Thursday, February 24, 2011 (DT 26407)

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26407
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, November 25, 2010
Setter Ray T
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26407]
Big Dave's Review Written By Big Dave
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - ***	Enjoyment - ****
Falcon's Performance ┌────┬────┬────┬────┐ ████████████████████ └────┴────┴────┴────┘

Introduction

My Tool Chest received a severe workout today. Without its help, I was totally unable to enter the NW quadrant and able to do scarcely better in the SE. However, the other two quadrants were conquered quite readily.

Today's Glossary

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

[Items marked with an asterisk are from a Cumulative Glossary of entries appearing, since the beginning of this year, in either this blog or its companion blog, the Ottawa Citizen Cryptic Crossword Forum.]

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.

hack (someone) off - phrasal verb [British] informal annoy or infuriate someone: it really hacks me off when they whine about what a poor job we're doing

• hacked off - adjective U.K. informal irritated: annoyed or dissatisfied

Innisfree - a small island in Lough Gill, Ireland, featured in the poem Lake Isle of Innisfree by William Butler Yeats

Thomas Long (1621–1707) - English clergyman and writer on Church politics

pound¹ - noun 2 (also pound sterling) (plural pounds sterling) the basic monetary unit of the UK, equal to 100 pence

Romeo - noun 2 a code word representing the letter R, used in radio communication

*Territorial Army (abbreviation TA) - (in the UK) a volunteer force locally organized to provide a reserve of trained and disciplined manpower for use in an emergency.

Tyneside - an industrial conurbation on the banks of the River Tyne, in NE England, stretching from Newcastle upon Tyne to the coast

tyre - noun automotive U.K. spelling of  tire³

Appearing in Solutions:

c - abbreviation Cricket (on scorecards) caught by: ME Waugh c Lara b Walsh 19

Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres (1780 – 1867) - French Neoclassical painter

L.[S.D] or l.[s.d.] - U.K. money pounds, [shillings, pence] [ Latin librae, solidi, denarii]

ness - noun [usually in place names] a headland or promontory: Orford Ness

Thomas Paine (c. 1737 – 1809) - author, pamphleteer, radical, inventor, intellectual, revolutionary, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He has been called "a corsetmaker by trade, a journalist by profession, and a propagandist by inclination."

REME - abbreviation (in the British army) Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers

Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828 – 1882) - English poet, illustrator, painter and translator

slate - verb 2 British informal criticize severely: his work was slated by the critics

sniffy - adjective informal scornful; contemptuous: some people are sniffy about tea bags

Thomas Paine

When so many Brits commented that they had never heard of Thomas Paine, I was not very surprised. After all, I supposed, the works of this American revolutionary pamphleteer were probably not a hit in the U.K.. I was surprised, however, to learn how well regarded he seems to be in Britain. According to the Wikipedia article:

In England a statue of Paine, quill pen and inverted copy of Rights of Man in hand, stands in King Street, Thetford, Norfolk, his birth place. Moreover, in Thetford, the Sixth form is named after him. Thomas Paine was ranked #34 in the 100 Greatest Britons 2002 extensive Nationwide poll conducted by the BBC. ... Yearly, between 4 and 14 July, the Lewes Town Council in the United Kingdom celebrates the life and work of Thomas Paine.

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.

25a   End of term examinations? (9)

I realized from the question mark that there would be some sort of twist involved in this clue. I thought that "end of term" might refer to a pregnancy. While this proved not to be the correct interpretation, it was perhaps not an unreasonable attempt. Look for the end of another term - and not the academic term that the setter undoubtedly hopes we fall for.

Signing off for today - Falcon