Friday, October 14, 2011 - DT 26610

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26610
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, July 21, 2011
Setter RayT
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26610]
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

The last two clues to be solved were 18a and 19a. I had initially put ALPHA for the former, but was forced to remove it once I had solved 1d. Just as I was reaching for my Tool Chest, memories of my days as a Wolf Cub came back to me. In Canada, the original name (Wolf Cub) is still in use, whereas it seems to have been displaced in the UK by the term Cub Scout. As for the latter, I did manage to guess the answer correctly despite never having heard of this British name for a common kitchen implement.

Vocabulary in Today's Puzzle

Terms found in clues

Queen [8a] refers to Elizabeth II, the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms (among them being the United Kingdom and Canada). "Queen Elizabeth" is abbreviated ER (from Latin Elizabetha Regina). Edelzwicker [13a] is a type of wine from the Alsace region of France, one that is produced by blending together wine from several varieties of grape. While Bishop [20a] refers to a clergyman in the surface reading, it almost certainly needs to be interpreted as a chess piece (abbreviated B) in the cryptic reading. Over [4d] (abbreviated O) is a division of play in cricket.

Terms found in solutions

An airer [8a] is a British term for a "a frame or stand for airing or drying clothes" (a definition which sounds like it might include what I know as a clothes horse - although the illustration used by Big Dave shows quite a different contraption). Brassie [13a] is a rather archaic golf term for a two wood. By the way, I seem to detect a subtle difference between the American and British definitions of brasserie [13a], with the former being a restaurant that may serve alcohol and the latter a bar that may serve food. A fish slice [19a] is a kitchen implement that most North Americans would recognise as a spatula. Rum [20a] is old-fashioned British slang meaning odd or peculiar. According to The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition, an exorciser [22a] is another term for an exorcist. The Trent [26a] is the chief river of central England, which rises in Staffordshire and flows 275 km (170 miles) generally north-eastwards, uniting with the River Ouse 25 km (15 miles) west of Hull to form the Humber estuary. Porto [2d] is another name for port wine (also known as Vinho do Porto or simply port). To a botanist, digitalis [5d] is any plant of the genus that includes the foxglove. Carte blanche [7d] is a term signifying "complete freedom to act as one wishes". It comes from French, where it means literally 'blank paper' (i.e. a blank sheet on which to write whatever one wishes, particularly one's own terms for an agreement). Shambolic [14d] is British slang meaning "chaotic, disorganized, or mismanaged".

Signing off for today - Falcon