Tuesday, April 12, 2016 — DT 27967

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27967
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, November 24, 2015
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27967]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Hanni
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 27966 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Monday, November 23, 2015.

Introduction

I would appear that the editors at the National Post have real hate on for Rufus as once again they have skipped his "Monday" puzzle. Today, Big Dave's Crossword Blog welcomes Hanni to the blogger's chair for her debut review.

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

5a   Piece of advice given by experienced // writer (4,3)

What did he say?

In Comment #33 at Big Dave's Crossword Blog, judetheobscure questions the construction of this clue with the comment Not so keen on 5a (is “given by” standard for put them the other way round?). The wordplay can be parsed as TIP (piece of advice given) following (by; placed beside) FELT (experience). The construction follows the convention for across clues. In order for TIP to be placed beside FELT, FELT must have been written first. A similar argument can be made even were one to parse the clue as judetheobscure appears to have done as TIP (piece of advice) following (given by; placed beside) FELT (experience). The outcome is perhaps not quite so clear-cut but, I would suggest, still holds.

7a   Accumulate a million as head of state (5)

9a   Good packaging, reportedly, /for/ brandy (6)

"good" = G (show explanation )

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

hide explanation

The word "wrapper", when pronounced in a non-rhotic^[7] British accent sounds like "rappa".

Non-rhotic accents omit the sound < r > in certain situations, while rhotic accents generally pronounce < r > in all contexts. Among the several dozen British English accents which exist, many are non-rhotic while American English (US and Canadian) is mainly rhotic. This is, however, a generalisation, as there are areas of Britain that are rhotic, and areas of America that are non-rhotic. For more information, see this guide to pronouncing < r > in British English.

Grappa^[5] is a brandy distilled from the fermented residue of grapes after they have been pressed in winemaking.

10a   Desperately got bag on // sledge (8)

At some time in the distant past, the Brits developed the impression that a toboggan is a sled and has runners — and they have never been able to shake this misconception.

North Americans will be puzzled by the British concept of a toboggan. To the Brits, a toboggan^[5] is a long, light, narrow vehicle, typically on runners^*, used for sliding downhill over snow or ice. You will find that they apply the term toboggan to almost any type of sled used for sliding downhill. I suppose by including the phrase "typically on runners" the definition leaves enough wiggle room to allow a 'true' toboggan (which has no runners) to squeeze in. Clearly the term must have been taken back to the UK by some British explorer who paid a visit to the colonies and returned home very confused.

^* Ironically, Oxford Dictionaries illustrates its entry with a drawing of a true toboggan — one with no runners.

11a   Flier, untrained /for/ battle (5,5)

The Battle of Goose Green^[5] (28–29 May 1982) was an engagement between British and Argentine forces during the Falklands War.

13a   Join forces, // gathering right away (4)

14a   Article by newspaper on personality/'s/ fraudulent practice (8,5)

The Financial Times^[7] (abbreviation FT) is a British international business newspaper that is printed on conspicuous salmon pink newsprint.

Rant of the Day

The concept of identity theft has long rankled me. If a conman were to misrepresent himself to me as being an agent for a major corporation such as a bank and I were to fall for the scam, I would be said to be the victim of fraudulent misrepresentation. If a conman were to misrepresent himself to a major corporation such as a bank as being me and the corporation were to fall for the scam, I would be said to be the victim of identity theft. A classic case of heads you win, tails I lose!

16a   Chum after ring /and/ gemstone (4)

17a   Snake // caught constricting flightless bird (10)

The rhea^[5] is either of two species (Rhea americana and Pterocnemia pennata) of large flightless bird of South American grasslands, resembling a small ostrich with greyish-brown plumage.

The copperhead^[5] is any of a number of stout-bodied venomous snakes with coppery-pink or reddish-brown colouration, in particular:

1. a North American pit viper (Agkistrodon contortrix). Also called highland moccasin;
2. any of a number of Australian snakes of the cobra family (in particular Austrelaps superbus).

19a   Fizzy thing -- better // bedtime drink (8)

Cap^[3] means to to follow with something better; in other words, to surpass or outdo ⇒ capped his last trick with a disappearing act that brought the audience to its feet.

20a   Some worship a god, attending // temple (6)

22a   Bird // close to old gardening implement (5)

What did she say?
In her review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Hanni tells us this is a gardening implement that gets a great deal of use at this time of year. Remember, this puzzle appeared in the UK in the autumn.

23a   Pragmatic type // on a roll (7)

Hanni missed a bit of the wordplay here which is RE (on [the subject of]) + A (from the clue) + LIST (roll).

Down

1d   Mates capsized /in/ smack (4)

Mate^[5] is: an informal British term for a friend or companion ⇒ my best mate Steve.

2d   Fidgeting, sat Right // Honourable (8)

Straight^[2] is used in the sense of respectable or legitimate; in other words, not dishonest, disreputable, or criminal.

3d   Flimsy // element (6)

Flimsy^[5,10] is a British term for:

1. very thin paper used for making carbon copies of a letter, etc ⇒ sheets of yellow flimsy; 
2.  a document, especially a copy, made on such paper ⇒ credit-card flimsies.

Carbon^[3,4,5,11] is another name for a piece of carbon paper or a carbon copy.

4d   Left in Aden, bags possibly heading for hilly // Asian country (10)

Aden^[5] is a port in Yemen at the mouth of the Red Sea; population 588,900 (est. 2004). Aden was formerly under British rule, first as part of British India (from 1839), then from 1935 as a Crown Colony. It was capital of the former South Yemen from 1967 until 1990.

5d   Sacrifice, // to the advantage of work (5)

"Work" meaning function as in I can't get the car to work.

6d   Wrote up // Peter Pan merrily receiving crown (3,3,2,5)

Scratching the Surface
Peter Pan[5] is the hero of Scottish dramatist J. M. Barrie’s play of the same name (1904), a boy with magical powers who never grew up.

8d   Colour // Zeiss perhaps introduced to series (7)

Carl Zeiss^[5] (1816–1888) was a German optical instrument-maker. He established a workshop in Jena in 1846, which developed into the company which bears his name today.

12d   Levy /that could make/ Take That awfully cross? (7,3)

Stealth tax^[10] is an informal British term for an indirect tax, such as that on fuel or pension funds, especially one of which people are unaware or that is felt to be unfair.

Scratching the Surface
Take That[7] are a British pop group that was originally formed in 1990, split up in 1996 and reformed in 2005.

14d   Understood // mischievous child was untruthful (7)

15d   The turn involving a // cast member (8)

17d   Rides /in/ circles (6)

18d   Examination of accounts -- // part of fraud itself (5)

21d   First of games, a home // win (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