Monday, January 31, 2011 (DT 26383)

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26383
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, October 28, 2010
Setter Ray T
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26383]
Big Dave's Review Written By Big Dave
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - ***	Enjoyment - ****
Falcon's Performance ┌────┬────┬────┬────┐ ████████████████████ └────┴────┴────┴────┘

Introduction

In his review, Big Dave comments "I found this to be one of [Ray T's] easier puzzles and came close to incurring the wrath of some by giving it two stars for difficulty." I'm afraid that I found it a trifle more challenging - with my Tool Chest getting the call to action relatively early today. I experienced the most difficulty on the left hand side of the puzzle.

I observed that there are no illustrations on Big Dave's blog today. I do wonder whether Gazza, had he been on duty, could not have resisted classic Ray T provocations such as 1d and 21a.

Today's Glossary

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

Appearing in Clues:

manor - noun 2 [1^st entry] British informal the district covered by a police station

Appearing in Solutions:

DI - abbreviation [2^nd entry] (in the UK) Detective Inspector

Within the British police, inspector is the second supervisory rank. It is senior to that of sergeant, but junior to that of chief inspector. Plain-clothes detective inspectors are equal in rank to their uniformed counterparts, the prefix 'detective' identifying them as having been trained in criminal investigation and being part of or attached to their force's Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

duck⁵ - noun Cricket a batsman's score of nought: he was out for a duck

Diocese of Ely - a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury, headed by the Bishop of Ely, who sits at Ely Cathedral in Ely.

patch - noun 3 [2^nd entry] British informal an area for which someone is responsible or in which they operate: we didn't want any secret organizations on our patch

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.

9a   Lie, possibly, with fantastic 'Castle in the Air'? (9)

In effect, this clue has not one, not two, but three anagram indicators. The definition is "in the air" with the solution being CELESTIAL. The wordplay is an anagram (possibly) of LIE and an anagram (fantastic) of CASTLE, from all of which yet another anagram (as indicated by "with") must be formed. My reaction closely parallels that of Big Dave, who writes "merging two anagrams like this only works for me if they are juxtaposed, not intermingled".

The use of "with" as an anagram indicator, I suppose, is analogous to an expression such as 'coffee with cream' which implies that the two are mixed together. However, it seems that in this case, the recipe is stir the cream, stir the coffee, add the cream to the coffee, and stir once more.

12a   Top detective's manor (8)

This is a cryptic definition [or maybe not - see comment from Gazza] with a distinctly British flavour. In Britain, the "top detective" would be a detective inspector (DI for short) and "manor" is an informal term signifying "the district covered by a police station". 'Patch' has a similar (although more general) meaning in the U.K., "an area for which someone is responsible or in which they operate". Thus a "top detective's manor" would be a "DI's patch" (DISPATCH).

5d   'Motley Crue' with mild treatment for instrument (8)

Time for another coffee break. Apply the same recipe as in 9a. Stir (motley) CRUE, stir (treatment) MILD, combine the results and stir (with) to get DULCIMER (a musical instrument).

Signing off for today - Falcon