Monday, December 12, 2011 - DT 26661

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26661
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, September 19, 2011
Setter Rufus
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26661]
Big Dave's Review Written By Gazza
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 The National Post has skipped DT 26660 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, September 17, 2011

Introduction

To start the week, we have the usual rather gentle - but highly enjoyable - offering from Rufus. I did make a silly mistake though. Sometimes we can scale mountains, only to stumble over molehills!

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   Fellow following Judah’s son continuously (2,3,2)

Onan^[7] was the second son of Judah. After Onan's elder brother Er died childless, his father Judah told him to fulfill his duty as a brother-in-law to Er's wife Tamar, by giving her offspring to preserve the family line. However, when Onan had sex with Tamar, he withdrew before climax and "spilled his seed (or semen) on the ground", since any child born would not legally be considered his heir. This he did several times and was accordingly sentenced to death by God for this wickedness.

In Britain, a fellow^[5] is an incorporated senior member of a college and a don^[5] is a university teacher, especially a senior member of a college at Oxford or Cambridge. I'm not entirely sure what the word "incorporated" means in this context but it may relate to the individual's status as a member of the governing body of the college.

At Colleges of the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and Trinity College, Dublin, full fellows form the governing body of the college. They may elect a Council to handle day-to-day management. All fellows are entitled to certain privileges within their colleges, which may include dining at High Table (free of charge) and possibly the right to a room in college (free of charge).^[7]

24a   A word of agreement, or more than one (4)

I carelessly entered AMEN here, and never bothered to question it even though it satisfied only half of the clue.

25a   Way in for all competitors (5)

Entry can mean the competitors entering a contest considered collectively (a good entry this year for the speed trials)^[4] or the number of competitors in a particular race or competition (another large international entry is anticipated for this year’s event)^[5]. Despite the fact that the dictionaries do not specify this to be a British usage (and the usage examples do not sound foreign to my ear), I did not find entry defined in this sense in either of the American dictionaries that I consulted (American Heritage Dictionary and Random House Unabridged Dictionary).

26a   Northern river erosion (4)

The River Wear^[7] is located in North East England, rising in the Pennines and flowing eastwards, mostly through County Durham, to the North Sea at Sunderland.

2d   Cotton on a reel is in a tangle (7)

In Britain, the expression cotton on^[4] (to something) means to begin to understand (it). According to the American Heritage Dictionary^[3] , Americans would say cotton to (something) or cotton onto (something) to express the same idea - a rather subtle distinction (although, in Canada, I expect that we might well encounter either the American or British variants). In North America, the expression cotton to^[4] can also mean to become friendly with or to approve of while, in the UK, cotton on^[4] can also denote to make use (of).

3d   Such pomposity is not a front (4)

Side^[5] is a British term (usually appearing with a negative) meaning a boastful or pretentious manner or attitude (there was absolutely no side to him).

8d   It helps people to get their bearings (7,2,4)

Bearing^[5] is used in the heraldic sense. The College of Arms^[5] (also known as the College of Heralds or Heralds' College) is a corporation in the UK which officially records and grants armorial bearings. Formed in 1484, it comprises three Kings of Arms, six heralds, and four pursuivants.

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