Wednesday, November 11, 2015 — DT 27818 (Bonus Puzzle)

Prologue

It being Remembrance Day, the National Post did not publish an edition today. For those who may have time on their hands after taking in today's ceremonies, here is DT 27818 which is the puzzle that I expect would have appeared had the National Post been published today.

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27818
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, June 3, 2015
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27818]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By 2Kiwis
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

Today, Jay gives us a puzzle that is slightly easier than average but one that delivers his customary high standard for enjoyment value.

What were the Brits doing when this puzzle was published in The Daily Telegraph in June? Why, they were watching Scottish tennis player Andy Murray compete in the French Open^[7] at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris while bemoaning the defeat of the England cricket team at the hands of New Zealand in a Test match played at Headingley Stadium, Leeds from May 29 to June 2^[7].

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   Verification /of/ company land occupied by business (12)

9a   Service provider's basic error? (4,5)

In tennis, squash, and similar games, a foot fault^[5] is an infringement of the rules made by overstepping the baseline when serving.

10a   A word of comfort // leaving artist her easel (5)

11a   Guarantee // sent without cover, of course, to American (6)

The use of sure^[5] as an adverb is a chiefly North American practice. It can be used:

1. to denote certainly (employed for emphasis) ⇒ Texas sure was a great place to grow up; or
2. (as an exclamation) to show assent ⇒ ‘Are you serious?’ ‘Sure.’.

12a   Retailers for whom frost is disastrous around the end of April (8)

One could look at this clue (as do the 2Kiwis) as a regular clue with definition, link phrase, and wordplay:

• 12a   Retailers /for whom/ frost is disastrous around the end of April (8)

On the other hand, it could well be interpreted as a semi-&lit. (semi-all-in-one) clue in which the entire clue serves as the definition and the portion of the clue shown with the dashed underline is the wordplay.

13a   Governor/'s/ painful punishment touring Austria (6)

As a containment indicator, touring is used in the sense of travelling or going around — with the emphasis on around.

The International Vehicle Registration (IVR) code for Austria is A^[5].

A satrap^[5] was a provincial governor in the ancient Persian empire.

15a   Swimmer/'s/ main supporting structure crossing river (3,5)

The main^[5] is an archaic or literary term for the open ocean.

The sea bream^[5] is a deep-bodied marine fish that resembles the freshwater bream, in particular:

1. several genera and species in the family Sparidae (the sea bream family), in particular the red sea bream (Pagellus bogaraveo), which is fished commercially, and the black sea bream (Spondyliosoma cantharus), a popular angling fish; or
2. a fish of Australasian coastal waters, with a purple back and silver underside (Seriolella brama, family Centrolophidae). Also called warehou in New Zealand.

The bream^[5] is a greenish-bronze deep-bodied freshwater fish (Abramis brama, family Cyprinidae) native to Europe.

What did they say?

In their review at Big Dave's Crossword Blog, the 2Kiwis refer to "beam" as a Toughie setter. Beam is the pseudonym used by crossword setter Ray Terrell for his Toughie puzzles. On Big Dave's Crossword Blog we know him as RayT. The Daily Telegraph carries a number of cryptic crossword puzzles, principally among them being the Cryptic Crossword and the Toughie Crossword. The former is the puzzle which appears in syndication in the National Post. It is published in The Daily Telegraph from Monday to Saturday — customarily on the back page of the paper (and thus is commonly referred to on Big Dave's blog as the 'back-pager'). The latter puzzle is published from Tuesday to Friday and is found somewhere in the middle of the paper. A separate series of Cryptic Crossword puzzles appears in The Sunday Telegraph. The Daily Telegraph puzzles bear a number in the form DT nnnnn while those appearing in The Sunday Telegraph are identified by a number of the form ST nnnn.

18a   Hairstyle /offering/ £25 back? (8)

Pony^[10] is British slang for a sum of £25, especially in bookmaking.

19a   Sun journalist // looked without blinking (6)

Scratching the Surface
The Sun[7] is a daily tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and Ireland by a division of News UK, a wholly owned subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

21a   The disadvantage /of/ inexperienced defender against Germany? (8)

A back^[5] is a player in a team game who plays in a defensive position behind the forwards ⇒ their backs showed some impressive running and passing.

The International Vehicle Registration (IVR) code for Germany is D^[5] [from German Deutschland].

23a   Worker/'s/ wife always accepting answer (6)

26a   Rare quality possessing // peer (5)

27a   Loose // salt found in shifting dunes (9)

28a   Pages of newspaper /with/ focus on food? (6,6)

The term centre spread^[5] denotes the two facing middle pages of a newspaper or magazine.

Down

1d   Chests /of/ people who mock going topless? (7)

2d   Lacking permission, finally takes // corners (5)

3d   Source /of/ prison record held by home worker (9)

Form^[5] is an informal British term for a criminal record ⇒ they both had form.

"worker" = ANT (show explanation )

The phrase "worker" is commonly used in cryptic crossword puzzles to clue ANT.

A worker^[5] is a neuter or undeveloped female bee, wasp, ant, or other social insect, large numbers of which do the basic work of the colony.

In crossword puzzles, "worker" will most frequently be used to clue ANT and occasionally BEE but I have yet to see it used to clue WASP. Of course, "worker" is sometimes also used to clue HAND or MAN.

hide explanation

4d   Timid person ignoring son/'s/ pout (4)

5d   Came to /and/ groggily told tale (8)

6d   Animal/'s/ excessive sign of hesitation (5)

OTT^[5] (short for over the top) is an informal British expression denoting excessive or exaggerated ⇒ presenting him as a goalscoring Superman seems a bit OTT.

7d   Ties, for example, // chaps promise? (8)

Chap^[5] is a [well-travelled] informal British term for a man or a boy ⇒ he sounded like a nice, caring sort of chap.

8d   Moves quickly in the morning, /getting/ stuff thrown out (6)

14d   Container of spirits /from/ sultanate mostly destroyed (8)

Tantalus^[5] is a British term for a stand in which spirit decanters may be locked up though still visible [and thus tantalizing to those lacking the key].

Delving Deeper
In Greek mythology, Tantalus[5] is a Lydian king, son of Zeus and father of Pelops. For his crimes (which included killing Pelops) he was punished by being provided with fruit and water which receded when he reached for them. His name is the origin of the word tantalize.

16d   Chrysalis originally found in flatter // meadow flower (9)

The buttercup^[5] is a herbaceous plant of the genus Ranunculus with bright yellow cup-shaped flowers, which is common in grassland and as a garden weed. All kinds are poisonous and generally avoided by livestock. The buttercup family (Ranunculaceae) also includes anemones, celandines, aconites, clematis, and hellebores, many of which have poisonous seeds.

Scratching the Surface
A chrysalis[5] is a quiescent insect pupa, especially of a butterfly or moth ⇒ the transformation from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis and, finally, adult.

17d   Brush aside // reduction in price (8)

18d   Flats accommodating soldiers /or/ clergymen (6)

Flat^[5] is the British term for what would be called an apartment^[5] in North America.

"soldiers" = RE (show explanation )

The Corps of Royal Engineers^[7], usually just called the Royal Engineers (abbreviation RE), and commonly known as the Sappers^[7], is a corps of the British Army that provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces.

hide explanation

20d   Mocked // Act that gives free housing (7)

22d   There's good in rancour? // Rubbish! (5)

"good" = G (show explanation )

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

hide explanation

24d   Border // official in church must finish early (5)

A verger^[5] is:

1. an official in a church who acts as a caretaker and attendant; or
2. an officer who carries a rod before a bishop or dean as a symbol of office.

25d   Man, for example, // saying 'I will'? (4)

The Isle of Man^[5] (abbreviation IOM^[5]) is an island in the Irish Sea which is a British Crown dependency having home rule, with its own legislature (the Tynwald) and judicial system.

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)

Remembering the Fallen — Falcon