Wednesday, November 9, 2011 - DT 26633

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26633
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Setter Jay
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26633]
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

I needed help from my Tool Chest on one clue, having fallen into the trap laid by Jay with his reference to Turin (the Capital of the Alps) misdirecting me to the Carthaginian military commander who crossed the Alps with his war elephants.

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.

10a   Craftsman who’s not so keen on working after golf (7)

Golf⁵ is a code word representing the letter G, used in radio communication.

12a   Charge after one, spitting feathers (5)

Spitting feathers clearly seems to be a British expression. Oxford Dictionaries⁵ defines it as meaning either to be very thirsty or to be very angry. World Wide Words suggests that the former was the original meaning in Northern England, and that the latter meaning was introduced by southerners who misunderstood the expression. A Dictionary of Slang (English slang and colloquialisms used in the United Kingdom) defines it as meaning either 'thirsty' or 'frantic, fretful or agitated' (the example given being "She was spitting feathers after those kids smashed her front window."). The Urban Dictionary has two entries, with the first defining it as to be very thirsty or to be very angry (corresponding to the definitions in Oxford) and the second giving the meaning as 'wish i hadn,t or had done something either good or bad' ("i was spitting feathers because i hadn,t put lotto numbers on and they come up") [sic] which perhaps is in line with the second meaning given in the Dictionary of Slang.

22a   French city welcomes hotel for specialist market (5)

Hotel⁵ is a code word representing the letter H, used in radio communication.

25a   Late deliveries expected (7)

This clue works very well and I had no difficulty solving it, but I find it difficult to classify. Pommers calls it a double definition, but I am struggling to justify that conclusion. The solution, OVERDUE, is an adjective. While expected is an adjective, it does not necessarily mean overdue. Someone is only overdue if they were expected in the past and have not yet arrived. If they are expected momentarily, they are certainly not overdue. "Late deliveries" is a nounal phrase, not an adjective. Splitting the clue another way, "late" is an adjective meaning overdue, but "deliveries expected" is not an adjective. Sometimes we just have to accept the fact that clues don't fit into neat pigeonholes. I have said in the past that we should regard the classification system for cryptic crossword clues in a similar manner to the system that scientists have developed for classifying plants and animals - it is tool for the observer and not a blueprint for the Creator.

26a   Increases price of bitter for one who’s pretentious (7)

In the surface reading (but not in the cryptic reading), bitter⁵ is a beer that is strongly flavoured with hops and has a bitter taste.

1d   Part of farm captured by those on the outside (7)

In the financial markets, a tranche⁵ is a portion or instalment, especially of a loan or share issue.

3d   They may be kicked when doing nothing (5)

Here we encounter a British expression that means almost the opposite of a similar North American phrase. In the UK, to kick one's heels means the same as to cool one's heels (i.e., be kept waiting). In North America, to kick up one's heels means to have a lively, enjoyable time.

17d   Follow offender’s record (7)

In the UK, form can mean a criminal record ("they both had form").

18d   Stand made by Hannibal, west of Turin (7)

This is the clue where I had to resort to assistance from my Tool Chest, having failed to detect the reference to Silence of the Lambs. Like Pommers, I thought that the clue should have read "east of Turin" as "west of Turin" would presumably indicate the most westerly letter in "Turin", namely the 'T'.

24d   Language used when in post, mainly (5)

In Britain, post⁵ seems to be synonymous with mail. In Canada, although we use use it (or derivatives of it) in many senses related to mail, we don't use it to mean the mail itself. The organization that handles the mail is called Canada Post and it operates a large number of postal outlets across the country, where one may buy postage stamps, post (or mail) a letter or pick up the mail (but not the post).

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