Tuesday, June 7, 2011 - DT 26500

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26500
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Setter Shamus (unconfirmed)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26500]
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

I worked on this puzzle during several sessions throughout the day - eventually completing it without electronic assistance. However, I did not understand the wordplay for a few clues. I managed to track down the film couple at 5d on Google but needed Gazza's hints to sort out the wordplay at 25a and to identify the uncle at 26d.

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.

Ismail Merchant - (1936 – 2005) was an Indian-born film producer, best known for the results of his famously long collaboration with Merchant Ivory Productions which included director (and Merchant's longtime professional and personal partner) James Ivory as well as screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. Their films won six Academy Awards.

Appearing in Solutions:

doner kebab - noun a Turkish dish consisting of spiced lamb cooked on a spit and served in slices, typically with pitta [North American pita] bread.

I was only familiar with with a variation of this food, called a donair, developed and popular in Atlantic Canada and which has since spread to other parts of Canada.

Eros - statue atop the Shaftesbury Monument Memorial Fountain located in Piccadilly Circus, London, England. While the statue is generally believed to depict Eros, it was actually intended by the sculptor to be an image of his twin brother, Anteros.

Indian - noun 3 British informal an Indian meal or restaurant.

James Ivory - American film director, best known for the results of his long collaboration with Merchant Ivory Productions, which included both Indian-born film producer Ismail Merchant [Ivory's longtime professional and personal partner], and screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. Their films won six Academy Awards.

K² - abbreviation [6^th entry] king (used especially in describing play in card games and recording moves in chess): declarer overruffed with ♦K and led another spade; 18.Ke2

Kir - noun trademark a drink made from dry white wine and cassis.

R² - abbreviation [4^th entry] Regina [Queen] or Rex {King]

*read - verb 5 chiefly British study (an academic subject) at a university: I'm reading English at Cambridge; [no object] he went to Manchester to read for a BA in Economics.

*Reader - noun 4 British a university lecturer of the highest grade below professor

Uncle Remus - a fictional character, the title character and fictional narrator of a collection of African American folktales adapted and compiled by Joel Chandler Harris, published in book form in 1881.

rheumatics - plural noun [usually treated as singular] informal rheumatism; rheumatic pains.

rota - noun 1 British a list showing when each of a number of people has to do a particular job: a cleaning rota

Rye - a small town in East Sussex, England, which stands approximately two miles from the open sea and is at the confluence of three rivers: the Rother, the Tillingham and the Brede. In medieval times, however, as an important member of the Cinque Ports confederation, it was at the head of an embayment of the English Channel and almost entirely surrounded by the sea. ... Medieval maps show that Rye was originally located on a huge embayment of the English Channel called the Rye Camber, which provided a safe anchorage and harbour.

swish - adjective British informal impressively smart and fashionable: dinner at a swish hotel

yob - noun British informal a rude, noisy, and aggressive youth.

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.

25a   Academic institution found shortly in middle of suburbs (10)

It would seem that the solution to this clue could be nothing other than UNIVERSITY. However, the wordplay is a different matter. I must admit that I didn't figure it out on my own, and I even needed to re-read Gazza's hint a couple of times before the penny dropped.

This would almost seem to be an inverse semi-&lit. (a term I have never actually seen - so I may be coining a new term). In a semi-&lit. clue, the entire clue serves as the definition while a portion of the clue provides the wordplay (as compared to a true &lit. clue where the entire clue constitutes both the wordplay and the definition)  In this clue, the entire clue serves as the wordplay but only a portion of the clue forms the definition. The definition is "academic institution" and the wordplay (provided by the entire clue) tells us that an abbreviation - or short form (shortly) - for the required academic institution is to be found in the middle of (sub)U(rbs).

Signing off for today - Falcon