Friday, June 24, 2011 - DT 26515

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26515
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, April 1, 2011
Setter Giovanni
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26515]
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

Introduction

Once I had established a beachhead, I was able to proceed fairly quickly through this puzzle. However, my progress was arrested with only 19d left to solve - perhaps having been thrown off-stride by a couple of superfluous words tossed into the clue by the setter. Reluctantly, I turned to my electronic aides for assistance, only to kick myself when I realized what the solution was.

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.

host² - noun 2 archaic an army.

Appearing in Solutions:

collegiate - adjective 2 British (of a university) composed of different colleges.

habilitation - the highest academic qualification a scholar can achieve by his or her own pursuit in several European and Asian countries. Earned after obtaining a research doctorate, such as a PhD, habilitation requires the candidate to write a professorial thesis (often known as a Habilitationsschrift, or Habilitation thesis) based on independent scholarship, reviewed by and defended before an academic committee in a process similar to that for the doctoral dissertation. However, the level of scholarship has to be considerably higher than that required for a research doctoral (PhD) thesis in terms of quality and quantity, and must be accomplished independently, in contrast with a PhD dissertation typically directed or guided by a faculty supervisor.

honeyeater - noun an Australasian songbird with a long brush-like tongue for feeding on nectar. Family Meliphagidae: numerous species and genera

*L² - abbreviation [5^th entry] British (on a motor vehicle) learner driver.

SHE - a British women's magazine published by the National Magazine Company, a London-based wholly owned subsidiary of the Hearst Corporation.

smilax - noun 1 a widely distributed climbing shrub with hooks and tendrils. Several South American species yield sarsaparilla from their roots, and some are cultivated as ornamentals. Genus Smilax, family Liliaceae 2 a climbing asparagus, the decorative foliage of which is used by florists. Asparagus (or Myrsiphyllum) asparagoides, family Liliaceae

time - literary allusion enemy, as in "The innocent and the beautiful have no enemy but time." - William Butler Yeats

toilet roll - noun British a roll of toilet paper.

Signing off for today - Falcon