Thursday, December 30, 2010 (DT 26357)

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26357
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Setter Shamus
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26357]
Big Dave's Review Written By Gazza
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - **	Enjoyment - ***
Falcon's Performance *****

Introduction

I guess I got so excited about completing the puzzle without the help of my Tool Chest that I failed to notice that it is a pangram - a puzzle that incorporates every letter of the alphabet at least once. Although I may have finished it unaided, the solutions to a couple of clues involving Briticisms were 'educated guesses' at best and 'stabs in the dark' at worst. But then, anything in (or at) a pinch.

Today's Glossary

Selected abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions appearing in today's puzzle

Appearing in Clues:

hotel - noun 2 a code word representing the letter H, used in radio communication.

Appearing in Solutions:

at a pinch - phrase British if absolutely necessary (North American in a pinch).

Athene (also Athena) - Greek Mythology the patron goddess of Athens, typically allegorized into a personification of wisdom.  Also called Pallas; Roman equivalent Minerva.

Coll - a small island, west of Mull in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland.

E² - abbreviation 10 European.

Equity (formerly known as the British Actors' Equity Association) - the trade union for actors, stage managers and models in the United Kingdom.

River Exe - an English river that rises near the village of Simonsbath, on Exmoor in Somerset, near the Bristol Channel coast, but flows more or less directly due south, so that most of its length lies in Devon. It reaches the sea at a substantial ria, the Exe Estuary, on the south (English Channel) coast of Devon.

Ld - abbreviation Lord: Ld Lothian.

Qu. - abbreviation 2 question.

ton - noun 4 British informal a hundred, in particular a speed of 100 mph, a score of 100 or more , or a sum of £100: he scored 102 not out, his third ton of the tour.

whodunnit (US whodunit) - noun informal a story or play about a murder in which the identity of the murderer is not revealed until the end. Origin: 1930s, from who done it?, non-standard form of who did it?

Note: according to Oxford Dictionaries Online, our setter uses the US spelling of this word.

Signing off for today - Falcon