Thursday, April 7, 2011 (DT 26446)

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26446
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26446]
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

After a slow start, I rolled through this puzzle fairly rapidly until arriving in the southeast quadrant - which proved rather obstinate (especially as I discovered that I seem to have been misspelling this word my entire life). My error, one that I eventually discovered with the aid of my electronic tools, arose from inserting the North American term for someone driving under the influence rather than the (hitherto unknown to me) British version.

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.

mate¹ - 3 British informal

• a friend or companion: my best mate Steve 
• used as a friendly form of address between men or boys: ‘See you then, mate.’

rouge - noun 3 (in full vin rouge) French red wine

Appearing in Solutions:

carpet knight - noun archaic a man who avoids hard work in favour of leisure activities or philandering

cock¹ - noun 1 [4^th entry] British informal a friendly form of address among men: please yourself, cock

Dandie Dinmont - noun a terrier of a breed from the Scottish Borders, with short legs , a long body, and a rough coat [Origin: (early 19th century) named after a character in Sir Walter Scott's Guy Mannering who owned a special breed of terriers]

drink-driver - noun British one who commits the crime of driving a vehicle with an excess of alcohol in the blood [North American drunk driver]

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

Severn - a river of SW Britain. Rising in central Wales, it flows north-east then south in a broad curve for some 290 km (180 miles) to its mouth on the Bristol Channel.

snowball - noun 2 a cocktail containing advocaat and lemonade

*squash¹ - noun 2 British a concentrated liquid made from fruit juice and sugar, which is diluted to make a drink: orange squash

*tick¹ - noun 2 [2^nd entry] British informal a moment: I shan't be a tick; I'll be with you in a tick

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.

4a   Poet’s on $1,000 for his last work? (8)

After all my detective work to track down Anna Seward (the Swan of Lichfield), I discover from Gazza that the reference is likely to a much more famous poet, William Shakespeare ("the sweet swan of Avon"). Perhaps the nickname 'swan' is commonly applied to poets.

• Swan of Lichfield - sobriquet applied to Anna Seward (1747 – 1809), an English Romantic poet

At least, my interpretation was a bit more plausible than that of one visitor to Big Dave's site who suggested that that the clue might "might refer to Swan (sic) of Flanders and Swan (sic)". He was actually alluding to Donald Swann of the British composing and singing duo Flanders and Swann.

11a   English princess, one leaving port on the Nile Delta (9)

As Gazza points out, the reference is undoubtedly to Princess Alexandra, granddaughter of King George V and cousin of Elizabeth II. However, those of us from the Ottawa area might more readily think of Alexandra of Denmark (1844 – 1925) who was Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Empress of India from 1901 to 1910 as the consort of Edward VII. The Royal Alexandra Interprovincial Bridge (commonly referred to as either the Alexandra Bridge or the Interprovincial Bridge) linking Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec was named in her honour in 1901. Technically, though, I suppose that she would be considered a Danish princess - not an English one.

Signing off for today - Falcon