Wednesday, August 4, 2010 (DT 26227)

This puzzle was originally published in The Daily Telegraph on Thursday, April 29, 2010

Introduction

The Brits have generally been quite critical of the puzzles which are published in The Daily Telegraph on Thursday. When I saw today's puzzle, I thought it was better than the typical "Thursday" fare - and the Brits seemed to agree. I found the southeast quadrant to be the most challenging and needed to resort to my Tool Chest to complete that section.

Due to pressures of time, I am publishing this post without having had an opportunity to read Big Dave's review, taking the risk of either duplicating or contradicting his comments (in which case, from experience, he is almost invariably proven correct).

Today's Glossary

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

Used in Solutions:

brief - noun 2[.3] British informal a solicitor or barrister: it was only his brief's eloquence that had saved him from prison.

cop - noun 2. British slang an arrest (especially in the phrase a fair cop).

County Down - one of six counties that form Northern Ireland.

Dogberry - a self-satisfied night constable in Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing.

Go - Japanese name for an ancient oriental board game for two people.

grange - [Collins English Dictionary] noun 1. Chiefly British a farm, especially a farmhouse or country house with its various outbuildings.

Rugby Union - noun 1 an association of rugby clubs formed in 1871. 2 (usually rugby union) a formerly amateur now partly professional form of rugby, played with teams of 15 players according to Rugby Union rules (abbreviation RU).

shop - [Collins English Dictionary] verb 2. Slang chiefly British to inform on or betray, especially to the police.

Today's Links

Big Dave's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26227].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

26a Bearing south on excursion leaving runway (8)

The definition is "runway" for which the solution is AIRSTRIP. The wordplay is AIR (bearing) + S (south) + TRIP (excursion) and "leaving" is a linkword joining the wordplay to the definition.

There are various rules and conventions associated with cryptic crossword puzzles. It seems that foremost among them is the adage that "There is an exception to every rule". Generally, an across clue of the form "A on B" would mean "A added on to B" for which the solution would be BA. Apparently the rationale is that one must first write down B before one can add A to it. The reverse is generally true is a down clue, in which "A on B" is interpreted as "A stacked on top of B" giving AB (when the solution is read from top to bottom). Here we have an across clue in which "A on B" signifies AB. Perhaps this clue was originally developed with the idea of it being a down clue but inadvertently got used as an across clue.

6d Arrests party in police station (3,4)

The definition is "police station" for which the solution is COP SHOP. The wordplay is COPS (arrests) + HOP (party). Cop (see Today's Glossary) is British slang for arrest. I got the solution from the definition and some of the checking letters, and then had to investigate the meaning of the British slang term cop. I had presumed that it might be a verb but discovered that it is actually a noun.

While the clue was not too difficult to decipher, it was a bit sobering to see Collins define hop as "Old-fashioned informal a dance, esp one at which popular music is played". I thought that old-fashioned referred to the days of my grandparents - not to my own youth.

8d Pace might get star bowled out (8)

The surface reading relates to cricket, in which a batsman being "bowled out" would be analogous to a batter being struck out in baseball.

Signing off for today - Falcon