Tuesday, July 19, 2011 - DT 26535

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26535
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, April 25, 2011
Setter Rufus
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26535]
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 26534 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, April 23, 2011

Introduction

This puzzle was published in the U.K. on Easter Monday, and has a theme appropriate to the day. In fact, this bit of information is fundamental to being able to solve 16a. The theme does seem a bit strange to those of us receiving the puzzle in syndication, as we in much of Canada bask (or bake) in temperatures in the mid to high 30s. I only needed assistance on 11a - a term that was heretofore totally unknown to me. While 10a was equally unfamiliar, I was able to decipher it correctly from the wordplay.

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 Solutions:

lent lily - noun British the European wild daffodil, which typically has pale creamy-white outer petals. [Narcissus pseudonarcissus, family Liliaceae (or Amaryllidaceae)]

Maundy - noun [a] (in the UK) a public ceremony on the Thursday before Easter (Maundy Thursday) at which the monarch distributes specially minted coins. [b] (also Royal Maundy) Maundy money.

nearside - noun (usually the nearside) British [a] the side of a vehicle nearest the kerb (in Britain, the left). Compare with offside [b] the left side of a horse.

off - noun 1 (also off side [not to be confused with offside, as referenced in the foregoing entry]) Cricket the half of the field (as divided lengthways through the pitch ) towards which the batsman's feet are pointed when standing to receive the ball.  The opposite of leg

*OR - abbreviation [3^rd entry] Military, British other ranks (as opposed to commissioned officers).

rank¹ - noun 2 [4^th entry] British  short for taxi rank (North American taxi stand), a place where taxis park while waiting to be hired.

slog - verb informal 2 [a] hit (someone or something) forcefully and typically wildly, especially in boxing or cricket: batsmen careering down the pitch to slog the ball up in the air [b] (slog it out) British [perhaps not entirely] fight or compete fiercely: they'll be slogging it out in the first round of the cup next Sunday

While I only knew the verb slog in the sense of "walk or move with difficulty or effort" (for instance, used to refer to wading through mud), I am familiar with the expression "slog it out". However, I had always presumed that it must somehow derive from the "walk with difficulty" meaning of slog. The expression makes much more sense now that I now its true basis.

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.

11a   Edge to the left when travelling in Britain (8)

I understood the general intent of the clue, I just had no idea what the British term is. In Britain, they drive on left-hand side of the road with the steering wheel located on the right-hand side of the car. I did think that the clue might be referring to the edge of the road rather than the edge of the vehicle. Consequently, I was thinking that the solution might end in -line (extrapolating from the centreline which would be on the right- that is, presuming the term is used in the U.K.).

Signing off for today - Falcon