Thursday, April 21, 2011 (DT 26458)

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26458
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26458]
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

After getting the day off yesterday, my Tool Chest saw only limited action today. However, even though I avoided using it for the most part, I did make a fair number of educated guesses that fortunately proved to be correct.

Today's Glossary

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

[An asterisk beside an entry merely indicates that it has been taken it from a Cumulative Glossary of entries which have previously appeared, 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.

Ernie Els - South African professional golfer

mother's ruin - British informal gin

Princess Odette - the lead ballerina role in the ballet Swan Lake by Pyotr Tchaikovsky

Appearing in Solutions:

a gogo - adjective [postpositive] informal in abundance; galore: Gershwin a gogo — all the hits [Origin: (1960s) from French à gogo, from Old French gogue 'fun']

coastguard - noun chiefly British a member of the coastguard organization

Interpol - an organization based in France that coordinates investigations made by the police forces of member countries into crimes with an international dimension

knock someone/thing about (or around) - phrasal verb injure or damage by rough treatment

knockabout - noun 1 a rough, slapstick comic performance

Patna rice - noun rice of a variety with long firm grains, which was originally produced at Patna [India]

suck it and see - idiom British & Australian informal to try something that you have not done before to discover what it is like or whether it will be successful: I'm not sure at this stage whether it's the right job for me - I've just got to suck it and see

swank - informal, chiefly British

• verb display one's wealth, knowledge, or achievements in a way that is intended to impress others: he was swanking about, playing the dashing young master spy
• noun - behaviour, talk, or display intended to impress others: a little money will buy you a good deal of swank

tiffin - noun dated or Indian a snack or light meal

Ben Travers (1886 – 1980) - British playwright best remembered for his farces

Wick - an estuary town and a royal burgh in the north of the Highland council area of Scotland. The town straddles the River Wick and extends along both sides of Wick Bay.

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.

10a   Start to make a speech about one mother's ruin (9)

I am sure this clue was easily solved by the Brits. In my case, the real puzzle was (after having found the correct solution) trying to figure out why 'gin' might be called "mother's ruin". The name may derive from the reputed ability of gin, if consumed in large quantity, to induce abortion in pregnant women. An interesting account of the effects of gin-drinking on English society in the mid-eighteenth century can be found here.

16d   Topliner abroad in crime unit (8)

"Topliner" is seemingly not a popular word among lexicographers as I found it listed in only one source - Dictionary.com (which is based on The Random House Dictionary).

topliner - noun [related to the adjective topline]

1. [someone or something] so important as to be named at or near the top of a newspaper item, advertisement, or the like: a topline actress; topline news.
2. [someone or something] of the highest reputation, importance, etc.: a topline business firm.

Signing off for today - Falcon