Friday, September 2, 2011 - DT 26574

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26574
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, June 9, 2011
Setter Ray T
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26574]
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 █ - reviewed by Falcon for Big Dave's blog

Introduction

Today, the old adage that begins "If at first you don't succeed ..." proved true. At my first sitting, I was able to solve most of the puzzle but there remained a half dozen holdouts. Upon returning to the puzzle several hours later, the solutions to the remaining clues quickly fell into place.

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.

bucket - verb 1 (it buckets down, it is bucketing down, etc.) British informal rain heavily: it was still bucketing down

maiden - noun 2 (also maiden over) Cricket an over^* in which no runs are scored.

^*over - noun Cricket a sequence of six balls bowled by a bowler from one end of the pitch, after which another bowler takes over from the other end.

Appearing in Solutions:

*d - abbreviation British penny or pence (of pre-decimal currency): £20 10s 6d [from Latin denarius 'penny']

[George] Eliot - (1819–80), English novelist; pseudonym of Mary Ann Evans. Her novels of provincial life are characterized by their exploration of moral problems and their development of the psychological analysis that marks the modern novel. Notable works: Adam Bede (1859), The Mill on the Floss (1860), and Middlemarch (1871-2).

Note: Big Dave opts, instead, for the American-born British poet, critic, and dramatist T. S. Eliot.

epergne - noun an ornamental centrepiece for a dining table, typically used for holding fruit or flowers.

ling¹ - noun any of a number of long-bodied edible marine fishes: [a] a large East Atlantic fish related to the cod (genus Molva, family Gadidae), in particular M. molva, which is of commercial importance [b] a related Australian fish (Lotella callarias, family Gadidae) [c] a similar but unrelated Australian fish (Genypterus blacodes, family Ophidiidae)

wink - verb 2 (of a bright object or a light) shine or flash intermittently: the diamond on her finger winked in the moonlight

yashmak - noun a veil concealing all of the face except the eyes, worn by some Muslim women in public.

Signing off for today - Falcon