Thursday, February 10, 2011 (DT 26396)

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26396
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, November 12, 2010
Setter Giovanni
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26396]
Big Dave's Review Written By Gazza
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - ***	Enjoyment - ***
Falcon's Performance ┌────┬────┬────┬────┐ ████████████████████ └────┴────┴────┴────┘

Introduction

I needed help from my Tool Chest for a couple of clues (14d and 19d). I also needed assistance from Gazza to understand the wordplay in a couple of other clues (22a and 5d). In both cases, I had been mistakenly looking for anagrams where none existed - and should have been searching for reversals instead.

Today's Glossary

Selected abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions appearing in today's puzzle. Entries appearing for the first time since January 1, 2011 are shown in red text.

Appearing in Clues:

The meanings listed in this section may reflect how the word is used in the surface reading of the clue. Of course, that meaning may be contributing to the misdirection that the setter is attempting to create.

extra - noun [4^th entry] Cricket a run scored other than from a hit with the bat, credited to the batting side rather than to a batsman

Tommy - noun (plural Tommies) informal 1 a British private soldier [pet form of the given name Thomas; from a use of the name Thomas Atkins in specimens of completed official forms in the British army during the 19th century]

Appearing in Solutions:

bye¹ - noun 2 Cricket a run scored from a ball that passes the batsman without being hit (recorded as an extra, not credited to the individual batsman)

C² - symbol [2^nd entry] the chemical element carbon

CE - abbreviation [1^st entry] Church of England

cordovan - noun a kind of soft leather made originally from goatskin and now from horse hide

L² - abbreviation [5^th entry] British (on a motor vehicle) learner driver

laager - noun 1 South African historical an encampment formed by a circle of wagons

OR - abbreviation [3^rd entry] Military, British other ranks (as opposed to commissioned officers).

titch - noun British informal a small person

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

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.

1d   Old gold turning up in decomposed matter, making one scream? (8)

I wondered if the American spelling used in the solution to this clue would make the Brits scream - apparently not.

22a   Old beast thus gets around - distinctive character lacking tail (9)

Despite readily finding the correct "old beast", I failed to decipher the wordplay completely. The solution is STEGOSAUR and the wordplay is a reversal (around) of {SO (thus) + GETS} + AUR[A] {AURA (distinctive character) with the final letter deleted (lacking tail)}. I was hampered by misspelling 'stegosaur', as well as by concentrating my efforts on a search for an anagram.

23a   English tommies smuggling in slim girl (7)

Our setter chooses not to capitalize "tommies" despite both Oxford Dictionaries Online and Search Chambers showing the word as starting with a capital letter. On the other hand, Collins English Dictionary shows the word as 'tommies' (starting with a lower case letter), while (at the same link) the American Heritage Dictionary allows both forms.

5d   Greek character with pistol upset police (8)

Once again, despite having the correct solution, I failed to comprehend the wordplay. The definition is
"police" for which the solution is REGULATE. The wordplay is a reversal (upset) of {ETA (Greek character) + LUGER (pistol)}. I was done in by a mistaken supposition that a pistol might be a 'gat' combined with another misguided search for an anagram.

Signing off for today - Falcon