Friday, June 11, 2010 (DT 26172)

This puzzle, set by Jay, was originally published Wednesday, February 24, 2010 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

It having been a rather busy day yesterday, today I find myself playing catchup, trying to wrap up yesterday's unfinished business as well as tackle that of today.

While Big Dave rates today's puzzle as only two stars for difficulty, the Briticisms in it may elevate it by a notch for those of us on this side of the pond. I certainly needed to open my Tool Chest about midway through the puzzle.

Did you notice the hint printed below today's crossword for solving the Cox and Rathvon puzzle published on June 5, 2010? Of course, regular readers of this blog knew that information a week ago.

Today's Glossary

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

Used in Clues:

lower socio-economic groups - see NRS Social Grade (section following)

Used in Solutions:

CAMRA (acronym Campaign for Real Ale) - a consumer organisation in England, whose main aims are promoting real ale, real cider and the traditional British pub.

funfair - noun chiefly Brit. a fair consisting of rides, sideshows, and other amusements.

get at - [Collins English Dictionary] verb 3. to irritate or annoy persistently; criticize • she is always getting at him.

L² - abbreviation 2 learner driver [and, by extension, student].

tick⁴ - noun Brit colloq credit • buy it on tick.

tick over - [Collins English Dictionary] verb 1. Also idle Brit (of an engine) to run at low speed with the throttle control closed and the transmission disengaged.

Very light - noun a flare fired into the air from a pistol for signalling or for temporary illumination.

NRS Social Grade

According to Wikipedia, "The NRS social grades are a system of demographic classification used in the United Kingdom. They were originally developed by the National Readership Survey in order to classify readers, but are now used by many other organisations for wider applications and have become a standard for market research. Their definition is now maintained by the Market Research Society."

The system has six categories, which from top to bottom are labeled A, B, C1, C2, D, and E. The two lowest categories are the working class (D) which comprises semi-skilled and unskilled manual workers, and those at the lowest level of subsistence (E) which is made up of casual or lowest grade workers, pensioners and others who depend on the welfare state for their income.

Today's Links

Big Dave's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26172].

Signing off for today - Falcon