Monday, August 31, 2009 (DT 25908)

This puzzle was originally published Tuesday, April 21, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

Today the National Post has skipped ahead a few puzzles. It is not a very big jump, as only three puzzles have been skipped, which puts us at DT 25908.

I found today's puzzle to be moderately difficult. With perseverance, it was solvable - albeit with the assistance of my Tool Chest. It was not that the clues were terribly difficult (at least not in hindsight) but some of them were rather tricky.

Today's Glossary

Some possibly unfamiliar abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions used in today's puzzle

I didn't pick up anything of particular note in today's puzzle.

Today's Links

I found four questions on AnswerBank discussing today's puzzle. They (together with the clues to which they relate) are:

• AnswerBank [DT 25908]-a: 1ac, 14ac
• AnswerBank [DT 25908]-b: 20d
• AnswerBank [DT 25908]-c: 27ac
• AnswerBank [DT 25908]-d: 13d

Gazza's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 25908].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

11ac Water bearer? (8)

For a while, I was thinking that the solution might be Aquarius which, of course, somewhat hindered solving the intersecting down clues.

12ac Seen in mirror, dainty frock (6)

This meaning for "frock" was new to me, although I have heard of a priest being "defrocked". I guess it only stands to reason that one must first be frocked before one can be defrocked.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Saturday, August 29, 2009 - Triple Crown Winners

Introduction

Today's puzzle by Cox and Rathvon takes us to the track, actually to three tracks - Churchill Downs, Pimlico, and Belmont Park where we find five Triple Crown winners as well as the only jockey to ride two Triple Crown winners.





Solution to Today's Puzzle

Legend:	"CD" Cryptic Definition; "DD" Double Definition
	"*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed
	"( )" letters inserted; "_" letters deleted

Across

1ac CITATION* - moved {INTO ACT I}* [1948 Triple Crown winner]

5ac ASH|RAM

10ac _UPPER - meal starting late → s[UPPER]

11ac A|LAB|ASTER

12ac SECRET|ARIA|_T - broadcas[T] finally [1973 Triple Crown winner]

13ac A|DO

14ac ME|LEE - Spike Lee: American film director, producer, writer and actor

15ac AN|TIP|AS|TO - one [AN] bit of advice [TIP] about [AS TO]

17ac {SPLIT OPEN}* - out {LISTEN POP}*

19ac PA(B)L|O - Pablo Picasso: Spanish artist

21ac RAM - RAM: abbrev. random access memory

22ac SE(A)TTLE SLEW - [1977 Triple Crown winner]

25ac BUT|TIN|SKI

26ac O|KING

27ac EDDIE|D - Eddie Arcaro: American jockey [rode two Triple Crown winners - Whirlaway in 1941 and Citation in 1948]

28ac AFFIRMED* - bananas {I FED FARM}* [1978 Triple Crown winner]

Down

1d C(L)UBS - Chicago Cubs: National League baseball team

2d TO|PICA|L

3d THREEPEAT - threepeat: portmanteau of three and repeat, signifying three consecutive championships

4d _OMAHA_ - in fr[OM A HA]yride [1935 Triple Crown winner]

6d STAR|T_ - [T]ea's debut

7d RAT(TAN)S

8d {MARCO POLO}* - new {COLA PROMO}*

9d HA|MILTON - Milton Berle: American comedian

14d MISERABLE* - {REBELS AIM}* awful

15d A|P(PL)AUSE

16d PEPPERONI* - tossed {ON PREPPIE}*

18d LI(MITE)D

20d BELGIUM* - {BUM LEG I}* reset

22d S|PINE

23d TH(I)E|F - F: failing grade

24d W|AGED

Signing off for today - Falcon

Friday, August 28, 2009 (DT 25904)

This puzzle was originally published Thursday, April 16, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

After quite a difficult puzzle yesterday, we get a bit of a reprieve today. I quite enjoyed this puzzle, perhaps because I was actually able to complete it without having to open my Tool Chest. Of course, I did take note of a couple of words to look up later in the dictionary.

Today's Glossary

Some possibly unfamiliar abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions used in today's puzzle

cut-glass - upper class, refined (entry 2, adj.)

plight one's troth - to pledge oneself in marriage

prop - rugby the player at either end of the front row of the scrum (noun, defn. 3)

rum - Brit. colloq. odd (entry 2)

short - Brit. informal a strong alcoholic drink, especially spirits, served in small measures (noun, defn. 1) [In North America, this would be called a "shot"].

Today's Links

I found no questions on AnswerBank discussing today's puzzle.

Gazza's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 25904].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

19ac Sword swallowing girl initially had such an accent (8)

As I was solving the puzzle, I presumed that the design in a piece of cut glass might be considered an accent. Only later, when I looked up the word in the dictionary, did I stumble across the upper class accent meaning.

The solution, according to the numeration in the clue, is CUTGLASS. However, all the dictionaries that I consulted showed the spelling as either "cut glass" or "cut-glass", with none showing it as a single word. Only one dictionary listed the "upper class accent" definition and it specified that the spelling for this meaning is "cut-glass".

20d Time short after worker has a fit (7)

Despite getting the correct solution, I could not figure out how "short" translates to "rum" (at least not until Gazza explained it). Shame on me - I am certain that I recall this definition having appeared in a puzzle not very long ago.

There seemed to be lots of opportunity to attempt wrong approaches in this clue. For a while, I thought maybe "fit" indicated "trim" (which also satisfies the checking letters). I also considered that perhaps "fit" was an anagram indicator. Even after finding the correct solution, deciphering the wordplay was tricky. Which of the two "Ts" stood for "time"? Was "ant" the "worker" or was "tan" representing "worker has a fit"?

Signing off for today - Falcon

Thursday, August 27, 2009 (DT 25903)

This puzzle was originally published Wednesday, April 15, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

Today's puzzle proved to be quite an arduous endeavour - what with the obscure medical terminology. In the case of one of these terms, I was unable to find it listed in any of my regular reference sources, although I did eventually find it mentioned in the text of an article on a related substance. As for the second term, the only source that I could find for it (with the meaning used in this puzzle) is in 19th-century versions of Webster's dictionary.

Today's Glossary

Some possibly unfamiliar abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions used in today's puzzle

biccy - Brit. slang an alternative spelling for bickie: a biscuit

care - Brit. protective custody or guardianship provided for children by a local authority (noun, defn. 2)

elaterin - a purgative extracted from elaterium (I found no article on elaterin itself, but it is mentioned in the article on elaterium).

gin - a trap for catching small game (noun, defn. 3)

pneumonic - a medicine for affections of the lungs

Ned Sherrin - English broadcaster, author and stage director

U - abbrev. upper-class (English)

Today's Links

I found three questions on AnswerBank discussing today's puzzle. They (together with the clues to which they relate) are:

• AnswerBank [DT 25903]-a: 10ac, 7d
• AnswerBank [DT 25903]-b: 18ac
• AnswerBank [DT 25903]-c: 20ac, 27ac

Big Dave's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 25903].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

4d Present a good book to the first company that's organized (8)

Is the New Testament a book or a collection of books? I guess the answer is whatever suits the setter's purpose.

11d Natant style involving heart massage (12)

In response to Big Dave's comment regarding swimming pools being called natatoriums in America. That is certainly not the case in Canada (I, personally, had never heard of the term before), and I would be surprised if it is generally true in the US. Natatorium strikes me as a rather pretentious term that might be applied to a particularly grandiose facility, perhaps at a major park or university (might a donor not be more willing to fund the construction of a natatorium than a swimming pool). Even where a structure has been given such a name, I would be willing to bet that one would be more likely to hear users say, "Let's go to the pool" rather than "Shall we proceed to the natatorium".

17d Every prophet partook in the unionist academy - "Praise the Lord!" (8)

Although I did find the correct solution to this clue, I needed Big Dave's explanation to comprehend the wordplay. But was Eli a prophet? While it seems he is not a prophet in the eyes of Christians, he apparently is considered a prophet by Jews (see table Prophets in the Hebrew Bible near the end of the article).

25d Catch sight of East Samoa's original little pygmy (4)

I had a slightly different interpretation of this clue than Big Dave. I thought "East Samoa's original" was indicating the initial letters of "East Samoa" (i.e., ES) and that "little pygmy" was indicating part of "pygmy" (i.e., PY).

Post script: Since writing the above, I have altered my view slightly. I would now suggest that "East" gives E, "Samoa's original" gives S, and "little pygmy" gives PY.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Wednesday, August 26, 2009 (DT 25902)

This puzzle was originally published Tuesday, April 14, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

Not a terribly difficult puzzle today, although it did have a fair number of Briticisms. I missed the wordplay on one clue.

Today's Glossary

Some possibly unfamiliar abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions used in today's puzzle

A1 - the longest numbered road in the UK

Dunstable - a town in Bedfordshire, England

hock - Brit. any white Rhine wine (entry 2)

inset - an insert (noun, defn. 1)

prefect - Brit. a senior pupil authorized to enforce discipline in a school (I remember this term from Carrie Anne by The Hollies)

RE - abbrev. (The Corps of) Royal Engineers: a corps of the British Army

RV - abbrev. (English) Revised Version: a late 19th-century British revision of the King James Version of the Bible

TA - abbrev. Territorial Army: in the UK, a volunteer force providing back-up to the regular army in cases of emergency

Taunton - the county town of Somerset, England

Today's Links

I found no questions on AnswerBank discussing today's puzzle.

Gazza's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 25902].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

12ac Thoroughly popular department in front of hospital (2, 5)

In his review, Gazza suggests that the "H" comes from "front of hospital". However, my interpretation was slightly different in that I assumed that "H" is just a short form for "hospital" (street signs with the letter "H" are commonly used in this part of Canada to identify the location of - and routes to - hospitals). In that case, "in front of" becomes merely a positional indicator showing "DEPT in front of H"

19ac Reckon wine in audience is for this purpose (2,3)

I easily got the correct solution from the phrase "for this purpose". However, I could not figure out the wordplay - failing to recognize the sounds like indicator (in audience). It didn't help that hock having the meaning used here is not in my vocabulary. I might hock something at a pawnbroker's shop to get enough money for some food (perhaps some pork hocks) - but I never realized that I could also wash them down with hock.

15d Published journalist trapping fool beaten for ingenuity (9)

As Gazza points out in his review, the solution is produced by combining three parts; namely, published → OUT, journalist → ED, and fool → TWIT with the indicator trapping showing that TWIT is somehow contained within the other parts. In a clue having this sort of construction, one would normally expect (at least I would) that TWIT is either contained between the two other parts (i.e., between OUT and ED) or is contained within the latter part mentioned (i.e., ED) which is adjacent to the containership indicator. However, in this case, TWIT is actually contained within the former part (i.e., OUT) which is not adjacent to the containership indicator. Perhaps this can be seen more clearly by parsing the clue:

15d Published [OU^T] journalist [ED] trapping fool [TWIT] /\ beaten for ingenuity [OU(TWIT)T|ED] (9)

Signing off for today - Falcon

Tuesday, August 25, 2009 (DT 25901)

This puzzle was originally published Monday, April 13, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

After the appearance yesterday of a mysterious puzzle of unknown origin substituting for DT 25900, we are back on track today with DT 25901.

Today's Glossary

Some possibly unfamiliar abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions used in today's puzzle

dropout - rugby the restarting of play with a drop kick (noun, defn. 2)

Paignton - a coastal town in Devon, England

Today's Links

I found one question on AnswerBank discussing today's puzzle. It (together with the clue to which it relates) is:

• AnswerBank [DT 25901]-a: 15ac

Tilsit's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 25901].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

11ac Unsuccessful student making fresh start at Rugby (4, 3)

I note that Oxford shows "dropout" (in both senses used in this clue) as a single word. Although Chambers includes an entry only for the first sense of "dropout" given in the clue, it likewise shows it as a single word. Oxford and Chambers each have an entry for "drop out" (under the main entry for "drop" in each case) but show a somewhat different meaning for this spelling.

18ac The point of this device is not always apparent (6-3)

I quickly realized that the second part of this solution was P_N. Before additional checking letters made the answer clear, I was mulling over several possibilities. These included some type of retractable pen, some sort of pin, or even some kind of pun - any of which might have fit the clue.

21ac Got to the point - summed up without a word of hesitation (7)

I remain unconvinced that "taped" means "summed up".

1d Deposits frozen in banks (10)

Being in Canada, I suppose the solution should have readily popped to mind. However, for some reason, this clue elicited images of fertility clinics rather than shoveling snow.

14d Surrendered to another country (10)

There was a bit of a discussion on Big Dave's blog concerning whether 4d and 14d were truly cryptic clues. While I found 4d to be fairly obvious, I did think it had at least a modicum of cryptic meaning. However, I can see nothing at all cryptic about 14d.

19d Switches the films (6)

In addition to the meaning given by Tilsit in his review, switch (verb, defn. 5) can mean "flick or swing to and fro" as an animal does with its tail.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Monday, August 24, 2009 (Mystery Puzzle)

This posting is late as I have spent considerable time in an unsuccessful effort to identify the source of today's puzzle. It is not the expected DT 25900 originally published Saturday, April 11, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph. In fact, an exhaustive search of Big Dave's site would seem to confirm that it is not a Daily Telegraph Cryptic Crossword published since the inception of his blog.

Introduction

I found today's puzzle to be a fairly difficult one - having to open the Tool Chest very early in the solving process. In a number of cases, I made a stab at a solution without having any real confidence in its correctness - and several of these later proved to be incorrect.

Congratulations to England

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate England on winning The Ashes - and, appropriately, there is at least one cricket reference in today's puzzle. From the report in our local paper, I gather that the victory was a bit of an unexpected outcome. As for my comprehension of the rest of the report, I must confess that I probably would have understood it just as well if it had been written in Greek.

Today's Glossary

Some possibly unfamiliar abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions used in today's puzzle

chat - any of various songbirds noted for their harsh chattering calls (entry 2)

form - a school class (noun, defn. 9)

L - Brit. abbrev. learner (in North American parlance, a driver holding a beginner's permit) (noun, defn. 3)

off-break - cricket deviation in the direction of a ball inwards from the offside spin with which it is bowled

Today's Links

Having been unable to identify the source of the puzzle, there are naturally no links today.

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

Where did this mystery puzzle come from. Given its uneven quality, I suspect it may be a "scrap from the cutting room floor" that inadvertently got included in the syndication in place of the puzzle that appeared in the Daily Telegraph. Or perhaps this puzzle was originally intended to be published in the DT and was replaced at the last minute. We will probably never know the answer.

While there were some quite clever clues in this puzzle, such as 11ac, 13ac, 14d, and 19d, there were also some pretty weak clues, such as 9d, some repetition of clue elements, as well as at least one seemingly very poorly constructed clue.

10ac Pressing need for home club (8)

My initial thought was that the solution might be GRIDIRON, a North American term for a football field (it seemed to make sense, since the home club must provide the playing field). However, I don't think the British use this terminology so I figured that it would be unlikely to appear in the puzzle.

12ac Bird-talk (4)

A CHAT is a new type of bird to me. My first guess was CROW - which turned out to be nothing to boast about.

20ac Club regulation that must be strictly obeyed (4,4)

For the second time in the puzzle, we see "club" signifying IRON (also in 10ac).

27ac Money advanced for empty apartment (5)

At first, I mistakenly thought that "empty apartment" might signify "A_T". Instead, apartment signifies "FLAT" and empty signifies "containing nothing". Therefore, an "empty apartment" is a "flat containing nothing" or FL(O)AT.

I note that this is the second occurrence of FLAT ("home" in 10ac and "apartment" here) in the puzzle.

4d In age so twisted, suffering pains (7)

This appears to be a rather poorly constructed clue. Unless there are two anagram indicators back-to-back (twisted and suffering), there would seem to be a mismatch between the definition and the solution. If the wordplay is "In age so twisted" and the definition is "suffering pains" then the solution (AGONIES) matches the wordplay but not the definition (which would seem to indicate AGONISING). AGONIES does match "pains", but that would leave "suffering" unaccounted for.

21d Yet such a description may be fair comment (4)

This seemed to be a bit of an UGLY clue, so I went with that as my choice of solution. The only alternative appeared to be UGLI (a type of citrus fruit). Perhaps I am missing some nuance in the wordplay.

25ac A pop song creature (6)

The second Nursery Rhyme reference in the puzzle (with 8ac). I'm certainly glad I studied my Mother Goose.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

Legend:	"CD" Cryptic Definition; "DD" Double Definition
	"*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed
	"( )" letters inserted; "_" letters deleted

Across

7ac DISCHARGE - DD

8ac SIMON - from the Nursery Rhyme Simple Simon (met a pie man)

10ac FLAT|IRON

11ac HEDGED - CD

12ac CHAT - DD

13ac ELEGISTS* - broken {LEG IS SET}*

15ac BECAUSE - CD

17ac COVER UP

20ac IRON RULE

22ac FIFE

25ac WEASEL - From the Nursery Rhyme Pop! Goes the Weasel

26ac AIR|CRAFT

27ac FL(O)AT

28ac STRAT*|AGEM* - GAME* anew (anagram indicator) after (positional indicator) false (anagram indicator) START*

Down

1d YIELD - DD

2d SCOTCH - DD

3d NARRATES* - lead to making {AN ARREST}*

4d AGONIES* - {IN AGE SO}* twisted

5d WILD|FIRE

6d MO|MEN|TO|US - MO: Medical Officer

9d SH(O)E

14d BEER BELLY - CD

16d A(MNESIA*)C - AC: account (bill); {NAME IS}* incorrect

18d OFF-BREAK

19d REGATTA - CD

21d UGLY

23d FORM|A|L

24d _OFFER - remove top from (delete first letter) c[OFFER]

Signing off for today - Falcon

Saturday, August 22, 2009 - Potpourri

Introduction

There seems to be no discernible theme to today's puzzle by Cox and Rathvon. It just gives us a little bit of everything.

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

11ac Heard cock crow with sorrow (5)

Here "heard" is a homonym indicator, showing that the solution (MOURN) sounds like MORN. Although I was unable to find a source that defined "cock crow" as a synonym for morn, it seems to be used here in this manner. Not being a farm boy, I had always believed that cocks crowed at dawn. However, it seems that is not the case - or, at least, it doesn't appear to have been the case during the days of the Roman Empire. I seems that Roman cocks began crowing during the period between 3:00 and 4:30 a.m. and stopped before dawn (6:00 a.m.) According to the Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, "The Romans divided the night [I think this should be "day" (i.e., period of 24 hours)] into sixteen parts, each one hour and a-half, beginning at midnight. The third of these divisions (3 a.m.) they called gallicinium, the time when cocks begin to crow; the next was conticinium, when they ceased to crow; and fifth was diluculum, dawn." I will leave it to those of you who were raised on farms to comment on whether cocks have changed their crowing patterns since Roman times.

15d Bass keeps passing exotic dancers (9)

I am not sure of the rationale for passing → P. Perhaps it is a designation found on traffic signs in some jurisdictions. In Ontario, various pictorial representations are used to indicate "passing" or "no passing" conditions. To me, P would indicate "parking".

Solution to Today's Puzzle

Legend:	"CD" Cryptic Definition; "DD" Double Definition
	"*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed
	"( )" letters inserted; "_" letters deleted

Across

1ac C(A|_T|EGO)RY - final in ar[T]; I → EGO

5ac S|WITCH

9ac PONDEROSA* - {SOPRANO ED}*

11ac MOURN~ - sounds like (heard) MORN

12ac LU(N|A)TE

13ac S|P_|RAINED - piece of [P]eel; came down → RAINED

15ac _SUPINATE_ - somewhat nervou[S UP IN A TE]mple

16ac DREW - actress Drew Barrymore

19ac K|IRK

20ac P(L)UT|ARCH

23ac POP|ULACE* - cracked {A CLUE}*

24ac SCOTER* - ESCORT* lame

27ac L(O)ESS

28ac _NASAL TONE_ - coming from Dia[NA'S ALTO NE]ighbour

29ac S(ASH)AY

30ac A|ST|RALLY

Down

1d C(UP)OLA

2d TEN|ON

3d GR(EAT) APE

4d ROOK - DD

6d WOMB|AT

7d {TRUE NORTH}* - lousy {TENOR HURT}*; "... The True North strong and free! ..." from O Canada, the national anthem of Canada

8d HUN|T (D)OWN

10d A|P|PETITE

14d ANGLICAN* - {CAN LAG IN}* reforming

15d STRIP(P)ERS - striper: striped bass

17d SKI P|OLES

18d OR|A|CU(LA)R

21d A|L(ASK)A

22d FR(EEL)Y

25d T(R)OLL

26d A|S IS

Signing off for today - Falcon

Friday, August 21, 2009 (DT 25899)

This puzzle was originally published Friday, April 10, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

This was - for the most part - a fairly straightforward puzzle, although some UK slang and British spellings proved challenging to track down.

Today's Glossary

Some possibly unfamiliar abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions used in today's puzzle

annexe - Brit. annex

billycan - Brit. & Austral. a metal pot for use when camping

ladette - Brit. boisterous, heavy-drinking young woman

neat - archaic an ox, bull or cow

OM - Brit. abbrev. (Member of the) Order of Merit

Today's Links

I found two questions on AnswerBank discussing today's puzzle. They (together with the clues to which they relate) are:

AnswerBank [DT 25899]-a: 1ac, 21ac

AnswerBank [DT 25899]-b: 14ac

Libellule's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 25899].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

23ac Love helping to put together a speech (7)

Although I got the correct solution without much effort, I seemed to have a mental block when it came to understanding how the wordplay leads to RATION. My error came in trying to equate ration with either "helping to" or "helping to put together", rather than merely "helping". The word "to" would appear to have been thrown in to aid the surface reading and seems to be superfluous to the cryptic wordplay. That is, "love" [O] and "helping" [RATION] "put together" form "a speech" [ORATION].

3d Girl's part of a dancing setup? That's a lie (14)

I thought Libellule's hint/explanation may have glossed over one aspect of this clue. As he indicates, the girl in question is the seemingly ubiquitous Di and a "dancing setup" is a "formation". However, rather than "part of" meaning "plus" as he indicates, it actually means "in". Putting all these elements together then gives the phrase "Di's in formation". It is hard to know whether this was an oversight on his part or merely due to the text being intended as a hint rather than a full explanation.

5d In a crevice - look there to find valuable material (5)

I failed to detect that this is a hidden word clue, and consequently felt that I had a choice between NACRE or NICHE as an answer. I opted for niche - thinking it might be deemed a crevice. While a niche might possibly contain valuable material, I was still somewhat uncomfortable with the wordplay - suspecting that I was probably missing some nuance. As it turns out, I had made the wrong selection.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Thursday, August 20, 2009 (DT 25898)

This puzzle was originally published Thursday, April 9, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

As I have had little opportunity to work on this puzzle, I am posting the links only.

Today's Links

I found no questions on AnswerBank discussing today's puzzle.

Gazza's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 25898].

Signing off for today - Falcon

Wednesday, August 19, 2009 (DT 25897)

This puzzle was originally published Wednesday, April 8, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

As I likely will not have an opportunity to work on the puzzle today, I am merely posting the links for this puzzle.

Today's Links

I found no questions on AnswerBank discussing today's puzzle.

Big Dave's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 25897].

Signing off for today - Falcon

Tuesday, August 18, 2009 (DT 25896)

This puzzle was originally published Tuesday, April 7, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

I'm afraid that I got clobbered (in a different sense) by this puzzle which I was unable to finish. Big Dave would surely attribute my downfall to not being on the same wavelength as the setter.

Today's Glossary

Some possibly unfamiliar abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions used in today's puzzle

clobber - Brit. slang clothing (entry 2)

home counties - the counties in the South East of England, surrounding London

Today's Links

I found only a single question on AnswerBank discussing today's puzzle. It (together with the clues to which it relates) is:

• AnswerBank [DT 25896]-a: 14d, 19d, 23d, 27d

Gazza's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 25896].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

10ac Radio operator's set in ship (6)

Like Gazza, I got the answer without understanding the wordplay - but, unlike him, I never did figure out the wordplay.

15ac Comprehensive classes getting large (7)

My lack of biology training is clearly evident on this clue which I failed to solve.

21ac Clobber and sets about the man (7)

Gazza points out that "sets" appears again - and once again it does me in. The British slang also was a major contributor to my failure here.

3d Peddled grass, keeping back (8)

Another case where I got the correct solution without understanding the wordplay.

4d Opening Sabbath set (4)

This time "set" did not defeat me. However, I had a bit of a different interpretation on the wordplay than did Gazza - not surprising since, in the words of Big Dave's blog, set "has so many meanings and nuances that you can make it mean virtually anything". I thought of both "set" and "lot"as meaning a collection of (usually) similar items (e.g., "lot" as used at an auction).

14d State one's in displaying sanity (7)

Another clue that I failed to solve.

19d Poured out evidence admitting hypocrisy (8)

Yet another clue that I failed to solve.

23d She may give you a good hand! (6)

The use of "she" threw me off and even after getting the solution, I continued to have serious doubts about its correctness.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Monday, August 17, 2009 (DT 25895)

This puzzle was originally published Monday, April 6, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

I found this puzzle to be moderately difficult - probably mostly due to the British references.

Today's Glossary

Some possibly unfamiliar abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions used in today's puzzle

declaration - cricket decision by the captain to close a team's innings (turn over batting to the opposing team)

eyes down - Brit. (probably) a command to signal the start of a game of bingo

First Sea Lord - head of the British Naval Service (which includes the Royal Navy and other agencies)

hoarding - Brit. a billboard (noun, defn. 2)

SAS - abbrev. Special Air Service: a special forces regiment within the British Army

Today's Links

I found two questions on AnswerBank discussing today's puzzle. They (together with the clues to which they relate) are:

• AnswerBank [DT 25895]-a: 23ac, 8d, 21d
• AnswerBank [DT 25895]-b: 23ac, 21d

Big Dave's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 25895].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

13ac Club fail to declare (5)

Once a cricket team at bat has built up a sufficiently large lead, the captain may declare the team's innings closed, thereby turning the batting over to the opposing team. If the captain fails to declare, then his team will naturally "bat on".

14ac List of French and English articles (4)

This was easy - that is, once I got MENU out of my head.

18d Setting great store by a spot of publicity (8)

"Hoarding" does not carry the breadth of meaning in North America that it does in Britain. In North America, a large sign is called a "billboard", not a "hoarding". A "hoarding" here is a temporary fence around a construction site (a meaning which I believe it may also have in Britain). Despite this difference in meaning, there are enough advertising posters plastered on hoardings that I had little difficulty identifying hoarding as "a spot of publicity" in the sense of being a site where publicity may be found. Undoubtedly, this is a somewhat different image than what the setter had in mind, but it works.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Saturday, August 15, 2009 - Actors in Hiding

Introduction

Today's puzzle by Cox and Rathvon has an acting theme, with a couple of rather obscure actors (at least to me they are) concealed in the puzzle - and there may even be an Oscar in there, as well.

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

4d Boasts about top-grade stair supports (9)

I have a minor quibble with this clue as BALUSTERS support rails rather than stairs.

7d The debut of Alan Bates is calming (6)

Unless I missed something cleverly subtle, this had to be an exceedingly weak clue.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

Legend:	"CD" Cryptic Definition; "DD" Double Definition
	"*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed
	"( )" letters inserted; "_" letters deleted

Across

1ac ADRIEN BRODY - {ERRAND BOY ID}*

9ac BEARCAT - CABARET*

10ac LA|CONIC

11ac THE|SP(I)ANS

12ac LI(EG)E

13ac S(A|TELL)ITE

16ac TESTY

17ac PI(PI)T

19ac PASO DOBLE - {PABLO DOES}*

22ac A|LONG

23ac STATU(ET)TE

26ac SE(A)TTLE

27ac DOUB(LE)T

28ac CHRIS COOPER - {HEROIC CORPS}*

Down

1d AN(APES)T

2d RECAP - PACER<

3d _EXTRA_ - sEX TRAvesty

4d B(A)LUSTERS

5d OSCULATED - {A SCOUT LED}*

6d YANKEES - {SEEK NAY}<; Blue Jay: member of Toronto's Major League Baseball team 7d A|BATES

8d S(CREW)Y_ - Yacht's bow (first letter of yacht)

14d LIT|A|GATOR

15d IM|POSTERS - MI< (1001 in Roman Numerals) 17d PRAISE - sounds like PRAYS

18d P(ROSA)IC

20d BATT(L)ER

21d ERECTS - CRETES*

24d AUDI|O

25d U(SUR)P

Signing off for today - Falcon

Friday, August 14, 2009 (DT 25894)

This puzzle was originally published Saturday, April 4, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

While not overly difficult, today's puzzle was certainly more of a challenge than the one yesterday with the setter throwing nearly everything at us, including the kitchen sink. I note that 18ac is not the only clue that involves taking something off.

Today's Glossary

Some possibly unfamiliar abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions used in today's puzzle

inch - Scot. a small island near the seacoast (entry 2)

kitchen sink drama - a form of British drama characterized by a realistic depiction of working-class domestic life

(the) pips - a time signal broadcast by BBC radio (entry 2)

Today's Links

It being a Saturday prize puzzle in the UK, there was plenty of action on AnswerBank. I found seventeen questions on AnswerBank discussing today's puzzle. They (together with the clues to which they relate) are:

• AnswerBank [DT 25894]-a: 24ac
• AnswerBank [DT 25894]-b: 22ac
• AnswerBank [DT 25894]-c: 26ac
• AnswerBank [DT 25894]-d: 7ac, 13ac, 7d
• AnswerBank [DT 25894]-e: 5d
• AnswerBank [DT 25894]-f: 21ac, 26ac
• AnswerBank [DT 25894]-g: 8ac, 21ac, 22ac, 9d
• AnswerBank [DT 25894]-h: 5d
• AnswerBank [DT 25894]-i: 20d
• AnswerBank [DT 25894]-j: 21ac
• AnswerBank [DT 25894]-k: 18ac
• AnswerBank [DT 25894]-l: 21ac, 22ac
• AnswerBank [DT 25894]-m: 12d
• AnswerBank [DT 25894]-n: 8ac
• AnswerBank [DT 25894]-o: 5d, 17d
• AnswerBank [DT 25894]-p: 1d
• AnswerBank [DT 25894]-q: 19d

Big Dave's date-of-publication hints for today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 25894]-Hints and Peter Biddlecombe's post-submission-date review at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 25894]-Review.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Thursday, August 13, 2009 (DT 25893)

This puzzle was originally published Friday, April 3, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

Today's puzzle was definitely on the easy side and I finished in probably what is my best time ever (although nothing to brag about by British standards). I was therefore a bit surprised to see that Big Dave gave it three stars for degree of difficulty. A couple of clues did contain some "false leads" but they did not distract me for too long.

Today's Glossary

Some possibly unfamiliar abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions used in today's puzzle

blow - Brit. exclamation expressing annoyance

CH - abbrev. Companion of Honour: a British title

Devonshire - a county in England, apparently more properly called Devon

h - abbrev. henry: the unit of inductance in the SI system of measurement

hackle - a comb for flax or hemp (noun, defn. 4)

TA - abbrev. Territorial Army: a volunteer force in the UK providing backup to the regular army

Today's Links

I found no questions on AnswerBank discussing today's puzzle.

Libellule's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 25893].

I would point out to Libellule, that should The Princess Royal happen to read his review of 16d, she might be tempted to quote Anne Shirley's line in Anne of Green Gables, "It's Anne with an 'e'".

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

20ac Healthy men nose around riverside town (6-2-6)

From the checking letters and the reference to "riverside", I quickly suspected that the solution might be of the form "...-on-Thames". However, I also suspected (erroneously) that "nose around" might be a direction to "reverse nose", which would thus produce a solution like "...es-on-Thames". Luckily, I didn't spend too much time down this blind alley.

28ac Drunk had somehow bumped into rodent in unruly residence (8)

There are several "false leads" in this clue to potentially lead one astray. For instance, "unruly" might be an anagram indicator, in which case "rodent in unruly residence" might be RAT in an anagram of HOUSE. Or perhaps "somehow" could be an anagram indicator. I suppose even "bumped" might be an anagram indicator. But none of these possibilities happens to be correct. As it turns out, "unruly residence" constitutes the definition part of the clue and "somehow bumped into" is a rather verbose containership indicator. In fact, there is an anagram indicator in the clue, and it is "drunk".

2d Instrument Spike brought into group (6)

If you are mulling over names like Spike Jones, Spike Milligan or Spike Lee, you are on the wrong track. Think "spike" without the upper case start.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Wednesday, August 12, 2009 (DT 25892)

This puzzle was originally published Thursday, April 2, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

I made excellent progress with this puzzle until I hit the lower left-hand corner. After what seemed like "endless" floundering, I finally discovered the key to the solution.

Today's Glossary

Some possibly unfamiliar abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions used in today's puzzle

short - Brit. a strong alcoholic drink, especially spirits, served in small measures - in North American parlance, a shot (noun, defn. 1)

Today's Links

I found no questions on AnswerBank discussing today's puzzle.

Gazza's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 25892].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

1ac Tennis shorts? (5,7)

I had to cogitate a long time to rationalize the wordplay in this clue. In the end, I concluded that the clue only works if one applies the broadest possible interpretation. If one attempts to analyze the wordplay too closely, it seems to totally break down.

According to various references, a short is a British colloquialism for "a drink of an alcoholic spirit" (Chambers), "a strong alcoholic drink, especially spirits, served in small measures" (Oxford), and "a small drink of straight whiskey; shot" (Infoplease).

The broad interpretation would appear to be that "a short" is merely a drink (the Chambers definition is closest to this), in which case the clue equates to "Tennis drinks?" and the solution MIXED DOUBLES could refer to either a sort of tennis match or a type of drink (a double martini, perhaps).

However, the definitions in references other than Chambers emphasize that a short is a small amount of straight spirits (what North Americans would call a shot). If one uses this definition, then a short fails to be a "mixed double" on two counts - it is neither mixed nor is it seemingly a double.

However, since the Brits appeared to express no qualms about this clue, I am undoubtedly missing something.

19d Lay out clues with endless care (7)

This clue probably gave me the most difficulty - and all because it took me forever to realize that "endless" called for both ends of "care" to be lopped off, not merely the back end.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Tuesday, August 11, 2009 (DT 25891)

This puzzle was originally published Wednesday, April 1, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

A fairly easy puzzle today. I got off to a flying start and had the right-hand side of completed in record-setting time (by my standards). The left-hand side, however, proved a bit more of a challenge - with a couple of wrong turns holding me up for a bit.

Today's Glossary

Some possibly unfamiliar abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions used in today's puzzle

River Exe - a river in England

Today's Links

I found no questions on AnswerBank discussing today's puzzle.

Big Dave's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 25891].

My answer to the questions posed by Big Dave is yes to both. As for 7d, it helps being from a generation where I saw the movie on its original theatrical release!

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

21ac Mouthpiece for musical instrument (5)

I initially found myself in the wrong section of the orchestra, having selected a BUGLE - guessing that "bugle" might possibly be a slang expression for, say, spokesperson (mouthpiece). After all, The Daily Bugle is a fictional New York City newspaper featured in a number of Marvel Comics - most notably Spiderman. However, it didn't take too long to discover that this was not the right solution (and a look at a couple of dictionaries seemingly disproved my guess about a possible slang meaning for bugle). Nevertheless, this attempt may not have been too far fetched, as one of the elements that Big Dave bases his solution on is that "... mouthpiece refers to a newspaper ...".

1d A lanky Scot's running, no matter what the consequences may be (2,3,5)

I saw right away that this was likely an anagram, but I made the mistake of trying to anagram the entire phrase "a lanky scot" or "lanky scot's" or some variation thereof, which might produce an solution along the lines of "AT ANY _____" or "IN ANY _____". Eventually, the checking letters put me back on the right path.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Monday, August 10, 2009 (DT 25890)

This puzzle was originally published Tuesday, March 31, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

Although it was a nice straightforward puzzle today, I missed the wordplay on one clue.

Today's Glossary

Some possibly unfamiliar abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions used in today's puzzle

estate - Brit. an estate car or, in North American parlance, a station wagon

Mold - a town in Wales

REME - abbrev. Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers

Terence Rattigan - English dramatist

up - Brit. at college or university (adverb, defn. 9)

Today's Links

I found no questions on AnswerBank discussing today's puzzle.

Gazza's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 25890].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

24d Elevation for, say, army section to come out (6)

Not being familiar with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) put me at a distinct disadvantage in trying to decipher the wordplay for this clue, although the solution was fairly obvious from the definition part ("to come out"). The wordplay is nicely explained by Gazza on Big Dave's blog.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Saturday, August 8, 2009 - Magic

Introduction

In today's puzzle Cox and Rathvon use sleight of hand and cast magical spells to create a pleasant diversion perfect to wile away a lazy summer afternoon.

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

21d Compose a work containing bit of humourous twist (6)

This was the last clue to be solved as I got hung up on "compose" possibly being an anagram indicator - which it isn't.

25d Playwright Ben is troubled (5)

If, like me, your first thought is playwright Ben Jonson, you had best guess again.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

Legend:	"CD" Cryptic Definition; "DD" Double Definition
	"*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed
	"( )" letters inserted; "_" letters deleted

Across

1ac A|BRA(CAD)A|BRA - on either side (containership indicator)

9ac R|I|P INTO

10ac LEGIBLE* - edited {LIBEL EG}*

11ac CONJURING* - transformed {CORN IN JUG}*

12ac {SI|T-UP}< {PUT (place) IS} coming back

13ac S|TRUCK

15ac S(TAM)P OUT - in (containership indicator)

18ac MA|LADIES

19ac TR(ASH)Y - in (containership indicator)

22ac PUMAS* - wrecked {US MAP}*

24ac C(ARDT*)RICK - C^RICK {about (containership indicator)} {errant (anagram indicator)} DART*

26ac DID|ER|OT

27ac T(URNS) IN - coated (containership indicator)

28ac LEGERDEMAIN* - change of {REGIME LADEN}*

Down

1d AS|PEN

2d REN(OUNCE)D - in (containership indicator)

3d COO(L I)T - around (containership indicator)

4d DELE(GA)TE - absorbing (containership indicator)

5d BOG|US

6d A(L|BAT)ROSS - picked up by (containership indicator); Sir John Ross: Scottish explorer

7d CROCUS* - OCCURS* in mutant form

8d S(EXPO)T - beset by (containership indicator); Expo: former Montreal baseball player

14d {ROLE MODEL}* - turning {OLDER ELMO}*

16d M(ORATOR)IA - taking in (containership indicator); Mia Farrow: ex-wife of Woody Allen

17d MER|CA(TO)R - put aboard (containership indicator); Gerardus Mercator: Flemish cartographer

18d MOP|EDS

20d YO|KING - yo: exclamation used to attract attention

21d WRIT(H_)E - WRIT^E (compose a work) {containing (containership indicator} {bit of (truncation indicator)} [H]umerous

23d SP|RIG

25d IBSEN* - {BEN IS}* troubled; Henrik Ibsen: Norwegian playwright

Signing off for today - Falcon

Friday, August 7, 2009 (DT 25889)

This puzzle was originally published Monday, March 30, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

Although I found the puzzle today relatively easy compared to those of the last few days, it did prove quite satisfying to solve as it had quite a lot of interesting wordplay.

Today's Glossary

Some possibly unfamiliar abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions used in today's puzzle

charlotte - a type of dessert

Head Girl - Brit. a girl in the senior years at a British school who has been elected to represent the school and to act as a role model for younger students

(Courts of) Quarter Sessions - Brit. a former British court, usually held quarterly

star turn - Brit. the featured skit or number in a theatrical production

tup - Brit. a ram

U - upper class (thus socially acceptable) English

Today's Links

I found no questions on AnswerBank discussing today's puzzle - perhaps an indication that the Brits found it easy (or maybe they were all still working on the Saturday prize puzzle published yesterday in the National Post).

Big Dave's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 25889].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

8d One providing a deal for the better (8)

Here "better" is not used as the comparative form of "good" but rather as a noun meaning "one who bets". Of course, it could have been spelled "bettor", but that would have ruined the deception.

14d Digs for foreign coins (8)

In the parlance of the computer industry, this puzzle has not been localized. To do so, Canadian and U.S. solvers should either delete the word "foreign" or substitute the word "domestic" in its place.

22d Tether that is restricting ram? On the contrary! (3-2)

This clue has some rather tricky wordplay. The solution is a verb meaning "tether". The wordplay first asks if IE (that is) is around (restricting) TUP (ram) and then answers the question by declaring that the contrary is true (i.e., TUP is around IE producing TIE-UP as the solution).

Signing off for today - Falcon

Thursday, August 6, 2009 (DT 25888)

This puzzle was originally published Saturday, March 28, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

I found this to be a fairly difficult puzzle with many false leads to send one down the wrong path. I finally threw in the towel with one clue left unsolved. While I have become quite adept at tracking down obscure British towns and deciphering British colloquialisms and regular slang, it would appear that Cockney rhyming slang is still beyond my limit.

As a footnote to yesterday's puzzle, I have updated my comments regarding "co-ed". It seems I had to ponder it overnight (I was going to say "sleep on it", but that might be inappropriate given the context) before the wordplay sank in.

And, finally, welcome to recent new followers pjxwords and Rosie, as well as to crosswordcat who left a comment earlier this week.

Today's Glossary

Some possibly unfamiliar abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions used in today's puzzle

Abednego - In the Bible, a young man who with Meshach and Shadrach emerged unharmed from the fiery furnace of Babylon

banger - colloq. a sausage

dab - slang fingerprint (entry 1, noun, defn. 4)

dab - an expert (entry 3)

East Grinstead - a town in England located in the northeastern corner of Mid Sussex, West Sussex near the East Sussex border [I must say that I love this directionally convoluted description]

Joanna - Cockney rhyming slang piano

keen as mustard - very enthusiastic

san - short form for sanitorium (UK) or sanitarium (US): an establishment for the care of convalescent or chronically ill people

Sleaford - a town in Lincolnshire, England

Today's Links

It being a Saturday prize puzzle in the Telegraph, there was heavier than normal traffic on Answerbank, where I found eleven questions discussing today's puzzle. They (together with the clues to which they relate) are:

• AnswerBank [DT 25888]-a: 26ac, 17d
• AnswerBank [DT 25888]-b: 6ac, 5d
• AnswerBank [DT 25888]-c: 3d
• AnswerBank [DT 25888]-d: 11ac, 1d, 2d
• AnswerBank [DT 25888]-e: 16ac, 4d, 5d
• AnswerBank [DT 25888]-f: 6ac
• AnswerBank [DT 25888]-g: 4d
• AnswerBank [DT 25888]-h: 12ac, 16ac
• AnswerBank [DT 25888]-i: 18d
• AnswerBank [DT 25888]-j: 4d
• AnswerBank [DT 25888]-k: 8ac, 1d

Again, since this was a Saturday prize puzzle in the UK, Big Dave provides hints at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 25888]-Hints and Peter Biddlecombe provides a full review at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 25888]-Review.

While obvious, I will invoke my unofficial role as long-after-the-fact proofreader of Big Dave's blog to point out that there should be two "P's" in LAMPPOST (17d).

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

23ac Pester doctor in case (6)

Lots of dead ends for the unwary in this clue. I was sure that "doctor" was an anagram indicator, but could not decide whether it worked on "pester" or "in case". It turned out to be neither. Nor, as it turned out, was a "case" to be a "valise".

24ac Fine work affected dandy (3)

I consider this clue to be a rather fine piece of work, with some charade-type wordplay ("fine work") producing a word meaning a "dandy", a type of person known for their "affected" mannerisms.

25ac Animals I removed from canvas sheet (8)

Another clue leading me down a dead end. My first (and erroneous) approach was that "I removed" might be a direction to "delete I" from a word meaning "canvas sheet" (e.g., "sailcloth") to get a word meaning "animals".

26ac Gratify said animal (6)

I initially thought that the animal in question might be a panther, but then I realized that it is actually what some people in Britain (and Boston) might call a panda.

4d Lady, not one on piano, started exercises (6)

This is the clue on which I threw in the towel. I had assembled a virtual harem of ladies (Bonnie, Connie, Joanne, Joanie, and Ronnie) all vying for the position. However, I was unable to make a proper selection as I had no idea that Joanna was Cockney rhyming slang for piano. Of course, it only rhymes if you pronounce piano as pianna.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Wednesday, August 5, 2009 (DT 25887)

This puzzle was originally published Friday, March 27, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

Big Dave rated this puzzle "on the easy side". I'm not sure that I would concur with that opinion. I did get off to a much better start than yesterday and made excellent progress until I hit the upper right-hand corner where I totally came to a standstill. However, with a great deal of effort - and the support of some of the crossword puzzle solving aids in my Tool Chest - I did eventually succeed in completing the puzzle.

Today's Glossary

Some possibly unfamiliar abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions used in today's puzzle

John Cage - American composer

Erskine Childers - author and Irish nationalist Robert Eskine Childers, or his son, former Irish President Erskine Hamilton Childers

childminder - Brit. a babysitter

choc - colloq. chocolate or a chocolate

hyaline - clear or transparent

portiere - a heavy curtain hung across a doorway

Today's Links

I found a single question on AnswerBank discussing today's puzzle. It (together with the clues to which it relates) is:

• AnswerBank [DT 25887]-a: 6ac, 7d

Beware, however, as the solution given on Answerbank for 7d is incorrect.

Big Dave's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 25887].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

12ac School magazine chief working with partner? (2-2)

Update

I wrote my original comment (below) based on what is likely a misinterpretation of Big Dave's analysis of the clue as "this abbreviation for a CO-EDucational school is made up from CO- being a partner and ED(itor) being a magazine chief". After having slept on it, I think I may have missed the intent of his explanation.

I believe that this clue is intended to be a cryptic definition in the form of a pun built around the fact that if a "magazine chief" is an ED, then his/her partner would be a CO-ED. I think that "school" does not specify a synonym for school, but rather implies "type of school".

Original Post

I must say that I have trouble accepting this clue. I can find no source that would suggest that "co-ed" is a synonym for "school". Chambers, Oxford, Cambridge and The Free Dictionary all define "co-ed" as a female student at a co-educational institution. "Co-ed" can also be used as an adjective (meaning "co-educational"), but to say that an adjective is a synonym for a noun that it might modify is obviously nonsense.

Given that the British dictionaries identify this as a North American expression, perhaps this is a case of the British setter misunderstanding the meaning of the word. Or is this some undocumented (or, at least, undiscovered by yours truly) British usage?

Signing off for today - Falcon