Friday, December 31, 2010 (DT 26358)

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26358
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Setter Jay
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26358]
Big Dave's Review Written By Big Dave
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - ***	Enjoyment - ***
Falcon's Performance * (did not finish)

Introduction

I failed to solve one clue. However, I take some consolation in discovering that the elusive solution is a European trademark that is used rarely - if at all - in North America. I also note that several of the Brits have commented that they thought the puzzle deserved more than the three stars that Big Dave awarded it for difficulty.

Today's Glossary

Selected abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions appearing in today's puzzle

Appearing in Clues:

Royal Crown Derby Porcelain Company - a porcelain manufacturer, based in Derby, England. The company, particularly known for its high-quality bone china, has produced tableware and ornamental items since approximately 1750.

Appearing in Solutions:

barney - noun British informal a quarrel, especially a noisy one.

hunter - noun [seemingly British] 5. a watch with a hinged metal lid or case (hunting case) to protect the crystal. Also called hunting watch.

noddle¹ - [Collins English Dictionary] noun Informal chiefly British the head or brains: use your noddle!

Perspex^® - [Collins English Dictionary] noun [Trade Mark, seemingly chiefly European] any of various clear acrylic resins, used chiefly as a substitute for glass.

Qu. - abbreviation 2 question.

tickler - [Collins English Dictionary] noun 1. Informal chiefly British a difficult or delicate problem.

W³ - abbreviation 8 won, the Korean currency unit.

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

This commentary should be read in conjunction with the review at Big Dave's Crossword Blog, to which a link is provided in the table above.

11a Burnt residue on bottom of grim food (4)

This might have worked better as a down clue ("bottom of grim" meaning last letter in "grim").

15a Charming woman accepting setter overweight? (5,6)

In one interpretation, the definition is "charming woman" for which the solution is FEMME FATALE and the wordplay is FEMALE (woman) containing (accepting) {ME (setter) + FAT (overweight)} = with "woman" doing 'double duty' (used in both the definition and wordplay).

If the entire clue could be taken as a definition for femme fatale, then this could be considered to be a semi & lit. (all-in-one) clue (a semi & lit. since the word "charming" does not participate in the wordplay). However, I don't think it is reasonable to interpret the clue this way.

On those points, I appear to be in agreement with Big Dave, who comments "I don’t think this works as an all-in-one and, if not, then “woman” is doing double duty".

Possibly, a third interpretation is that the clue is a cryptic definition - an idea that is supported by the question mark at its end. A cryptic definition does not have to adhere to the strict parsing rules of other types of clues. Thus we are looking for a term meaning a "charming woman"; in particular, a woman containing a sequence of letters specified by "setter overweight".

Perhaps this argument could be seen as splitting hairs - or grasping at straws. In any event, I would say that had the clue parsed correctly, the setter could have omitted the question mark. However, since it doesn't parse according to normal conventions, the setter throws in a question mark to alert us to the fact that there is something out of the ordinary about the clue. I think one has the choice of characterizing the clue as having a word (woman) doing 'double duty' or to say that it is a cryptic definition.

19a Friendly officer has one for the Queen (6)

The definition is "friendly" for which the solution is GENIAL and the wordplay is GENERAL (officer) has I (one) [substituted] for ER (the Queen).

I have to confess that I missed the wordplay here. I was initially looking for a word ending in -IER { I (one) + (for) ER (the Queen)}, thinking that "for" might possibly be a charade indicator. This messed me up for quite some time on 16d. When I finally solved 16d, I saw the solution to 19a from the definition. However, I then tried to figure out how AL might mean "the Queen".

6d Material seen through glasses, reportedly (7)

I was totally stumped by this clue. Perspex^® is a trademark for poly(methyl methacrylate), better known in North America under the trade names Lucite^® and Plexiglas^®. Perspex was originally the trade name for this material used by Imperial Chemical Industries (a British company), Lucite by Dupont (an American company) and Plexiglas by Rolm and Haas (another American company). The trademarks Perspex and Lucite now both appear to be owned by Lucite International, a division of Mitsubishi Rayon, which seems to use the former name in Europe and the latter in North America. As definitive evidence of the obscurity of this name on this side of the Atlantic, when was the last time you heard a hockey announcer say, "The game will be delayed while arena staff replace the Perspex panel shattered by Shea Weber's cannonading slapshot". [Shea Weber is reputed to have one of the hardest shots in the NHL.]

16d Crown Derby manufacturer (8)

In the surface reading, "Crown Derby" is a British porcelain manufacturer. Big Dave makes a half-hearted attempt to explain the wordplay, but not to my satisfaction - nor to his. As he says, "a hat has a crown" - but how that fits into the wordplay is pretty tenuous. Some visitors to his blog suggest that "crown" refers to the 'crown of the head', thereby signifying that "derby" refers to a hat (something worn on the crown), "not the city Derby, not the horserace Derby". This distinction is probably more important for the Brits, as "derby" (pronounced 'durby' as opposed to the British pronunciation 'darby') is an American term for a particular type of hat - one that the British call a "bowler". Thus this would appear to be intended as a cryptic definition for a "[hat] manufacturer" with the solution being MILLINER. However, it seems a poor fit as a derby (or bowler) is a man's hat and a milliner is 'a person who makes or sells women's hats'.

21d Led off after show of agreement from head (6)

Luckily the wordplay takes one directly to the correct solution (which is a new term for me). I was only familiar with a head being called a NOODLE, not a NODDLE. I wonder if there is some link between the two terms?

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year - Falcon

Thursday, December 30, 2010 (DT 26357)

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26357
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Setter Shamus
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26357]
Big Dave's Review Written By Gazza
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - **	Enjoyment - ***
Falcon's Performance *****

Introduction

I guess I got so excited about completing the puzzle without the help of my Tool Chest that I failed to notice that it is a pangram - a puzzle that incorporates every letter of the alphabet at least once. Although I may have finished it unaided, the solutions to a couple of clues involving Briticisms were 'educated guesses' at best and 'stabs in the dark' at worst. But then, anything in (or at) a pinch.

Today's Glossary

Selected abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions appearing in today's puzzle

Appearing in Clues:

hotel - noun 2 a code word representing the letter H, used in radio communication.

Appearing in Solutions:

at a pinch - phrase British if absolutely necessary (North American in a pinch).

Athene (also Athena) - Greek Mythology the patron goddess of Athens, typically allegorized into a personification of wisdom.  Also called Pallas; Roman equivalent Minerva.

Coll - a small island, west of Mull in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland.

E² - abbreviation 10 European.

Equity (formerly known as the British Actors' Equity Association) - the trade union for actors, stage managers and models in the United Kingdom.

River Exe - an English river that rises near the village of Simonsbath, on Exmoor in Somerset, near the Bristol Channel coast, but flows more or less directly due south, so that most of its length lies in Devon. It reaches the sea at a substantial ria, the Exe Estuary, on the south (English Channel) coast of Devon.

Ld - abbreviation Lord: Ld Lothian.

Qu. - abbreviation 2 question.

ton - noun 4 British informal a hundred, in particular a speed of 100 mph, a score of 100 or more , or a sum of £100: he scored 102 not out, his third ton of the tour.

whodunnit (US whodunit) - noun informal a story or play about a murder in which the identity of the murderer is not revealed until the end. Origin: 1930s, from who done it?, non-standard form of who did it?

Note: according to Oxford Dictionaries Online, our setter uses the US spelling of this word.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Wednesday, December 29, 2010 (DT 26356)

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26356
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, September 27, 2010
Setter Rufus
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26356]
Big Dave's Review Written By Libellule
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - **	Enjoyment - ***
Falcon's Performance ***
Notes The National Post has skipped DT 26355 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, September 25, 2010

Introduction

Solvers on this side of the Atlantic likely found this puzzle to be a bit more challenging than did the Brits. For instance, 10a was undoubtedly a dead give-away to most in the UK; however, I had no idea what the Norwich football club is called (until I googled it)..

I'm afraid that I fell a bit behind in my blog postings over the holiday period. I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas.

Today's Glossary

Selected abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions appearing in today's puzzle

Appearing in Clues:

Norwich City Football Club (FC) - an English professional football (soccer) club, known as The Canaries or "The Yellows", based in Norwich, Norfolk.

Appearing in Solutions:

River Dee - a 70-mile (110 km) long river in the United Kingdom which travels through Wales and England and also forms part of the border between the two countries. It is but one of several rivers by that name in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia.

enosis - noun the political union of Cyprus and Greece, as an aim or ideal of certain Greeks and Cypriots.

inner - noun

• (in archery and shooting) a division of the target next to the bullseye.
• a shot that strikes the inner.

ling² - noun the common heather of Eurasia.

maths - plural noun (treated as singular) British mathematics.

c.f. math - noun (mass noun) North American mathematics.

nap³ - [Collins English Dictionary] noun

• 1. a card game similar to whist, usually played for stakes (also called napoleon).
• 2. a call in this card game, undertaking to win all five tricks.

peter³ - [Collins English Dictionary] noun

• 1. [Seemingly chiefly British] a safe, till, or cash box.
• 4. Chiefly US a slang word for penis.

read - verb 5 chiefly British study (an academic subject) at a university: I'm reading English at Cambridge; [no object] he went to Manchester to read for a BA in Economics.

Royal Marines - a British armed service (part of the Royal Navy) founded in 1664, trained for service at sea, or on land under specific circumstances.

up - adverb 4 [2^nd entry] British at or to a university, especially Oxford or Cambridge: they were up at Cambridge about the same time.

Appearing at Big Dave's Blog

Delia Smith - British celebrity cook and television presenter, who is not only the UK's best-selling cookery author, but joint majority shareholder at Norwich City F.C. where her partner in the shareholding is her husband, Michael Wynn-Jones.

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

This commentary should be read in conjunction with the review at Big Dave's Crossword Blog, to which a link is provided in the table above.

13a Abandon Britain, say, to live in isolation here? (6,6)

The wordplay is DESERT (abandon) ISLAND (Britain,say; an example of an island).

15d Barrister who has joined the family after the match? (3-2-3)

This clue generated the most comments at Big Dave's site today - people either loved the clue or hated it. It is a cryptic definition that plays on the fact that a barrister who marries into the family is not only a son-in-law, but might (should he be warmly accepted into the family and treated "just like a son") also be thought of as a son in law (i.e., a 'son' working in the field of law). Thinking of the new addition to the family as a 'son' rather than a son-in-law is apparent in the sentiment often expressed at weddings by the parents of the bride, "We have not lost a daughter, but gained a son".

20d Breaks up the band (5)

The definition here is "breaks" (not "breaks up" as I first thought) and the solution is PARTS (i.e., 'parts' in the sense of a string breaking, rather than a couple breaking up). The wordplay is a reversal (up, in a down clue) of STRAP (the band).

Signing off for today - Falcon

Tuesday, December 28, 2010 (DT 26354)

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26354
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, September 24, 2010
Setter Giovanni
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26354]
Big Dave's Review Written By Gazza
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - ***	Enjoyment - ***
Falcon's Performance *****

Introduction

This is yet another puzzle on which I am playing catch on the blog - one which did not get posted due to competing time pressures over the Christmas period. I did manage to complete the puzzle without using my Tool Chest. However, I did have nearly a week of cogitation and 'perservation' time between when I started the puzzle and when I eventually completed it. I was even able to assemble the Russian portmanteau word at 17d from the wordplay despite never having previously encountered it.

Today's Glossary

Selected abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions appearing in today's puzzle

Appearing in Solutions:

agitprop - noun 1. (often capitalized) (formerly) a bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, in charge of agitation and propaganda on behalf of Communism.

This portmanteau word is short for Russian Agitpropbyuro, from agit(atsiya) agitation + prop(aganda) propaganda.

burn² - noun Scottish & Northern English a small stream.

carbuncle - noun 2 a bright red gem, in particular a garnet cut en cabochon.

monstrous carbuncle - pejorative term coined by Charles, Prince of Wales for ugly architecture.

In 1982, the National Gallery in London held a competition for the design of an addition to its building. The winning proposal was dropped after the Prince of Wales compared the design to a "monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend". The term "monstrous carbuncle", for a modern building that clashes with its surroundings, has since become commonplace.

River Exe - a river in England that rises in Somerset and flows through Devon to the English Channel.

git - noun British informal an unpleasant or contemptible person.

H² - abbreviation [1^st entry] hard (used in describing grades of pencil lead): a 2H pencil

M² - abbreviation [1^st entry] Cricket (on scorecards) maiden over(s).

• maiden - noun 2 (also maiden over) Cricket an over in which no runs are scored.
• over - noun Cricket a sequence of six balls bowled by a bowler from one end of the pitch , after which another bowler takes over from the other end.

night porter - noun 1. a porter on duty during the night.

porter² - noun British an employee in charge of the entrance of a hotel, block of flats, college, or other large building.

RN - abbreviation [3^rd entry] (in the UK) Royal Navy.

River Severn - the longest river in Great Britain, it rises in Wales and flows through Shropshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire before emptying into the Bristol Channel.

Sten gun - noun a type of lightweight British sub-machine gun.

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

This commentary should be read in conjunction with the review at Big Dave's Crossword Blog, to which a link is provided in the table above.

9a One to shift a couple of maidens? (5)

Although Gazza provides a fine explanation for this clue, it may be worthwhile to elaborate a bit more for the benefit of North American readers who may not be familiar with the game evoked by the clue. The definition is "one to shift" for which the solution is MOVER. The wordplay is a reference to the game of cricket, where a maiden over (or, for short, maiden) is "an over in which no runs are scored". Thus the couple of maidens would be M (abbreviation for maiden) and OVER. However (as Gazza points out), since a maiden is but one type of over, the setter includes the question mark to indicate that there may - or may not - be a couple of maidens present.

25a Red stone making for an architectural monstrosity (9)

I must confess that I only knew the word which is the solution to this clue as a medical condition. Even then, I discovered that my perception of what it meant was grossly misinformed - I had envisioned it as being something more akin to a bunion, rather than an abscess. Despite this lack of knowledge, I managed to guess the answer (it just sort of came to me out of the blue), and probably mainly due to the fact that it fit the available space and matched the checking letters. I then had to a bit of research to establish that the word is also the name of a red gem and to discover the link to Prince Charles.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Monday, December 27, 2010 (DT 26353)

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26353
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, September 23, 2010
Setter Campbell (Allan Scott)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26353]
Big Dave's Review Written By Big Dave
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - ***	Enjoyment - **
Falcon's Performance ****

Introduction

I am doing a bit of house cleaning today, trying to catch up on a few recent puzzles that didn't get blogged due to social pressures over the holiday season.

It seems that even nearly a week of cogitation and 'perservation' (a word coined by Mary, a regular visitor to Big Dave's site) did not help me solve the final two clues (8d and 19a) in this puzzle. However, they were easily deciphered with the aid of my trusty Tool Chest - and proved to be so simple, I kicked myself vigorously for failing to get them without help.

Finally, I quite enjoyed the spirited debate among the regulars at Big Dave's place about whether lager qualifies to be called beer.

Today's Glossary

Selected abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions appearing in today's puzzle

Appearing in Clues:

crown cork (also known as a crown cap or just a crown) - the first form of bottle cap which was invented by William Painter in 1891 in Baltimore. [The name presumably arises from the fact that the cap originally contained a thin layer of cork - now generally replaced by plastic - which covered only the 'crown' of the bottle, as opposed to a cork inserted into the neck of the bottle, as for a wine bottle.]

wagon - noun 1 [3^rd entry] British a railway freight vehicle; a truck.

Appearing in Solutions:

artic - noun British informal an articulated lorry.

lorry - noun British a large, heavy motor vehicle for transporting goods or troops; a truck.

blower - noun 2 British informal a telephone.

c - abbreviation (of water) cold: all bedrooms have h & c.

CE or C.E. - abbreviation 1 Church of England.

CH - [5^th entry] abbreviation child [according to the reference cited, one of 97 possible meanings]

drop scone - noun a small, thick pancake made by dropping spoonfuls of batter on to a griddle or other heated surface.

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (1899 – 1974) - American composer, pianist, and big band leader.

E. M. (Edward Morgan) Forster (1879 – 1970) - English novelist, short story writer, essayist and librettist.

full house - noun 2 a poker hand with three of a kind and a pair, which beats a flush and loses to four of a kind.

HE - abbreviation 3 His or Her Excellency.

Excellency - noun (usually His, Her or Your Excellency or Your or Their Excellencies) a title of honour given to certain people of high rank, e.g. ambassadors.

Le Monde (English: The World) - a French daily evening newspaper based in Paris which is considered to be the French newspaper of record.

Liège - a major city and municipality of Belgium located in the province of Liège, of which it is the administrative capital, in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium.

off - adjective 1 characterized by performing or feeling worse than usual; unsatisfactory or inadequate: even the greatest athletes have off days.

Offa - King of Mercia (Anglo-Saxon kingdom located in the region now known as the English Midlands) from 757 until his death in July 796.

R² - abbreviation [1^st entry] rand: a farm worth nearly R1,3 million

retsina - noun a Greek white or rosé wine flavoured with resin.

slip¹ - noun 4 Cricket

• a fielding position (often one of two or more in an arc) close behind the batsman on the off side, for catching balls edged by the batsman: he was caught in the slips for 32; King is at first slip
• a fielder at slip. [i.e., a fielder playing that position]

up - adverb 4 [2^nd entry] British at or to a university, especially Oxford or Cambridge: they were up at Cambridge about the same time.

v (also v.) - abbreviation (in textual references) verse.

w - abbreviation 7 with.

Wellington - capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand.

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

This commentary should be read in conjunction with the review at Big Dave's Crossword Blog, to which a link is provided in the table above.

19a Draw rand out of bank (4)

According to the discussion at Big Dave's blog, the clue published on The Daily Telegraph online site varied from that in the print edition of the paper. We have received the version that appeared in the print edition. In case you are interested, the alternative version of the clue was:

• 19a Before end of encounter, draw level (4)

27a One may get led astray in just this sort of district! (3-5)

Like Big Dave, I initially failed to see the anagram in a container in this clue, solving it as if it were simply a cryptic definition - a perception that is reinforced by the exclamation mark at its end. It was only when I was writing up the blog that I realized the true nature of the clue.

5d Originally without appeal, where tour ends? (2,3,4,6)

This is a double definition, with one definition being a bit cryptic. The straight definition is "originally without appeal" which the setter uses to mean IN THE LAST RESORT (although I tend to disagree, as I will explain later). The more cryptic definition is "where the tour ends" which is obviously "in the last resort".

Oxford Dictionaries Online defines in the last resort as meaning 'ultimately: in the last resort what really moves us is our personal convictions [suggested by French en dernier ressort]' which I believe has quite a different meaning than as a last resort which means 'when all else has failed'.

The latter phrase definitely fits the meaning "originally without appeal" (something that you initially reject but fall back on 'as a last resort'). I had initially wavered between AS THE LAST RESORT and AT THE LAST RESORT as possible solutions here, which caused me grief for quite some time on 5a.

16d Vegetable all right to be eaten by ambassador on the wagon? (9)

The surface reading evokes a member of the diplomatic corps who is abstaining from the consumption of alcohol. The definition is "vegetable" and the particular one that we are looking for is an ARTICHOKE. The wordplay is OK (all right) contained in (to be eaten by) HE (ambassador; His or Her Excellency) following (on) ARTIC (wagon; specifically an articulated truck).

truck has the same meaning in Britain and North America, namely "a large road vehicle, used for carrying goods, materials, or troops". However, the Brits have a couple of additional names for such a vehicle, lorry and wagon. In North America, a wagon is generally "a four-wheeled trailer for agricultural use", a meaning that is apparently also common in Britain. The word wagon is also used in North America as a short form for station wagon, a vehicle that is called an estate car in Britain.

In Britain, a wagon can also be a railway freight car - but not in North America. The Brits would seemingly not use the word 'car' in reference to a railway freight vehicle - only to a railway passenger vehicle. Whereas the Brits might refer to a railway passenger vehicle as a passenger car, coach or carriage, Americans would be likely to use only the former two terms.

By the way, I notice that the Brits seem to prefer the term railway, whereas the Americans lean toward railroad. Canadians - as per usual - seem to use the two terms interchangeably.

Finally, it does not escape Big Dave's notice that the setter uses a clue structure employing the word "on" that many consider inappropriate in a down clue.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Saturday, December 25, 2010 - Merry Christmas

Introduction

In today's puzzle, Cox and Rathvon give us a Christmas present containing many of the symbols commonly associated with this festive season.

Today's Glossary

Selected abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions appearing in today's puzzle

Appearing in Solutions:

Fargo - largest city in the U.S. state of North Dakota.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

Legend:	"*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed
	"( )" letters inserted; "_" letters deleted

Across

1a {SANTA CLAUS}* - anagram (reconsidered) of A CLASS A NUT

6a O|PAL - O (love) + PAL (friend)

9a DOWN PAT - DOWN (fluffy stuff) + PAT (Patrick)

10a COWERED~ - sounds like (sounded) COWARD (chicken)

12a MA(GI)C - MAC (raincoat) containing (worn by) GI (soldier)

13a STOCK|INGS* - STOCK (cattle) + an anagram (off) of SIGN

14a FI(REPLAC*)E - FIE (shame) containing (about) an anagram (damaged) of PARCEL

16a FAR|GO - GO (travel) after (east of) FAR (distant)

17a ROMEO* - anagram (played) of MOORE

19a MIST|LE(TO)E - MIST (spray) + {LEE (sheltered side) containing (admitting) TO}

22a NOR|TH (POL)E - {NOR (and not) + THE} containing (accepting) POL (politician)

[Note that I have unscrambled the inverted sentence structure employed by the setters]

23a THREW~ - sounds like (talking) THROUGH (finished)

25a GALA|TEA - GALA (festive; as an adjective) + TEA (social occasion)

26a KIN|KING - KIN (family) + KING (ruler)

27a TIDE~ - sounds like (heard) TIED (even)

28a DECORATION* - anagram (fresh) of CO-ORDINATE

Down
1d _SED|UM_ - hidden in (covering) uSED UMbrella

2d NE|W AGER - NE (neon; chemical symbol) + WAGER (hazard; as in, "I'd hazard [a guess] that it won't happen.")

3d AS|PIC - AS (seeing that) + PIC (movie)

4d {LA TOSCA}* - anagram (revised) of ACT ALSO

5d UNCL(OS)E - OS (bagels; since a bagel is shaped like the letter O) contained in (picked up by) UNCLE (mom's brother)

7d {PAR|TNER}< - reversal (backing) of {RENT (pay to use) + RAP (hip-hop)}

8d L|ODES|TO|NE - L (fifty; Roman numeral) + ODES (poems) + TO (in honour of) + NE (northeastern)

11d WAKEFUL* - anagram of (all about) of AUK FLEW

14d FOR|T(N)IGHT - N (name) contained in (put in) {FOR + TIGHT (fast)}

15d PROPHET~ - sounds like (audited) PROFIT (net gain)

18d MAR|BLED - MAR (hurt) + (and) BLED (drained)

19d MOO|RAGE - MOO (low; sound made by cattle) + RAGE (fashion)

20d {SPEAK TO}* - anagram (new) of TOPEKAS

21d _TERMINI_ - hidden in (partially) deTERMINIng

23d TO(N)GA - N (nation's leader; i.e., first letter, or leader, of "nation") contained in (wearing) TOGA (senatorial robe)

24d WAG|ON - WAG (joker) + ON (atop)

Signing off for today - Falcon

Friday, December 24, 2010 (DT 26352)

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26352
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Setter Jay
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26352]
Big Dave's Review Written By CrypticSue
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - ***	Enjoyment - **
Falcon's Performance *****

Introduction

I had solved all but one clue before setting the puzzle aside. When I finally picked it up again, I managed to come up with the solution to the lone remaining clue. The solutions to a couple of clues would have to be described as educated -or perhaps just plain lucky - guesses. Those would include the Briticism 12a and the European plant at 13a (which was the last clue to be solved).

Today's Glossary

Selected abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions appearing in today's puzzle

Appearing in Solutions:
hum - noun 3 British informal smell unpleasant: when the wind drops this stuff really hums.

Liberal Party (abbreviation Lib) - one of the two major British political parties from the mid 19th century until the rise of the Labour Party in the 1920s, and a third party of varying strength and importance up to 1988, when it merged with the Social Democratic Party (the SDP) to form a new party which would become known as the Liberal Democrats.

NT - abbreviation Bridge no trump(s).

prop¹ - noun 2 (also prop forward) Rugby a forward at either end of the front row of a scrum.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712  – 1778) - major Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of 18th-century Romanticism. His political philosophy heavily influenced the French Revolution, as well as the American Revolution and the overall development of modern political, sociological and educational thought.

ragwort - noun a yellow-flowered ragged-leaved European plant of the daisy family, which is a common weed of grazing land and is toxic to livestock. Genus Senecio, family Compositae: several species, in particular S. jacobaea.

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

This commentary should be read in conjunction with the review at Big Dave's Crossword Blog, to which a link is provided in the table above.

2d Better sort of garden party? (5)

The definition is "better" (in the sense of 'perform better than') and the solution is OUTDO. If the numeration were (3,2) this could also be a reference to a DO (party) held in the garden (outdoors). In Britain, garden means all the property surrounding a home, what one would call a yard in North America. In North America, garden generally refers strictly to that area set aside specifically for growing flowers and vegetables.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Thursday, December 23, 2010 (DT 26351)

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26351
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Setter Ray T
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26351]
Big Dave's Review Written By Gazza
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - ***	Enjoyment - ****
Falcon's Performance **

Introduction

The implements in my Tool Chest got a strenuous workout today, as I had to resort to them with just short of half the puzzle solved.

Today's Glossary

Selected abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions appearing in today's puzzle

Appearing in Solutions:

Belisha Beacon - noun (in the UK) an orange ball containing a flashing light, mounted on a striped post on the pavement (meaning, in Britain, the sidewalk - not the road surface, as in North America) at each end of a zebra crossing. Origin 1930s: named after Leslie Hore-Belisha (1893–1957), British politician, Minister of Transport when the beacons were introduced.

Brighton - a seaside resort in East Sussex on the south coast of Great Britain. Brighton has long been renowned throughout the UK and Europe as gay-friendly, and is home to a large LGBT community.
Hector - in Greek mythology, a Trojan prince (son of Priam and Hecuba) and the greatest fighter for Troy in the Trojan War.

ormer - [American Heritage Dictionary] noun Chiefly British An abalone, especially of the species Haliotis tuberculata, found chiefly in the Channel Islands.

stick - noun 3 British informal severe criticism or treatment: I took a lot of stick from the press.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Wednesday, December 22, 2010 (DT 26350)

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26350
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, September 20, 2010
Setter Rufus
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26350]
Big Dave's Review Written By Libellule
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - **	Enjoyment - ***
Falcon's Performance ****
Notes The National Post has skipped DT 26349 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, September 18, 2010

Introduction

We have quite an enjoyable puzzle today from Rufus. Well-recognized as a master of the cryptic definition, he certainly does not disappoint with this offering. He did initially stump me on a couple of clues (23a and 28a), forcing me to resort to my Tool Chest. However, in each case, the solution was immediately obvious once I had whittled down the possibilities to a list of words matching the checking letters.

Today's Glossary

Selected abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions appearing in today's puzzle

Appearing in Solutions:

conger eel (or conger) - noun a vernacular term used for a number of different species of fish, mostly eels of the family Congridae, and especially the genus Conger.

Desert Rats - nickname for the 7th Armoured Division, a British armoured division which saw service during the Second World War. It initially saw service in the North African Campaign, hence the nickname.

eleven - noun cardinal number a sports team of eleven players: at cricket I played in the first eleven

Epsom Downs - a racecourse near Epsom, Surrey, England, best known for hosting the Epsom Derby, the United Kingdom's premier thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old colts and fillies, run over a distance of a mile and a half.

Gen. Robert E. Lee (1807 – 1870) - a career United States Army officer and combat engineer who became the commanding general of the Confederate army in the American Civil War.

Magic Circle - [Collins English Dictionary] noun

1. the British association of magicians, traditionally forbidden to reveal any of the secrets of their art
2. (not capitals) a group of influential people involved in a conspiracy

rat - verb 2 (usually rat on someone) colloquial to betray their trust or desert them.

resolve - verb

• 3 chiefly Chemistry separate or cause to be separated into constituent parts or components.

► (resolve something into) reduce a subject, statement, etc. by mental analysis into (separate elements or a more elementary form): the ability to resolve facts into their legal categories
► Physics analyse (a force or velocity) into components acting in particular directions.

• 4 (of something seen at a distance) turn into a different form when seen more clearly: the orange light resolved itself into four roadwork lanterns

► (of optical or photographic equipment) separate or distinguish between (closely adjacent objects): Hubble was able to resolve six variable stars in M31

► separately distinguish (peaks in a graph or spectrum).

wagtail - [Collins English Dictionary] noun any of various passerine songbirds of the genera Motacilla and Dendronanthus, of Eurasia and Africa, having a very long tail that wags when the bird walks: family Motacillidae

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

This commentary should be read in conjunction with the review at Big Dave's Crossword Blog, to which a link is provided in the table above.

15a Eleven taken singly (3,2,3)

Even when one sees the general intent of the setter, one can get into trouble on the details. Is the solution to this clue ONE ON ONE or ONE TO ONE? Actually, neither of those prepositions is correct - as I was to eventually realize.

27a Run away twice? Not this soldier! (6,3)

I have never thought of rat (as a verb) in the sense of "run away", although I do know that rats are known for deserting a sinking ship. Rat is defined in The American Heritage Dictionary as:

• verb 2. Slang To betray one's associates by giving information: ratted on his best friend to the police 

which matches my understanding of the word. However, the British dictionaries list an additional  meaning:
Search Chambers - verb 2 (usually rat on someone) colloquial to betray their trust or desert them.
Collins English Dictionary - 1. Informal a.  to divulge secret information (about); betray the trust (of) b.  to default (on); abandon: he ratted on the project at the last minute.
Oxford Dictionaries Online - verb 2 informal desert one's party, side , or cause; phrasal verb rat on (also North American rat someone out) informal inform on (someone): he refused to rat on his buddies; break (an agreement or promise): he accused the government of ratting on an earlier pledge.

7d To break up requires courage (7)

Libellule's definition of "to cause to go into a solution" sounds suspiciously like dissolve, rather than resolve. However, there are meanings for resolve in several fields of endeavour (see Today's Glossary) which could be interpreted as "to break up".

20d Major currency of China (7)

Here we encounter an invented meaning for the word "currency" - one which exists only in the world of cryptic crosswords. The setter supposes that a currency is something that has a current (i.e., a river). This is analogous to the Cryptic Crosswordland definitions of flower being 'something that flows' or a banker as 'something that has banks' (two terms which also refer to rivers). I would guess that this play on words is based on examples in the English language in which nouns ending in -ency are formed from nouns or adjectives ending in -ent - examples being regency (from regent) and proficiency (from proficient).

Signing off for today - Falcon

Tuesday, December 21, 2010 (DT 26348)

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26348
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, September 17, 2010
Setter Giovanni
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26348]
Big Dave's Review Written By Gazza
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - ****	Enjoyment - ***
Falcon's Performance ***

Introduction

I did this puzzle while waiting in my Doctor's office to receive a needle. Perhaps that explains why I was able to solve the medical themed clues. Maybe I should have tried doing it at a music recital, as it was the musical themed clues that were my undoing. I fell just short of achieving four stars, and it was misspelling the musical term at 14d that primarily caused me grief, as it also prevented me from solving 20a. Like Gazza, I also had never heard of the Austrian composer at 11a - although one of my guesses did prove to be correct. However, my performance may actually be reasonably good, since Gazza awards this puzzle four stars for difficulty.

Today's Glossary

Selected abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions appearing in today's puzzle

Appearing in Solutions:

Chester - a city in Cheshire, England, lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales.

con⁴ - verb archaic study attentively or learn by heart (a piece of writing): the girls conned their pages with a great show of industry.

Military Cross (abbreviation MC) - noun (in the UK and Commonwealth countries) a decoration awarded for distinguished active service on land, instituted in 1914 (originally for officers).

County Offaly - a county of the Republic of Ireland, located in the province of Leinster.

Franz von Suppé or Francesco Suppé Demelli (1819 – 1895) - Austrian composer of light operas who is notable for his four dozen operettas.

Territorial Army (abbreviation TA) - noun in the UK: a fully trained volunteer force intended to provide back-up to the regular army in cases of emergency.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Monday, December 20, 2010 (DT 26347)

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26347
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, September 16, 2010
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26347]
Big Dave's Review Written By Big Dave
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - **	Enjoyment - **
Falcon's Performance *****

Introduction

My Tool Chest stayed on the shelf today, as I solved the puzzle without the assistance of my electronic aids. I did have to make a couple of educated guesses about meanings I had not encountered before and a couple of other clues exercised my brain a bit in figuring out the wordplay.

Today's Glossary

Selected abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions appearing in today's puzzle

Appearing in Clues:

NHS - abbreviation (in the UK) National Health Service, a system of national medical care paid for mainly by taxation and started by the Labour government in 1948.

Appearing in Solutions:

bail² - noun 1 (usually bails) Cricket either of the two crosspieces bridging the stumps, which the bowler and fielders try to dislodge with the ball to get the batsman out.

baggage - [Collins English Dictionary] noun 3. Informal, old-fashioned a. a pert young woman; b. an immoral woman or prostitute.

River Dee - a river in North Wales and Cheshire, England or - if you choose - any of several other rivers known by this name found in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia.

GE - International Vehicle Registration code Georgia [the European country, formerly part of the Soviet Union, not the American state]

Na - symbol Chemistry sodium.

ringlet - noun 3 a circular pattern or formation, especially a fairy-ring.

fairy ring - noun a ring of darker grass marking the outer edge of an underground growth of fungi, traditionally attributed to the dancing of fairies.
[It is interesting to observe that Chambers is not consistent in its spelling of 'fairy-ring'/'fairy ring']

soilage - [Collins English Dictionary] noun green fodder, esp when freshly cut and fed to livestock in a confined area.

[Note: This definition is also found in the American Heritage Dictionary (at the same link as the definition above), but is not to be found at either Oxford Dictionaries Online or Search Chambers]

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

This commentary should be read in conjunction with the review at Big Dave's Crossword Blog, to which a link is provided in the table above.

22a Seat in Diana's vehicle (5)

It took a bit of cogitation (a word that CrypticSue likes to employ) before I could justify the wordplay in this clue. The secret is to keep in mind that 's can play any one of three different roles - it can denote the possessive form of a noun, it can be a contraction for 'is', or it can be a contraction for 'has'. In the current clue, it is serving in the latter role. The word 'has' can signify 'attached to' (e.g., the house has a porch), and therefore it is frequently used in this sense as a charade indicator. Thus the definition is "seat" for which the solution is DIVAN. The wordplay is a charade of DI (Diana) + (has) VAN (vehicle).

By the way, I wonder if Big Dave's pictorial for this clue is intended to do double duty by serving as an illustration for 19a as well.

28a Checks siblings about moving ahead (7)

I have thoughts similar to those of Big Dave about this clue - which generated by far the most discussion on Big Dave's site 'today'.

2d Component widely used once for insurance (9,6)

The surface reading would suggest that we might be looking for a type of insurance that is no longer available. However, I could find no evidence that endowment policies are obsolete. Therefore, if this is a semi & lit. (semi all-in-one) as Big Dave identifies it to be, it would seem that it might be one with a rather inaccurate definition. If not a semi & lit., then the definition is presumably "insurance" with the solution being ENDOWMENT POLICY. The wordplay is an anagram of COMPONENT WIDELY for which the anagrind (anagram indicator) must - by a process of elimination - be "used once". The word "for" would be a link word between the wordplay and the definition. As Big Dave remarks "it seems that anything will suffice as an anagram indicator these days!".

5d I tut about charge for lessons (7)

Once again Big Dave has preempted my thought - surely an ion is a charged particle, not a charge in itself.

7d Soldiers arresting meek people who do not use the NHS (7,8)

The definition is "people who do not use the NHS (National Health Service)" for which the solution is PRIVATE PATIENTS. The wordplay is PRIVATES (soldiers) containing (arresting) PATIENT (meek). My initial difficulty in trying to interpret the wordplay arose from trying to substitute the plural noun PATIENTS for "meek people" (which fails to work on several points) rather than the adjective "PATIENT" for "meek".

Signing off for today - Falcon

Saturday, December 18, 2010 - Cultural Icons

Introduction

In today's puzzle from Cox and Rathvon, we encounter a couple of legendary Canadian performing artists - one from the realm of jazz and one from the world of opera.

Having misspelled the entry at 10a meant a very difficult solve at 6d. However, after much blood, sweat and tears and gnashing of teeth, I eventually saw the error of my ways.

Today's Glossary

Selected abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions appearing in today's puzzle

Appearing in Clues:

George W. Bush - the 43rd President of the United States, serving from 2001 to 2009.

Frankie and Johnny - 1991 American film directed by Garry Marshall, starring Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer, and adapted by Terrence McNally from his own off-Broadway play Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune (1987).The title is a reference to the traditional American popular song 'Frankie and Johnny', first published in 1904, which tells the story of a woman who finds her man making love to another woman and shoots him dead. The story portrayed in the song Frankie and Johnny has been the inspiration for several other films, including Her Man (1930, starring Helen Twelvetrees), Frankie and Johnnie (1936, starring Helen Morgan), and Frankie and Johnny (1966, starring Elvis Presley).
Road to Rio - 1947 comedy film, directed by Norman Z. McLeod and starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Dorothy Lamour. It was the fifth of the "Road to..." series of films.

Twist and Shout - a song written by Phil Medley and Bert Berns originally recorded by the Top Notes but which became a hit in a cover version by The Isley Brothers. The song has subsequently been covered by numerous other artists, among them - and probably most well-known - The Beatles,  but also The Mamas & the Papas (in the style of a ballad), and The Who.

Appearing in Solutions:

lam² - [Collins English Dictionary] US and Canadian slang

• noun a sudden flight or escape, especially to avoid arrest on the lam a. making an escape b. in hiding
• verb to escape or flee

Dorothy Lamour (1914 – 1996) - American film actress, probably best-remembered for appearing in the Road to... movies, a series of successful comedies co-starring Bob Hope and Bing Crosby.

Franz Liszt (1811 – 1886) - 19th century Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist and teacher. "Liszt became renowned throughout Europe during the 19th century for his great skill as a performer. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age and perhaps the greatest pianist of all time."

Oscar Peterson (1925 – 2007) - Canadian jazz pianist and composer who released over 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, and received other numerous awards and honours over the course of his career spanning more than 65 years. He is considered to have been one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time.

Michelle Pfeiffer - American actress who made her screen début in 1980, but first garnered mainstream attention with her appearance in Scarface (1983). She rose to prominence during the late 1980s and early 1990s, giving a series of critically-acclaimed performances in the films Dangerous Liaisons (1988), Married to the Mob (1988), The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989), The Russia House (1990), Frankie and Johnny (1991), Love Field (1992), and The Age of Innocence (1993), as well as appearing as Catwoman, the feline anti-heroine of Batman Returns (1992).

rad - adjective informal, chiefly North American excellent; impressive: his style is so rad; a really rad game Origin: 1980s, probably an abbreviation of radical.

Teresa Stratas - retired Canadian operatic soprano who is especially well-known for her award-winning recording of Alban Berg's Lulu.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

Legend:	"*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed
	"( )" letters inserted; "_" letters deleted

Across

1a {OSCAR PETERSON}* - anagram (crooked) of COP ARRESTS ONE

9a BORED~ - sounds like (so to speak) BOARD (wood plank)

10a GERMINATE~ - sounds like (outspoken) GERMAN EIGHT (octet in Bonn)

11a THOUSAND* - anagram (twist) of AND SHOUT

12a ARCHER - double definition; "more roguish" & "bow-and-arrow expert"

14a RYES~ - sounds like (audibly) RISE (react to yeast)

15a IM(PROPER)LY - IMPLY (hint) containing (about) ROPER (lasso user)

18a MALE|FACTOR - FACTOR (element) after (led by) MALE (man)

19a SPARS< - reversal (returning) of RAPS (knocks)

21a {AU LAIT}~ - sounds like (aloud) OLE (Spanish cheer)

23a DI_|SALLOW - DI (pair of diners; i.e., first two letters of "diners") + SALLOW (not very healthy looking)

26a _T|ASK| FOR|CE_ - hidden in (in) projecT ASK FOR CEment

27a O|PER|A - O (love; score of 0 in tennis) + PER (for each) + A (one)

28a {TERESA STRATAS}* - anagram (dances) of STARS AT EASTER

Down
1d OR|BIT - OR + BIT (small section)

2d COR(PORE)AL - PORE (opening) contained in (surrounded by) CORAL (pink)

3d RADISH - cryptic definition of a salad vegetable playing on RAD (far out!) + the suffix -ISH (rather)

4d ERGONOMICS* - anagram (arranged) of NICE GROOMS

5d _EURO_ - hidden in (involved in) nEUROsis

6d SKI|P RO|PE - SKI PRO (professional) + (with) PE (gym; Phys Ed or Physical Education)

7d NEATH* - an anagram (in fresh arrangement) of THANE gives a synonym for "below" that a poet might employ in verse

8d BE(TRAY)ER - TRAY (cafeteria item) contained in (covered in) BEER (suds)

13d DROOPINESS* - anagram (plays with) of I SPONSORED

14d RAM|PARTS - RAM (batterer) + PARTS (splits)

16d REP(ELL)ENT - REPENT (feel sorry for) + ELL (wing)

17d PFEIFFER~ - sounds like (in conversation) FIFER (whistler); Actress Michelle Pfeiffer

20d LAM|OUR - LAM (escape) + OUR

22d LISZT~ - sounds like (pronounced) LIST (leaning)

24d W|RAPS - W (George 'Dubya' Bush) + RAPS (criticizes)

25d EROS< - reversal (back) of SORE (aching)

Signing off for today - Falcon