Friday, October 26, 2012 - DT 26943

Posted Saturday, October 27, 2012 but backdated to maintain puzzle sequencing.

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26943
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, August 13, 2012
Setter Rufus (Roger Squires)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26943]
Big Dave's Review Written By Big Dave
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 26942 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, August 11, 2012.

Introduction

At Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Big Dave himself takes over the reins from Libellule today. He characterises the puzzle as "The usual mix of clues with a couple of barely cryptic definitions thrown in for good measure." As I worked through the puzzle, the thought also occurred to me that some of the cryptic definitions were perhaps a bit thin. However, overall, it is the usual enjoyable fare that we have come to expect from Rufus. Although I surmised what the correct solution should be at 2d, I did need to consult a dictionary to confirm that the British slang term for a donkey actually exists.

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   Monday’s issue is said to be so attractive (4,2,4)

According to the nursery rhyme, "Monday's child^[7] is fair of face ..."

9a   Bait and line cast on river (4)

The River Ure^[7] is a stream in North Yorkshire, England, approximately 74 miles (119 km) long from its source to the point where it changes name to the River Ouse.

11a   Hard getting permit to worship (6)

H^[5] is the abbreviation for hard, as used in describing grades of pencil lead ⇒ a 2H pencil.

24a   Score is two-love (6)

In tennis, squash, and some other sports, love^[5] is a score of zero or nil ⇒ love fifteen. The resemblance of a zero written as a number (0) to the letter O leads to the cryptic crossword convention of love equating to this letter.

28a   Lift and cut (4)

Nick^[5] is British slang meaning to steal ⇒ she nicked fivers from the till.

2d   A donkey almost berserk (4)

Moke^[5] is British slang for a donkey.

5d   A Frenchman meets a hospital nurse from China, originally (4)

Monsieur (abbreviation M)^[5] is a title or form of address used of or to a French-speaking man, corresponding to Mr or sir ⇒ Monsieur Hulot.

20d    Politician’s chosen — a Tory, partly towards the right (7)

The phrases "towards the left" and "towards the west" are often used to indicate a reversal. The contrary constructions, "towards the right" and "towards the east" naturally indicate the absence of a reversal — a condition that generally goes unstated.

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