Monday, December 24, 2012 - DT 26992

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26992
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26992]
Big Dave's Review Written By Libellule
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - ★★★	Enjoyment - ★★★
Falcon's Performance ┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐ ███████████████████████████████████ └────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘ 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 █ - unsolved or incorrect prior to visiting Big Dave's blog █ - reviewed by Falcon for Big Dave's blog
Notes This puzzle appears on the Dec. 24 Diversions page in the Monday, December 24, 2012 edition of the National Post.

Introduction

Perhaps I'm getting overly excited in anticipation of tonight's visit from Saint Nick, or maybe I was just trying to get some festive red into the blog. In any event, I got a bit careless and found myself with one incorrect entry and one uncompleted clue when I got to Big Dave's site today.

Today's setter is not identified. It occurred to me that it might be Petitjean (John Pidgeon), but no one on Big Dave's blog has suggested that possibility.

I hope that everyone noticed that the National Post published three pages of Diversions today, so you will have something to keep you occupied until the paper next appears on Thursday.

Here's wishing everyone a ...

Very Merry Christmas

The Centre Block of Parliament decorated for Christmas

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.

11a   Top complete/incomplete? (4)

Even though I arrived at the correct solution, I could probably colour this clue a pale shade of pink for not fully comprehending the wordplay. As seems to have been the case with Libellule, I had some initial misgivings about my answer here. I am more accustomed to seeing stark^[3] used as an adverb (stark naked), but clearly it can also be an adjective, meaning complete or sheer ⇒ he came running back in stark terror.

13a   Railway buff instructs one at the wheel? (12)

To elaborate on Libellule's hint, it would be more correct to say that the wordplay describes the act (6,6) of showing someone how to make plates, jugs, vases etc.

Trainspotter^[5] is a British term for a person who collects train or locomotive numbers as a hobby. It is also often used in a derogatory sense to refer to a person who obsessively studies the minutiae of any minority interest or specialized hobby ⇒ the idea is to make the music really really collectable so the trainspotters will buy it in their pathetic thousands. 

20a   Legendary female reportedly produced song from 'West Side Story', nervously at first (4,6)

Maid Marian^[7] is the love interest of the legendary English outlaw Robin Hood.

"Maria"^[7] is a song from the Broadway musical West Side Story, sung by the male lead Tony when he learns that the name of the girl he's fallen in love with is "Maria". The music was written by Leonard Bernstein with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The song was published in 1956.

21a   Taken initially from large amount in bag (4)

I was stymied here by having an incorrect entry at 21d. I would also think that the rather convoluted nature of the wordplay further contributed to my downfall. The clue tells us that the initial letter of Taken must be removed from STACK (large amount) to get (in; acting as a link word) SACK (bag).

22a   Closed trunk as well (2,4)

Until it was pointed out by Libellule, the fact had escaped me that — in addition to being a preposition — to^[5] could also be an adverb meaning so as to be closed or nearly closed ⇒ he pulled the door to behind him.

In Britain, the enclosed space at the back of a car for carrying luggage or other goods in called a boot^[5]. In North America, we know it as a trunk^[5].

2d   In the process of looting, with place being abandoned (5)

The definition is "in the process of", as in under intense cross examination, she broke down and confessed

3d   Cash in study is dipped into by European (7)

In Britain, to read^[5] means to study (an academic subject) at a university ⇒ (i) I’m reading English at Cambridge; (ii) he went to Manchester to read for a BA in Economics.

Readies^[5] (or the ready) is British slang for available money or cash.

5d   Former winner, it's believed, maintains pressure -- and that's not all (7)

The phrase "winner, it's believed" is used to clue CERT. Cert^[5] is an informal British expression meaning (1) an event regarded as inevitable ⇒ of course Mum would cry, it was a dead cert (2) a racehorse strongly tipped to win a race or (3) a person regarded as certain to do something ⇒ the Scottish [goal]keeper was a cert to play. Here, the clue uses the second meaning.

6d   See man in charge bagging runs (9)

A see^[5] is the place in which a cathedral church stands, identified as the seat of authority of a bishop or archbishop. The "man" here is a chess piece — although it he would seem to have found himself on a cricket pitch rather than a chessboard. On cricket scorecards, one would find R^[5] employed as an abbreviation for run(s).

7d   Secure a posh carriage (6)

In Britain, U^[5] is used informally as an adjective with respect to language or social behaviour meaning characteristic of or appropriate to the upper social classes (U manners). The term, an abbreviation of  upper class, was coined in 1954 by Alan S. C. Ross, professor of linguistics, and popularized by its use in Nancy Mitford's Noblesse Oblige (1956). Posh is often used in cryptic crosswords as a stand-in for upper class.

14d   Batting team dismissed, comprehensively (6,3)

In cricket, the batting team is said to be 'in' — in contrast to baseball, where the batting team is described as being 'up'. However, in both sports, the batting team is 'out' when dismissed.

In case you are perplexed by the game of cricket, here is a brief (but comprehensive) explanation:

CRICKET: AS EXPLAINED TO A FOREIGNER...

You have two sides, one out in the field and one in. Each man that's in the side that's in goes out, and when he's out he comes in and the next man goes in until he's out. When they are all out, the side that's out comes in and the side that's been in goes out and tries to get those coming in, out. Sometimes you get men still in and not out.

When a man goes out to go in, the men who are out try to get him out, and when he is out he goes in and the next man in goes out and goes in. There are two men called umpires who stay out all the time and they decide when the men who are in are out. When both sides have been in and all the men have been out, and both sides have been out twice after all the men have been in, including those who are not out, that is the end of the game.

Simple!

17d   Clergyman's written about a source of nuclear energy (7)

A vicar and a rector are both members of the clergy. In the Church of England, a vicar^[5] is an incumbent of a parish where tithes formerly passed to a chapter or religious house or layman. This is in contrast to a rector^[5], who is the incumbent of a parish where all tithes formerly passed to the incumbent. These titles have somewhat different meanings in other religious denominations.

21d   Guy eating a Malaysian dish (5)

A bit of carelessness not only did me in here, but also handicapped me on 21a. Thinking that "guy" was maty^[5], I came up with MATAY for the Malaysian dish (and foolishly neglected to check it in the dictionary). As I was to discover too late, I had the wrong guy.

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)

Signing off for today — Falcon

Saturday, December 22, 2012 - Musical Missteps

Introduction

Today's carollers may have imbibed too much holiday cheer — and their performance suffers noticeably as a result.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

Legend:	"*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed
	"( )" letters inserted; "_" letters deleted; "†" explicit in the clue

Across

1a   {THE FIRST NOEL}* — an anagram (wrong) of LINE SET FORTH

10a   {KURT WEILL}~ — sounds like (in speech) {CURT (concise) + WHILE (as)}

Kurt Weill^[7] (1900 – 1950) was a German composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht. With Brecht, he developed productions such as his most well known work The Threepenny Opera, a Marxist critique of capitalism, which included the ballad "Mack the Knife".

11a   _EXT|RA_ — hidden in (comes packed with) nEXT RAV4

The Toyota RAV4^[7] is a sport utility vehicle (SUV) produced by the Japanese manufacturer Toyota.

12a   IMP|ALE — IMP (rascal) + (with) ALE (bar drink)

13a   OXYMORON* — an anagram (horsing around) of ON MY OX OR

15a   GEARSHIFT — a Spoonerism of SHEER GIFT

For the benefit of British readers, gearshift is the North American term for a gear lever.

16a   {SUGAR_}< — a reversal (put back) hidden in (portion of) aspaRAGUS

18a   SLEEP< — a reversal (the wrong way) of PEELS (gets undressed)

20a   K(NOW)INGLY — KINGLY (like Henry VIII) containing (wrapping) NOW (present)

23a   A(R)MATURE — R (resistance) contained in (in) {A (†) + MATURE (fully developed)}

25a   SCENTS~ — sounds like (in the audience) SENSE (become aware of)

27a   L_UNCH — L[A]UNCH (take off in a rocket) with the second letter deleted (without A)

28a   ABORIGINE* — an anagram (disrupted) of BOEING AIR

The Boeing Company^[7] is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation which is among the largest global aircraft manufacturers, and the third largest aerospace and defense contractor in the world based on defense-related revenue.

29a   {WE THREE KINGS}* — an anagram (drunk) of SKEWERING THE

Down

2d   H G |WELLS — HG (mercury; Hg^[5] being the symbol for this chemical element) + WELLS (rises)

Herbert George "H. G." Wells^[7] (1866 – 1946) was an English writer, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. Together with Jules Verne and Hugo Gernsback, Wells has been referred to as "The Father of Science Fiction". His most notable science fiction works include The War of the Worlds, The Time Machine, The Invisible Man and The Island of Doctor Moreau. He did write a book titled The Magic Shop in 1903 but Mercury Rises is a Crosswordland fantasy.^[7]

Should the name Mercury Rises seem somewhat familiar, Mercury Rising^[7] is a 1998 American action thriller film starring Bruce Willis and Alec Baldwin in which an undercover FBI agent (played by Willis) protects a nine-year-old boy with autism who is targeted by government assassins after he cracks a top secret government code.

3d   FAIR — double definition; "cricket" (as in it's not cricket to cheat at cards^[3]) & exhibition

4d   _REL(AX)ATION — RELATION (kin) containing (grabs) AX (†)

5d   THE|R|MOS — THE (†) + R (right) + MOS (months)

6d   _OTTER — [R]OTTER (skunk) with the first letter deleted {cutting off the first R (river)}

7d   L|EARNER — L (pound; British monetary unit) + EARNER (gainer)

8d   S(KI)ING — SING (carol; as a verb) containing (catching) KI ([first] half of KI[DS])

9d   TRIP|LANE — TRIP (journey) + LANE (course)

14d   TICKERTAPE* — an anagram (ground; as a verb) of PICKETER AT

17d   GIG|ANTIC — GIG (musical job) + (with ... aspect) ANTIC (zany)

Aspect^[3] can mean a side or surface facing in a particular direction. Thus having a zany aspect indicates having zany attached on one side.

18d   SH(ALL)OW — SHOW (exhibition) containing (keeping) ALL (everything)

19d   PITCHER — double definition; "jug" & "tosser"

21d   I|T(C)HING — {I (†) + THING (object; as a noun)} containing C (Conservative)

22d   YE(S)MEN — YEMEN (Arab land) containing (harbouring) S (small)

24d   _M|ONE|T_ — hidden in (in) SaleM ONE Time

Claude Monet^[7] (1840 – 1926) was a founder of French impressionist painting. The term Impressionism is derived from the title of his painting Impression, Sunrise (Impression, soleil levant).

Salem^[7] is a city in Massachusetts, in the United States. Much of the city's cultural identity is reflective of its role as the location of the Salem witch trials of 1692: Police cars are adorned with witch logos, a local public school is known as the Witchcraft Heights Elementary School, the Salem High School athletic teams are named the Witches; and Gallows Hill, a site of numerous public hangings, is currently used as a playing field for various sports.

 Salem^[7] is also the name of the capital of the U.S. state of Oregon.

26d   GOBI< — a reversal (seen from the rear) of {I (island) + BOG (swamp)}

The Gobi^[7] is a large desert region in Asia covering parts of northern China and  southern Mongolia.

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)

Merry Christmas — Falcon

Friday, December 21, 2012 - DT 26991

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26991
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, October 8, 2012
Setter Rufus (Roger Squires)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26991]
Big Dave's Review Written By Gazza
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - ★★	Enjoyment - ★★★★
Falcon's Performance ┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐ ███████████████████████████████████ └────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘ 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 █ - unsolved or incorrect prior to visiting Big Dave's blog █ - reviewed by Falcon for Big Dave's blog
Notes The National Post has skipped DT 26990 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, October 6, 2012.

Introduction

I was late starting this puzzle. Fortunately it was not too taxing — unlike the dump of heavy, wet snow that we received here in Ottawa overnight and through the day. I spent most of the afternoon clearing my driveway, and expect to be similarly engaged tomorrow.

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.

1a   Paying for yourself twice -- it's incomprehensible (6,5)

In Britain, as in North America, to go Dutch^[5] is to share the cost of something, especially a meal, equally. Thus, by some convoluted Crosswordland logic, if going Dutch means that you pay for yourself, going double Dutch must signify that you pay for yourself twice.

In Britain, double Dutch^[5] is a slang term for language that is impossible to understand; in other words, gibberish ⇒ instructions written in double Dutch. In North America, it is a jumping game played with two skipping ropes swung in opposite directions so that they cross rhythmically.

15a   Receiving regular payments, disposed to give lad a rise (8)

Dispose^[5] means to arrange in a particular position ⇒ the chief disposed his attendants in a circle. In this clue it acts as an anagram indicator, but the anagram is inverted. Rather than the usual case of the fodder being rearranged to create the solution, here we have the setter telling us that the solution (SALARIED) can be arranged (disposed) to give the fodder (LAD A RISE).

18a   Production of Haydn's oratorio (8)

The Creation^[7] (German: Die Schöpfung) is an oratorio written between 1796 and 1798 by Austrian composer Joseph Haydn (1732 – 1809), and considered by many to be his masterpiece. The oratorio depicts and celebrates the creation of the world as described in the biblical Book of Genesis and in Paradise Lost (an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton).

19a   Learned person makes witticism, spoken in French (6)

Dit^[8] is the past participle of the French verb dire (to say or speak). As Gazza relates, The Chambers Dictionary defines pundit^[1] as (1) any learned person or (2) an authority, now usually someone who considers himself or herself an authority.

27a   A bloomer he made, being too fond of his image (9)

The actual meaning of bloomer^[5] here is a plant that produces flowers at a specified time ⇒ fragrant night-bloomers such as nicotiana. However, the clue would be more than likely to lead British readers astray, as bloomer^[5] is an informal, dated British expression meaning a serious or stupid mistake ⇒ he never committed a bloomer [equivalent to blooming error].

In Greek mythology, Narcissus^[5] was a beautiful youth who rejected the nymph Echo and fell in love with his own reflection in a pool. He pined away and was changed into the flower that bears his name.

1d   Area inside American bases (7)

How did I not get this one without help? Perhaps I too readily discounted the possibility of baseball ever making an appearance in the DT cryptic.

3d   Former habit of night work? (4,5)

Only just yesterday, we saw that habit^[5] is an archaic term meaning clothes ⇒ in the vile habit of a village slave. The term still survives in the equestrian world (a riding habit) and the Church where it is used to describe a long, loose garment worn by a member of a religious order ⇒ nuns in long brown habits, black veils, and sandals.

18d   Two vehicles joined by a third one (7)

In Britain, a caravan^[5] is a vehicle equipped for living in, typically towed by a car and used for holidays ⇒ they spent a fishing holiday in a caravan. In North America, such a vehicle would be known as a trailer^[5].

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)

Signing off for today — Falcon

Thursday, December 20, 2012 - DT 26989

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26989
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, October 6, 2012
Setter Giovanni (Don Manley)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26989]
Big Dave's Review Written By Gazza
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - ★★★★	Enjoyment - ★★★★
Falcon's Performance ┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐ ███████████████████████████████████ └────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘ 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 █ - unsolved or incorrect prior to visiting Big Dave's blog █ - reviewed by Falcon for Big Dave's blog

Introduction

I wouldn't necessarily go so far as to award this puzzle four stars for difficulty — but I did call upon my electronic assistants for a bit of help today. Then again, unlike Gazza, I avoided the rheostat trap at 19a.

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.

8a   Explosive young reporter confronting a queen (6)

In Greek mythology, Hecuba^[10] was the wife of King Priam of Troy, and mother of Hector and Paris.

9a   Clegg gaining reputation -- or Cleggy as that might be? (8)

Nicholas William Peter "Nick" Clegg^[7] has been the British Liberal Democrat Leader since 2007 and is currently the Deputy Prime Minister and Lord President of the Council (with special responsibility for political and constitutional reform) in the coalition government of which British Conservative Leader David Cameron is the Prime Minister. Not only does he routinely go by the nickname, Nick, but British headline writers seem to like referring to him as Cleggy.

Coincidence or not, Norman "Cleggy" Clegg^[7] is a principal character on the BBC sitcom Last of the Summer Wine (see 12a).

11a   Season in which Bury will need width at the start (6)

Bury^[7] (pronounced 'berry') is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The surface reading of this clue does not make much sense to me; perhaps it is more meaningful to the British ear. It does occur to me that this may somehow be a reference to soccer as Bury does have a team which plays in the third division of the English football league system.

12a   View offered by girl interrupting parents (8)

Nora Batty^[7] (appearing in Gazza's hint) is a character from the BBC sitcom Last of the Summer Wine^[7] which ran from 1973 to 2010.

16a   Agreeable Conservative hurrying to embrace maiden (8)

Hare^[5] is a British expression meaning to run with great speed ⇒ he hared off between the trees.

In cricket, a maiden^[5], also known as a maiden over, (abbreviation M)^[5] is an over in which no runs are scored. An over^[5] is a division of play consisting of a sequence of six balls bowled by a bowler from one end of the pitch, after which another bowler takes over from the other end.

21a   A convenience for people doing business (6)

The Gents^[5] is a [chiefly, but (I would hazard to say) not exclusively] British way to refer to a men’s public toilet.

23a   Old PM's forebear not half making a packet? Certainly not! (8)

William Pitt^[5], 1st Earl of Chatham (1708 – 1778), known as Pitt the Elder, was a British Whig statesman. As Secretary of State (effectively Prime Minister), he headed coalition governments 1756–61 and 1766-68. He brought the Seven Years War [known as the French and Indian War in the United States] to an end in 1763 and also masterminded the conquest of French possessions overseas, particularly in Canada and India. His son, William (1759 – 1806), known as Pitt the Younger, was Prime Minister 1783–1801 and 1804-06. The youngest-ever Prime Minister, he introduced reforms to reduce the national debt.

I must say that I am at a loss as to why Oxford Dictionaries Online would claim that Pitt the Elder "brought the Seven Years War to an end in 1763" as he no longer led the government at that time and vigorously opposed the provisions of the Treaty of Paris which ended the war. Here is how Wikipedia describes his position:

To the preliminaries of the peace concluded in February 1763 he offered an indignant resistance, considering the terms quite inadequate to the successes that had been gained by the country. When the treaty was discussed in parliament in December of the preceding year, though suffering from a severe attack of gout, he was carried down to the House, and in a speech of three hours' duration, interrupted more than once by paroxysms of pain, he strongly protested against its various conditions. ... Pitt believed that the task had been left half-finished and called for a final year of war which would crush French power for good.^[7]

Packet^[5] is an informal, and chiefly British, term meaning a large sum of money ⇒ a hectic social life could cost a packet .

24a   Nonsense about actress Diana being smug (8)

Diana Rigg^[7] is an English actress who is best known for her portrayals of Emma Peel in the 1960s British spy-fi television series The Avengers and Countess Teresa di Vicenzo in the 1969 James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

25a   Stimulate love in an act of deception (6)

In tennis, squash, and some other sports, love^[5] is a score of zero or nil ⇒ love fifteen. The resemblance of a zero written as a numeral (0) to the letter O leads to the cryptic crossword convention of the word "love" being used to clue this letter.

26a   Artist's  kettle? (8)

American-born British painter James McNeill Whistler^[7] is most famous for his painting Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1, commonly known as Whistler's Mother.

2d   Something bright and beautiful in tabloid -- female sitting on cow! (9)

The Sun^[7] is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom by the News Group Newspapers division of News International, itself a wholly owned subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation.

Lower is a whimsical way to describe a cow in Crosswordland — i.e., something that lows.

5d   Habits of those who are buttoned up? (8)

Habit^[5] is an archaic term meaning clothes ⇒ in the vile habit of a village slave. The term still survives in the equestrian world (a riding habit) and the church where it is used to describe a long, loose garment worn by a member of a religious order ⇒ nuns in long brown habits, black veils, and sandals.

7d   Holidaymakers needing celebratory drink -- husband goes out (7)

Champers^[5] is British slang for champagne.

Holidaymaker^[5] is a British term for a person on holiday away from home. The Brits use holiday where the Yanks would say vacation — and Canadians are apt to employ either. Oxford Dictionaries Online characterises vacation^[5] as a North American term meaning (as a noun) a holiday ⇒ (i) he took a vacation in the south of France; (ii) people come here on vacation and (as a verb) to take a holiday ⇒ I was vacationing in Europe with my family. In all of the foregoing examples, Brits would apparently have used the word 'holiday' rather than 'vacation'.

15d   Refuse to go into a filthy place? (8)

This clue is a cryptic definition. The misdirection arises from the natural tendency to read "refuse" as a verb. Instead, it is a noun meaning rubbish — as Gazza puts it , the kind "that you might feed to the inhabitants of your sty".

17d   House with good paintings? Here's original artist (7)

William Hogarth^[7] (1697 – 1764) was an English painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, social critic and editorial cartoonist.

22d   Drink and dope upset you and me (5)

Gen^[5] is British slang for information ⇒ you’ve got more gen on him than we have.

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)

Signing off for today — Falcon

Wednesday, December 19, 2012 - DT 26988

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26988
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, October 4, 2012
Setter RayT (Ray Terrell)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26988]
Big Dave's Review Written By Falcon
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - ★★ / ★★★	Enjoyment - ★★★★
Falcon's Performance ┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐ ███████████████████████████████████ └────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘ 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 █ - unsolved or incorrect prior to visiting Big Dave's blog █ - reviewed by Falcon for Big Dave's blog

Introduction

As I worked through this puzzle, some clues rang a bell but others did not look at all familiar — leaving me slightly unsure for some time whether it was really one that I had seen before.

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.

5a   Struck and played gripping top of five iron (8)

The symbol for the chemical element iron is Fe^[5].

9a   'Offspring' providing accompaniment around finale (10)

The Offspring^[7] is an American punk rock band from Orange County, California, formed in 1984. They are widely credited, alongside fellow California punk, ska punk, and pop punk bands Sublime, Green Day, and Rancid, with popularizing and reviving mainstream interest in punk rock in the United States in the 1990s.

A descant is an independent treble melody sung or played above a basic melody.

11a   A place, incredibly loaded, filled with gold (8)

Or^[5] is gold or yellow, as a heraldic tincture. In heraldry, a tincture^[5] is any of the conventional colours (including the metals and stains, and often the furs) used in coats of arms.

23a   Whole of Queen brought back into being (8)

This is RayT's signature clue, a reference to Her Majesty — and homage to his favourite band.

25a   Chick's tender holding Romeo (4)

Romeo^[5] is a code word representing the letter R, used in radio communication. In Britain, chick could mean bird in either of two senses. A bird might be one of the feathered variety or, in the context of this clue, a bird^[5] is likely to be a young woman or a man’s girlfriend.

4d   Queen with Henry without hot temper (6)

Queen Anne^[7] (1665 – 1714) ascended the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702. On 1 May 1707, under the Act of Union, two of her realms, the kingdoms of England and Scotland, were united as a single sovereign state, the Kingdom of Great Britain.

6d   Heavyweight boxer typically ends in loss (8)

It has only been two days since we last encountered this boxer. Muhammad Ali^[7] (born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr.) is an American former professional boxer whose nicknames included "The Greatest" and "The Louisville Lip".

16d   Change order and put back on stove (9)

In the UK, unlike North America, not just any kitchen stove would be referred to as a range. In Britain, a cooking appliance heated by solid fuel (such as wood or coal) is called a range^[4] and one powered by gas or electricity is known as a cooker^[5]. [Thus the comment accompanying the illustration on Big Dave's blog.]

17d   Went west round oceans becoming sick (8)

Go west^[5] is an informal British expression meaning to be (1) killed or lost or (2) to meet with disaster ⇒ £200 million went west in an unprecedented gambling spree. In North America, to 'go west' would be to head for a land of opportunity and to meet with disaster would be to 'go south'.

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)

Signing off for today — Falcon

Tuesday, December 18, 2012 - DT 26987

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26987
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26987]
Big Dave's Review Written By Scchua
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - ★★	Enjoyment - ★★★
Falcon's Performance ┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐ ███████████████████████████████████ └────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘ 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 █ - unsolved or incorrect prior to visiting Big Dave's blog █ - reviewed by Falcon for Big Dave's blog

Introduction

The setter gives us a fairly gentle workout today. Although "Wednesday" puzzles (based on the day when they appeared in The Daily Telegraph) are invariably by Jay, it was clue 19d (one of my last to solve) that confirmed to me that this was indeed one of his.

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.

1a   Liverpool, for example, on strike and finding empathy (7)

Liverpool^[5] is a city and seaport in NW England, situated at the east side of the mouth of the River Mersey; population 454,700 (est. 2009). Liverpool developed as a port in the 17th century with the import of cotton from America and the export of textiles produced in Lancashire and Yorkshire, and in the 18th century became an important centre of shipbuilding and engineering.

9a   Orbison and top celebrities supporting the monarchy (8)

Roy Orbison^[7] (1936 – 1988) was an American singer-songwriter, best known for his distinctive, powerful voice, complex compositions, and dark emotional ballads.

14a   Such politicians are proper moaners, with no source of help (5-7)

Whinge^[3,4] is a chiefly British term that means to complain or protest, especially in an annoying or persistent manner. The word would seem to have essentially the same meaning as whine^[3,4].

The sound samples found at the aforementioned links for these words are interesting. The American pronunciation of whine is a short, crisp WINE (like the American pronunciation of the drink)^[3,4] while the British pronunciation is WI-I-INE with a prolonged whining I (like the British pronunciation of the drink, as I discovered)^[3,4]. The American pronunciation of the former is WIN-GE while the British is WI-I-INE-GE, again with the prolonged whining I.

24a   A great crime for soldiers surrounded by hostility (8)

In the British armed forces, other ranks (abbreviation OR)^[5] refers to all those who are not commissioned officers. An enormity is (1) a monstrous offense or evil; an outrage^[3] or (2) an act of great wickedness; atrocity^[4].

3d   Pence per head for fruit (5)

In Britain, pence^[5] is a plural form of penny. Oxford Dictionaries Online advises that both pence and pennies have existed as plural forms of penny since at least the 16th century. The two forms now tend to be used for different purposes: pence refers to sums of money (five pounds and sixty-nine pence) while pennies refers to the coins themselves (I left two pennies on the table).

In Britain's current decimal currency system, a penny^[5] is a bronze coin and monetary unit equal to one hundredth of a pound (and is abbreviated p). In the system formerly used, a penny was equal to one twelfth of a shilling or 240th of a pound (and was abbreviated d, for denarius). These abbreviations apply equally to the plural as to the singular, so 2 new pence would be 2p and 2 old pence would be 2d.

4d   Artist with Popular Front colours (7)

 A Royal Academician (abbreviation RA^[5]) is a member of the Royal Academy of the Arts^[5], an institution established in London in 1768, whose purpose is to cultivate painting, sculpture, and architecture in Britain. 

A popular front^[5] is a party or coalition representing left-wing elements, in particular (the Popular Front) an alliance of communist, radical, and socialist elements formed and gaining some power in countries such as France and Spain in the 1930s.

7d   Agree bill and become silent (9)

Quiesce^[5], a word that I found to be absent from most dictionaries, means (1) to quiet down or (2) (of consonants in Hebrew) to become silent.

8d   Assumption drawn from article on Circle line (6)

The Circle line^[7] is a London Underground service on its sub-surface network. Coloured yellow on the tube map, the line serves 36 stations in 17 miles (27 km). The line east from Paddington, and continuing round the loop, is within Zone 1, and serves most of London's main line railway stations.

19d   Robot needing energy for day without using liquid (7)

This substitution type clue — in which, today, E (energy) replaces D (day) in one word to form a second word — is a signature clue in a Jay puzzle.

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)

Signing off for today — Falcon

Monday, December 17, 2012 - DT 26986

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26986
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Setter Petitjean (John Pidgeon)*
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26986]
Big Dave's Review Written By Gazza
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - ★★★	Enjoyment - ★★★★
Falcon's Performance ┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐ ███████████████████████████████████ └────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘ 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 █ - unsolved or incorrect prior to visiting Big Dave's blog █ - reviewed by Falcon for Big Dave's blog
Notes * The consensus among those visiting on Big Dave's blog is that the identity of the setter is Petitjean, although that seems never to have been unequivocally established.

Introduction

Virtually all of my difficulty today occurred in the southeast quadrant.

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.

1a   Penelope in 'Some Like It Hot'? (5)

Penelope Keith^[7] is an English actress. Having started her television career in the 1950s, Penelope Keith became a household name in the United Kingdom in the 1970s when she played Margo Leadbetter in the sitcom The Good Life. This role earned Keith her first of two BAFTAs, the second being in 1978 for The Norman Conquests. One year after The Good Life's finale, Keith was the lead character in another BBC sitcom, To the Manor Born, a show that received audiences of more than 20 million. In the 1980s and 1990s, she appeared as the lead character in six other sitcoms. Since the 1990s, Keith has appeared rarely on television and works mainly in the theatre.

4a   Claimant's ugly pet (9)

Would you not think that equating plain and ugly is a bit of a stretch?

9a   At home with dishonest office-holder (9)

In Britain, the word "bent"^[5] has the same connotation (dishonest or corrupt) as does the word "crooked"^[5] in North America. [It would appear that the British might use both bent and crooked in this sense].

10a   Good German car? Spanish designer! (5)

Antoni Gaudí^[7] (1852 – 1926) was a Spanish Catalan architect and figurehead of Catalan Modernism. Gaudí's works reflect his highly individual and distinctive style and are largely concentrated in the Catalan capital of Barcelona, notably his magnum opus, the Sagrada Família.

11a   Where sleeper may find overnight accommodation (7)

I became derailed here by thinking that the clue was referring to railways. I imagined that there might exist an overnight train called the EuroOne. Only when my research turned up no evidence of such a thing, did I realize that sleeper^[4] (a chiefly British term) refers to a small plain gold circle worn in a pierced ear lobe to prevent the hole from closing up (rather than a sleeping car or railway crosstie).

12a   In retirement boxer is the opposite of romantic (7)

Muhammad Ali^[7] (born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr.) is an American former professional boxer whose nicknames included "The Greatest" and "The Louisville Lip".

20a   Whispering walls of château? (6)

Mur^[8] is the French word for wall.

24a   Giant in fairy story (7)

In addition to being a children’s tale about magical and imaginary beings and lands, the term fairy story^[5] may be used figuratively to mean an untrue account  ⇒ they deserve honest treatment, not fairy stories.

29a   Fear entry to dean's study (5)

A dean^[7], in a religious context, is a cleric holding certain positions of authority within a religious hierarchy. The title is used mainly in the Anglican Communion, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Lutheran Church. In the Church of England and elsewhere in the Anglican Communion, the dean is the chief resident cleric of a cathedral or other collegiate church and the head of the chapter of canons. If the cathedral or collegiate church has its own parish, the dean is usually also rector of the parish.

In Britain, to read^[5] means to study (an academic subject) at a university ⇒ (i) I’m reading English at Cambridge; (ii) he went to Manchester to read for a BA in Economics.

3d   Stock ingredient of Rambo -- hard rather than right, and outwardly naive (3,4)

Rambo^[7] is an action film series based on the David Morrell novel First Blood and starring Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo, a troubled Vietnam War veteran and former Green Beret who is skilled in many aspects of survival, weaponry, hand to hand combat and guerrilla warfare.

8d   Fellow is not commonly liable to lose consciousness (5)

F^[2] is the abbreviation for Fellow (of a society, etc).

16d   Lost for words with dire Spurs thrashed (9)

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club^[7], commonly referred to as the Spurs, is an English football [soccer] club based in Tottenham, London, that plays in the Premier League (the top level league in English football). Based on Gazza's comment, it would appear that this may very well be Big Dave's favourite team.

17d   Air needs to be recycled where passenger sits (8)

In Britain, nearside (usually the nearside) refers to the side of a vehicle nearest the kerb [curb] (in Britain, the left) ⇒ (i) he veered to the nearside and crashed into a van; (ii) the front nearside wheel.

22d   Cute plainclothes officer in country attire (6)

Twee^[5] is a British expression denoting excessively or affectedly quaint, pretty, or sentimental (although the film’s a bit twee, it’s watchable).

A detective sergeant (abbreviation DS)^[10] is a police officer who investigates crime and who ranks above a detective constable but below a detective inspector.

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).

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)

Signing off for today — Falcon