Tuesday, December 28, 2010 (DT 26354)

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26354
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, September 24, 2010
Setter Giovanni
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26354]
Big Dave's Review Written By Gazza
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - ***	Enjoyment - ***
Falcon's Performance *****

Introduction

This is yet another puzzle on which I am playing catch on the blog - one which did not get posted due to competing time pressures over the Christmas period. I did manage to complete the puzzle without using my Tool Chest. However, I did have nearly a week of cogitation and 'perservation' time between when I started the puzzle and when I eventually completed it. I was even able to assemble the Russian portmanteau word at 17d from the wordplay despite never having previously encountered it.

Today's Glossary

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

Appearing in Solutions:

agitprop - noun 1. (often capitalized) (formerly) a bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, in charge of agitation and propaganda on behalf of Communism.

This portmanteau word is short for Russian Agitpropbyuro, from agit(atsiya) agitation + prop(aganda) propaganda.

burn² - noun Scottish & Northern English a small stream.

carbuncle - noun 2 a bright red gem, in particular a garnet cut en cabochon.

monstrous carbuncle - pejorative term coined by Charles, Prince of Wales for ugly architecture.

In 1982, the National Gallery in London held a competition for the design of an addition to its building. The winning proposal was dropped after the Prince of Wales compared the design to a "monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend". The term "monstrous carbuncle", for a modern building that clashes with its surroundings, has since become commonplace.

River Exe - a river in England that rises in Somerset and flows through Devon to the English Channel.

git - noun British informal an unpleasant or contemptible person.

H² - abbreviation [1^st entry] hard (used in describing grades of pencil lead): a 2H pencil

M² - abbreviation [1^st entry] Cricket (on scorecards) maiden over(s).

• maiden - noun 2 (also maiden over) Cricket an over in which no runs are scored.
• over - noun Cricket a sequence of six balls bowled by a bowler from one end of the pitch , after which another bowler takes over from the other end.

night porter - noun 1. a porter on duty during the night.

porter² - noun British an employee in charge of the entrance of a hotel, block of flats, college, or other large building.

RN - abbreviation [3^rd entry] (in the UK) Royal Navy.

River Severn - the longest river in Great Britain, it rises in Wales and flows through Shropshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire before emptying into the Bristol Channel.

Sten gun - noun a type of lightweight British sub-machine gun.

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.

9a One to shift a couple of maidens? (5)

Although Gazza provides a fine explanation for this clue, it may be worthwhile to elaborate a bit more for the benefit of North American readers who may not be familiar with the game evoked by the clue. The definition is "one to shift" for which the solution is MOVER. The wordplay is a reference to the game of cricket, where a maiden over (or, for short, maiden) is "an over in which no runs are scored". Thus the couple of maidens would be M (abbreviation for maiden) and OVER. However (as Gazza points out), since a maiden is but one type of over, the setter includes the question mark to indicate that there may - or may not - be a couple of maidens present.

25a Red stone making for an architectural monstrosity (9)

I must confess that I only knew the word which is the solution to this clue as a medical condition. Even then, I discovered that my perception of what it meant was grossly misinformed - I had envisioned it as being something more akin to a bunion, rather than an abscess. Despite this lack of knowledge, I managed to guess the answer (it just sort of came to me out of the blue), and probably mainly due to the fact that it fit the available space and matched the checking letters. I then had to a bit of research to establish that the word is also the name of a red gem and to discover the link to Prince Charles.

Signing off for today - Falcon