Monday, May 30, 2011 - DT 26493

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26493
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, March 7, 2011
Setter Rufus
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26493]
Big Dave's Review Written By Libellule
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 █ - reviewed by Falcon for Big Dave's blog
Notes The National Post has skipped DT 26492 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, March 5, 2011

Introduction

My progress seemed to have ground to a halt with five clues remaining to be solved. However, with one final push, I did manage to complete the puzzle without assistance. The final two clues to be solved were 8d and 16d. The former is a word with which I was not well acquainted and for the latter I spent a great deal of time looking for a plant of the botanical variety.

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.

measure - [American Heritage Dictionary] noun 5. A device used for measuring.

Appearing in Solutions:

dip - noun 5 informal, dated a pickpocket.

Eton College - a boys‘ public school in southern England, on the River Thames opposite Windsor, founded in 1440 by Henry VI to prepare scholars for King’s College, Cambridge. [Note: a 'public' school in Britain would be regarded as a 'private' school in North America.]

public school - noun

• 1 (in the UK) a private fee-paying secondary school, especially one for boarders.
  
• 2 (chiefly in North America) a school supported by public funds.
  

*p³ - [American Heritage Dictionary] abbreviation 1. piano² adverb & adjective Music in a soft or quiet tone (used chiefly as a direction).

*RA - abbreviation [5^th entry] (in the UK) Royal Artillery

ramp - noun 4 British informal a swindle, especially one involving a fraudulent increase of the price of a share.

reefer¹ - noun informal [a] a cannabis cigarette. [b] cannabis. [origin: (1930s) perhaps related to Mexican Spanish grifo '(smoker of) cannabis']

reefer² - noun 1 short for reefer jacket, a thick close-fitting double-breasted jacket.

sally¹ - noun 2 a witty or lively remark, especially one made as an attack or as a diversion in an argument; a retort.

tailpiece - noun 1 [a] a part added to the end of a story or piece of writing. [b] a small decorative design at the foot of a page or the end of a chapter or book.

tick⁴ - noun (in phrase on tick) British informal on credit. [origin: (mid 17th century) apparently short for ticket in the phrase on the ticket, referring to an IOU or promise to pay]

Signing off for today - Falcon