Friday, July 6, 2012 - DT 26847

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26847
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, April 23, 2012
Setter Rufus
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26847]
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 █ - 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 26846 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, April 21, 2012

Introduction

The consensus seems to be that this puzzle is slightly more difficult than the typical Rufus offering.

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.

12a   This singer, given a chance, could win a fortune (6)

A treble chance^[5] is a form of British football pool in which different numbers of points are awarded for a draw, an away win, and a home win.

13a   Bold to break in using a jemmy? (12)

In Britain, a short crowbar used by a burglar to force open a window or door is called a jemmy^[5] . In North America, it is known as a jimmy^[4].

23a   Commons vote leads to disagreement (8)

In Britain (or in Canada), division^[2] is the name given to a formal vote in Parliament.

26a   Driver of train having crossed lines (8)

This is a cryptic definition, although I did attempt to find a solution involving a train crossing LL (lines). A muleteer^[2] (a new word to me) is someone whose job is to drive mules. A mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse [and, thus, an animal "having crossed lines"].

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