Thursday, February 18, 2010 (DT 26075)

This puzzle was originally published Monday, November 2, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

The National Post has skipped DT 26074 which was published on Saturday, October 31, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

When I saw that Big Dave rated today's puzzle as two stars for difficulty, I had to double check to make sure I was looking at the right review. It was at least four stars for me - with my Tool Chest definitely getting a strenuous workout. However, in the end, I did manage to crack all the clues - some of which I found to be very tricky.

Today's Glossary

Some possibly unfamiliar abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions used in today's puzzle

L² - abbreviation 2 learner driver.

near - adjective 6 old use mean; miserly.

redcoat - noun 1 historical a British soldier. 2 (in the UK) an organizer and entertainer at a Butlin’s holiday camp.

Trinity College - any of numerous educational institutions around the world, the most well-known of which may be those at Oxford, Cambridge and in Dublin.

Today's Links

Big Dave's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 26075].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

16a Decoration of stone sculpture (7)

I knew that the solution could be verb but its use as a noun was new to me.

16d Circus performers? Maybe true or false (5)

Although no one at Big Dave's site seems to have picked up on it, I think there may be an implied "maybe" in this clue, as follows:

"Circus performers? Maybe true or (maybe) false"

which then parses as:

Circus performers? Maybe true /or\ (maybe) false

where the left hand side "Circus performers? Maybe true" is a cryptic definition for FLEAS (which may be performers in a flea circus) and the right hand side "(maybe) false" is an anagram (maybe) of FALSE.

20a He may be found in a wrongful act (5)

Once again, the solution is a word that I hadn't realized could be a noun (at least not in the sense in which it is used here). However, even that - as well as failing to notice the anagram in the wordplay - did not stop me from finding the correct solution.

Signing off for today - Falcon