Thursday, April 14, 2011 (DT 26452)

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26452
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Setter Shamus
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26452]
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

While I was able to complete the puzzle without assistance, in the process I did assemble several words which were new to me and which I needed to later verify in the dictionary. Among them were a petty British functionary, an Irish television network, and a breed of British dog.

In a variation on an old joke, if a German, a Scot and a Frenchman were to walk into a bar in Crosswordland, they would almost certainly be named Otto, Ian and René respectively. And today's puzzle is no exception, as all three gentlemen make an appearance. The proverbial Irishman, Patty, is missing from this get-together (probably at home watching television). However, this party is joined by a Welshman, one whose acquaintance I had yet to make.

Finally, as usual, I failed to realize that today's puzzle is a pangram.

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 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.

champagne socialist - noun British derogatory a person who espouses socialist ideals while enjoying a wealthy and luxurious lifestyle

hotel - noun 2 a code word representing the letter H, used in radio communication

*local - noun British informal a pub convenient to a person's home: a pint in the local

Appearing in Solutions:

Aled - a male Welsh given name

Colin Cowdrey - (formally Michael Colin Cowdrey, Baron Cowdrey of Tonbridge, CBE) (1932 – 2000) - an English amateur and professional cricketer and later cricket administrator who was posthumously inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in 2009. With 114 Test matches and over 7,600 runs, Cowdrey was a stalwart batsman for England. His 22 centuries is a record held jointly with two other players, and he is one of only a handful of batsmen to have scored over 100 first-class centuries. Two sons, Chris and Graham,  also became cricketers.

Epsom Downs - a racecourse near Epsom, Surrey, England. The "downs" referred to in the name are part of the North Downs. The course is best known for hosting the Epsom Derby, the United Kingdom's premier thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old colts and fillies, over a mile and a half.

Gr. - abbreviation Greek

J² - abbreviation 1 IVR [International Vehicle Registration code] Japan

jobsworth - noun British informal an official who upholds petty rules even at the expense of humanity or common sense

lurcher - noun 1 British a cross-bred dog , typically a retriever, collie, or sheepdog crossed with a greyhound, of a kind originally used for hunting and by poachers for catching rabbits

Offa - (d.796), king of Mercia 757–96. He organized the construction of Offa's Dyke.

Raidió Teilifís Éireann (abbreviated as RTÉ) - a semi-state company and the public service broadcaster of Ireland. It both produces programmes and broadcasts them on television, radio and the Internet.

River Wear - a river in North East England, rising in the Pennines and flowing eastwards, mostly through County Durham, to the North Sea at Sunderland

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   Last longer than striking flower (7)

It should come as no surprise that "flower" here refers to a river (something that flows).Judging from a comment at Big Dave's site, the name of the River Wear may be pronounced 'weir' rather than 'where' (at least in some parts of the U.K.) - a bit of knowledge that apparently handicapped at least one British solver.

2d   Tender Mercian King reportedly (7)

This homophone clue relies on using the British pronunciation of OFFER, spoken with a soft R making it sound like OFFA. The definition is "tender" for which the solution is OFFER. The wordplay is sounds like (reportedly) OFFA (Mercian King).

19d   Upcoming regulation almost caught woman’s dog (7)

Strictly speaking, Gazza would better have said in his review "a feminine possessive pronoun (woman's)" rather than "a feminine pronoun (woman)".

Signing off for today - Falcon