Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - DT 26639

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26639
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Setter Jay
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26639]
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 █ - solved with aid of checking letters provided by puzzle solving tools █ - unsolved or incorrect prior to visiting Big Dave's blog █ - reviewed by Falcon for Big Dave's blog

Introduction

Jay gives us a very gentle puzzle today, and with its unusually small number of Briticisms, it should really not be much more difficult on this side of the pond than it was in the UK. The only word that seemed new to me was the term for an easy catch at 25a. Even then, once I found the definition, I had a vague feeling that I might have seen it before but all that I could find was dolly meaning an easy catch in cricket (which we saw on March 17 of this year in DT 26428).

Notes on Today's Puzzle

This commentary is intended to serve as a supplement to the review of this puzzle found at Big Dave's Crossword Blog, to which a link is provided in the table above.

13a   Writer crossing road finds somewhere to eat (6)

Biro^[7] is a brand of ballpoint pen^[7]. The modern ballpoint pen was invented by Hungarian László Biró^[7]. Ballpoint pens are widely referred to as "biro" in many English-speaking countries, including the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. The term "biro" in colloquial British English is used generically to mean any ballpoint pen. Although the word is a registered trademark, it has become a genericised trademark.

25a   Catch childminder (6)

In British sports parlance, a sitter^[5] is an easy catch or shot ("he scored some great goals but missed some sitters").

2d   The painlessness of drivers accepting leasing arrangement (9)

The Automobile Association (AA^[5]) is the British counterpart to the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) or American Automobile Association (AAA).

5d   Bear short on energy? (4)

In the UK, a short^[5] is a drink of spirits served in a small measure - likely what we would call a shot^[5] (although the term shot also seems to exist in Britain).

7d   Popular idiot’s common supplementary question? (5)

In Britain, nit^[5] is an informal term for a foolish person. Innit^[5] is a contraction for isn't it which is often found in informal speech in Britain (often used in conversation when seeking confirmation or as a general filler). Usage examples are "it’s the easiest way, innit?" and "we all want to get highly paid jobs, innit?". According to Oxford Dictionaries:

Few words induce such rage and consternation in traditionalists as the contraction innit. The word first emerged in the mid 20th century as an informal way of saying ‘isn’t it’, particularly in questions seeking agreement or confirmation: it’s a publicity stunt, innit?; More recently it has developed into an all-purpose ‘filler’, with a range of meanings including ‘don’t I?’ and ‘hasn’t he/ she?’, often used simply for emphasis: I get on with everyone, innit; she’s got this boyfriend Joe, innit? Though usually found in informal spoken English, these extended meanings are also well represented in the Oxford English Corpus, appearing in blogs, news, and fiction, with the ‘filler’ use now more common than the direct contraction of ‘isn’t it’

Let's hope the Brits keep this word on their own side of the Atlantic. It could be almost as tiresome as people who liberally pepper their conversations with annoying phrases such as "You see what I mean".

23d   Date sailor gets up for dash (4)

Dash^[5] is an informal British exclamation used to express mild annoyance ("dash it all, I am in charge").

References: 
^[1] - The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition
^[2] - Search Chambers - (Chambers 21st Century Dictionary)
^[3] - TheFreeDictionary.com (American Heritage Dictionary)
^[4] - TheFreeDictionary.com (Collins English Dictionary)
^[5] - Oxford Dictionaries (Oxford Dictionary of English)
^[6] - Oxford Dictionaries (Oxford American Dictionary)
^[7] - Wikipedia
^[8] - Reverso Online Dictionary (Collins French-English Dictionary)

Signing off for today - Falcon