Tuesday, September 7, 2010 (DT 26260)

This puzzle, by Rufus, was originally published in The Daily Telegraph on Monday, June 7, 2010

The National Post has skipped DT 26259 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, June 5, 2010

Introduction

Since my Tool Chest saw virtually no action today, I figured that this puzzle would probably rate only two stars for difficulty - and that is exactly what Libellule has awarded it. Perhaps I should have made more extensive use of my tools - as I discovered upon reading Libellule's review that I had incorrect solutions for a couple of clues.

Today's Glossary

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

Used in Solutions:

Eastenders - a long-running British television soap opera

evens - plural noun British another term for even money the colt was 4-6 favourite after opening at evens

guy¹ - verb [with object] make fun of; ridicule: she never stopped guying him about his weight

Hogmanay - noun (in Scotland) New Year's Eve, and the celebrations that take place at this time

opera² - plural form of opus ( an artistic work, especially one on a large scale)

read - verb 5 chiefly British study (an academic subject) at a university: I'm reading English at Cambridge; [no object] he went to Manchester to read for a BA in Economics

stud² - noun 1 a collection of horses or other domesticated animals belonging to one person

up - adverb 4 British at or to a university, especially Oxford or Cambridge: they were up at Cambridge about the same time

wardress - noun chiefly British a female prison guard

Today's Links

Libellule's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26260].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

11a Gains knowledge from books in studies at university (5,2)

We get a double dose of Briticisms in this clue - both of which relate to university. The definition is "gains knowledge from books" for which the solution is READS UP. The wordplay is READS (studies) + UP (at university). For more on both these British expressions, see Today's Glossary.

18a Flattery works with Eastenders, say (4,5)

The definition is "Eastenders, say" which indicates that "Eastenders" is but one example (say) of the solution, which happens to be SOAP OPERA (Eastenders being a long-running British television soap opera). The wordplay is SOAP (flattery) + OPERA (works; opera being the plural form of opus).

21a Sort of oil possibly seen in holiday centre (7)

Here "holiday centre" indicates that we need to extract the central portion of the word "centre". Such a clue often involves selecting only the single central letter from a word with an odd number of letters or the two central letters from a word having an even number of letters. However, there is no law limiting the size of portion we can take and today we must grab a larger piece.

25a Many spoke but mumbled (8)

The word "many" is often used by setters to indicate a large Roman numeral, such as L (fifty), C (one hundred), D (five hundred) or M (one thousand). Which one is intended is (in my experience) never specified. It is therefore up to the solver to figure out which one is needed based on what fits the needs of the clue. The phrase, "a large number" is also employed by compilers in a similar manner.

26a Sound director made fun of (5)

The best attempt I could muster here was TOYED, having inserted an incorrect entry at 16d. The word guy meaning "to make fun of" seems not to be a Briticism (it appears in the American Heritage Dictionary), but it is certainly a term with which I am unfamiliar (although I do recall having encountered it in at least one previous puzzle). Then again, the meaning does seem to have a British provenance, as Libellule (in responding to a comment) provides a source attributing its origin to a reference to Guy Fawkes (who attempted to blow up the British Houses of Parliament in 1605).

1d Key workers in army outfits (10)

The "key workers" are WARDRESSES, wardress being a British term for a female prison guard (someone who would probably be known in North America simply as a female prison guard). Here "key" is a play on the fact that prison guards carry keys. If the solution is split (3,7) we have WAR DRESSES which the setter playfully labels "army outfits".

6d Nothing more than a 50-50 chance, nevertheless (4,2)

The definition is "nevertheless" and the solution is EVEN SO. The wordplay is O (nothing) following (more than) EVENS (a 50-50 chance; i.e., even money at the race track).

14d In distress, daughter is told what to do (10)

Libellule appears to omit one element of the charade in his hint. But, as we discover in the banter in the comments section of Big Dave's site, the omission was intentional. As he explains, the review is intended to provide additional hints to point one in the direction of the solution - not to necessarily provide a complete solution. However, for anyone who may require it, the full wordplay is D (daughter) + IS + ORDERED (told what to do).

16d Might a pen have written it? (4-4)

I failed to find the correct solution to this clue - which has to be the most entertaining clue in the whole puzzle. I settled on SIGN-POST (and, it seems, I am not alone in having made that mistake). I arrived at that answer based on a pen being something one signs with and post being another name for mail. This error also messed me up on 26a.

Signing off for today - Falcon