Monday, May 25, 2009

Monday, May 25, 2009 (DT 25831)

This puzzle was originally published Wednesday, January 21, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

I found it to be a moderately challenging puzzle today. In fact, I had to give up without having found a solution to 1d. My inability to solve that clue may be partly due to having obtained the wrong solution to 15ac. I score myself minus-2 on the day.

Tip of the Day

I've added a couple of entries in the Library that may be of interest to anyone looking for some introductory reading material on the subject of solving cryptic crossword puzzles.

Today's Glossary

Briticisms and other possibly unfamiliar words and expressions appearing in today's puzzle

college - in Britain, a unit (independent institution) within a university

hen night - (Brit.) a celebration for a woman who is about to get married

Newmarket - home to a major British race course

statice - a plant

triad - a criminal gang

Today's Links

1. Crossword Ends in Violence (5) [DT 25831]: CEIV, as has been the case recently, provides more hints than solutions

I found two questions on AnswerBank discussing today's puzzle.

2. AnswerBank [DT25831]-a: 18ac, 7d

3. AnswerBank [DT25831]-b: 10d

Clues that caused me problems


15ac Drink taken by male in principal vessel? It has unforeseen effects (4,2,3,4)

I came up with drink [ABSINTH] taken by male [TED] in principal vessel [ARK] which is an anagram for STAB IN THE DARK. Wrong drink, wrong guy - right boat.

1d Time to choose accomplished site for leading consumers (3,5)

I have never heard the expression "TOP TABLE" and could find no reference for it, despite an extensive search on the Internet. The nearest match that I could find is toptable, an online restaurant booking service in the UK.

26ac Criminal gang, one in recurrent gossip (5)

There are two definitions for recurrent:

1. Occurring or appearing again or repeatedly.
2. Anatomy Turning in a reverse direction. Used of blood vessels and nerves.

The second definition leads one to the wordplay suggested at CEIV:

26ac Criminal gang [TRI(A)D] /,\ one [A] in {recurrent (reversal indicator) gossip [DIRT] = [TRI^D]} (5)

On the other hand, I relied on the first definition which gave me this solution:

26ac Criminal gang [TR(I)AD] /,\ one [I] in {recurrent gossip [TR^AD]} (5)

My reasoning was that Trad. (Traditional) has the sense of common knowledge (lore) of unknown providence that has been handed down from past generations - and which one might possibly equate to recurrent (i.e., repeated) gossip. It may be a bit of a stretch - but it seems to me that puzzle setters have been known to stretch credulity pretty far on occasion (how about Indian equates to restaurant in 6d). Therefore, unless someone raises a strong objection, I feel it is not entirely without justification to award myself credit for that solution.

Today's Puzzle

Across

1ac {TAJ MAHAL}* - HALT A JAM

5ac DIN(N)ER

9ac PS|Y(CH|ED) UP

11ac win[DOW EL]aborately

12ac AGEING* - AN EGG I

13ac NO|WA(DA)YS

15ac {LEAP IN THE DARK}* - PINT HE LEAD ARK

18ac {SEMI-AUTOMATIC}* - CAME OUT ITS AIM

22ac TH(R(E)AT)EN - THEN around RAT around E (Ecstasy)

23ac UNIT|ED

26ac TRI(A)D according to CEIV (or, conceivably, TR(I)AD per the discussion above)

27ac {YARD OF A}*LE - anagram of "FOR A DAY" + LE (the French)

28ac C(AN|A)RY

29ac HEN NIGHT - cryptic definition

Down

1d T|OP T|ABLE

2d JOY|CE

3d cl[ASH ANTI]cipated

4d A|IDE_ - a [A] plan [IDEA]

6d INDIAN|A - Indian = Restaurant ?

7d NEW|MARK|ET

8d RELISH

10d PROPER|T__Y

14d STRAT*|E|G_Y - strategy = tactics, not in my books!

16d ASSERTION* - AIRS NOTES

17d A(CID) TEST*

19d MEAN|DER

20d MON|SOON

21d STATIC_ - statice

24d T(W)ANG

25d BRIE_ - brief

That's all for today.

3 comments:

  1. TOP TABLE: the table at a meeting or social event where the most important people sit - esp. Bride, Groom, their parents, best man, bridesmaids at a wedding meal. Watch out for "high table" too - same kind of thing at Oxbridge colleges.

    "Indian" is Brit colloquial for "Indian restaurant", with "Italian" and "Chinese" used in a similar way. "Let's not bother cooking - we can just get a takeaway from the Indian."

    ReplyDelete
  2. Many thanks for the very helpful comments.

    In North America, what you describe as a "top table" would be called a "head table".

    In referring to restaurants, to the best of my knowledge, we would never use an ethnic descriptor like "Indian" as a noun but might use it as an adjective where the noun it modifies is implied, such as "Which restaurant would you prefer, the Indian (one) or the Chinese (one)?"

    Interestingly though, we might use a construction similar to the one you mention when speaking about the food served by the restaurant, "What do you feel like eating, Indian or Chinese?"

    ReplyDelete
  3. I gave a bad example - the context of my sentence made the meaning of "Indian" pretty obvious. I should have given you something like "We haven't got any Italians in Princes Risborough because our Indians are so good." In the UK, I'm pretty sure people would see this as talking about restaurants rather than other possibilities.

    ReplyDelete

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