Monday, June 21, 2010

Monday, June 21, 2010 (DT 26179)

This puzzle, from an anonymous setter, was originally published Thursday, March 4, 2010 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

As the Brits would say, a gentle offering today.

Today's Glossary

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

Used in Clues:

compere - noun Brit. a person who introduces the acts in a variety show.

non-U - adjective Brit colloq said of behaviour, language, etc: not acceptable among the upper classes.

Used in Solutions:

Assembly Member (AM) - member of the National Assembly for Wales [source: Libellule's review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog]

hessian - noun U.K. coarse fabric: a coarse strong jute or hemp fabric. Use: bags, upholstery.

Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) - a British chemical company, since 2008 a subsidiary of AkzoNobel, a Dutch conglomerate, one of the largest chemical producers in the world.

The Military Medal (MM) - a military decoration (discontinued in 1993) awarded to personnel of the British Army and other services, and formerly also to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank, for bravery in battle on land.

Today's Links

Libellule's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26179].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

26d American perfume's socially unacceptable smell (4)

One may debate whether this is a double definition or a cryptic definition. Either way, it relies on the following two devices:
  • the American spelling of the word forming the solution is ODOR and the British spelling is ODOUR
  • in Britain, U means acceptable to the upper classes while non-U means not acceptable to the upper classes
Thus ODOUR without the U (non-U or socially unacceptable) becomes ODOR.

Signing off for today - Falcon

1 comment:

  1. I think 26D is a third clue type! - a subtraction/deletion clue.

    If people tell you that British puzzles never use trade names, occasional use of ICI (along with names of newspapers) is one proof that this isn't competely true.

    ReplyDelete

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