Tuesday, March 8, 2011 (DT 26417)

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26417
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Setter Shamus
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26417]
Big Dave's Review Written By Gazza
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - **	Enjoyment - **
Falcon's Performance ┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐ ███████████████████████████████████ └────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘ Legend: █ - solved without assistance █ - solved with assistance from puzzle solving tools █ - unsolved or incorrect prior to visiting Big Dave's blog

Introduction

There was one solitary holdout among the clues today (18d). However, I was readily able to find the solution with assistance from my Tool Chest. As so often is the case, in hindsight this did not appear to be among the most difficult clues in the puzzle. As stated in a comment on Big Dave's site by Geoff (for whom this was also the last clue to be solved), it was "a self-kicking moment" when the solution became clear.

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.

Bangor - a town in County Down, Northern Ireland, as well as numerous other places of this name around the world. Personally, I am most acquainted with Bangor, Maine (a regular stop on my former annual pilgrimages to Nova Scotia). According to Wikipedia, most of the places named Bangor around the world actually derive their name from Bangor, Wales.

Appearing in Solutions:

*con⁴ - archaic study attentively or learn by heart (a piece of writing): the girls conned their pages with a great show of industry

der - definite article German the

Eurosceptic - noun a person who is opposed to increasing the powers of the European Union

hotel - noun 2 a code word representing the letter H, used in radio communication

*I³ - abbreviation Italy (international vehicle registration)

Ibiza - the westernmost of the Balearic Islands (located in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Valencia, Spain)

le - definite article French the

ling¹ - noun any of a number of long-bodied edible marine fishes: a large East Atlantic fish related to the cod (genus Molva, family Gadidae), in particular M. molva, which is of commercial importance; a related Australian fish (Lotella callarias, family Gadidae); a similar but unrelated Australian fish (Genypterus blacodes, family Ophidiidae)

loo¹ - noun British informal a toilet

neat² - noun archaic a bovine animal

• cattle

*para¹ - noun informal 1 a paratrooper

*RA - abbreviation [3^rd entry] (in the UK) Royal Academician, a member of the Royal Academy, an institution established in 1768 to cultivate painting, sculpture, and architecture in Britain

rec - noun informal 1 British a recreation ground 2 North American recreation: [as modifier] the rec centre

I think the North American usage is limited to rec being used to modify another noun (as in the foregoing example from Oxford, or in rec room - in North America, "a room in a private house, especially in the basement, used for recreation and entertainment").

*U³ - adjective British informal (of language or social behaviour) characteristic of or appropriate to the upper social classes: U manners

un - indefinite article French a

vin - noun [usually with modifier] French wine: vin rouge

vindaloo - noun a very hot and spicy curry

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.

17d   Box is accepted by hypocrite (8)

I note that several of the Brits comment at Big Dave's site about 'canter' being a new word to them or not being able to find it in dictionaries. Likewise for myself. However, I just supposed that the setter was just being a bit playful by inventing a word. After all, if a river can be a flower (though not in 25d today), it seems not at all a stretch for someone who cants (talks hypocritically and sanctimoniously about something) to be called a canter.

Signing off for today - Falcon