Thursday, December 10, 2009 (DT 26010)

This puzzle was originally published Tuesday, August 18, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

I found it to be a relatively challenging puzzle today, one that required me to open my Tool Chest early and use the tools extensively. I thought that I had completed the puzzle successfully (albeit with a question mark about the wordplay for one clue), only to discover that I had the wrong solution for that clue.

Today's Glossary

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

batman - noun dated (in the British armed forces) an officer’s personal valet or attendant.

daily - noun 2 (also daily help) Brit. dated a domestic cleaner.

DI - abbreviation 2 Detective Inspector.

domestic - noun 1 (also domestic worker or domestic help) a person employed to do domestic tasks. 2 informal a violent quarrel between family members.

orderly - noun 2 a soldier who carries orders or performs minor tasks for an officer.

smack - noun a single-masted sailing boat used for coasting or fishing.

stodge - noun informal, chiefly Brit. 1 food that is heavy, filling, and high in carbohydrates. 2 dull and uninspired material or work.

U³ - abbreviation 2 united.

Today's Links

Tilsit's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 26010].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

17a Aim head of arrow tip (6)

Like Tilsit, I initially had a question in my mind about this clue ("Not sure about SPIRE as “tip”."). However, Chambers does give a couple of definitions that could fit:

• spire¹ - noun 2 anything tall and tapering, eg a flower spike, the top of a tree, etc.
• spire² - noun 2 zool the top part of a spiral shell.

26a Metal nuts get replaced by new (8)

My take on the wordplay in this clue varies ever so slightly from that given by Tilsit in his review. I would say that the anagram indicator is simply replaced (rather than replaced by) and that by is a positional indicator (signifying beside). Replaced here has the sense of the letters being put in new places (i.e., positions).

Using this wordplay, the clue parses as:

TUNGSTEN (metal) /\ anagram of (replaced) {NUTS GET} beside (by) N (new)

2d Absorbed and immersed in speech (4)

I didn't like this clue much when I first saw it. Now - after pondering it for a bit - I have perhaps warmed to it to the point where I can tolerate it. Since absorbed and immersed mean the same thing (Chambers: be immersed in something to be occupied or involved deeply in it; to be absorbed), the clue could just as well have been phrased "Immersed and absorbed in speech".

19d Plug hole's entrance (6)

I think I just presumed that the solution must be ADVERT, having developed the (perhaps erroneous) impression from another recent puzzle that advert is the British contraction for advertisement, whereas ad is a North American version. However, I discovered from Tilsit's review that my answer was, in fact, wrong.

Signing off for today - Falcon