Monday, September 12, 2011 - DT 26581

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26581
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, June 17, 2011
Setter Giovanni
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26581]
Big Dave's Review Written By Pommers
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 would have to think that this puzzle was a shade easier than three stars, given that my Tool Chest sat on the shelf unused. Of course, the fact that I spent the afternoon in a location where the Internet was inaccessible may have also had a bearing on the situation. While I did manage to complete the puzzle, I needed to consult a dictionary to confirm the meaning of "bluebottle" in 1d and the existence of the name for the beef stew in 3d.

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.

Bristol fashion - adjective [predicative] British informal, dated in good order; neat and clean: it gave him pleasure to keep things shipshape and Bristol fashion

Durham² - [a] a city on the River Wear; population 42,100 (est. 2009). It is famous for its 11th-century cathedral, which contains the tomb of the Venerable Bede, and its university. [b] (also County Durham) a county of NE England; county town, Durham.

Scouse - [British] colloquial noun (Scouses) 1 the dialect of English spoken in and around Liverpool. 2 a native or inhabitant of Liverpool. Also called Scouser. 3 (scouse) Liverpool dialect a stew, often made with scraps of meat. adjective referring or relating to Liverpool, its people or their dialect.

Appearing in Solutions:

bluebottle - noun 4 British informal, dated a police officer.

carbonnade - noun a rich beef stew made with onions and beer.

etui - noun dated a small ornamental case for holding needles, cosmetics, and other articles: [as modifier] exquisite etui cases fitted with scissors, bodkin, and thimble

Hard Times - For These Times (commonly known as Hard Times) - the tenth novel by Charles Dickens, first published in 1854. The book appraises English society and is aimed at highlighting the social and economic pressures of the times.

heath - noun 1 [1^st entry] chiefly British an area of open uncultivated land, typically on acid sandy soil, with characteristic vegetation of heather, gorse, and coarse grasses: [i] horses were being exercised on the heath; [ii] the marshland gave way to heath and sandy scrub

ninepins - plural noun [a] [usually treated as singular] the traditional form of the game of skittles, using nine pins and played in an alley. [b] [treated as plural] skittles used in the game of ninepins.

skittle - noun 1 (skittles) [treated as singular] [a] a game played with wooden pins, typically nine in number, set up at the end of an alley to be bowled down with a wooden ball or disc. [b] (in full table skittles) a game played with pins set up on a board to be knocked down by swinging a suspended ball. [c] British informal chess that is not played seriously. 2 a pin used in the game of skittles.

Po¹ - a river in northern Italy. Italy’s longest river, it rises in the Alps near the border with France and flows 652 km (405 miles) eastwards to the Adriatic.

Redcar - a seaside resort in the north east of England, and a major town in the unitary authority of Redcar and Cleveland in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire.

ute - noun Australian/NZ informal a utility vehicle; a pickup.

Appearing on Big Dave's Site

dish - verb 2 informal, chiefly British utterly destroy or defeat: the election interview dished Labour’s chances

Michael, in Comment #11 says, "The NW corner held me up as in 11a OUTCLASSES is also an anagram of SCOUSE and SALT and is (roughly) the slang meaning of DISHES."

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.

2d   Fairly recent aspiration expressed in (say) Durham?

I have to admit that I only understood the wordplay here after having read Pommers' explanation. Truth be told, as I solved the puzzle, I mentally marked the clue for further investigation and then neglected to do so.

The definition is "fairly recent" with the solution being NEWISH. It would have helped in understanding the wordplay had I realized that aspiration can mean "a hope or ambition of achieving something" (although it usually appears in the plural when used in this sense). Unfortunately, only the medical and phonetic meanings of the word entered my mind. Durham is a town in north-eastern England, so a WISH (aspiration) expressed there would be a 'NE WISH'.

Signing off for today - Falcon