Wednesday, July 7, 2010 (DT 26197)

This puzzle was originally published in The Daily Telegraph on Thursday, March 25, 2010

Introduction

I actually finished this puzzle unaided - but only because I did it in the waiting room at the garage while my car was being serviced. I am sure that had my Tool Chest been within reach, I would have succumbed to the temptation to dip into it.

Today's Glossary

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

Used in Solutions:

fair dos - British informal used to request just treatment or accept that it has been given: Fair dos — you don‘t believe I’ve been idle all this time? [Note: In a similar circumstance, a North American might say "Be fair now - ..." or "Honestly - ..."]

flannel - [Oxford] noun 3 [mass noun] British informal bland fluent talk indulged in to avoid addressing a difficult subject or situation directly: a simple admittance of ignorance was much to be preferred to any amount of flannel; verb British informal use bland fluent talk to avoid addressing a difficult subject or situation directly.

flannel - [Chambers] noun 3 colloq flattery or meaningless talk intended to hide one's ignorance or true intentions; verb 1 tr & intr to flatter or persuade by flattery, or to talk flannel.

pot¹ - noun 3 informal a prize in a sporting contest, especially a silver cup.

Today's Links

Libellule's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26197].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

13a Bar or car? (6)

My first attempt was PARLOR, as in beer parlor and parlor car. Not only was I to discover that the former is a Canadianism and the latter a North Americanism, but the Brits would surely have spelled it as parlour.

15a One identifies transmitter by name - Leo, perhaps (4,4)

Like several of the Brits, I was held up for some time in the northeast quadrant until I realized that the second word in the solution is not LION.

Signing off for today - Falcon