UK (6)

"one part of UK" = NI (show explanation )

Northern Ireland^[5] (abbreviation NI^[5]) is a province of the United Kingdom occupying the northeast part of Ireland; population 1,775,000 (est. 2008); capital, Belfast.

According to Oxford Dictionaries Online, Northern Ireland^[5] is the only major division of the United Kingdom to hold the status of province, with England^[5] and Scotland^[5] being considered countries, and Wales^[5] a principality.

hide explanation

24d   Celebrity /having/ an upset, this particular writer (4)

"compiler's" = IM (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, today, this particular 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

26d   One and only // fish /in/ sea area (4)

Sole^[5] is a shipping forecast area in the northeastern Atlantic, covering the western approaches to the English Channel.

The Shipping Forecast^[7] is a four times per day BBC Radio broadcast of weather reports and forecasts for the seas around the coasts of the British Isles. It is produced by the Met Office [the United Kingdom's national weather service which, prior to 2000, was known as the Meteorological Office] and broadcast by BBC Radio 4 on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. The waters around the British Isles are divided into sea areas, also known as weather areas.

The unique and distinctive sound of these broadcasts has led to their attracting an audience much wider than that directly interested in maritime weather conditions. Many listeners find the repetition of the names of the sea areas almost hypnotic, particularly during the night-time broadcast at 0048 UK time.

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