Monday, October 5, 2009 (DT 25933)

This puzzle was originally published Wednesday, May 20, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

Today's puzzle started off rather easily, and I initially made fairly rapid progress. However, the last few clues did pose somewhat more of a challenge. As I have come to expect, Big Dave seems to have quite a different opinion of this puzzle; though, I do agree that there are more than a few questionable aspects to the clues in today's puzzle.

Today's Glossary

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

egency - need

Note: I figure that if the only source for a word is "The Phrontistery - A Dictionary of Obscure Words", then it easily qualifies for inclusion on this list.

grig - Brit. a small or young eel

lag - Brit. a habitual convict

pall - (noun, defn. 7) Archaic a garment, esp. a robe, cloak, or the like

Scotland Yard - headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service, responsible for law enforcement in Greater London, excluding the City of London

U - in the UK, upper class (therefore, acceptable) in reference to English usage (ironically, in the United States, U designates an unsatisfactory grade in some educational institutions)

Today's Links

Big Dave's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 25933].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

22a Study of wood by three unknown characters about to behold a plank (8)

The three unknown characters (from algebra) are XYY which are put around (about) LO (behold) and LOG (plank), to form XYLOLOGY - the study of wood. This clue contains one of my pet peeves, the redundant article "a" before plank.

25a Careless work of hit and run merchant (8)

Okay, I see where SLAP (hit) and DASH (run) come from; however, what is the purpose of "work" and "merchant" in the clue. If you ask me, the whole clue seems to be a rather slapdash affair; but, maybe that is the intent - perhaps it's intended to be an &lit clue ;-)

5d Joins Confederates (6)

This is another of my pet peeves, double definitions where the two definitions given in the clue are synonyms. To my way of thinking, the solution should be a synonym to each definition without the definitions themselves being synonyms. I admit that this instance is not as objectionable as some that I have seen, as the verb "confederates" is posing as a noun in the surface reading.

6d Mercifully discharged (3,3)

I puzzled over this solution (LET OFF) for quite some time. I think the idea is that the expression "let off" suggests that mercy has been shown and the perpetrator has not been held to account for their transgression.

10d Took off cloak in disgusted condition (8)

Supposedly, "took off" is APED. However, I searched in vain through a number of dictionaries and was only able to find "take off" listed as a noun, not a verb. I also had to conduct a fairly rigorous search to discover that "pall" has an archaic meaning of "cloak".

22d Short celebration for those with 10 degrees (4)

Is "10" a cross-reference to clue number 10d? No, in this case, "10" is just plain old (Roman) ten.

Signing off for today - Falcon