Friday, April 29, 2016 — DT 27985

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27985
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, December 15, 2015
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27985]
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
Notes
The National Post has skipped DT 27984 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Monday, December 14, 2015.

Introduction

Today the editors at the National Post have once again skipped over a puzzle from the "Monday maestro" Rufus. Instead, we get an offering from one of the "Tuesday" mystery setters.

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   Bring // fellow to eat out (5)

"fellow" = F (show explanation )

F^[2] is the abbreviation for Fellow (of a society, etc). For instance, it is found in professional designations such as FRAIC (Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada).

hide explanation

4a   Place to put pens etc? (8)

A pen^[5] is a female swan.

What did he say?
In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Gazza hints As well as pens you’ll probably find cobs and cygnets here.. A cob[5] is a male swan. A cygnet[5] is a young swan.

Swannery^[5] is a British term for a place set aside for swans to breed.

10a   Actor, // one featured in musical (7)

Oliver!^[7] is a British musical, with music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the novel Oliver Twist by English writer Charles Dickens (1812–1870). It premièred in the West End in 1960, enjoying a long run, a successful Broadway production in 1963 and further tours and revivals. It was made into a musical film in 1968. Major London revivals played from 1977–80, 1994–98 and again from 2008–11.

Laurence Olivier^[5], Baron Olivier of Brighton (1907–1989) was an English actor and director. Following his professional debut in 1924, he performed all the major Shakespearean roles; he was also director of the National Theatre (1963–73). His films include Rebecca (1940), Henry V (1944), and Hamlet (1948).

11a   Second book more than enough /as/ illustration (7)

Exodus^[5] (abbreviation Exod. or Ex.^[5]) is the second book of the Bible, which recounts the departure of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, their journey across the Red Sea and through the wilderness led by Moses, and the giving of the Ten Commandments. The events have been variously dated by scholars between about 1580 and 1200 BC.

12a   Way east's cut off /in/ disorderly retreat (4)

13a   Fully developed // road ultimately's restricted (5)

14a   Nudge // for daughter (4)

17a   Gate left /in/ horse-racing maybe (9,5)

19a   Type of rule /in/ golf events men violated? About right (4-10)

22a   Revered figure putting lake first /as/ somewhere to swim (4)

Lido^[5] is a British term for a public open-air swimming pool or bathing beach. The name comes from Lido^[5], a beach resort in northeastern Italy located on an island reef in the northern Adriatic which separates the Lagoon of Venice from the Gulf of Venice.

23a   Recover // a series of shots (5)

24a   Counter // sword (4)

27a   Brainy cooks with India's capital // dish (7)

Biryani^[5] is an Indian dish made with highly seasoned rice and meat, fish, or vegetables ⇒ prawn biryani.

28a   Atmosphere old boy found in province /and/ capital (7)

"old boy" = OB (show explanation )

In Britain, an old boy^[5] (abbreviation OB^[2])  is:

1. a former male student of a school or college ⇒an old boy of Banbury County School; or
2. a former male member of a sports team or company ⇒ the White Hart Lane old boy squared the ball to present an easy chance from 12 yards.

It is also a chiefly British affectionate form of address to a boy or man ⇒ ‘Look here, old boy,’ he said.

hide explanation

Nairobi^[5] is the capital of Kenya; population 3,010,000 (est. 2007). It is situated on the central Kenyan plateau at an altitude of 1,680 m (5,500 ft).

29a   Neat code unravelled /in/ short story (8)

30a   Senior figure /in/ party linked to foreign money (5)

The yen^[5] is the basic monetary unit of Japan.

Down

1d   Ray perhaps hiding scowl /gets/ to prosper (8)

2d   Positive testimony /that's/ hackneyed about British university (7)

3d   One getting estate // publicity, we hear (4)

Air^[10] denotes public expression or utterance ⇒ to give air to one's complaints.

5d   Fiddling alleged, wherein /will be/ manipulative practices (7-7)

Wheeler-dealing^[10] is another term for wheeling and dealing^[10], the use of different methods and contacts, often dishonestly, to achieve one's ends.

6d   Marine attendants partly // missing water? (4)

7d   Penguin, perhaps, // a figure of authority (7)

The emperor penguin^[5] is the largest species of penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri), which has a yellow patch on each side of the head and rears its young during the Antarctic winter.

8d   Give up /and/ return (5)

9d   Conservative // duke in characteristic leaning to protect Hebridean island (14)

"duke" = (show explanation )

A duke^[5] (abbreviation D.^[10]) is a male holding the highest hereditary title in the British and certain other peerages.

hide explanation

Iona^[5] is a small island in the Inner Hebrides, off the west coast [of the larger island] of Mull. It is the site of a monastery founded by St Columba in about 563.

15d   Crew /finding/ sun on Welsh river (5)

The River Taff^[7] is a large river in Wales. It rises as two rivers in the Brecon Beacons — the Little Taff and the Big Taff — before joining to form the Taff and flowing south to Cardiff Bay.

16d   Second long // part of hardback? (5)

Hardback^[5] is another term for hardcover^[5], the later being chiefly a North American term.

18d   Follow largely with element of pride // horse (8)

A pride^[5] is a group of lions forming a social unit ⇒ the males in the pride are very tolerant towards all the cubs.

20d   Northern actress Diana in middle of week /is/ back (7)

Diana Dors^[7] (1931–1984), born Diana Mary Fluck, was an English actress. She first came to public notice as a blonde bombshell in the style of Marilyn Monroe, as promoted by her first husband Dennis Hamilton, mostly via sex film-comedies and risqué modelling. When it turned out that Hamilton had been defrauding her for his own benefit, she had little choice but to play up to her established image, and she made tabloid headlines with the adult parties reportedly held at her house. Later she showed a genuine talent for TV and cabaret, and gained new popularity as a regular chat-show guest.

21d   Firm coming into money devised // cheaper travel, say (7)

22d   African country /in/ past beset by revolutionary trouble (5)

Libya^[5] is a country in North Africa; population 6,324,400 (est. 2009); official language, Arabic; capital, Tripoli. Much of Libya forms part of the Sahara Desert, with a narrow coastal plain bordering the Mediterranean; the country has major oil deposits. The area came under Turkish domination in the 16th century, was annexed by Italy in 1912, and became an independent kingdom in 1951

25d   Charge /for/ section of hospital (4)

26d   Take care of // what's kept by chum in department? (4)

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