Tuesday, May 24, 2011 (DT 26488)

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26488
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Setter Shamus
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26488]
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 █ - reviewed by Falcon for Big Dave's blog
Notes Today's puzzle is a pangram (i.e, it employs each letter of the alphabet at least once).

Introduction

I completed today's puzzle without the assistance of my Tool Chest but I did find it to be a good workout for my brain - an quite an enjoyable bit of exercise, to boot. I did fail to notice that it is a pangram, though.

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.

clot - noun 2 British informal a foolish or clumsy person: Watch where you're going, you clot!

Appearing in Solutions:

A - [The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition] abbreviation amateur

commonplace - noun 1 [a] a usual or ordinary thing: bombing has become almost a commonplace of public life there [b] a trite saying or topic; a platitude: it is a commonplace to talk of the young being alienated

D - [The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition] abbreviation Director

false dawn - noun 1 a promising situation which comes to nothing: after so many false dawns, Britain was finally enjoying an export-led boom 2 a transient light which precedes the rising of the sun by about an hour, commonly seen in Eastern countries.

*I³ - abbreviation [2^nd entry] Italy (international vehicle registration)

Java¹ - a large island in the Malay Archipelago, forming part of Indonesia; population 120,000,000 (est. 2008) (with Madura).

[Benito] Mussolini - (1883–1945), Italian Fascist statesman, Prime Minister 1922–43; known as Il Duce (‘the leader’); full name Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini. He founded the Italian Fascist Party in 1919. He annexed Abyssinia in 1936 and entered the Second World War on Germany's side in 1940. Forced to resign after the Allied invasion of Sicily, he was rescued from imprisonment by German paratroopers, but was captured and executed by Italian communist partisans.

*nit¹ - noun informal 2 British a foolish person: you stupid nit!

*leg - noun 5 (also leg side, on or on side) Cricket the half of the field (as divided lengthways through the pitch) away from which the batsman's feet are pointed when standing to receive the ball.  The opposite of off [or off side].

Qu. - [The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition] abbreviation Queen

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   Director enthralled by two Latin books of old is a clot (5)

The definition is the British slang term "clot" which means IDIOT. The wordplay is D (Director) contained in (enthralled by) {II (two Latin; i.e., the Roman numeral for two) + OT (books of old; i.e., Old Testament}.

25a   Polished by English cricket side followed by six-footer (7)

The definition is "polished" for which the solution is ELEGANT. The wordplay is E (English) + LEG (cricket side; see Today's Glossary) + ANT (six-footer; an insect and thus "a small arthropod animal that has six legs" with the corresponding number of feet).

Signing off for today - Falcon