Thursday, October 13, 2011 - DT 26609

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26609
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Setter Jay
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26609]
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
Notes This is the 500th puzzle that Jay (Jeremy Mutch) has set for The Daily Telegraph.

Introduction

Life is returning to normal after my trip to Ireland which was immediately followed by a second trip to visit relatives for the (Canadian) Thanksgiving Day weekend. The trip to Ireland was very enjoyable despite being a bit wet on occasion. I got to kiss the Blarney Stone in a steady drizzle and a planned tour of the Ring of Kerry was cancelled due to severe fog (the worst in twenty years, according to the bus drivers). We arrived at the Cliffs of Moher to find them completely enveloped in fog as well. However, while we ate lunch, the fog lifted and we were treated to spectacular views. Nevertheless, for the most part, the weather was quite warm and pleasant. Evenings were joyfully spent in Irish pubs listening to Celtic music and imbibing the finest that Ireland has to offer (Guinness, Kilkenny, Smithwick's, Beamish, and Murphy's) - not to mention a drop or two of Tullamore Dew.

Congratulations to Jay

Today's offering marks a milestone for the setter of this puzzle. The National Post carries the following note: "Congratulations to our compiler on his 500th Telegraph Crossword. Having started in 1999, Jeremy Mutch set the Thursday Cryptic and Quick from 2002 to 2010 and now sets every Wednesday."

The Daily Telegraph normally does not identify the compilers of the Daily Telegraph Cryptic puzzles (sometimes referred to informally as the back-page puzzle due to its position in the British paper), as Big Dave alludes to in his review, "It’s not often that a back-page setter is identified, but Jay, as we know him, is given a name check in today’s newspaper." Despite this supposed anonymity, there is a regular weekly rotation for compilers that reviewers writing on Big Dave's Crossword Blog have identified. The compilers are known on Big Dave's site either by pseudonyms that the setters use when setting other puzzles (appearing in either The Daily Telegraph or other publications) or by screen names they use when visiting Big Dave's blog (which several of them do on a regular basis).

Puzzles appearing in The Daily Telegraph on Monday, Wednesday and Friday are almost invariably set by Rufus (Roger Squires), Jay (Jeremy Mutch), and Giovanni (Don Manley) respectively. Setting duty on Thursday is shared between RayT (Ray Terrell) and Shamus (Philip Marlow), with an occasional contribution from other mystery setter(s). The puzzles on Tuesday come from one or more unknown compiler(s). The Saturday puzzle (which has not been carried in the National Post for some time) is set by Cephas (Peter Chamberlain). The puzzles generally do not appear in the National Post on the same day of the week that they appeared in Britain. Currently, puzzles appear on the next day of the week (e.g., a puzzle which appeared in the UK on a Monday will be published in the National Post on a Tuesday, etc.). Of course, there is also a twelve week delay in crossing the Atlantic.

Not only is it unusual for The Daily Telegraph to acknowledge the setter, this also marks the first time that I can recall the National Post acknowledging The Daily Telegraph as the source of the puzzles.

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

The meaning ("exhausted") attributed to washed up [11a] is new to me (I would tend to think of the term as meaning "no longer effective or successful"). While not found in the Oxford Dictionary of English, this meaning is given by both Chambers 21st Century Dictionary and Collins English Dictionary - with the latter saying that the expression is "chiefly US, Canadian, and NZ".

Also in 11a, up is a British expression meaning "at or to a university, especially Oxford or Cambridge" as in the phrase "they were up at Cambridge about the same time".

The Privy Council [13a] is is a body found in the UK and countries such as Canada which follow the British Parliamentary system of government. It is "a body of advisers appointed by a sovereign or a Governor General (now chiefly on an honorary basis and including present and former government ministers)".

French polish [16a] should be clear to woodworkers (at least those from Britain). It is a "shellac polish that produces a high gloss on wood". The Oxford Dictionary of English identifies this as a British term but it is to be found in the Random House Unabridged Dictionary.

The term "mother's ruin" [14d] is British slang for gin (the alcoholic drink). The name may derive from the reputed ability of gin, if consumed in large quantity, to induce abortion in pregnant women. An interesting account of the effects of gin-drinking on English society in the mid-eighteenth century can be found here.

A pantomime [13d] in Britain is "a theatrical entertainment, mainly for children, which involves music, topical jokes, and slapstick comedy and is based on a fairy tale or nursery story, usually produced around Christmas".

Armagnac [15d] - a drink which I have yet to imbibe - is "a type of brandy traditionally made in Aquitaine in SW France".

Although Collins English Dictionary characterises the usage as "Chiefly US", lint [22d] may well refer to "[t]he mass of soft fibers surrounding the seeds of unginned cotton" [American Heritage Dictionary]. It could also possibly be a reference to "an absorbent cotton or linen fabric with the nap raised on one side, used to dress wounds, etc." [Collins English Dictionary].

There are also a couple of references to specialised terms. Chemists should easily recognise the symbol for copper (Cu) [10a] while grammarians will likely have little trouble with the abbreviation for tense (t) [21a] (the latter found in The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition).

Signing off for today - Falcon