Monday, January 10, 2011 (DT 26365)

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26365
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, October 7, 2010
Setter Ray T
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26365]
Big Dave's Review Written By Big Dave
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - ***	Enjoyment - ****
Falcon's Performance Did Not Finish

Introduction

After gathering dust on the shelf for some time, my Tool Chest got a rather strenuous workout today. However, I must be loosing my touch, as I failed to complete the puzzle even with its assistance. An incorrect solution to one clue and falling for the misdirection in a couple of others led to my downfall.

As I progressed through the puzzle, I thought I detected evidence of a Ray T creation. He likes to throw in bits of 'naughtiness' and it occurred to me that "growler" (1d) and "stomach wind" (23a) might be references to flatulence (to put it as politely as possible). My hunch turned out to be correct, as today sees the move of Ray T from his former 'Tuesday' spot (where he had alternated the setting duties with Shamus) to 'Thursday' - which, under the current National Post publication schedule, translates to a move from Thursday to Monday. Is this a permanent move? Will Shamus also move to 'Thursday' or will he and Ray T now each have their own day? What other changes are in store? I could read ahead on Big Dave's site to find out, but I think I'll just wait and let the story unfold.

Today's Glossary

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

Appearing in Clues:

innings - noun (singular and plural) 1 Cricket each of two or four divisions of a game during which one side has a turn at batting: the highlight of the Surrey innings. [Note: unlike the term inning used in North American baseball, the cricket term innings is invariant in the singular and plural; thus, one innings, two innings, etc.] 

Appearing in Solutions:

d - abbreviation 3 dead.

E² - abbreviation [2^nd entry] informal the drug Ecstasy or a tablet of Ecstasy.

e.g. - abbreviation for example (from Latin exempli gratia 'for the sake of example').

trifle - verb (derivative noun trifler) 2 archaic talk or act frivolously: we will not trifle — life is too short; (trifle something away) waste something, especially time, frivolously.

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

This commentary should be read in conjunction with the review at Big Dave's Crossword Blog, to which a link is provided in the table above.

1a    Get off with airhead blonde (6)

Clue structures such as this, where "airhead" is used to mean the first (head) letter of "A(ir)", often give rise to complaints on the British blogs - but it seems not to be the case today.

4a   Inconsistent United Nations' record (8)

The definition is "inconsistent" with the solution being UNSTABLE. The wordplay is UNS (United Nations') + TABLE (record). Note that the S in the solution comes not from the S in "United Nations", but from the aspostrophe (which denotes the possessive). The shortened form of United Nations' is UN's. Without the apostrophe, the shortened form of United Nations would be merely UN.

If I had reasoned this through earlier, I would not have been reluctant to write the answer in the grid, and I then might have had success with 6d. As it was, I didn't write in the solution as I hadn't yet figured out where the S came from.

11a   Simpleton admitting small peculiarity (5)

An incorrect entry here further contributed to my difficulty with 6d. I managed to concoct a rather convoluted solution, IDIOT (simpleton). For wordplay, I had I DO IT (admitting) with the O and second I reversed (small peculiarity). Perhaps, I should at least get points for originality! [See Big Dave's review for the real solution].

27a   Capital of Yugoslavia, then Serbia (6)

Although it seemed that the solution could be nothing other than the capital of Greece, I failed to spot it hiding in the clue. I think hidden words are especially difficult to see when one of the letters - especially an inappropriate one - is capitalized.

2d   A top spot here's Gary Jones, perhaps (7)

I became so focused on trying to track down the real Gary Jones (any of four English footballers, plus a number of other less probable candidates) that I totally failed to see any connection between the only possible solution (INDIANA) and either Gary (the steel town) or Jones ( the movie and its several sequels).

16d   Turner say, seeing a feature in fog (9)

Before the fog lifted, I spent some time and effort vainly trying to establish a connection with English landscape painter J. M. W. Turner (1775 – 1851).

Signing off for today - Falcon