Friday, April 29, 2011 - DT 26463

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26463
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, January 31, 2011
Setter Rufus
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26463]
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 26462 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, January 29, 2011

Introduction

I made what I thought was a fairly easy puzzle more difficult by entering STREET VENDOR at 13a, thereby hampering for some time my efforts on the right hand side of the puzzle. Even though, in hindsight, the north east quadrant doesn't appear any more difficult than the rest of the puzzle I did need a gentle nudge from my tools to finish it. I was a bit surprised to see that the Brits were nearly unanimous in characterising this one as more difficult than usual (at least for a "Monday" puzzle).

Today's Glossary

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

[An asterisk beside an entry merely indicates that it has been taken it from a Cumulative Glossary of entries which have previously appeared, in either this blog or its companion blog, the Ottawa Citizen Cryptic Crossword Forum.]

Appearing in Solutions:

parole - noun 1 the temporary or permanent release of a prisoner before the expiry of a sentence, on the promise of good behaviour: he committed a burglary while on parole; historical a promise or undertaking given by a prisoner of war to return to custody or act as a non-belligerent if released.

schooner - [Collins English Dictionary] noun 2 British a large glass for sherry. 3 US, Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand a large glass for beer.

stand to - phrasal verb [often in imperative] Military stand ready for an attack, especially one before dawn or after dark.

street trader - noun a person who sells something in the street, either from a stall or van or with their goods laid out on the pavement. [I found no evidence to indicate definitively that this is a British expression, but I certainly would have said street vendor (in fact, I did!)]

tickle - [Collins English Dictionary] verb 5 to catch (a fish, especially a trout) by grasping it with the hands and gently moving the fingers into its gills.

Signing off for today - Falcon