Monday, March 21, 2011 (DT 26430)

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26430
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Setter Jay
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26430]
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

Similar to Big Dave, it was a hidden word clue that was the last to go in for me. However, in my case, I stumbled over a clue at the bottom of the grid (27a) rather than the one at the top of the grid which seems to have held up Big Dave.

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.

brush - noun 3 the bushy tail of a fox

Appearing in Solutions:

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

guy - verb make fun of; ridicule: she never stopped guying him about his weight

OTT - abbreviation British informal over the top: presenting him as a goalscoring Superman seems a bit OTT

teg - noun a sheep in its second year

wagtail - noun a slender Eurasian and African songbird with a long tail that is frequently wagged up and down, typically living by water. Family Motacillidae: two genera, in particular Motacilla, and several species

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.

27a   Death ensures capital is protected (6)

I nearly tossed in the towel before seeing the solution to this clue. In fact, it was so close, that my arm was already in the air and I had completed my backswing when the penny dropped.

The trick to solving this clue is to recognize that the definition "capital" is located in the middle of it. The clue uses a rather convoluted structure to express the idea that ATHENS (capital) is hidden (is protected) in deATH ENSures.

14d   Bird with a good brush (7)

While I was not familiar with "brush" as an animal's tail (in particular, that of a fox) this meaning was not difficult to track down. However, in the course of doing so, I discovered that, in Australia and New Zealand, "brush" means "tail"  in the sense of "girls or women regarded sexually" with Oxford giving the usage example "Beer first, brush later". Combine this with the British meaning of "bird" being "a young woman" and we may almost have a double entendre worthy of Ray T.

Signing off for today - Falcon