Tuesday, January 26, 2010 (DT 26054)

This puzzle was originally published Thursday, October 8, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

A fairly easy puzzle today, but still quite an enjoyable one. It definitely provided a much needed respite allowing the mental muscles to recover from yesterday's strenuous workout.

Today's Glossary

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

estate car - noun Brit. a car incorporating a large carrying area behind the seats and an extra door at the rear [a station wagon to North Americans]

Today's Links

Gazza's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 26054].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

1d Swindles tearaways? (3-4)

I did not find tearaway listed as a noun in any of the sources that I consulted, but did find it as an adjective at Infoplease meaning "designed to be easily separated or opened by tearing: a box with a tearaway seal". I guess it wouldn't be the first adjective to undergo conversion to a noun.

There may be some misdirection in the wordplay that is not obvious to North Americans. In the U.K., tearaway can mean "a person who behaves in a wild or reckless manner".

5d A tar containing a measure of acidity? (7)

This clue would appear to be either an & lit. (all-in-one) clue or, more likely, a partial & lit. clue. The solution is ASPHALT. If one considers the definition to be the entire clue, then it would be a true & lit. clue. However, I see little justification for doing so. If the definition is merely tar, it would seem to be a partial & lit. clue.

The wordplay (which uses the entire clue) is:

A SALT (tar) containing PH (a measure of acidity)

There was much discussion at Big Dave's site concerning scientific inaccuracies in crossword puzzles arising from the faulty definition for toluene in 25a. There may also be a bit of a scientific inaccuracy in this clue; however, it is mitigated by the fact that this usage is not only fairly widespread in common parlance but is found in Chambers.

Are tar and asphalt the same thing? While the terms are probably used rather interchangeably in non-scientific circles, it would seem according to most sources (and I stand to be corrected on this point by a competent chemist) that tar comes from the distillation of wood or coal (in which case it is more fully known as coal tar) while asphalt comes from petroleum distillation (and can also occur naturally).

For instance, Collins defines tar as "any of various dark viscid substances obtained by the destructive distillation of organic matter such as coal, wood, or peat" and asphalt as "any of several black semisolid substances composed of bitumen and inert mineral matter. They occur naturally in parts of America and as a residue from petroleum distillation: used as a waterproofing material and in paints, dielectrics, and fungicides" and, as a second definition, "a mixture of this substance with gravel, used in road-surfacing and roofing materials". At the cited sites, you can also see very similar definitions from the American Heritage dictionary.

The lone contrarian voice (among the several sources that I consulted) on this question seems to be Chambers which defines tar as "a dark sticky pungent liquid obtained by distillation of coal or wood, or by petroleum-refining, which is used in road construction, as a wood preservative and also as a component of some antiseptics". Wikipedia, on the other hand, clearly makes a distinction between the two substances, stating "Asphalt or bitumen can sometimes be confused with tar, which is a similar black thermo-plastic material produced by the destructive distillation of coal".

Since Chambers is regarded as the Bible for the DT cryptic crossword, the clue seemingly passes muster. However, as in this case, I sometimes find definitions in Chambers that seem to be at variance to those in other reference sources.

Signing off for today - Falcon