Monday, January 17, 2011 (DT 26371)

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26371
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, October 14, 2010
Setter Ray T
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26371]
Big Dave's Review Written By Big Dave
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - ****	Enjoyment - ****
Falcon's Performance ┌────┬────┬────┬────┐ ████████████████████ └────┴────┴────┴────┘

Introduction

Although my Tool Chest did not see action today, it was put on standby alert. With three clues remaining to be solved, I departed for my regular session at the gym. Upon my return, it still did not appear that I would be able to crack the remaining clues. However, just as I was about to seek electronic assistance, the holdouts surrendered. Consequently, I was very pleasantly surprised to see that Big Dave gave the puzzle four stars for difficulty.

Today's Glossary

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

Appearing in Solutions:

Tate Gallery - a national museum of art at Millbank, London [England], founded in 1897 by the sugar manufacturer Sir Henry Tate (1819–99) to house his collection of modern British paintings, as a nucleus for a permanent national collection of modern art. It was renamed Tate Britain in 2000, when the new Tate Modern gallery opened.

Abbreviations, Acronyms & Symbols:

CE - abbreviation [1^st entry] Church of England

E² - abbreviation 8 English

EP - abbreviation [3^rd entry] extended-play (of a record or CD): an EP of remixes

G² - abbreviation North American informal grand (a thousand dollars)

G (3) - abbreviation 3. education good (used as a grade)

IQ - abbreviation intelligence quotient

IRA - abbreviation Irish Republican Army, the military arm of Sinn Fein, aiming for union between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland

N - abbreviation (chiefly in place names) New: N Zealand

OBE - abbreviation Officer of the Order of the British Empire

Order of the British Empire - (in the UK) an order of knighthood instituted in 1917 and divided into five classes, each with military and civilian divisions . The classes are : Knight or Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE), Knight or Dame Commander (KBE/ DBE), Commander (CBE), Officer (OBE), and Member (MBE). The two highest classes entail the awarding of a knighthood.

ST (St) - abbreviation [1^st entry] Saint: St George

ST (st) - abbreviation [1^st entry] stone (in weight), noun 4 (plural same) British a unit of weight equal to 14 lb (6.35 kg): I weighed 10 stone

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

This commentary should be read in conjunction with the review at Big Dave's Crossword Blog, to which a link is provided in the table above.

13a   Tracks from Stones records (5)

It was only as I was collecting entries for Today's Glossary that I discovered a possible problem with this clue. The plural of stone (the British unit of weight) is also stone (not stones). Thus, there would appear to be a glaring error in the clue which has "tracks" defined as STEPS with the wordplay being ST (stones) + EPS (records). Yet, perhaps I am mistaken, as there was not a peep about this from the Brits.

16a   Resolve to change U.S. president (9)

Big Dave says "an anagram (change) of RESOLVE TO gives a former US president" - actually, either of two former U.S. presidents (the 26^th and the 32^nd), who were distant cousins.

21a   Uses tie taking narcotic in empty toilets (7)

I initially questioned ether being a narcotic, as I was thinking in terms of the popular (or, according to Big Dave, American) definition of narcotic as "an addictive drug affecting mood or behaviour, especially an illegal one" rather than the medical definition "a drug which induces drowsiness, stupor, or insensibility, and relieves pain".

Signing off for today - Falcon