Friday, May 13, 2011 - DT 26481

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26481
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, February 21, 2011
Setter Rufus
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26481]
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 26480 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, February 19, 2011

Introduction

Today we have a gentle puzzle from Rufus. I actually thought that this puzzle might have been set by Ray T. This suspicion was largely based on 15d, as well as 13d (which seemed like it could be the way Ray T might describe himself). However, the word "tit" is probably considered less "blue" in the U.K. than it is here - where the principal image of birds it might evoke would likely by 'hooters'. Needless to say, my hunch turned out to be wrong. In hindsight, the plethora of clever cryptic definitions in the puzzle should have been a clear giveaway that it was created by Rufus.

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.

blue tit - noun a small tit (songbird) with a blue cap, greenish -blue back, and yellow underparts, widespread in Eurasia and NW Africa. Parus caeruleus, family Paridae

pebble-dash - noun British mortar with pebbles in it, used as a coating for external walls. [This definition is from Oxford Dictionaries Online. Search Chambers (based on Chambers 21st Century Dictionary) and The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition both have this word spelled without a hyphen.]

subscription - noun 2 formal a signature or short piece of writing at the end of a document: he signed the letter and added a subscription

Appearing in Solutions:

* ER - abbreviation Queen Elizabeth. [from Latin Elizabetha Regina]

Signing off for today - Falcon