Tuesday, February 24, 2015 — DT 27592

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27592
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, September 11, 2014
Setter Shamus (Philip Marlow)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27592]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By Kath
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 thoroughly enjoyed solving this puzzle and, as you can see from her five star rating for enjoyment, so did Kath who reviewed this puzzle on Big Dave's blog.

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   Intense blow wrought // sporting injury (6,5)

9a   Bank facility // is put back in store by a titled figure reportedly (7,7)

A count^[5] is a foreign [to the UK, presumably] nobleman whose rank corresponds to that of an earl.

11a   Speed // of car at event (4)

12a   Archdeacon facing American // space traveller (5)

I'm afraid that things Anglican are not my forte.

Ven.^[5] is the abbreviation for Venerable (as the title of an archdeacon) ⇒ the Ven. William Davies. An archdeacon^[5] is a senior Christian cleric (in the early Church a deacon, in the modern Anglican Church a priest) to whom a bishop delegates certain responsibilities.

13a   Preserve // part of castle (4)

A keep^[5] is the strongest or central tower of a castle, acting as a final refuge.

16a   Foreigner largely full of hypocritical talk /in/ Spanish city (8)

Alicante^[5] is a seaport on the Mediterranean coast of southeastern Spain, the capital of a province of the same name; population 331,750 (2008).

17a   Neat queue /to get/ soup (6)

Neat^[5] is an archaic term for a bovine animal or, as a mass noun, cattle. 

In heraldry, queue^[1] [a French word meaning 'tail'] denotes the tail of an animal.

19a   Persuasive // man in business? (6)

The question mark is a gentle hint that we are to treat the wordplay as an entire phrase. A "man in business" might also be called a businessman or, perhaps, even a company man.

20a   House no type built /as/ a centre of attraction (8)

The solution could be considered to be "a centre of attraction" in all its senses.

Honeypot^[5] is a [seemingly — on the basis of dictionary entries — chiefly British] term for (1) an enticing source of pleasure or reward ⇒ massive increases in government purchases became a honeypot for the unscrupulous  or (2) a place to which many people are attracted ⇒ the tourist honeypot of St Ives. Even in its literal sense, the word connotes attraction. A honeypot^[5] is a container for honey ⇒ she always had men hovering round her like bees round a honeypot. Finally, honeypot^[5] is also vulgar slang for a woman's genitals.

22a   Army division // kept back by government in unrest (4)

In the definition, the word "division" is used more in a generic — rather than military — sense.

23a   Nervous // characteristic of cricket? (5)

24a   Musical group // finding port after time (4)

Rio de Janeiro^[5] (commonly known as Rio) is a city in eastern Brazil, on the Atlantic coast; population 6,093,472 (2007). The chief port of Brazil, it was the country’s capital from 1763 until 1960, when it was replaced by Brasilia.

27a   Slippery customer that'll give you a squeeze and take you out? (3,11)

28a   Trap a couple that's disrupted // legal body (6,5)

Down

2d   Urge late critic developed /to get/ instrument (8,6)

3d   Idea with time I abandoned /in/ middle of day (4)

4d   Dagger, // note, left in fight (8)

In music, ti^[2] (or te) is the seventh note of the major scale in sol-fa notation. Judging by entries in American and British dictionaries, the only recognized spelling in the US would seem to be ti^[3,4,11] whereas, in the UK, the principal spelling would appear to be te^[2,3,4,11], with ti as an alternative spelling in some dictionaries. Oxford Dictionaries Online provides less leeway, giving the spelling as te^[5] with ti shown as the North American spelling.

5d   Measure taken at sea /in/ alliance (6)

A league^[2] is a nautical measure equal to 3 international nautical miles (3.456 statute miles or 5.556 km).

6d   In the past, // a circle joined by Northern Anglicans (4)

An Anglican^[5] is a a member of any of the Anglican Churches where Anglican^[5] (as an adjective) means relating to or denoting the Church of England or any Church in communion with it. The term comes from the Latin phrase Anglicana ecclesia 'the English church' in the Magna Carta.

The Church of England^[10] (abbreviation CE^[10]) is the reformed established state Church in England, Catholic in order and basic doctrine, with the Sovereign as its temporal head.

7d   Place requiring stiff observance? (7,7)

Stiff^[5] is an informal term for a dead body.

8d   One with a lot of influence in Victoria, say, /gets/ contract (11)

London Victoria station^[7], generally known as Victoria, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex named after nearby Victoria Street. With over 73 million passenger entries and exits between April 2010 and March 2011, Victoria is the second-busiest terminus in London (and the UK) after Waterloo, and includes an air terminal for passengers travelling by train to Gatwick Airport. The area around the station is an important interchange for other forms of transport: a local bus station is in the forecourt, and Victoria Coach Station for long-distance road coaches is nearby.

Like Kath, I thought that a stipulation was "more a condition in a contract than a contract itself". However, as she points out, that is not the case according to The Chambers Dictionary (aka the Big Red Book or BRB) where a stipulation^[1] is defined as a contract.

10d   Bits of food // generated outspoken surprised expression (11)

Crumbs^[5] (a euphemism for Christ) is an informal British exclamation used to express dismay or surprise ⇒ ‘Crumbs,’ said Emily, ‘how embarrassing.’

14d   Sweltering area undressed Nordics appreciate principally (5)

Kath missed the point that this is an &lit.^[7] clue. The entire clue is both definition and wordplay. As for the illustration, surely true Nordics would not be wrapped in towels.

15d   Top // Forty in Rome on radio (5)

Top^[11] means to surpass, excel, or outdo ⇒ That tops everything.

18d   Soldier finding two rivers entering part of sea? (8)

The Po^[7] is a river that arises in the Cottian Alps and flows eastward across northern Italy entering the Adriatic Sea through a delta near Venice.

The Coral Sea^[5] is a part of the western Pacific lying between Australia, New Guinea, and Vanuatu, the scene of a naval battle between US and Japanese carriers in 1942.

21d   Follow // holder of money around university (6)

25d   John Prescott's first // circular manoeuvre (4)

John^[5] is an informal chiefly North American [as several comments on Big Dave's blog point out] term for a toilet ⇒ you have to walk across the stage to get to the john.

Loo^[5] is an informal British term for a toilet.

Scratching the Surface
John Prescott[7], Baron Prescott, is a British politician who was the Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007.

26d   Resounding noise // that may introduce foxtrot? (4)

I wavered over how to classify this clue, eventually settling on a double definition. I interpret the latter part of the clue to be a cryptic definition denoting "[something] that comes before foxtrot".

Foxtrot^[5] is a code word representing the letter F, used in radio communication.

Echo^[5] is a code word representing the letter E, used in radio communication.

Scratching the Surface
The foxtrot[5] is a ballroom dance having an uneven rhythm with alternation of slow and quick steps.

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

Monday, February 23, 2015 — DT 27591

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27591
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27591]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By pommers
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

In his epilogue, pommers — writing from southern Spain in early September — mentions that "... at 0800 today it was 24C !" Stick a minus sign at the front of that and you are likely close to current conditions in Ottawa.

Once again, some of pommers' illustrations have gone missing. However, I have managed to recover them and you will find them included in my review (the captions are those applied to the illustrations by pommers in his 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

1a   Cover // regularly left on fish (6)

I did myself no favour by initially entering TARPON here [TARP (cover) + ON (from the clue)]. Of course, I was at a bit of a loss to explain the "regularly left" part that was left over.

5a   Trained // cadet due for review (8)

9a   Turned tail during one-time Tory leader/'s/ diatribe (8)

William Hague^[7] is a British Conservative politician who has been the First Secretary of State and Leader of the House of Commons since 2014. He previously served as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs from 2010 until 2014 Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1997 to 2001, and he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) since 1989.

Restoring the Image
Now that's one to frighten the horses!

10a   Technology /used in/ commercial vehicle reversing after test (6)

National Curriculum assessments^[7] are a series of educational assessments, colloquially known as Sats or SATs, used to assess the attainment of children attending maintained schools in England. They comprise a mixture of teacher-led and test-based assessment depending on the age of the pupils. This test should not be confused with the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test or Scholastic Assessment Test), a Reasoning Test administered by the US examination boards College Board and Educational Testing Service and taken by high school students in the United States of America for admission into colleges.

Satnav^[7] is navigation dependent on information received from satellites.

11a   Short tea breaks /for/ the current controller (8)

12a   Feels the absence of // a married woman, by the sound of it (6)

13a   Article required in escape /from/ window (8)

In Britain, fanlight^[3,4,11] can (1) mean, as we know the term in North America, the semicircular or semielliptical window over a door or window or (2) denote the small rectangular window over a door that we call a transom; or (3) be an alternative name for a skylight.

15a   Probability // of dismissal drives salesmen using leads (4)

17a   When // love anticipates cold in the land of the Geordie (4)

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.

A Geordie^[5] is an informal British term for a person from Tyneside^[5], an industrial conurbation on the banks of the River Tyne, in northeastern England, stretching from Newcastle upon Tyne to the coast. This makes "the land of the Geordie" a way for the setter to clue NE.

19a   Bob turns nasty /and/ pig-headed (8)

20a   Dried fruit/'s/ mostly strengthening (6)

21a   Boozer/'s/ a bloodsucker, drinking meths regularly (8)

Boozer^[5] is a British term for a pub or bar.

Alehouse^[5] is a dated term for an inn^[5] [in the sense of a pub, typically one in the country, in some cases providing accommodation] or public house^[5] [formal British name for pub].

Restoring the Image
Apparantly (sic) there's (sic) over 3000 species of louse!

Scratching the Surface

My first thought was "Can you drink meths?". However, meth[5] refers neither to crystal meth (methamphetamine) nor even to methadone. Meths[5] is an informal British term for methylated spirit[5], alcohol for general use that has been made unfit for drinking by the addition of about 10 per cent methanol and typically also some pyridine and a violet dye. Pyridine[5] is a colourless volatile liquid with an unpleasant odour, present in coal tar and used chiefly as a solvent.

22a   Make an effort to carry one hundred kilos -- // difficult (6)

23a   Pound shop showing reduction of 75 per cent on last of desk // drawers (8)

Nicker^[5] is an informal [seemingly dated, going by comments on Big Dave's blog] British term for a pound sterling [the basic unit of currency in Britain] ⇒ a hundred and twenty nicker.

According to Oxford Dictionaries Online, knickers^[5] is a British term for a woman’s or girl’s undergarment, covering the body from the waist or hips to the top of the thighs and having two holes for the legs [panties^[5] to a North American; it would appear that panties is not exclusively a North American term as it also seems to be used in Britain].

However, Chambers 21st Century Dictionay and Collins English Dictionary extend the definition at bit, telling us that knickers are an undergarment with two separate legs or legholes. They are worn by women and girls, and cover part or all of the lower abdomen and buttocks and sometimes the thighs.^[2,10]

In his review, pommers provides even more cover, showing a garment that extends to mid-calf. But as Angel remarks in a response to comment #21 at Big Dave's blog, "To me illustration of 23a is rather more bloomers [than knickers]".

Wikipedia, which says that knickers is the typical British term for panties^[7], also tells us that while panties were originally designed to cover the entire lower half of the female torso, since the 1970s panties have had either no legs or, in some cases, very short ones, and have become increasingly briefer over time. In a remarkable feat of inconsistency, in the course of two sentences, Wikipedia manages to claim "In ... Canada ... panties are often referred to as knickers ..." and "The term [knickers] is little used in ... Canada ...".

24a   Shrink /must be/ against heartless commitment (8)

25a   Good profit by following a source of rare // stone (6)

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

Net means to "profit by". If one were to net $1000 on a transaction, they would profit by $1000.

Down

2d   Poor returns dividing amateur labourer /and/ an expert (1,3,4)

Dab hand^[5] is an informal British term for a person who is an expert at a particular activity ⇒ Liam is a dab hand at golf.

3d   Rewards incorporating student // games in finals (4-4)

The cryptic crossword convention of L meaning learner or student arises from the L-plate^[7], a square plate bearing a sans-serif letter L, for learner, which must be affixed to the front and back of a vehicle in various countries (including the UK) if its driver is a learner under instruction.

4d   Merry fool is said /to be/ closely organised (5-4)

Merry^[5,10] is an informal British term for slightly and good-humouredly drunk ⇒ after the third beer he began to feel quite merry. The expression used in Canada in these circumstances would be feeling happy.

Nit^[5] is an informal British term for a foolish person ⇒ you stupid nit!.

5d   It makes a powerful contribution for a comfortable retirement (8,7)

6d   A scream -- under church // carriage! (7)

At comment #29 on Big Dave's blog, skepticism reigns regarding whether "carriage" and "chariot" are synonyms. The exchange concludes with a comment by barrie that the expression "Your chariot awaits" in reference to transport of any type would explain the connection.

Restoring the Image

7d   African /seeing/ Inuits moving north across east of Canada (8)

8d   One's up after six, in disreputable club // causing confict (8)

14d   Housework // finished at home, with pig outside (9)

In the UK, hoover^[5] (a genericized version of the trademark Hoover) means (as a noun) a vacuum cleaner (from any manufacturer) and (as a verb) to clean (something) with a vacuum cleaner ⇒ he was hoovering the stairs.

Delving Deeper
The Hoover Company[7] started out as an American floor care manufacturer based in North Canton, Ohio. It also established a major base in the United Kingdom and for most of the early-and-mid-20th century, it dominated the electric vacuum cleaner industry, to the point where the "hoover" brand name became synonymous with vacuum cleaners and vacuuming in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Restoring the Image
This Hoover's a Dyson!

15d   Artist absorbed by poetic arranging // of 'Carmen', for example (8)

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

Carmen^[7] is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet (1838–1875). The opera was first performed in Paris in 1875, and at first was not particularly successful. Its initial run extended to 36 performances, before the conclusion of which Bizet died suddenly, and thus knew nothing of the opera's later celebrity.

16d   Party worker /gets/ power (8)

17d   Working with attractive girl // spectator (8)

18d   Save // answer after study (8)

19d   A problem that's difficult /as/ second fiddle (7)

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

Saturday, February 21, 2015 — Sails on the Great Plains

Introduction

Today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon did not present many difficulties. The only holdup worthy of mention was being slow to see the anagram at 17d.

I invite you to leave a comment to let us know how you fared with the puzzle.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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 █ - yet to be solved

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

Across

9a   Illinois city // fashionable in the past (7)

CHIC|AGO — CHIC (fashionable) + AGO (in the past)

10a   Bird // also westbound in bay (4,3)

H(OOT<) OWL — reversal (westbound) of TOO (also) contained in (in) HOWL (bay)

11a   Guy with chapeau and bronze // cocktail (9)

MAN|HAT|TAN — MAN (guy) + (with) HAT (chapeau) + (and) TAN (bronze)

12a   Giant // canister holding Time article (5)

TI(T|A)N — TIN (cannister) containing (holding) {T (time) + A ([indefinite] article]}

A titan^[5] is a person or thing of very great strength, intellect, or importance ⇒ a titan of American industry.

Delving Deeper

In Classical Greek mythology, the Titans and Titanesses[7] were members of the second order of divine beings, descending from the primordial deities and preceding the Olympian deities. Based on Mount Othrys, the Titans most famously included the first twelve children of the primordial Gaia (Mother Earth) and Uranus (Father Heaven). They were giant deities of incredible strength, who ruled during the legendary Golden Age, and also composed the first pantheon of Greek deities.

Scratching the Surface

Time[7] (styled on its cover in all caps as TIME) is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It was founded in 1923 and for decades was dominated by Henry Luce [a titan of American publishing, n'est-ce pas], who built a highly profitable stable of magazines. A European edition (Time Europe, formerly known as Time Atlantic) is published in London and also covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition (Time Asia) is based in Hong Kong. The South Pacific edition, which covers Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands, is based in Sydney, Australia. In December 2008, Time discontinued publishing a Canadian advertiser edition. Time boasts the world's largest circulation for a weekly news magazine, having a readership of 25 million, 20 million of which are based in the United States.

13a   Gibbons sadly // crying (7)

SOBBING* — anagram (sadly) of GIBBONS

15a   Wild Israeli // composer (7)

SALIERI* — anagram (wild) of ISRAELI

Antonio Salieri^[5] (1750–1825) was an Italian composer. His output includes over forty operas and four oratorios. Salieri lived in Vienna and taught Beethoven, Schubert, and Liszt. He was hostile to Mozart, whom he considered his rival, but a rumour that he poisoned him is now thought to be without foundation.

16a   Covered wagon // or pioneer’s chair damaged (7,8)

{PRAIRIE SCHOONER}* — anagram (damaged) of OR PIONEERS CHAIR

Prairie schooner^[5] is a North American term for a covered wagon used by the 19th-century pioneers in crossing the North American prairies. [Perhaps, from a distance, the canvas covers resembled sails.]

19a   NFL team /with/ six men at the top of the heap? (7)

VI|KINGS — VI ([Roman numeral for] six) + KINGS (men at the top of the heap)

The Minnesota Vikings^[7] are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They currently participate in the North Division of the National Football Conference (NFC) of the National Football League (NFL).

21a   Expeditions // in distant lands comprehended by Sis (7)

S(AFAR)IS — AFAR (in distant lands) contained in (comprehended by; absorbed by, as said of information) SIS (†)

24a   Lifting // the feet (5)

THE|FT — THE (†) + FT ([abbreviation for] feet)

25a   Martina initially ran circle in triumph /in/ British tournament (9)

WI(M|BLED|O)N — {M (Martina initially; initial letter of Martina) + BLED (ran; as dye) + O ([letter that looks like a] circle)} contained in (in) WIN (triumph)

Wimbledon^[5] is an annual international tennis championship on grass for individual players and pairs, held at the headquarters of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in the London suburb of Wimbledon. Now one of the world’s major tennis championships, it has been played since 1877.

Scratching the Surface

Martina Navratilova[7] is a retired Czech and American tennis player and coach. Billie Jean King, former World No. 1 player, said in 2006 that Navratilova is "the greatest singles, doubles and mixed doubles player who's ever lived." In 2005, Tennis magazine selected her as the greatest female tennis player for the years 1965 through 2005. Tennis historian and journalist Bud Collins has called Navratilova "arguably, the greatest tennis player of all time."

27a   Tending to // rig, nuns converted (7)

NURSING* — anagram (converted) of RIG NUNS

28a   Campaign rank // inferior in stature (7)

RUN|TIER — RUN (campaign [for election]) + TIER (rank)

Down

1d   Rogues/’/ page taken by cons (6)

SCAM(P)S — P (page) contained in (taken by) SCAMS (cons)

2d   Cat // housed by millionaire (4)

_LION_ — hidden in (housed by) milLIONaire

3d   Deli fare // I’m sadly returning (6)

{SALA|MI}< — reversal (returning) of {IM (I'm) + ALAS (sadly)}

4d   Romeo’s family // you finally found in composite picture (8)

MONTAG(U)E — U (you finally; final letter of yoU) contained in (found in) MONTAGE (composite picture)

Romeo^[7] is one of the title characters in William Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet. Romeo, the son of Montague and his wife, secretly loves and marries Juliet, a member of the rival House of Capulet. Forced into exile by his slaying of Juliet's cousin, Tybalt, in a duel, Romeo commits suicide upon hearing falsely of Juliet's death.

5d   At first, Tom Hanks /shows/ gratitude (6)

T|HANKS — T (at first, Tom; initial letter of Tom) + HANKS (†)

Should you consider the solution to be a verb rather than a noun, the definition would be "shows gratitude".

Tom Hanks^[7] is an American actor and filmmaker. He won Academy Awards for Best Actor for his roles in Philadelphia and Forrest Gump.

6d   Singer Elvis // coos weirdly about state (8)

COS(TELL)O — anagram (weirdly) of COOS containing (about) TELL (state)

Elvis Costello^[7] (born Declan Patrick MacManus) is an English singer-songwriter. His first three albums all appeared on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. He is married to Canadian jazz pianist and singer Diana Krall.

7d   Someone from Dixie // returns hoe, broken (10)

SOUTHERNER* — anagram (broken) of RETURNS HOE

Dixie^[5] is an informal name for the Southern states of the US. It was used in the song ‘Dixie’ (1859), a marching song popular with Confederate soldiers in the American Civil War.

8d   Awfully nice girl // more inclined to hang on (8)

CLINGIER* — anagram (awfully) of NICE GIRL

14d   Forest animals // don’t have to live surrounded by bars (5,5)

B(LACK| BE)ARS — {LACK (don't have) + BE (to live)} contained in (surrounded by) BARS (†)

16d   Spinning // Greek character casting a ballot (8)

PI|VOTING — PI (Greek character) + VOTING (casting a ballot)

Pi is the sixteenth letter of the Greek alphabet (Π, π).

17d   Bum trailing // a certain arboreal marsupial (8)

RINGTAIL* — anagram (bum) of TRAILING

I spent rather more time than I should trying to construct a charade in which "bum" was cueing TAIL (or would that be too risqué for Cox & Rathvon).

The ringtail (also ringtail possum or ring-tailed possum) is any of several species of nocturnal tree-dwelling Australian possum that habitually curls its prehensile tail into a ring or spiral.

18d   Money, trifling, /for/ fine material (8)

CASH|MERE — CASH (money) + MERE (trifling)

20d   See about witty person/’s/ waste material (6)

SE(WAG)E — SEE (†) containing (about) WAG (witty person)

22d   Penalty involving the Spanish // cat (6)

F(EL)INE — FINE (penalty) containing (involving) EL (the Spanish; Spanish definite article)

23d   Guard // small doorway (6)

S|ENTRY — S (small) + ENTRY (doorway)

26d   Trickle of water // in mild ripples (4)

_D|RIP_ — hidden in (in) milD RIPples

Epilogue

The title of today's blog is inspired by 16a.

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

Friday, February 20, 2015 — DT 27590

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27590
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27590]
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

Introduction

Other than the 18th century playwright, there was little that was new or unknown in today's offering.

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

7a   Name // a soft extremity (7)

Piano^[3,5] (abbreviation p^[5]), is a musical direction meaning either (as an adjective) soft or quiet or (as an adverb) softly or quietly.

9a   Fascinating attraction /of/ good US actress (7)

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

Dorothy Lamour^[7] (1914–1996) was an American actress and singer. She is best remembered for appearing in the Road to... movies, a series of successful comedies starring Bing Crosby and Bob Hope.

10a   Holding // dog with no lead (5)

Scratching the Surface
Lead[3] is another name for a leash.

11a   'Standard' therefore will be touching on // ruin of Athens (9)

In golf, par is (1) the number of strokes a first-class player should normally require for a particular hole or course ⇒ (i) Woosnam had advanced from his overnight position of three under par; (ii) the sixteenth is a par five or (2) a par score at a hole ⇒ a card that showed 16 pars, one eagle, and one birdie.

The Parthenon^[5] is the temple of Athene Parthenos, built on the Acropolis [the ancient citadel at Athens] in 447–432 BC by Pericles to honour Athens' patron goddess and to commemorate the recent Greek victory over the Persians. It was designed by Ictinus and Callicrates with sculptures by Phidias.

12a   Cinzano -- // two words for it (7,8)

Cinzano^[5] is the trademark for a type of vermouth produced in Italy.

It^[5] is an informal, dated British term for Italian vermouth ⇒ he poured a gin and it.

13a   Late goal // that leads nowhere (4,3)

In clues such as this, where the definition starts with "that", I find that it helps to mentally insert the word "something" or "someone" (as appropriate) before the word "that". When we do this, the word "something" or "someone" is actually merely replacing the wordplay in the clue.

16a   Monster // movie (7)

Titanic^[7] is a 1997 American epic romantic disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by Canadian filmmaker James Cameron. A fictionalized account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet as members of different social classes who fall in love aboard the ship during its ill-fated maiden voyage.

19a   Gay stage entertainment? (3,7,5)

The Beggar's Opera^[7] is a ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch. It is one of the watershed plays in Augustan drama and is the only example of the once thriving genre of satirical ballad opera to remain popular today.

23a   Gathering of young kids /in/ drama school (4,5)

24a   Newly-built Loire // college (5)

Oriel College^[7] is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford.

25a   Dr No, I suspect, shown in ad /for/ a robot (7)

Scratching the Surface

Dr. No[7] is the sixth novel in Ian Fleming's James Bond series, first published in the UK in 1958. It was the first of Fleming's novels to receive large-scale negative criticism in Britain, with Paul Johnson of the New Statesman writing his review about the "Sex, Snobbery and Sadism" of the story. When the book was released into the American market, it was generally received more favourably. Dr. No was the first James Bond feature film of the Eon Productions series, released in 1962 and starring Sean Connery.

26a   Urge to meet chief // quiz specialist? (7)

Egghead^[3,4,11] is an informal, usually disparaging, term for an intellectual or highbrow.

Eggheads^[7] is a BBC quiz show which pits a team of five "Eggheads" (made up from eight highly regarded quiz and game show champions, rotating each episode) against a series of teams of five "challengers" who in each episode attempt to beat the Eggheads through a series of rounds.

Down

1d   Tree /in/  River Indus American pulled out (8)

The Tamar^[5] is a river in southwestern England which rises in northwestern Devon and flows 98 km (60 miles) generally southwards, forming the boundary between Devon and Cornwall and emptying into the English Channel through Plymouth Sound.

Scratching the Surface
The Indus[5] is a river of southern Asia, about 2,900 km (1,800 miles) in length, flowing from Tibet through Kashmir and Pakistan to the Arabian Sea. Along its valley an early civilization flourished from circa 2600 to 1760 BC.

The tamarind^[5] is the tropical African tree (Tamarindus indica) which yields tamarind pods (whose pulp is widely used as a flavouring in Asian cookery), cultivated throughout the tropics and also grown as an ornamental and shade tree.

2d   Bitter speech /from/ attorney about island race (8)

In the US, a district attorney^[5] (abbreviation DA) is a public official who acts as prosecutor for the state in a particular district.

3d   Pest, unfortunately, elected // to intervene (4,2)

4d   Make sense of // female, mostly relaxed (6)

5d   Sad act /in/ decline (8)

A turn^[3] is a brief theatrical act or stage appearance.

6d   Pull // young girl across river (6)

As a noun, wench^[5] is (1) an archaic or humorous term for a girl or young woman ⇒ in the new film about Columbus, she plays the token buxom wench or (2) an archaic name for a prostitute. As a verb, wench^[5] is an archaic term meaning (of a man) to habitually associate with prostitutes.

8d   After last of frittata, // spaghetti? (5)

Scratching the Surface
Frittata[5] is an Italian dish made with fried beaten eggs, resembling a Spanish omelette.

9d   Man has upper limb stuck in // article of clothing (7)

14d   Deposited in a river /in/ Australian city (8)

The Dee^[5] is a river in northeastern Scotland, which rises in the Grampian Mountains and flows eastwards past Balmoral Castle to the North Sea at Aberdeen. Another river of the same name rises in North Wales and flows past Chester and on into the Irish Sea.

Adelaide^[5] is a city in Australia, the capital and chief port of the state of South Australia; population 1,172,105 (2008).

15d   Tree/'s/ shadow over golf club (7)

Dogwood^[5] denotes any of many species of shrub or small tree of north temperate regions, which yields hard timber and is grown for its decorative foliage, red stems, or colourful berries.

17d   Complete, // from beginning to end, hiding nothing (8)

18d   Circumspect about youth /becoming/ a cleaner (8)

Charlady^[5] (or charwoman^[5]) is a dated British term for a woman employed as a cleaner in a house or office.

19d   Hot tap dances in this film? (3,3)

This is a semi-&lit. (or, if you prefer, semi-all-in-one) clue. The entire clue provides the definition, while the portion of the clue with the dashed underline serves as the wordplay.

Top Hat^[7] is a 1935 screwball musical comedy film in which Fred Astaire plays an American dancer named Jerry Travers, who comes to London to star in a show produced by Horace Hardwick (Edward Everett Horton). He meets and attempts to impress Dale Tremont (Ginger Rogers) to win her affection. The songs were written by Irving Berlin. "Top Hat, White Tie and Tails" and "Cheek to Cheek" have become American song classics. Top Hat — Astaire's second most successful picture after Easter Parade — was the most successful picture of Astaire and Rogers' partnership and remains, to this day, the partnership's best-known work.

20d   Drink, // say, before gong used (6)

21d   Rex, on a jetty, /finds/ sword (6)

Rex^[5] (abbreviation R^[5]) [Latin for king] denotes the reigning king, used following a name (e.g. Georgius Rex, King George) or in the titles of lawsuits (e.g. Rex v. Jones, the Crown versus Jones — often shortened to R. v. Jones).

22d   Select // rice, finally -- low in calories (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)
^[11] - TheFreeDictionary.com (Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary)

Signing off for today — Falcon