Friday, January 13, 2012 - DT 26693

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26693
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Setter Jay
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26693]
Big Dave's Review Written By Falcon
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

Posted: Saturday, January 14, 2012

Introduction

Fortuitously, as this was a puzzle that I had reviewed for Big Dave's Crossword Blog when it originally appeared in the UK, it did not take too long to solve it on the second go-round.  However, on Friday we were experiencing a fairly major blizzard in Ottawa (following a couple of days of freezing rain) and I spent most of the day clearing snow from my driveway. As a result, I did not find time to write the blog until today.

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.

1a   Flag message understood by party (5,5)

Jolly^[5] is an informal British term for a party or celebration • these events were jollies • some regard it as a bit of a jolly.

15a   Copper, bent, is thirsty (7)

In the surface reading, "copper" is almost certainly slang for a police officer and "bent^[5]" is an informal British expression meaning dishonest or corrupt • a bent cop. Perhaps we are to interpret "thirsty" in a figurative sense as greedy (thirsty for money, willing to take a bribe). However, the cryptic reading is quite different.

24a   Praises almost grown-up friends sacking leader (8)

Mate^[5] is an informal British term for a friend or companion • my best mate Steve.

28a   Hotels accommodate ducks with a tremendous fuss (3-2)

In cricket, a duck^[5] is a batsman’s score of nought • he was out for a duck. In cryptic crossword puzzles, duck often indicates O as the letter "O" looks like the number "0". Hotel^[5] is a code word representing the letter H, used in radio communication.

30a   Start do late — cunning or pretentiously creative? (4-6)

According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, arty-crafty^[5] (interested or involved in making decorative artistic objects, especially ones perceived as quaint or homespun) is chiefly a North American expression. The British dictionaries all seem to believe that arty-crafty is the principal variant with artsy-craftsy being a secondary variant. From my experience, I would say that it is the reverse - in fact, I do not recall ever having never heard the arty-crafty variant - and American dictionaries would seem to support my observation.

2d   Peeress offers to protect last of tiger beetles (9)

Ladybird^[5] is the British name for a ladybug. Although ladybug is the name used for these insects (which are beetles and not true bugs) throughout much of North American, the name ladybird is used in some parts of Canada and the US (as well as in the UK, Ireland, Australia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, South Africa, New Zealand, India, and Malta), according to Wikipedia^[7] . Presumably, Texas must be one of the spots using the term ladybird, thus accounting for how Lady Bird Johnson^[7] got her name. The tiger beetles are a large group of beetles known for their aggressive predatory habits and running speed. The fastest species of tiger beetle can run at a speed of 9 km/h (5.6 mph), which, relative to its body length, is the equivalent of a human running at 480 miles per hour (770 km/h).

16d   Uncompromising bad luck? Not quite (8)

'Hard lines^[5]' (a variant of 'hard luck') is an informal British way of to expressing sympathy or commiserations. The characterization of this as "a British nautical expression (4,5) meaning bad luck" was based on a passage from Watching My Language: Adventures in the Word Trade by William Safire in which the author says (essentially as an aside), "Hard lines was a British nautical expression meaning 'bad luck' ...". As I recall, this statement generated a fair bit of discussion on Big Dave's blog.

21d   Soft and soggy sort of cephalopod guy eviscerated (7)

Squidgy^[5] is an informal, chiefly British term used to describe something that is soft, spongy, and moist • a squidgy cream cake.

25d   A house in the outskirts of Bognor to loathe (5)

I presume that the reference is to Bognor Regis^[7], a seaside resort town and civil parish in the Arun district of West Sussex, on the south coast of England.

26d   Eccentric city supporting South Africa (4)

The International Vehicle Registration code for South Africa is ZA^[5], based on the Dutch spelling of the country's name, Zuid Afrika.

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