Friday, October 30, 2009 (DT 25954)

This puzzle was originally published Saturday, June 13, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

It was definitely a fairly easy puzzle today, which seems to be typical for puzzles published on Saturday in the UK.

Today's Glossary

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

burgher - noun, rather old or facetious a citizen of a town, especially a town on the Continent, or of a borough

freeman - noun 1 a man or woman who is free or enjoys liberty. 2 a respected man or woman who has been granted the freedom of a city.

medlar - (noun, defn. 1) a small tree, Mespilus germanica, of the rose family, the fruit of which resembles a crab apple and is not edible until the early stages of decay

prang - Brit. a collision or crash (involving an automobile or aircraft)

ramp - (entry 2, verb, defn. 1) slang to rob or swindle

RE - abbrev. Royal Engineers: a corps in the British Army

unco - (adj., defn. 1) Scots strange

Whitsun - noun in the Christian church: the week beginning with Whit Sunday, particularly the first three days

Today's Links

Given that this was a Saturday prize puzzle in the UK, we have links to both Big Dave's day-of-publication hints for today's puzzle at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 25954]-hints and Peter Biddlecombe's post-submission-date review at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 25954]-review.

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

18a Jamaica, Virginia or island farther east (4)

I know we're probably supposed to think of the world map as having been cut at the International Date Line and laid out flat, but I believe many North Americans will view this island as lying to the west rather than the east. I know I always think of the Far East as being to the west.

9d Best passed clockwise (5-6)

As I work my way through the puzzle, I annotate it with various marks to identify clues for which I want to include an entry in Today's Glossary, clues for which I need to verify a meaning, or clues for which I want to write a commentary. This clue fell into the latter category - but Peter has already said it all. I remain as skeptical as him about the wordplay in this clue.

15d Slaverer turning, turning in the wrong direction (8)

Another clue that I had marked as a candidate for a comment, and - once again - Peter has pretty well preempted my thoughts. If the clue had said "opposite direction" rather than "wrong direction", I don't think there could have been any controversy.

It is of interest to note that the difficulty in the two clues involves right and wrong.

20d Case of the shakes (6)

I would elaborate a bit more on Peter's explanation. He indicates that quiver= shake, but the word in the clue is shakes (plural). I would like to suggest that a more complete explanation would be that "to quiver" is "to have a case of the shakes (noun, defn. 4)".

Signing off for today - Falcon