Friday, November 13, 2009 (DT 25985)

This puzzle was originally published Monday, July 20, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

Once again, the National Post has skipped the puzzle appearing in the UK on Saturday (which possibly may be confirmation of a new pattern of publication). The missing puzzle is DT 25984, published in the Daily Telegraph on Saturday, July 18, 2009.

I thoroughly enjoyed this puzzle, although it seems to have drawn mixed reviews from the Brits. However, I was not able to complete the puzzle, as - having made an error at 3d - I was totally flummoxed by 10a.

Today's Glossary

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

the gods - Brit. theatre the highest areas of a theatre such as the upper balconies

Today's Links

Big Dave's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 25985].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

10a Uttered in a death rattle (10)

This is definitely a very nice clue - one that many of the Brits picked as their clue of the day. Unfortunately, my error at 3d totally handicapped me on this one.

15a Staff dance centre (7)

Having got the first two letters from the intersecting down entries, I thought the solution might begin with MAN (staff). It took a while to discover that I had the wrong type of staff in mind.

16a Become entangled with a writer of music (5)

Strangely, this clue could equally well have been worded "Become unentangled from a writer of music"! The solution, RAVEL, is one of those words in the English language that is its own antonym. Ravel can mean to unravel; it can mean either to entangle or to disentangle, to clarify or to confuse. Words like this must drive ESL students absolutely bonkers!

18a A natural aptitude is present (4)

What is a four-letter word meaning present? Maybe here, but not in this case.

27a Printer is kind to a crossword compiler (10)

Once I had eliminated typewriter, I was on the right track.

3d Stop and have a drink (6)

My solution here fit so well that I unfortunately never considered the possibility that it might be wrong. Squash is a British fruit drink (remembered from a previous puzzle) and also means to suppress or put down (i.e., stop).

4d Letter from America? (7)

Letter here is used in the sense of "one who lets", or in other words, one who rents out property. It would seem that "estate agents" in Britain are involved in both the sale and rental of property. The basis of the clue seems to be that the equivalent profession in American would be a Realtor. Realtor is actually a trademarked term for a real estate broker or agent belonging to a particular industry association, although (like many other trademarks such as Kleenex) it has virtually become a generic term. For residential properties, I would say that the two functions of a British estate agent are largely separated in North America, with the sale of property handled by real estate brokers and agents (realtors) and the renting of property the purview of rental agents or property managers. However, perhaps realtors might be more involved in the rental of commercial properties.

Signing off for today - Falcon