Thursday, August 19, 2010 (DT 26244)

This puzzle, by Jay, was originally published in The Daily Telegraph on Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Introduction

I have managed to fall a day behind on the puzzles - too many sunny days, perhaps, with golf courses and beaches beckoning. Yesterday, I tried to work on this one in bits and pieces between other activities and made slow progress (only about a third of it completed). Today, a concentrated attack bringing into play all the weapons in my arsenal (Tool Chest) succeeded in vanquishing it.

Today's Glossary

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

Used in Clues:

gangway - noun 2 British a passage between rows of seats , especially in a theatre or aircraft.

Used in Solutions:

Girl Guide - noun British a member of the Guide Association. [Note: Although Oxford seems to think that this is a British expression, let me assure British readers that we certainly have Girl Guides in Canada. The counterpart organization in the U.S. would be the Girl Scouts of the USA].

Sten gun - noun a type of lightweight British sub-machine gun.

toad-in-the-hole - noun British a dish consisting of sausages baked in batter.

Today's Links

Big Dave's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26244].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

1a Study on prisoner's moral scruples (10)

Early on, I felt that the solution likely started with CON, but was uncertain if it was CON = study or CON = prisoner.

2d Wanting massage, say, left after four, forgetting regulars (7)

This clue perhaps could have been terminated after only three words - but then it would have led to a different solution. In the clue "Wanting massage, say", the definition would be "wanting" with the solution being NEEDING and the wordplay would be sounds like (says) KNEADING (massage). However, there are a lot more words in this clue which leads to a different (though similar) solution.

By the way, I note from Big Dave's site that at least one or two of the Brits also strayed down the NEEDING route.

5d Caught a kid - what language! (5)

With the first letter being C (caught; cricket terminology) and the definition "what language", I was sure the solution must be CURSE or something equivalent. Instead, I should have been thinking of tropical islands.

8d One's responsibility to pick members (10)

This is one of those clues where I feel that surely I am missing something in the wordplay, as neither the surface reading nor the cryptic reading resonate with me. I presume that in the cryptic reading the "'s" (apostrophe-s) is intended to be interpreted as "has" so that the clue becomes "One has responsibility to pick members".

20d Green's leader worried about source of material (7)

I thought maybe this clue was an attempt to address complaints that the Green Party had been ignored in puzzles published during the run up to and aftermath of the British general election. I therefore spent time trying to find a current or former leader of the Green Party that might fit here. It turns out that this was a red herring (or perhaps a green herring). In this clue, "Green" is the definition.

Signing off for today - Falcon