Friday, March 18, 2011 (DT 26429)

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26429
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Setter Ray T
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26429]
Big Dave's Review Written By Gazza
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - ★★★	Enjoyment - ★★★★
Falcon's Performance ┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐ ███████████████████████████████████ └────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘ Legend: █ - solved without assistance █ - incorrect prior to use of puzzle solving tools █ - solved with assistance from puzzle solving tools █ - unsolved or incorrect prior to visiting Big Dave's blog

Introduction

As you can see from the chart above, my Tool Chest got an early call to action today - and received a strenuous workout to boot. Soon after flipping it open, it became apparent that I had an incorrect solution at 8d, where I had inserted an invented word, IDEABENT - possibly an extrapolation from 'hellbent'. Sometimes my 'invented' words turn out to actually exist - but not this time, it seems. Although I found it to be a challenging puzzle, it was also a very enjoyable puzzle - one that had all the hallmarks of Ray T at his finest.

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:

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.

nozzle - [American Heritage Dictionary] noun 2. Slang The human nose.

I was not able to find this definition in an online British dictionary.

tea leaf - noun 2 British rhyming slang a thief

Appearing in Solutions:

Bakelite - noun trademark an early form of brittle plastic, typically dark brown, made from formaldehyde and phenol, used chiefly for electrical equipment

Eurostar - noun trademark the high-speed passenger rail service that links London with various European cities via the Channel Tunnel.

hooter - noun

• 2 [chiefly British] informal a person's nose.
• 3 (hooters) North American vulgar slang a woman's breasts.

ode - noun

• a lyric poem, typically one in the form of an address to a particular subject, written in varied or irregular metre.
• a classical poem of a kind originally meant to be sung.

*R² - abbreviation [13th entry] Cricket [not to mention baseball] (on scorecards) run(s)

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   Dare America split 'special relationship'? (11)

I had supposed that the definition here was "relationship" with "special" being the anagram indicator - leaving me wondering what role "split" might be playing. However, according to to Gazza, the definition is "special relationship" and the anagram indicator being "split". I must say that I don't care for "split" as an anagram indicator. In order to form the solution, one must break up the words "dare America" and reassemble the letters in a different order. "Split" certainly describes the first of these actions but does not convey the idea of reassembling the letters.

14a   Setter is a lunatic for papers (9)

"Setter" is almost always code for 'I' or 'me', but not today. It is just part of the fodder in this anagram type clue.

16a   Perhaps brown, and fired, first of early plastic (8)

In this clue, the definition is "plastic" and the wordplay is BAKE (perhaps brown) + (and) LIT (fired) + E (first of Early) to give the solution BAKELITE. However, the entire clue could almost serve as the definition, since Bakelite is an "early plastic", with the "first" examples most likely being brown in colour (which, according to Oxford, is its typical colour, with other colours presumably being achieved through the addition of a colouring agent), and it is produced through the application of heat and pressure (thus, perhaps, fired).

2d   Row losing head and get confused (5)

This is not the first time that I've seen "row" and 'paddle' treated as synonyms in British crossword puzzles. While I've always considered them to be quite different actions, I did find one dictionary to support the setter's contention that they are synonymous. However, it is not a British dictionary. Instead it is the American Heritage Dictionary, which gives the following meaning:

• paddle¹ - v.intr. 1. Nautical b. To row slowly and gently.

Signing off for today - Falcon