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