Wednesday, September 14, 2011 - DT 26584

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26584
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26584]
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 █ - reviewed by Falcon for Big Dave's blog

Introduction

Today, it was another case of failing to get some fairly easy clues (at least, in hindsight) while successfully cracking what should have been more difficult clues. I did know the European video connector - but only because I had happended to stumble across it recently while perusing the manual for a piece of video gear.

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.

chuck it down - phrase British rain heavily.

kip⁴ - informal noun 1 [a] British a sleep or nap: [i] I might have a little kip; [ii] he was trying to get some kip [b] chiefly Scottish a bed. verb British sleep: he can kip on her sofa [hence a kipper is someone who is asleep]

mashie - noun Golf, dated an iron used for lofting or for medium distances.

specialist - adjective [a] possessing or involving detailed knowledge or study of a restricted topic: you may require specialist financial advice [b] [attributive] concentrating on a restricted field , market, or area of activity: a specialist electrical shop

sweet - noun 2 British a sweet dish forming a course of a meal; a pudding or dessert.

Appearing in Solutions:

formula - noun 3 (plural formulas) [a] a set form of words, especially one used in particular contexts or as a conventional usage: [i] polite formulas and stock phrases; [ii] a legal formula [b] a rule or style followed mechanically: [as modifier] one of those formula tunes [c] a stock epithet, phrase, or line repeated for various effects, especially in epic poetry.

ladder - noun 2 British [North American run (noun 10)] a vertical strip of unravelled fabric in tights or stockings: one of Sally’s stockings developed a ladder

light¹ - noun 8 British (in a crossword puzzle) a blank space to be filled by a letter.

*ness - noun [usually in place names] a headland or promontory: Orford Ness

railroad - noun North American [especially U.S.] term for railway

The term railway is widely used in Canada, as evidenced by the fact that our two largest rail transportation companies are named the Canadian National Railway Company and the Canadian Pacific Railway.

Scart (also SCART) - noun a 21-pin socket used to connect video equipment: [as modifier] twin Scart connectors [Origin: (1980s) acronym from French Syndicat des Constructeurs des Appareils Radiorécepteurs et Téléviseurs, the committee which designed the connector]

In Europe, SCART is the most common method of connecting audio-visual equipment together, and has become a standard connector for such devices (even more so than the phono plug); it is far less common elsewhere in the world. Designed to carry analog standard-definition content, SCART is becoming obsolete with the introduction of new digital standards such as HDMI, which can carry high-definition content and multichannel audio.

sleeper - noun 5 British [North American cross tie or tie (noun 2)] a wooden or concrete beam laid transversely under railway track to support it.

spend - [The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition] verb transitive to expend; to pay out; to give, bestow, employ, for any purpose; to shed; to consume; to use up; to exhaust; to waste; to pass (time, etc).

*sup¹ - noun [a] a sip of liquid: he took another sup of wine [b] Northern English & Irish alcoholic drink

Appearing on Big Dave's Site

strapline - noun a subsidiary heading or caption in a newspaper or magazine: the strapline on the front page promised ‘13 pages of dramatic pictures and eye-witness accounts’

As a hint for light, Gazza offers, "... part of a crossword puzzle (if you can’t get it look at the strapline for this site above)" referring to the subtitle of Big Dave's Crossword Blog which is "Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English".

Signing off for today - Falcon