Thursday, March 31, 2011

Thursday, March 31, 2011 (DT 26440)

Puzzle at a Glance
Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number
DT 26440
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Setter
Shamus
Link to Full Review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26440]
Big Dave's Review Written By
Gazza
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - ★★★ Enjoyment - ★★★
Falcon's Performance
┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐
███████████████████████████████████
└────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘
Legend:
- solved without assistance
- incorrect prior to use of puzzle solving tools
- solved with assistance from puzzle solving tools
- unsolved or incorrect prior to visiting Big Dave's blog

Introduction

I found this puzzle to be exceedingly easy - until I hit the southeast quadrant, which I found quite tricky indeed. I have often heard it said that a good strategy for tackling puzzles is to start in this bottom corner, presumably the thinking being that the setter may have lost a bit of his or her edge in a desire to finish off the puzzle. Well, that strategy would certainly have backfired today!

Today's Glossary

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

[Items marked with an asterisk are from a Cumulative Glossary of entries appearing, since the beginning of this year, in either this blog or its companion blog, the Ottawa Citizen Cryptic Crossword Forum.]

Appearing in Solutions:

A1 - the longest numbered road in the UK at 410 miles (660 km), which connects London, England with Edinburgh, Scotland.
The Great Britain road numbering scheme is a numbering scheme used to classify and identify all roads in Great Britain. Each road is given a single letter, which represents the road's category, and a subsequent number, with a length of between 1 and 4 digits. Two schemes exist; one for roads of motorway standard (and classification), and another for non-motorway roads. Motorways are identified by the prefix M, and non-motorway roads by the prefixes A, B, C, D and U (unclassified).

The scheme applies only to England, Scotland and Wales. Alternative systems are used in Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man and Jersey, Channel Islands.
Angus1 - a council area of NE Scotland; administrative centre, Forfar. It was known from the 16th century until 1928 as Forfarshire, and between 1975 and 1996 was part of Tayside region.

CAB - abbreviation Citizens Advice Bureau, one of a network of independent charities throughout the UK that give free, confidential information and advice to help people with their money, legal, consumer and other problems

CH - abbreviation [2nd entry] Switzerland (international vehicle registration). [from French Confédération Helvétique 'Swiss Confederation']
Should you prefer a more classical explanation, Chambers 21st Century Dictionary has the following to offer:
CH - abbreviation 2 International Vehicle Registration code: Confederatio Helvetica (Latin), Switzerland.
*E2 - abbreviation 9 International Vehicle Registration code: España (Spanish), Spain

Hello (stylized as HELLO!) - a weekly magazine specializing in celebrity news and human-interest stories, published in the United Kingdom. Hello is a sister magazine to ¡Hola!, the Spanish weekly magazine launched in Spain in 1944. Hello and its sister publications from Spain and Mexico are distributed in over 100 countries, with local editions also being published in a number of countries, including Canada.

*leg - noun 5 (also leg side, on or on side) Cricket the half of the field (as divided lengthways through the pitch) away from which the batsman's feet are pointed when standing to receive the ball.  The opposite of off.

legless - adjective 2 British informal extremely drunk.

*lo - exclamation archaic used to draw attention to an interesting or amazing event: and lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them

*TA - abbreviation (in the UK) Territorial Army, a volunteer force locally organized to provide a reserve of trained and disciplined manpower for use in an emergency

te (North American ti) - British, music (in tonic sol-fa) the seventh note of a major scale

*U3 - adjective British informal (of language or social behaviour) characteristic of or appropriate to the upper social classes: U manners. [consequently superior or posh]

Appearing on Big Dave's blog

Waterstone's - a British book retailer with outlets throughout the United Kingdom and Europe which, since 1998, has been a subsidiary of the HMV Group

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.

21a   Funny lord with poor diet, one averse to new ways? (7)

"Funny lord" gives us, as Gazza puts it, "a facetious way of saying or spelling lord" or LUD. Remember that, with the soft British R, "lord" would normally be pronounced sort of like 'lawd', so 'lud' seemingly would not to be that much of a further stretch.

28a   Consummate portion following starter in Indian (5)

In this context, the Brits would understand "Indian" in the surface reading to mean 'Indian restaurant'. Thus the word starter would be seen to mean 'the first course of a meal'. Of course, in many cases, not understanding the surface reading can be an advantage, as one is not distracted by it and can cut right to the cryptic meaning.

The definition is "consummate", with the solution being IDEAL. The wordplay is DEAL (portion) following I (starter [i.e., starting letter] in Indian). Deal (meaning portion)is used in the sense of 'A good deal of blame for the loss rested on the shoulders of the goalkeeper who allowed several easy shots to get past him'.

4d   Refuses to participate in patrol away from home? (4,3)

The definition is "refuses to participate in" for which the solution is COPS OUT. I believe the wordplay must be COPS (patrol) + OUT (away from home), with patrol being used in the sense of 'a person or group of people sent to keep watch over an area: a police patrol stopped the man and searched him'. The clue actually seems to work much better when taken as a whole (as Gazza suggests in his review) with 'cops out' meaning "patrol away from home".

Signing off for today - Falcon

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Wednesday, March 30, 2011 (DT 26439)

Puzzle at a Glance
Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number
DT 26439
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph
Monday, January 3, 2011
Setter
Rufus
Link to Full Review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26439]
Big Dave's Review Written By
Libellule
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - ★★ Enjoyment - ★★★
Falcon's Performance
┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐
███████████████████████████████████
└────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘
Legend:
- solved without assistance
- incorrect prior to use of puzzle solving tools
- solved with assistance from puzzle solving tools
- unsolved or incorrect prior to visiting Big Dave's blog
Notes
The National Post has skipped DT 26438 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, January 1, 2011

Introduction

Like a hurricane, this puzzle seems to have gained strength crossing the Atlantic. I certainly found it to be more difficult than the two stars awarded to it by Libellule. Most of my difficulty occurred in the northwest quadrant, where I eventually entered the correct solutions for 1a and 2d - with very little confidence of either one proving  to be correct.

Today's Glossary

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

[Items marked with an asterisk are from a Cumulative Glossary of entries appearing, since the beginning of this year, in either this blog or its companion blog, the Ottawa Citizen Cryptic Crossword Forum.]

Appearing in Clues:

Meanings listed in this section may reflect how the word is used in the surface reading of the clue. Of course, that meaning may be contributing to the misdirection that the setter is attempting to create.

bond - noun 4 [with modifier] Building a pattern in which bricks are laid in order to ensure the strength of the resulting structure.

jobber - noun
  1. historical (in the UK) a principal or wholesaler who dealt only on the Stock Exchange with brokers, not directly with the public.
  2. North American a wholesaler.
  3. a person who does casual or occasional work.
sweet - noun 1 British a small shaped piece of confectionery made with sugar: a bag of sweets [Note: equivalent to the North American term candy]

touch - verb transitive 15. Slang To wheedle a loan or handout from: touched a friend for five dollars.

West Ham United Football Club - a English Premier League association football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London.

Appearing in Solutions:

invigilator - noun British a person who supervises candidates during an examination

near - adjective 5 archaic (of a person) mean; miserly.

night porter - noun a porter on duty during the night

porter1 - noun
  1. a person employed to carry luggage and other loads, especially in a railway station, airport, hotel, or market.
  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]
rackets (also, in North America,  racquets) - [American Heritage Dictionary] plural noun a game played on a large, netless, four-walled court by two or four players with long-handled rackets and a hard, fast-moving ball 1 inch (2.5 centimeters) in diameter.
Judging by the dictionary entries, it would seem that the name of the game is always rackets in Britain, whereas in North America the game may also go by the alternative (and, perhaps, preferred) name of racquets. However, in Britain (as in North America), the bat used in this or similar games apparently may be called either a racket or racquet. Also, rackets is not to be confused with racquetball, "a [chiefly North American] game played on a four-walled handball court by two or four players with short-handled rackets and a hollow rubber ball 2 1/4 inches (5.7 centimeters) in diameter."
Appearing on Big Dave's blog

jolly - [Collins English Dictionary] noun 3. British slang a Royal Marine

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.

1a   Jobbers in bonds (11)

Although I did have BRICKLAYER as my solution, I had very little confidence in it. I did identify that bricklayers could be "jobbers". However, I was not aware of how the term bond () is used in the bricklaying trade. I was thinking merely of the word bond in the generic sense, and recognized that bricklayers would bond bricks together with mortar.

2d   Empty sheep range? (4)

I vacillated between REAM and ROAM as a solution. Ream can mean 'clear out or remove (material) from something', thus matching the "empty" part of the clue. However, Oxford characterises this as a 'North American' usage. That, combined with the lack of any discernible connection to "sheep range" caused me to reject it. I could see that ROAM might be O contained in RAM, and therefore guessed that "range" might be serving as an anagram indicator, with O coming from "empty" (as in the markings on a fuel gauge, for example). Using "range" as an anagram indicator would be a bit problematical, as "range" would almost certainly also be the definition. In the end, despite being highly skeptical about "range" doing double duty, I fortuitously elected to go with ROAM. Luckily, Gazza explains the wordplay (in response to a comment on Big Dave's site): "Think of empty as meaning having nothing in. So it’s a sheep with O (nothing) in it."

Signing off for today - Falcon

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Tuesday, March 29, 2011 (DT 26437)

Puzzle at a Glance
Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number
DT 26437
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph
Friday, December 31, 2010
Setter
Giovanni
Link to Full Review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26437]
Big Dave's Review Written By
Gnomethang
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - ★★★ Enjoyment - ★★★★
Falcon's Performance
┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐
██████████████████████████████████
└────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘
Legend:
- solved without assistance
- incorrect prior to use of puzzle solving tools
- solved with assistance from puzzle solving tools
- unsolved or incorrect prior to visiting Big Dave's blog


Introduction

My Tool Chest almost got the day off, but not knowing the meat at 10a caused me to seek help from it. I note that this grid has the fewest number of clues (27) of any that I can recall.

Today's Glossary

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

[Items marked with an asterisk are from a Cumulative Glossary of entries appearing, since the beginning of this year, in either this blog or its companion blog, the Ottawa Citizen Cryptic Crossword Forum.]

Appearing in Solutions:

Covenanter - noun (in 17th -century Scotland) an adherent of the National Covenant (1638) or of the Solemn League and Covenant (1643), upholding the organization of the Scottish Presbyterian Church.

H2 - [1st entry] abbreviation hard (used in describing grades of pencil lead): a 2H pencil

Op. (also op.) - abbreviation Music opus (before a number given to each work of a particular composer, usually indicating the order of publication)
opus - noun 1 Music a separate composition or set of compositions. 2 an artistic work, especially one on a large scale.
OTT - abbreviation British informal over the top: presenting him as a goalscoring Superman seems a bit OTT

Po - a river that flows eastward across northern Italy, from Val Po (in the Cottian Alps) to the Adriatic Sea near Venice.

pogo - a dance where the dancers jump up and down, while remaining in the same location; the dance takes its name from its resemblance to the use of a pogo stick, ... pogo dancing is most associated with punk rock, and is a precursor to moshing.

R2 - [4th entry] abbreviation Regina [queen] or Rex [king]: Elizabeth R [or George R]

Ra1 (also Re) - Egyptian Mythology the sun god, the supreme Egyptian deity, worshipped as the creator of all life and typically portrayed with a falcon's head bearing the solar disc. From earliest times he was associated with the pharaoh.

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.

12a   One wanting religious liberty? Witches aren’t different (10)

The question mark may indicate that the definition (one wanting religious liberty) is somewhat suspect. "The Covenanters are so named because in a series of bands or covenants they bound themselves to maintain the Presbyterian doctrine and polity as the sole religion of their country [Scotland]." [Wikipedia: Covenanter] Thus, it would appear that they cared little for religious liberty - other than their own.

16a   Old ploughmen as investors in company? (12)

If the wordplay is not already clear, it should become so from the following excerpt from an article on the Plough:
Among the aborigines of North and South America the plough appears to have been almost entirely unknown. The Peruvians, who were the most skilled in agriculture, employed ... a rude substitute constructed of a strong, sharp-pointed stake, traversed by a horizontal piece 10 or 12 in. from the point, on which the ploughman might set his foot and force it into the ground. Six or eight strong men were attached by ropes to the stake and dragged it forcibly along, accompanied by women, who followed to break up the sods with their rakes.
21a   Travel beyond river to jump up and down (4)

Like several of the Brits, I was not aware that the pogo is a dance, and assumed that the clue was merely a reference to the use of a pogo stick. Having read the comments at Big Dave's site, it seems that I am also not the only one to be surprised at seeing the Po River relocated to China in Gnomethang's review. In response to a flurry of comments, he somewhat sheepishly responds "If you all wish to think of the incredibly well known traditional Italian river rather than the incredibly tiny and possibly non existent Chinese one that’s fine! ;-)".

3d Crticises a levy in speech (7)

The typo in the first word of the clue has survived the trip across the Atlantic. According to the review and comments at Big Dave's blog, this error was present in both the online and printed versions of the puzzle in the U.K. Strangely enough, I never noticed its existence while I was solving the puzzle.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Monday, March 28, 2011

Monday, March 28, 2011 (DT 26436)

Puzzle at a Glance
Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number
DT 26436
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Setter
Unknown
Link to Full Review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26436]
Big Dave's Review Written By
Big Dave
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - ★★★ Enjoyment - ★★
Falcon's Performance
┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐
███████████████████████████████████
└────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘
Legend:
- solved without assistance
- incorrect prior to use of puzzle solving tools
- solved with assistance from puzzle solving tools
- unsolved or incorrect prior to visiting Big Dave's blog

Introduction

I felt compelled to open the Tool Chest fairly early in the game today. It did help me solve a few clues, but was of little use with some others. In the end, I was able to solve (or, more correctly, was forced to solve) some of the remaining clues without its help (consequently, my performance was actually a bit better than it would appear from the chart). Ironically, I knew what Oxford deems to be the 'British' name for the bicycle with one large wheel and one small wheel, but did not know the so-called 'North American' term for it.

Today's Glossary

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

[Items marked with an asterisk are from a Cumulative Glossary of entries appearing, since the beginning of this year, in either this blog or its companion blog, the Ottawa Citizen Cryptic Crossword Forum.]

Appearing in Clues:

Meanings listed in this section may reflect how the word is used in the surface reading of the clue. Of course, that meaning may be contributing to the misdirection that the setter is attempting to create.

Sir Isaiah Berlin - (1909–97), Latvian-born British philosopher who concerned himself with the history of ideas. Notable works: Karl Marx (1939), Four Essays on Liberty (1959), and Vico and Herder (1976).

penny-farthing - noun historical an early type of bicycle, made in Britain, with a very large front wheel and a small rear wheel
  • farthing - noun a former monetary unit and coin of the UK, withdrawn in 1961, equal to a quarter of an old penny
  • A farthing (on the right) was about the size of a North American penny and a British penny (on the left) was about the size of a North American half dollar (50-cent piece), with their juxtaposition resembling the shape of the rather strange-looking bicycle to which they lent their names
Harold Pinter - (1930–2008), English dramatist, actor, and director. His plays are associated with the Theatre of the Absurd and are typically marked by a sense of menace. Notable plays: The Birthday Party (1958), The Caretaker (1960), and Party Time (1991). Nobel Prize for Literature (2005).

Appearing in Solutions:

addition - French bill (e.g., at a bar or restaurant)

cult - noun 2 a person or thing that is popular or fashionable among a particular group or section of society: the series has become a bit of a cult in the UK; [as modifier] a cult film

*D2 - abbreviation [7th entry] Germany (international vehicle registration) [from German Deutschland]

Edgar Degas - (1834–1917), French painter and sculptor; full name Hilaire Germain Edgar Degas. An Impressionist painter, Degas is best known for his paintings of ballet dancers.

*M2 - abbreviation 10 British Motorway, followed by a number, as in M1

*p - abbreviation [4th entry] Music piano (softly [or quietly])

ordinary - noun 8 historical, chiefly North American a penny-farthing bicycle

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.

10a   Boss heads off into own workshop (6)

This clue generated probably the most discussion at Big Dave's site. The definition is "workshop" with the solution being STUDIO. The wordplay is STUD (boss; as on a shield) + IO (heads off into own; i.e., the head letters off of the words 'into' and 'own'). The natural inclination seems to be to think of "heads off" meaning 'remove and discard the heads, using the remainder' (as might be the case in preparing fish). However, here it means 'remove and use the heads'. Think of a recipe calling for the use of the heads off two stalks of Brussels sprouts.

22a   Priest revealed how the animals got on to the ark (6)

Judging by the illustration chosen by Big Dave, the solution would appear to be true for all the animals with the exception of the rabbits. I suppose it is understandable why Noah would not want a pair of rabbits aboard!

While it seems to be almost universally believed that Noah took only two of every living creature on board the ark, the Bible tells us that he actually took seven pairs of most creatures. "Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female. Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth." [Genesis Chapter 7, Verse 2-3]

26a   Want new grass to be cut at the start (4)

The definition is "want" for which the solution is NEED. The wordplay is N(ew) + (r)EED (grass to be cut at the start; a word meaning grass from which the starting letter has been deleted). Of course, for those who grew up in the sixties, a different type of grass might come to mind - and one having a synonym that works equally well in the context of this clue.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Saturday, March 26, 2011 - Three of a Kind

Introduction

We find four pretty good poker hands in today's puzzle from Cox and Rathvon. Following the miracle of the loaves and fishes, we receive one of the world's most prestigious awards, and finally celebrate at a rock concert.








Solution to Today's Puzzle

Legend: "*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed
"( )" letters inserted; "_" letters deleted

Across

1a   {GREAT WHITE SHARK}* - anagram (developed) of RATHER WEAK SIGHT

9a   DO(PIES)T - PIES (desserts) contained in (eaten by) DOT (Dorothy)

10a   ERE|MITE - ERE (before) + MITE (arachnid)

11a   {WHOLE WHEAT BREAD}* - anagram (cooked) of HAL WHO BREWED TEA

12a   B(ON)USES - BUSES (public transportation) containing (taking) ON (aboard)

14a   TA(S)TE - TATE (London Art Gallery) (containing) S (small)
*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.
17a   REAL|M - REAL (concrete) + M (mass; Physics unit)

19a   ALSATIA* - anagram (mistakenly) of AAA LIST
Alsatia - Latin Roman name for Alsace, a region of NE France, on the borders with Germany and Switzerland. Alsace was annexed by Prussia, along with part of Lorraine (forming Alsace - Lorraine), after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1, and restored to France after the First World War.
22a   {NOBEL PEACE PRIZE}* - anagram (reshaped) of PALE BRONZE PIECE

25a   ILL| W|ILL - ILL (I shall; I'll) + W (win; abbreviation found in the sports pages) + ILL (I shall; I'll)

26a   _MINE|RAL_ - hidden in (partly) exaMINE RALph

27a   {HEAVY METAL MUSIC}* - anagram (dancing) of MAY MATCH ELUSIVE

Down

1d   GO D|OWN - OWN (have) (following) GOD (deity)
Note: for effect, the setter reverses the natural order of the elements.
2d   EUPHOR(B)IA - B (bee) contained in (goes into) EUPHORIA (ecstasy)
euphorbia - noun a plant of a genus that comprises the spurges. Genus Euphorbia, family Euphorbiaceae
3d   T(HERE)IN - HERE (present) contained in (put inside) TIN (can)

4d   HATCH - double definition; "conceive" (e.g., a plan or a plot) & "an opening in a deck"

5d   THE M(ASS)ES - ASS (fool) contained in (in) THEMES (essays)
Note: once again, the setter reverses the natural order of the elements.
6d   S(HERB)ET - HERB (seasoning) contained in (in) SET (gelled)

7d   A|LICE - LICE (bugs) following (going after) A
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (commonly shortened to Alice in Wonderland) is an 1865 novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world (the Wonderland of the title) populated by peculiar and anthropomorphic creatures.
8d   K(NEE-D)EEP - KEEP (stay; as in the expression "stay dry") containing (outside of) NEED (necessity)

13d   {SLATE BLUE}* - anagram (changing) of SUBTLE ALE

15d   SPAN(IARD*)S - SPANS (bridges) containing an anagram (ground; past tense of grind) of ARID

16d   BRAN|DISH - BRAN (cereal) + DISH (bowl)

18d   MOLL(IF)Y - MOLLY containing (has) IF (provided)

20d   TO(PONY)M - PONY (horse) contained in (is sheltered by) TOM (Thomas)

21d   BELL|OC< - BELL (inventor; Alexander Graham Bell) + a reversal (turned) of CO (company)
Hilaire Belloc - (1870–1953), French-born British writer, historian, and poet remembered chiefly for Cautionary Tales (1907); full name Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc.
23d   BALS|A< - reversal (backing) of {A + SLAB (thick chunk)}

24d   CO(M)MA - M (em) contained in COMA (stupor)

Signing off for today - Falcon

Friday, March 25, 2011

Friday, March 25, 2011 (DT 26435)

Puzzle at a Glance
Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number
DT 26435
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Setter
Jay
Link to Full Review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26435]
Big Dave's Review Written By
Crypticsue
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - ★★ Enjoyment - ★★★
Falcon's Performance
┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐
██████████████████████████████████
└────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘
Legend:
- solved without assistance
- incorrect prior to use of puzzle solving tools
- solved with assistance from puzzle solving tools
- unsolved or incorrect prior to visiting Big Dave's blog

Introduction

I came close to finishing without using my Tool Chest today. However, try as I might, I could not get past 14d without assistance. Crypticsue nominated this clue as her favourite, and I would second that motion. I always have great respect for clues which stump me.

Today's Glossary

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

[Items marked with an asterisk are from a Cumulative Glossary of entries appearing, since the beginning of this year, in either this blog or its companion blog, the Ottawa Citizen Cryptic Crossword Forum.]

Appearing in Clues:

Meanings listed in this section may reflect how the word is used in the surface reading of the clue. Of course, that meaning may be contributing to the misdirection that the setter is attempting to create.

greengrocer - noun British a retailer of fruit and vegetables

short - noun 1 British a drink of spirits served in a small measure [cf. shot]
shot1 - noun 20 North American, especially US colloquial a small drink of alcoholic spirit; a dram
sweet - noun 2 British a sweet dish forming a course of a meal; a pudding or dessert

Appearing in Solutions:

*L2 - abbreviation [5th entry] British (on a motor vehicle) learner driver

O2 - symbol the chemical element oxygen

*OR - abbreviation [3rd entry] Military, British other ranks (as opposed to commissioned officers)

pud - noun British informal  short for pudding
pudding - noun chiefly British
  • 1 a cooked sweet dish served after the main course of a meal:
      • a rice pudding;
      • [mass noun] a good helping of pudding
  • [mass noun] the dessert course of a meal: what's for pudding?
  • North American a dessert with a soft or creamy consistency.
*RR - abbreviation Right Reverend, adjective a title given to a bishop, especially in the Anglican Church

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.

17a   The feeling generated as pride is broken (7)

Here I initially tried to form an anagram (broken) of PRIDE IS. I eventually realized that the wordplay is actually an anagram (is broken) of AS PRIDE.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Thursday, March 24, 2011 (DT 26434)

Puzzle at a Glance
Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number
DT 26434
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Setter
Anthony Plumb (aka Flimsy in the FT)
Link to Full Review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26434]
Big Dave's Review Written By
Gazza
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - ★★ Enjoyment - ★★★
Falcon's Performance
┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐
███████████████████████████████████
└────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘
Legend:
- solved without assistance
- incorrect prior to use of puzzle solving tools
- solved with assistance from puzzle solving tools
- unsolved or incorrect prior to visiting Big Dave's blog


Introduction

Despite the puzzle not being overly demanding (or, as the British would say, gentle), my electronic aids did not sit totally idle today - being called into action with four clues remaining to be vanquished.

Today's Glossary

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

[Items marked with an asterisk are from a Cumulative Glossary of entries appearing, since the beginning of this year, in either this blog or its companion blog, the Ottawa Citizen Cryptic Crossword Forum.]

Appearing in Clues:

Meanings listed in this section may reflect how the word is used in the surface reading of the clue. Of course, that meaning may be contributing to the misdirection that the setter is attempting to create.

eight - noun an eight-oared rowing boat or its crew

Swanage - a small coastal town in the south east of Dorset, England that is a popular tourist resort, drawing many thousands of visitors during the peak summer season to its sandy beaches and other attractions.

Appearing in Solutions:

diligence2 - noun historical a public stagecoach [origin: (late 17th century) from French, shortened from carrosse de diligence 'coach of speed']

parade - noun 2 British a public square or promenade; a row of shops: a shopping parade

*private means - plural noun British income from investments, property, or inheritance, as opposed to earned income or state benefit

snaffle - noun (also snaffle bit)(on a bridle) a simple bit, typically a jointed one, used with a single set of reins verb British informal take (something) for oneself, typically quickly or without permission: shall we snaffle some of Bernard's sherry?

*Tommy - noun (plural Tommies) informal 1 a British private soldier [pet form of the given name Thomas; from a use of the name Thomas Atkins in specimens of completed official forms in the British army during the 19th century]

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.

15d   Watchman unhappy living at top of esplanade (9)

The definition is "watchman" with the wordplay being {an anagram (unhappy) of LIVING AT} + E {top [i.e., top letter (this being a down clue)] of E(splanade)}. The solution is VIGILANTE, in which (I believe) the setter is exercising a bit of licence by stretching the definition considerably. The rationale for this is likely that the word vigilante comes from the Spanish word meaning 'vigilant' or 'watchful'.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Wednesday, March 23, 2011 (DT 26433)

Puzzle at a Glance
Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number
DT 26433
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph
Monday, December 27, 2010
Setter
Giovanni
Link to Full Review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26433]
Big Dave's Review Written By
Libellule
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - ★★★ Enjoyment - ★★
Falcon's Performance
┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐
███████████████████████████████████
└────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘
Legend:
- solved without assistance
- incorrect prior to use of puzzle solving tools
- solved with assistance from puzzle solving tools
- unsolved or incorrect prior to visiting Big Dave's blog
Notes
The National Post has skipped DT 26432, a seasonally themed Christmas Eve puzzle, which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Friday, December 24, 2010

Introduction

I needed to resort to my electronic aids fairly early today. I thought that my apparent sluggishness might be the aftereffects of having worked into the wee hours of the morning preparing a review for Big Dave's site on the puzzle which appears in today's edition of The Daily Telegraph. However, I see that many of the Brits also found it a bit of a struggle. Of course, they blamed the aftereffects of Christmas cheer.

Today's Glossary

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

[Items marked with an asterisk are from a Cumulative Glossary of entries appearing, since the beginning of this year, in either this blog or its companion blog, the Ottawa Citizen Cryptic Crossword Forum.]

Appearing in Clues:

Meanings listed in this section may reflect how the word is used in the surface reading of the clue. Of course, that meaning may be contributing to the misdirection that the setter is attempting to create.

Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs) - a county in the east of England

wallop - noun 2 British alcoholic drink, especially beer

Appearing in Solutions:

Saint Alban - (3rd century), the first British Christian martyr, a native of Verulamium (now St Albans). He was put to death for sheltering a fugitive priest. Feast day, 22 June.

ding2 -
  • noun informal, chiefly North American a mark or dent on the bodywork of a car, boat, or other vehicle; Scottish or dialect a blow on the head
  • verb dent (something); hit (someone), especially on the head: I dinged him one;  (ding into) Scottish bump into
*fete - noun
  • British a public function, typically held outdoors and organized to raise funds for a charity, including entertainment and the sale of goods and refreshments: a church fete
  • chiefly North American a celebration or festival
Ford Transit - a range of panel vans, minibuses, and pickup trucks, produced by the Ford Motor Company in Europe which has been the best-selling light commercial vehicle in Europe for 40 years. In some countries of Europe the term "Transit" has passed into common usage as a generic term applying to any light commercial van in the Transit's size bracket.

Grantham - a market town in Lincolnshire, England known as the birthplace of former prime minister Margaret Thatcher, and the place where Isaac Newton went to school

incomer - noun British a person who has come to live in an area in which they have not grown up, especially in a close-knit rural community

*L or l - U.K. money pounds [Latin librae]

*OR - abbreviation [3rd entry] Military, British other ranks (as opposed to commissioned officers)

Albert, Prince Consort  - Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, later The Prince Consort; Francis Albert Augustus Charles Emmanuel (1819 – 1861) was the husband of Queen Victoria

publican - noun 1 British a person who owns or manages a pub

R2 - abbreviation from Latin Regina (queen) or Rex (king): Elizabeth R or George R

Sark - one of the Channel Islands, a small island lying to the east of Guernsey

Strand - a street in the City of Westminster, London, England which starts at Trafalgar Square and runs east to join Fleet Street at Temple Bar

toff - noun British informal, derogatory a rich or upper-class person

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.

7d   After trick try to show disdain (8)

Try as I may, I cannot find any support for "try" meaning 'tempt' (as in the solution) or 'entice' (as in Libellule's hint). "Try" certainly does mean 'attempt' and I tried desperately to find a justification for discarding the leading 'AT' but without success. As it turns out, I am not alone in questioning this meaning. However, Libellule reiterates in response to a comment from Toadson that "Try, entice are synonyms for tempt".

10a   See woman fiddle with plant (5)

As Libellule points out, this is a triple definition. However, I vainly spent some time trying to make it into a quadruple definition, trying to somehow reconfigure the French exclamation 'Voila!' which could be translated into English as 'See!'.

13a   Bird bringing back rubbish, what you’d expect (6)

This was the final clue to be solved - which left me feeling somewhat red-faced!

21a   Hear William thump shed maybe (8)

I would amend Libellule's hint to begin "A homophone of [a nickname for] William ...".

25d   Change flow to go up, not down (4)

In this clue, I had a pretty good sense of the wordplay but was delayed looking for a 5-letter word meaning "flow" that when reversed (to go up) and had the letter D removed (not down) would mean "change". I eventually saw through the misdirection and realized that I needed a 4-letter word meaning "change" that would mean "flow" when it went up (was reversed) but not when it went down.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Tuesday, March 22, 2011 (DT 26431)

Puzzle at a Glance
Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number
DT 26431
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Setter
Shamus
Link to Full Review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26431]
Big Dave's Review Written By
Big Dave
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - ★★★ Enjoyment - ★★★
Falcon's Performance
┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐
███████████████████████████████████
└────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘
Legend:
- solved without assistance
- incorrect prior to use of puzzle solving tools
- solved with assistance from puzzle solving tools
- unsolved or incorrect prior to visiting Big Dave's blog

Introduction

I did fairly well on this puzzle, but did not understand the homophone at 16d until I read Gazza's comment at Big Dave's site.

Rubbish vs. Garbage

Some Briticisms are totally foreign to the North American ear, while others would be familiar to us from British television shows, movies or publications. Then there are words, like rubbish (in the sense of household waste), that would likely be easily understood by North Americans, but not commonly used.

Oxford Dictionaries Online defines rubbish, in this sense, as "noun chiefly British waste material; refuse or litter", what in North America would be called garbage ("noun chiefly North American rubbish or waste, especially domestic refuse").

The Brits would put their rubbish in a bin, which they might well call a dustbin (a receptacle for rubbish, rather than dust). On this side of the Atlantic, most of us would likely put our household waste in a garbage can, but if we lived in an apartment building (a block of flats to the Brits), we might put it in a garbage bin (a considerably larger receptacle). Of course, some of us put our organic kitchen waste in a compost bin.

The other meanings for rubbish seem to be used similarly on both sides of the Atlantic, namely "material that is considered unimportant or valueless" and "absurd, nonsensical, or worthless talk or ideas". In the former case, note that although considered worthless, it has not been discarded. The moment it is discarded, it would likely be considered garbage over here.

Today's Glossary

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

[Items marked with an asterisk are from a Cumulative Glossary of entries appearing, since the beginning of this year, in either this blog or its companion blog, the Ottawa Citizen Cryptic Crossword Forum.]

Appearing in Clues:

Meanings listed in this section may reflect how the word is used in the surface reading of the clue. Of course, that meaning may be contributing to the misdirection that the setter is attempting to create.

rating1 - noun 2 British a non-commissioned sailor in the navy

Appearing in Solutions:

angel - noun 5 colloquial someone who works in the nursing profession

* DI - abbreviation [2nd 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).
get at - phrasal verb 3 British informal criticize (someone) subtly and repeatedly: I hope you didn't think I was getting at you

*mo - noun [in singular] informal, chiefly British a short period of time: hang on a mo!
 
removal - noun [usually as modifier] British the transfer of furniture and other contents when moving house: removal men
Presumably the North American equivalent would be moving, as in moving van. However, removal men would more likely be called movers, rather than moving men.
san - noun  informal term for sanatorium, an establishment for the medical treatment of people who are convalescing or have a chronic illness [or, in the U.S., sanitarium]

turn - noun 3 [2nd entry] a short performance, especially one of a number given by different performers in succession: a comic turn

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.

16d   Trifling items carried on some cattle reportedly (7)

The definition is "trifling items", which happen to be BAUBLES. That part is easy enough. It is also evident that it is a homophone clue, with the indicator being "reportedly". But just what is the homophone? I briefly considered it might be BULL BALLS, but rejected that idea fairly quickly. While Big Dave's hint didn't provide enough information to clarify the matter, Gazza does explain the homophone in response to a comment. The homophone is BORE + BULLS.

For North Americans who pronounce bauble to rhyme (more or less) with gobble, this clue is complete mystery. One must know that the Brits pronounce bauble sort of like bawh-ble. You can listen to the American and British pronunciations at the aforementioned link. One also has to remember that the Brits use a soft R so that bore comes off sounding sort of like bawh. Again you can listen to the pronunciations at the link.

I have made my best effort to transcribe and explain the sounds, but undoubtedly I have not done a great job. The best thing is to listen to them for yourself. It is not surprising that this type of clue doesn't transport well across the Atlantic. Like this one, these homophone clues often only work within a certain region in Britain (there being dozens of regional dialects in the U.K.).

Signing off for today - Falcon