Tuesday, September 1, 2009 (DT 25909)

This puzzle was originally published Wednesday, April 22, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

For the most part, the clues were straightforward, but I did struggle with a few of them. It's funny how the solutions always look so obvious in retrospect.

Today's Glossary

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

Ely - a city in Cambridgeshire, England

extra - cricket a run scored other than by hitting the ball with the bat

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

wellie - colloq. Wellington (boot), known in this part of the world as a rubber boot or gum-boot

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 25909].

Dave Cameron and His Bicycle

In case readers may be wondering about the reference to Dave Cameron in Big Dave's blog, it is referring to British Conservative Leader David Cameron. Wikipedia explains the relation between Dave Cameron and the bicycle thus:

"From the outset of his leadership of the Conservative Party, Cameron has sought to publicise his use of a bicycle to commute to work. However, in the spring of 2006 he was photographed commuting to work on bicycle with a chauffeur-driven limousine following him carrying his belongings, and his Conservative Party spokesperson subsequently admitted that this was a regular arrangement for Cameron at the time. This has led to allegations of hypocrisy around any claims to "green" credentials. He was also photographed ignoring red lights and travelling in the wrong direction on a one way street. Further embarrassment resulted when his bicycle was stolen when he was shopping. The thief simply lifted the bicycle and chain over the two foot high bollard it was attached to. The bicycle was recovered with the aid of The Sunday Mirror. His bicycle has since been stolen again from near his house."

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

1ac Someone well balanced might take it to work (7)

I thought this was a pretty straightforward clue - one certainly needs to be well balanced to avoid falling off a bicycle. However, for some reason, the Brits didn't seem to like it much. Perhaps it was just due to Big Dave's political reference.

10ac Small college with new international computer-assisted learning, initially complicated (9)

I did not like this clue. The progression from "small college" to "small technical college" to TECH does not seem reasonable to me. If this is permissible, then the same rationale could be used to turn "small hospital" into VET ("small hospital" to "small veterinary hospital" to VET). However, I guess I will have to live with Big Dave's explanation as I have wracked my brain seeking an alternative explanation in vain.

4d Run over (5)

I thought that "over" in this clue might be a cricket reference. However, it turns out that "run" is the cricket reference (see "extra" in Today's Glossary) and "over" is just plain, ordinary, everyday "over".

Signing off for today - Falcon