Wednesday, October 28, 2009 (DT 25952)

This puzzle was originally published Thursday, June 11, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

It should have been a fairly easy endeavour today, had not a couple of errors in the puzzle (one originating with the Daily Telegraph and one introduced by the National Post) created obstacles to its solution. I quickly solved all but the south-west quadrant; even the incorrect definition at 19d hardly slowed me down. The remainder of the puzzle was a bit more challenging, but with some effort I was able to solve all but 23d. As it was pretty obvious that the clue had been truncated, I visited Big Dave's Blog to find the full clue.

Today's Errata

The following clue has been truncated in the National Post:

23d Store featured in upcoming April edition (4)

The "April edition (4)" part of the clue has been omitted in the National Post.

There is also an error in the definition part of the following clue:

19d Expert on source of thin single plastic material (7)

This error originally appeared in the puzzle as published in the Daily Telegraph. The setter has confused ACETONE and ACETATE (to which he readily admits in a posting on Big Dave's blog). The wordplay leads to ACETONE but the definition (plastic material) is clearly for ACETATE. It is the former that is needed to satisfy the cross-entry.

Today's Glossary

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

despatch - alternative spelling of dispatch

prang - Brit. to crash (a motor vehicle or aircraft)

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

tout - Brit. a person who buys up tickets for an event to resell them at a profit (who, in North America, would be called a scalper)

twee - Brit. excessively or affectedly quaint, pretty, or sentimental

Today's Links

Gazza's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 25952].

Signing off for today - Falcon