Tuesday, September 14, 2010 (DT 26266)

This puzzle, by Rufus, was originally published in The Daily Telegraph on Monday, June 14, 2010

The National Post has skipped DT 26265 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, June 12, 2010

Introduction

I made steady progress through today's puzzle. That is, until I reached the last clue to remain unsolved (6d), at which point I stalled. After floundering around for quite some time, I finally realized that the clue is a double definition where both of the definitions are, in all likelihood, British slang.

Today's Glossary

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

Used in Clues:

bottle - noun 2 British informal the courage or confidence needed to do something difficult or dangerous: I lost my bottle completely and ran

neck - noun 6 colloquial impudence; boldness

have the neck to do something - informal have the impudence or nerve to do something

Used in Solutions:

porter - noun 2 dark brown bitter beer brewed from malt partly charred or browned by drying at a high temperature [originally made as a drink for porters]

tick someone off - phrasal verb 1 British informal reprimand or rebuke someone:

• he was ticked off by Angela
• (as noun ticking off) he got a ticking off from the magistrate

Today's Links

Libellule's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26266].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

10a Kingdom not fancied by many (9)

Several substitutions appear in today's puzzle that, while you will never find them in a dictionary, have become conventions in cryptic crosswords. One of them is the use of the word "many" to mean a large Roman numeral such as L (fifty), C (one hundred), D (five hundred) or M (one thousand). The specific Roman numeral is rarely, if ever, precisely identified. One must just pick the one that fits.

Here the definition is "kingdom" and the wordplay is REAL (not fancied) + M (many) giving the solution REALM.

The first time that I encountered such a clue, I supposed that the M must be an abbreviation for the word "many". I was quickly set straight by an experienced solver from across the pond.

1d Record attendance of pupils for lecture (4,3)

The solution to this clue will be a puzzle to North Americans until they discover that, in Britain, the expression tick off means to "reprimand or rebuke", in other words, to lecture. On this side of the Atlantic, tick off means "make someone annoyed or angry". Granted one might well be ticked off (in the North American sense) by being ticked off (in the British sense).

This clue is a double definition with the two definitions being "lecture" and "record attendance of pupils", each of which means TICK OFF (at least, they do to the Brits).

4d A point we follow up, once more (4)

Here we have another crossword convention, one that is a bit more obvious than the one discussed at 10a. The word "point" very frequently indicates an abbreviation for one of the four cardinal points of the compass, namely N, S, E or W. Again the specific one is usually not specified.

Here the definition is "once more" and the wordplay is A + N (point) + (follow) a reversal (up) of WE producing the solution ANEW.

6d Bottle neck (5)

This was the last clue to be solved today. It is a double definition where the two definitions are each slang expressions meaning NERVE. The first of these is definitely British and the second is also almost certainly British (judging by the fact that this meaning seems to be found only in the British dictionaries).

18d Refuse to vote, putting Jack on the spot (7)

There are several words and abbreviations that can stand for "sailor" in cryptic crosswords. Here, we encounter one in the clue itself and another in the solution. The one used in the clue is Jack [American Heritage Dictionary, noun 2c and Collins English Dictionary, noun 2] (possibly a shortened version of Jack tar) and the one used in the solution is AB (an abbreviation for able seaman, a rank of sailor in the Royal Navy above ordinary seaman and below leading seaman). Of course, another abbreviation that may be used is OS for ordinary seaman. Other words that can mean sailor include the word tar on its own and jolly (British slang for a Royal Marine [Collins English Dictionary, noun 3]).

In this clue, the definition is "refuse to vote" and the wordplay is AB (Jack) + (on, in a down clue) STAIN (the spot) resulting in the solution ABSTAIN.

20d Female entertainer (7)

My first reaction is "What is cryptic about this clue?". After thinking about it, I have concluded that, in the surface reading, the setter intended the solver to think of entertainer in the sense of "a person, such as a singer, dancer, or comedian, whose job is to entertain others", while in the cryptic reading, he uses entertain in the sense of "receive (someone) as a guest and provide them with food and drink". Thus a "female entertainer" is a "female who entertains". However, no matter how hard I try to find some redeeming quality in this clue, it just does not resonate with me.

Signing off for today - Falcon