Thursday, August 25, 2011 - DT 26567

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26567
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Setter Jay
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26567]
Big Dave's Review Written By Falcon
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

Today we have a relatively easy offering from Jay, one which I reviewed in June for Big Dave's blog. Strangely, on my first read through this morning, I was able to solve only a handful of clues. However, as I continued to work on it, the solutions which must have been buried deep in my subconscious gradually percolated to the surface.

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.

bloomer² - noun British informal, dated a serious or stupid mistake: he never committed a bloomer [Origin: (late 19th century) equivalent to blooming error]

bloomer³ - noun British a large loaf with diagonal slashes on a rounded top.

*Home Counties - the English counties surrounding London, into which London has extended. They comprise chiefly Essex, Kent, Surrey, and Hertfordshire. [They are located in south-east England].

queen - noun 5 an adult female cat that has not been spayed.

train - noun 2 [2^nd entry] a retinue of attendants accompanying an important person: a minister and his train of attendants

Appearing in Solutions:

ait (also eyot) - noun British a small island in a river: Raven’s Ait

cargo cult - noun (in the Melanesian Islands) a system of belief based around the expected arrival of ancestral spirits in ships bringing cargoes of food and other goods.

Harry Houdini - (1874–1926), Hungarian-born American magician and escape artist; born Erik Weisz. In the early 1900s he became famous for his ability to escape from all kinds of bonds and containers, from prison cells to aerially suspended straitjackets.

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

*South East - in popular British parlance, a vaguely defined region consisting of London and surrounding areas, located in the south-eastern portion of England.

Officially, South East England is one of the nine regions of England, designated in 1994. It comprises counties situated to the south and west of London, but does not include London. As Wikipedia observes, "Before the creation of the current region, the idea that London was not in the south-east of England would have seemed ridiculous."

suite - noun 3 a group of people in attendance on a monarch or other person of high rank: the Royal Saloon was built for the use of the Queen and her suite

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.

4d   Facilities for reporting on train? (2,5)

When I first reviewed this puzzle for Big Dave's blog, I failed to decipher the wordplay in this clue - appealing to Big Dave to come to my rescue. The definition is "facilities" (lavatory) with the solution being EN SUITE for which the wordplay is EN {sounds like (reporting) ON} + SUITE (train; in the sense of 'retinue').

Signing off for today - Falcon