Monday, May 16, 2011 - DT 26482

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26482
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26482]
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

I was able to finish all but two clues at a very rapid pace, but then needed to pop open my Tool Chest. One of the holdouts was 15a which also seemed to be the last in for many of the Brits. Even after my electronic assistants revealed the existence of only a single candidate which matches the checking letters, it took a moment of thought to decipher the wordplay. My folly arose largely from mistakenly thinking that the definition must be "joint". At 26a, I was done in by being unfamiliar with the British "crocodile". Again, my word finder turned up only one word which satisfies the checking letters - causing a furrowed brow until I found out that a crocodile may not necessarily be a reptile in the U.K.

Although 17d seems to have stumped many Brits, the solution came easily to me as this subject has been a major political issue in Canada in the last couple of years. However, as the recent federal election produced a majority government, it will undoubtedly not be an issue during the life of the current Parliament.

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.

crocodile - noun 2 British informal a line of schoolchildren walking in pairs.

off - noun 1 (also off side) Cricket the half of the field (as divided lengthways through the pitch ) towards which the batsman's feet are pointed when standing to receive the ball.  The opposite of leg [or on].

Note: the customary spelling when used in this sense (as a Cricket term) may be as two words (off side). However, the "bible" (The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition) has it as a single word (offside). Under its listing for offside, Oxford Dictionaries Online states "See also off side at off (sense 1 of the noun)". It is somewhat unclear to me whether Oxford is suggesting by this that offside is a variant spelling of off side in the Cricket sense, or pointing out the difference in meaning between the terms offside and off side (although I would strongly suspect the latter).

Relate - a charity providing relationship support throughout the United Kingdom. Services include counselling for couples, families, young people and individuals, sex therapy, mediation and training courses.

Appearing in Solutions:

cut - verb 11 [3^rd entry] Cricket hit (the ball) to the off side with the bat held almost horizontally; play such a stroke against (the bowler).

Dover - 1 [1^st entry] a ferry port in Kent, in England, on the coast of the English Channel; population 35,200 (est. 2009). It is mainland Britain's nearest point to the Continent, being only 35 km (22 miles) from Calais[, France].

gen - noun British informal information: you've got more gen on him than we have

red rag - [Collins English Dictionary] noun a provocation; something that infuriates [so called because red objects supposedly infuriate bulls]

a red rag to a bull - phrase an object, utterance, or act which is certain to provoke someone: the refusal to discuss the central issue was like a red rag to a bull

rye bread - noun any of various breads made with rye flour.

Note: this entry is from Chambers 21st Century Dictionary (Search Chambers). Both the Oxford Dictionary of English (Oxford Dictionaries Online) and Collins English Dictionary (TheFreeDictionary.com) also show this term as two words (rye bread). The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition is alone in its stance that this is a single word (ryebread).

un - definite article French a

up - [The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition] adverb in revolt

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.

17a   Put off supporting scoundrel (8)

Anyone with even a passing interest in Canadian politics should have had no difficulty solving this clue. The definition is "put off" with the solution being PROROGUE, which formally means to "discontinue a session of (a parliament or other legislative assembly) without dissolving it". The wordplay is PRO (supporting) + ROGUE (scoundrel) - which I suppose those of a certain political persuasion might also take as a bit of a commentary on Canadian politics.

28a   Hear about side with it (6)

The definition is "with it" for which the solution is TRENDY. The wordplay is TRY (hear; as a case in court) containing (about) END (side).

I was initially puzzled by end and side being synonyms, as I was thinking in terms of a rectangle which has two sides (the longer dimensions) and two ends (the shorter dimensions). However, if one thinks of side as meaning "either of the two halves of an object, surface, or place regarded as divided by an imaginary central line" (a sports field or court, for instance) and end as "either of the halves of a sports field or court defended by one team or player" then the words clearly can be synonymous.

Signing off for today - Falcon