Thursday, October 20, 2011 - DT 26615

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26615
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Setter Jay
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26615]
Big Dave's Review Written By Pommers
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

I found this puzzle to be quite a challenge, so I was relieved to see that Pommers' assessment jived with my experience. I turned to my Tool Chest with three clues in the upper left-hand quadrant remaining to be solved. Once I had identified the little monkeys at 2d, the remaining clues (12a and 3d) were so blatantly obvious that I chastised myself for not having solved them earlier. I was able to find the person selling on credit at 16d, even though this was a new word to me. Actually, it was a new meaning to an old word. From listening to Harry Belafonte, I had always thought this meant someone counting bunches of bananas being loaded on a ship. I wonder how many searched in vain at 19d, as I did, for a union with the initials SCU.

Notes on Today's Puzzle

8a   A haka is a Maori ceremonial war dance involving chanting, an imitation of which is performed by New Zealand rugby teams before a match.

12a   In Britain, a presenter is a person who introduces and appears in a television or radio programme (someone who, in North America, might variously be known as a host, a news reader, or a news anchor).

16a   In Britain, U is used informally as an adjective to describe language or social behaviour that is characteristic of or appropriate to the upper social classes (example: U manners). It often appears in cryptic crosswords clued, as today, by the phrase "socially acceptable". An abbreviation of  upper class, the term was coined in 1954 by Alan S. C. Ross, professor of linguistics, and popularized by its use in Nancy Mitford's Noblesse Oblige (1956).

2d   Mo is an informal, chiefly British expression meaning a short period of time (example: Hang on a mo!). It is a shortened form of moment.

4d   An existentialist is a proponent of a philosophical theory or approach which emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining their own development through acts of the will.

6d   The taiga is the swampy coniferous forest of high northern latitudes, especially that between the tundra and steppes of Siberia.

16d   In Britain, a tallyman is a person who sells goods on credit, especially from door to door.

19d   The escudo was the basic monetary unit of Portugal and the Cape Verde Islands, equal to 100 centavos (replaced in Portugal by the euro in 2002).

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.

26a   One without roots lets no girl on if dressed (7,5)

I followed a rather convoluted route in attempting to decipher the wordplay here. I quickly recognized the solution, ROLLING STONE, from the definition and checking letters. However, I didn't initially see the anagram. In fact, the first thing to come to mind was the old adage, "A rolling stone gathers no moss". From that, I supposed perhaps that the girl not being let on (gathered?) might be English supermodel Kate Moss. That, of course, inevitably gave rise to the notion that she might be allowed on if naked.

Signing off for today - Falcon