Friday, December 30, 2011 - DT 26681

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26681
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Setter Jay
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26681]
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
Notes This puzzle appears on the Friday Diversions page in the National Post edition of Friday, December 30, 2011

Introduction

I knew this puzzle was by Jay - both from the schedule and from the style. Some of the clues seemed to be very similar to others that I have seen, so much so that I was even led to wonder whether this might have been a puzzle that I had reviewed for Big Dave. But no, it was reviewed by Pommers when it appeared in the Daily Telegraph.

My Mistake

The review originally posted under this date was actually for the Monday, January 2, 2012 puzzle. At the time of my initial posting, I had failed to notice that puzzles for both Friday and Monday were published in the Friday, December 30, 2011 edition of the National Post.

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.

11a   Set off for appointment outside school (8)

Eton College^[7], often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor". It is located in Eton, near Windsor in England, and is one of the original nine English public schools as defined by the Public Schools Act 1868.

In the UK, an independent school^[7], is a school that is not financed through the taxation system by local or national government and is instead funded by private sources, predominantly in the form of tuition charges, gifts and long-term charitable endowments, and so is not subject to the conditions imposed by accepting state financing.

According to the above-cited Wikipedia article, (1) an independent school in the United Kingdom may also be referred to as a private school; (2) the term "public school" is often used to refer to a select group of independent schools in the UK which are in general older, have a greater emphasis on tradition and are members of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference; and, (3) the term public school is now commonly used to describe private schools in general.

Thus, I suppose the conclusion to be drawn is that a public school in the UK is what North Americans would call a private school - but then, so is a British private school or independent school.

21a   Female dentist’s paradise?  (4)

In his review, Pommers presents one plausible interpretation for the wordplay. Another view would see the 's as meaning has in the cryptic reading - thus giving "Female dentist has paradise" with 'has' (meaning holds) serving as the hidden word indicator.

22a   Initially dubious, target peeress’s job in school (6,4)

For those not familiar with archery, the inner^[5] is a division of the target next to the bullseye. In the UK, a dinner lady^[5] is a woman who serves meals to children in a school. In North America, she would be called a lunch lady^[7].

25a   One seeking political change — once soldiers get precedence (8)

The Royal Engineers (RE)^[5] is the name of the field engineering and construction corps of the British army.

27a   Singer discovering mistress in a trance (7)

I needed a wee bit of help to find "Ol' Blue Eyes" hiding in the clue.

6d   Moody elk squashes rear of car (6)

For a North American to understand Pommers'  hint, it is crucial to know that moose are called elk in Europe (and elk are known only by the name wapiti). In North America, the names elk and wapiti are used interchangeably.

The elk^[7] or wapiti (Cervus canadensis) is one of the largest species of deer in the world and one of the largest land mammals in North America and eastern Asia. In the deer family (Cervidae), only the larger moose (Alces alces), which is called an "elk" in Europe, and the sambar (Rusa unicolor) rival the elk in size. Elk are similar to the Red Deer (Cervus elaphus) found in Europe, of which they were long believed to be a subspecies. However, evidence from a 2004 study of the mitochondrial DNA indicates they are a distinct species.

17d   Television item from Slough following recent onset of salmonella (8)

In the surface reading (but not the cryptic reading) Slough^[7] is a borough and unitary authority within the ceremonial county of Royal Berkshire, England.

20d   Mostly felt fans suffering in arrest (7)

The definition here seemed a bit strange, but I just presumed that some unfamiliar British slang was at play. However, Pommers also raises a question regarding the accuracy of it. Snaffle^[2] means to to take sneakily or without permission or, in other words, to steal while arrest^[2], under Scots and maritime law, means to seize (assets, property, freight, etc) by legal warrant. Are they synonyms? I'll let you be the judge.

23d   Itinerant worker chasing sin (6)

By convention, workers in Crosswordland are usually ants (but occasionally bees).

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)
^[9] - Infoplease (Random House Unabridged Dictionary)

Signing off for today - Falcon