Tuesday, January 17, 2017 — DT 28255

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 28255
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28255]
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

I did not find the workout to be overly strenuous today.

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   New Australian jumper, /and/ one from the 1940s (4,6)

Boomer^[5] is an informal Australian term for a large male kangaroo.

While the wordplay works to some extent as a charade of BABY (new) + BOOMER (Australian jumper), it is far more effective as a cryptic definition in which a "new Australian jumper" is a 'BABY BOOMER'.

6a   Miss a // festive occasion (4)

9a   All the best // gold rings perish (5)

The symbol for the chemical element gold is Au^[5] (from Latin aurum).

10a   Gradually supplies // wimps welcoming sustenance (4-5)

The word "drip" would appear to carry a different connotation in Britain than in North America. In Britain, drip^[5] is an informal term for a weak and ineffectual person whereas, in North America, a drip^[3] is a tiresome or annoying person.

12a   Girl Guides /that could be/ stars of stage and screen? (7,6)

I would say that the first part of the clue (marked with a dotted underline) is a cryptic definition making the clue a double definition of a sort.

14a   Outrage after objective /is/ put at risk (8)

15a   Help out with game, oddly /showing/ self-possession (6)

Self-possession^[5] is the state or feeling of being calm, confident, and in control of one's feelings; in other words, composure ⇒ an air of self-possession.

Phlegm^*[5] denotes calmness of temperament ⇒ phlegm and determination carried them through many difficult situations.

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^* In medieval science and medicine, phlegm^[5] was one of the four bodily humours, believed to be associated with a calm, stolid, or apathetic temperament.

17a   Flinch /from/ engineers with wind (6)

"engineers" = 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

19a   Prisoner found outside pub in the morning, // kind of brown (8)

21a   Drastic pay cut helps the Queen /to get/ stand-in tutor (6,7)

"the Queen" = ER (show explanation )

The regnal ciphers (monograms) of British monarchs are initials formed from the Latin version of their first name followed by either Rex or Regina (Latin for king or queen, respectively). Thus, the regnal cipher of Queen Elizabeth is ER^[5] — from the Latin Elizabetha Regina.

hide explanation

24a   Simple task /for/ head coach sacking leader (2-7)

25a   Excellent // brief (5)

26a   Slough /is/ building for storage (4)

Scratching the Surface
I am unable to find any possible sense of the word "slough" that produces a meaningful surface reading.

27a   Flower // youth plans to develop (10)

The polyanthus^[5] is a herbaceous flowering plant which is a complex hybrid between the wild primrose and primulas, cultivated in Europe since the 17th century.

Down

1d   Endless free-for-all /is/ fine in Glasgow (4)

Braw^[5] is a Scottish word meaning fine, good, or pleasing ⇒ it was a braw day.

2d   Got indignant -- // 'Born Free' was the first (7)

Scratching the Surface

Born Free (1960) is the first in a series of three books written by naturalist Joy Adamson (1910–1980) which relate the story of Elsa the lioness[7] and her cubs, Elsa being an orphaned lioness cub that Joy Adamson and her husband, wildlife conservationist and game warden George Adamson (1906–1989), had raised and later released into the wild. * the sequels are titled Living Free (1961) and Forever Free (1962)

3d   Shrub // that could yield a viable gun oil (13)

Bougainvillea^[5] (also bougainvillaea) is an ornamental shrubby climbing plant that is widely cultivated in the tropics. The insignificant flowers are surrounded by large, brightly coloured papery bracts which persist on the plant for a long time.

4d   Men condescended to be heard, /getting/ admitted to church (8)

"men" = OR (show explanation )

In the British armed forces, the term other ranks^[5] (abbreviation OR^[5]) refers to all those who are not commissioned officers.

hide explanation

5d   Contemplating // a share of money in general (5)

7d   Fish /and/ beer with girl who's married (7)

An alewife^*[5] is a northwestern Atlantic fish of the herring family that swims up rivers to spawn.

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^* The name comes from an old sense of the word "alewife" meaning ‘woman who keeps an ale house’, with reference to the fish's large belly. Having grown up in Nova Scotia, I know this fish as a gaspereau^[5].

8d   Masses sent millions to drop // appraisal (10)

11d   Ephemeral success // that's seen with a crepe suzette? (5,2,3,3)

The 2Kiwis have not identified it as such, but I think one could consider this clue to be a double definition.

A crêpe Suzette^[5] is a thin dessert pancake flamed and served in alcohol.

13d   Acts for // theatre with grudges (10)

Rep^[5] is an informal shortened form of repertory^[5]. It can refer either to the performance of various plays, operas, or ballets by a company at regular short intervals,  or to a repertory theatre or company.

16d   Shambles /as/ police inspector arrives, going inside perhaps (8)

"police inspector" = DI (show explanation )

A detective inspector (DI^[5]) is a senior police officer in the UK. Within the British police, inspector^[7] is the second supervisory rank. It is senior to that of sergeant, but junior to that of chief inspector. Plain-clothes detective inspectors are equal in rank to their uniformed counterparts, the prefix 'detective' identifying them as having been trained in criminal investigation and being part of or attached to their force's Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

hide explanation

18d   First couple of pairs in line /must be/ competent (7)

20d   Rome's worried about one hotel /becoming/ addictive (7)

Moreish^[5] is an informal British term meaning so pleasant to eat that one wants more ⇒ a moreish aubergine dip.

22d   Dance // beat gets green light (5)

23d   View reversed after female // charges (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