Friday, July 20, 2012 - DT 26859

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26859
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, May 7, 2012
Setter Rufus
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26859]
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 █ - solved with aid of checking letters provided by 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 26858 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, May 5, 2012.

Introduction

For me, this puzzle proved to be slightly more of a challenge than it would appear to have been for the Brits.

Notes on Today's Puzzle

This commentary is intended to serve as a supplement to the review of this puzzle found at Big Dave's Crossword Blog, to which a link is provided in the table above.

1a   Smart Alec’s brother? (6,4)

Clever Dick^[5] (or clever clogs) is an informal British term for a person who is irritatingly and ostentatiously knowledgeable or intelligent • she’s such a clever Dick—you can’t tell her anything.

9a   In this place he really is friendless (4)

To be "friendless" is to be "without an ALLY".

10a   Reckless, having an iridescent cocktail (10)

I was hampered by recklessly mixing up my terms. Indiscrete^[5] is a rarely used adjective meaning not divided into distinct parts. Indiscreet^[5] means having, showing, or proceeding from too great a readiness to reveal things that should remain private or secret • they have been embarrassed by indiscreet friends.

11a   Tick that’s awarded for high marks in exam (6)

In Britain, tick^[5] (used in the phrase on tick) means on credit • the printer agreed to send the brochures out on tick. The term apparently originates as a short form for ticket in the phrase on the ticket, referring to an IOU or promise to pay.

18a   Duck taking cover on the beach (4)

In cricket, a duck^[5] is a batsman’s score of nought [zero] • he was out for a duck. In cryptic crossword puzzles, duck is used to indicate the letter "O" based on its resemblance to the number "0".

In Britain, a lido^[5] is a public open-air swimming pool or bathing beach.

24a   Part of mass is identified with St Francis (6)

St Francis of Assisi^[5] (circa 1181–1226) was an Italian monk who founded the Franciscan order in 1209 and drew up its original rule (based on complete poverty). He is revered for his generosity, simple faith, humility, and love of nature. His feast day is 4 October.

27a   Ulster may depend on it (4,6)

An ulster^[5] is a man’s long, loose overcoat of rough cloth, typically with a belt at the back.

5d   Side turning Caesar was warned about (4)

The surface reading of this clue undoubtedly makes more sense in Britain, where readers would likely interpret turning^[5] to mean a place where a road branches off from another • take the first turning on the right. North Americans would refer to this as a turn-off^[5] • Adam missed the turn-off to the village. Judging by the dictionary entries, both versions of the term would seem to be used in Britain.

14d   Noisy woman is quiet about one point (5)

A shrew^[5] is a quarrelsome or scolding woman [and, by implication, a noisy one].

19d   Duty on one Citizens’ Advice Bureau to provide transport (7)

In the UK, a Citizens' Advice Bureau (CAB)^[5] is an office at which the public can receive free advice and information on civil matters.

Key to Reference Sources: 

^[1]   - The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition
^[2]   - Search Chambers - (Chambers 21st Century Dictionary)
^[3]   - TheFreeDictionary.com (American Heritage Dictionary)
^[4]   - TheFreeDictionary.com (Collins English Dictionary)
^[5]   - Oxford Dictionaries (Oxford Dictionary of English)
^[6]   - Oxford Dictionaries (Oxford American Dictionary)
^[7]   - Wikipedia
^[8]   - Reverso Online Dictionary (Collins French-English Dictionary)
^[9]   - Infoplease (Random House Unabridged Dictionary)
^[10] - CollinsDictionary.com (Collins English Dictionary)

Signing off for today – Falcon