Monday, May 9, 2011 (DT 26472)

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26472
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, February 10, 2011
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26472]
Big Dave's Review Written By Big Dave
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

My Tool Chest almost got the day off, but was called into service to help track done the equestrian term at 16d. I also had to verify that the fish at 5a truly exists.

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.

*flog - verb 2 British informal sell or offer for sale: he made a fortune flogging beads to hippies

kipper - British one who kips

kip⁴ - informal noun 1 [a] British a sleep or nap: I might have a little kip; he was trying to get some kip [b] chiefly Scottish a bed. verb British sleep: he can kip on her sofa.

Appearing in Solutions:

G - [The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition] abbreviation Government, as in G-man, noun US an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

R - [The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition] abbreviation Rector

sleeper - noun 6 a stocky fish with mottled coloration which occurs widely in warm seas and fresh water. Dormitator and other genera, family Gobiidae (or Eleotridae): many species.   See also cockabully

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.

1a   Drug seller's cut cocaine hits me badly (7)

The phrase "cut cocaine" apparently signifies the first letter of "C(ocaine)". I suppose one could interpret this to mean either cut off the first letter and use it or cut off and discard all but the first letter. In any event, such clueing seems rather superfluous as the big red Chambers (The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition) lists C as an abbreviation for cocaine.

Signing off for today - Falcon