Friday, October 1, 2010

Friday, October 1, 2010 (DT 26281)

This puzzle, by a mystery setter, was originally published in The Daily Telegraph on Thursday, July 1, 2010

Introduction

I started out on a sprint today - until I became severely mired in the southeast quadrant. So what initially seemed like it might be a two star romp turned out to be at least a three star effort. For a few clues, even having gotten the correct solutions, I had to puzzle mightily to figure out the wordplay. Big Dave awarded this puzzle three stars each for difficulty and enjoyment.

Today's Glossary

Selected abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions used in today's puzzle

Used in Clues:

bar - preposition
  • chiefly British except for: his kids were all gone now, bar one
  • Horse Racing, British except the horses indicated (used when stating the odds)
Oscar2 - noun a code word representing the letter O, used in radio communication

Rupert [Bear] - a children's comic strip character in Britain, Rupert is a bear who lives with his parents in a house in Nutwood [Note: the books are also available in Canada, as I recall my siblings or I having had several of them]

Used in Solutions:

A - abbreviation Adult
Supposedly "Adult as a film category" (according to Big Dave), although there actually may not be (or may no longer be) such a film category in the U.K. The U.K. film rating categories that I was able to find are Uc, U, PG, 12A (where the A stands for Accompanied/Advisory), 12, 15, 18, and R18. But no such concern exists on this side of the Atlantic as such a category does exist in the Canadian film rating system (at least, outside of Quebec)!
en clair - adjective & adverb (especially of a telegram or official message) in ordinary language, rather than in code or cipher

entry - [Collins English Dictionary] noun 7 the competitors entering a contest considered collectively: a good entry this year for the speed trials

hat - noun used to refer to a particular role or occupation of someone who has more than one: wearing her scientific hat she is director of a pharmacology research group [Note: not an unfamiliar meaning of the word for me, but one that did not come quickly to mind today]

L2 - abbreviation British (on a motor vehicle) learner driver [or learner for short and, by extension, student]

Poole - a large coastal town and seaport in the county of Dorset, on the south coast of England

Preston - a city in Lancashire, England

saloon (also saloon bar) - noun British another term for lounge bar
lounge bar - noun British the smarter and more comfortably furnished bar in a pub. Compare with public bar
public bar - noun British the more plainly furnished bar in a pub. Compare with lounge bar
sandpit - noun British a shallow box or hollow in the ground, partly filled with sand for children to play in [in North America, a sandbox]

U3 - adjective British informal (of language or social behaviour) characteristic of or appropriate to the upper social classes: U manners

Today's Links

Big Dave's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26281].

The Brits are exceptionally chatty today, with most of the comments expressing displeasure with 17a. They just didn't see it like I did (in both senses of the phrase, perhaps).

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

10a Drink in here? Shop stocks nothing but (6,3)

Initially not being able to see the wordplay, I penciled in the solution very faintly, fearing it might well be wrong. However, it did turn out to be correct. The definition is "drink in here" (i.e., we need a term for a British watering hole) which happens to be SALOON BAR. I eventually figured out the wordplay which is SALON (shop) containing (stocks) O (nothing) + BAR (but; i.e., except for). It seems that in the U.K. a saloon is a rather upscale drinking establishment, contrary to North America.

17a Where youngsters play could make you spit! (7)

Some of my difficulty in the southeast quadrant actually arose from floundering around here. My first attempt was SANDBOX which I later (upon solving 8d) had to change to SANDLOT (in North America, youngsters commonly play sandlot ball). I was eventually to discover that this was still not the correct solution, it being SANDPIT (in Britain, an alternative term for a sandbox).

All of the foregoing was achieved strictly on the basis of the definition and checking letters - and even then perhaps using only a partial definition. The wordplay is difficult to see - and even more difficult to explain.

I would say that we may encounter here, not only an example of reverse wordplay but also, an & lit. (all-in-one) clue. I realize that one might consider the definition to be merely "where youngsters play" (which could be many different places including a SANDPIT). However, I think one could well consider the entire clue to be the definition, as the latter part provides additional descriptive information that further narrows down the choice of play areas. As a child, I spent countless hours playing in sand and I frequently got sand in my mouth, which definitely made me spit.

As for the wordplay, we have a case of what I think is an instance of what I believe to be termed "reverse wordplay" (how's that for waffling!). In this rarely seen type of clue, the solution itself must be incorporated into the wordplay. Thus "where youngsters play" could be SANDPIT. Treating the clue as an & lit., the wordplay is then "SANDPIT could make you SPIT" or, expanded "S AND PIT could make, [for] you, SPIT". In a less flowery fashion, this could be stated as "You could make the word SPIT from S + PIT".

This clue was severely panned in the comments on Big Dave's blog. Rarely have I seen such vitriol directed at a clue. However, perhaps if we were more like birders, we would be rejoicing at having spotted a rarely seen exotic species rather than complaining that it isn't yet another crow.

5d Cream cakes - girl's got her sixth in her mouth! (7)

The setter put an exclamation mark at the end of this clue for a reason - to flag to us that it is a bit out of the ordinary. I put a question mark beside it for a reason - to flag that I hadn't been able to decipher the wordplay. That question mark stayed there a long time, despite several return visits to the clue. The answer did finally hit me, striking like a bolt out of the blue. Take CLAIRES (girl's; i.e., CLAIRE's dropping the apostrophe) and move the letter E (her sixth [letter]) to the front (in her mouth; i.e., opening).

Signing off for today - Falcon

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