Thursday, July 22, 2010 (DT 26216)

This puzzle, by Giovanni, was originally published in The Daily Telegraph on Friday, April 16, 2010

Introduction

If you experienced a sense of déjà vu as you worked your way through this puzzle, you have good reason. This puzzle previously appeared in the National Post on January 20, 2010 as DT 26049 and is reviewed here. The error arose with The Daily Telegraph which also printed the puzzle on two occasions. I definitely recognized seeing many of the clues before - I just didn't realize that I had seen them all together in one puzzle.

Today's Glossary

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

Used in Solutions:

DUP - abbreviation Democratic Unionist Party, a Protestant loyalist party in Northern Ireland.

(House of) Lords - the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

syllabub - [Collins English Dictionary] noun 2. (Cookery) British a cold dessert made from milk or cream beaten with sugar, wine, and lemon juice.

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.

trendy - adjective British colloquial 1 said of someone: following the latest fashions. 2 said of clothes, music, clubs, bars, etc: fashionable at a particular time. noun (trendies) someone who is, or who tries to be, at the forefront of fashion.

Today's Links
Gazza's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26216]. You may also find his review on the occasion of the original publication at Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26049].

This puzzle may have improved with age. When he reviewed it on its original appearance, Gazza said "Having got used to the Friday puzzle being the highlight of the week, I must admit to being a tad disappointed with this one. There’s nothing specifically wrong with it, but I didn’t get the “wow” factor from any of the clues, and (I know this is subjective, and others may disagree) I thought that it was on the easier side of average in terms of difficulty." This time around he had this to say, "This is just about the easiest Giovanni crossword I can remember, so all of our usual correspondents should be able to finish it. As we always say, just because it’s relatively easy does not mean that it can’t be entertaining, and it has a fair number of clues which I enjoyed."

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

1d Workplace in American institute, insecure on the outside (6)

The "American institute" here is not the Smithsonian which was the first idea to pop into my mind. Rather it is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Signing off for today - Falcon