Monday, February 22, 2010 (DT 26077)

This puzzle was originally published Wednesday, November 4, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

Attempting to do today's puzzle was definitely a humbling experience - actually it was more like stepping in front of a speeding freight train. Tilsit rated it 4* for difficulty - and I would say that is probably an understatement. After four hours, I had completed pretty much all the lower half - but very little of the top half. At that point, with my brain reduced to mush, I took a look at Big Dave's site. I guess I should have looked earlier as I discovered that some of the clues that I had spent a lot of fruitless time on were ones that I would never have solved in a million years. Although I was beginning to feel that I should apply for membership in the Clueless Club (readers of the comments section on Big Dave's blog will be familiar with that group), I came to realize that having solved a fair bit more than half the puzzle was probably not a bad performance - not to mention that the four hours that I spent on the puzzle was significantly less than the four days of at least one visitor.

Today's Glossary

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

bye¹ - noun 2 Cricket a run scored from a ball that passes the batsman without being hit.

don - noun 1 a university teacher, especially a senior member of a college at Oxford or Cambridge.

Exeter - city in Devon, England which is home to Exeter Cathedral

extra - noun 5 cricket a run scored other than by hitting the ball with the bat.

Identikit - (U.K.) a trademark for a set of pictures showing varied facial features that can be combined to produce a human likeness, e.g. of a missing person or of a criminal suspect

lam - verb (often lam into) informal hit hard or repeatedly.

see - noun the seat of authority of a bishop or archbishop, centred on a cathedral church.

T²- abbreviation 2 IVR [International Vehicle Registration code] Thailand.

wheeze - noun 2 Brit. informal a clever or amusing scheme or trick.

Today's Links

Tilsit's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 26077].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

10a Hip team overseeing one patient identify criminal abuse of Trust? (6,3)

Hint: you should read "one patient" as "one who was patient" or, better yet, "one who was renowned for his patience".

26a What Grace will turn into (6)

I got this one wrong - which pretty well killed my chances on 14d. I thought grace might be used in the sense of "a delay allowed, especially to a debtor, as a favour". Thus, I reasoned, when the period of grace ends, the creditor will be paid off or, in other words, receive INCOME.

Apparently the setter intends for us to believe that grace means become - a rather questionable position. I found that grace can mean "to add beauty or charm to something" (e.g., the model graced the event with her presence) and become can mean "said especially of clothing: to suit, look good on or befit someone" (e.g., those earrings become you). Big Dave quotes Chambers (the unabridged version) as defining become as "to grace or adorn fittingly". I am sorry, but become does not mean grace but grace fittingly. However, it seems that that is close enough for Cryptic Crosswordland.

I have to say that I don't understand Tilsit's explanation. He says "It’s a double definition clue with “will turn into” as one of the definitions, and “what Grace” is the other." I would think that one definition for BECOME is "turn into" rather than "will turn into". As for "what Grace" being the second definition, I don't follow the rationale.

For me, this clue might work better if it were modified to read along the lines of "Fittingly, what grace will turn into".

2d Greek writer describing Scots one? (6)

Here the definition is "Greek" (the solution being IONIAN) and the wordplay is "writer describing Scots one". "Writer" is I (the creator of the puzzle). I have seen the words "setter" and "compiler" used in this manner, but this is the first time that I recall seeing "writer" used this way.

For a time, I thought "Scots one" might mean "Scots writer" and so looked for someone like Burns or Scott. Instead, according to Tilsit, "Scots one" means Scotsman (more specifically, a common given name of a Scotsman).

Also according to Tilsit, "describing" means ON. I know describe can mean "give a detailed account in words of" or "mark out or draw (a geometrical figure)". I have seen the word "describe" used as an indicator in a container-type clue where describe is used in the sense of "trace the outline of" or "encompass". But that is obviously not the case here - and I really can't fathom how one gets ON from "describing".

I even considered that this might be a container-type clue where "Scots one" would be an IONAN (inhabitant of IONA) around I. However, the wordplay does not appear to fit that supposition. To get that result, the clue could be reworked as "Greek writer described by Scots one".

5d Smart-Aleck Tory getting involved with lovable chef (3-6-2-4)

Tilsit muses that some readers might find this puzzle TOO-CLEVER-BY-HALF, but I'm tempted to call it - among other things - too clever by far (a version of the expression with which I am more familiar).

I did wonder why Aleck is spelled with a capital letter, thinking that there might be a reference implied that I'm missing.

7d Study image in it, in assembly (9)

I might be tempted to characterize this container-type clue as an esotericism clouded in obscurity. Fans of Survivor might have known what a tiki is.

Hint: assembly is used in the sense of "a unit consisting of assembled parts"

14d Performance of Carmen may rest on this (9)

Tilsit's remark "...think mechanics! If you employed some “car men”, then they would probably need a wheelbase to look under your car." suggests that a vehicle hoist in a garage might be called a WHEELBASE in the U.K. However, several visitors to Big Dave's site dispel that notion. Clearly, wheelbase means the same in the U.K. as in North America. It seems that "car men" are probably either race car drivers or car enthusiasts (those who build performance cars). There are a number of (rather unconvincing) efforts by visitors to Big Dave's site to explain why wheelbase might affect the performance of an automobile.

22d This asthmatic may have a cunning plan (6)

In the surface reading, the word "this" is an adjective (modifying asthmatic). However, in the cryptic reading, it is a pronoun (standing for the solution and object of the verb may have). We must read the wordplay as "This, asthmatic may have" which is equivalent to saying "Asthmatic may have this". What an asthmatic may have is a WHEEZE which is also British slang meaning "a clever or amusing scheme or trick".

Signing off for today - Falcon