Friday, January 20, 2012 - DT26700

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26700
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, November 3, 2011
Setter Ray T
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26700]
Big Dave's Review Written By Big Dave
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

Although it took a while to get started (I don't believe I solved a single across clue on the first read through), progress picked up on the down clues. I did need a bit of assistance on a few clues to finish, but I can't see that there was anything particularly out of the ordinary about any of these clues (11a, 13a, 1d, and 14d).

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   Chippendale perhaps giving an embrace with kit off! (12)

Thomas Chippendale^[5] (1718–79) was an English furniture-maker and designer. He produced furniture in a neoclassical vein, with elements of the French rococo, chinoiserie, and Gothic revival styles, and his book of furniture designs The Gentleman and Cabinetmaker’s Director (1754) was highly influential.

 In Britain, a kit^[5] is the clothing used for an activity such as a sport and get one's kit off^[5] is an informal expression meaning to  take off all one’s clothes.

26a   Headless panic creating own goal (5)

In soccer, an own goal^[5] is a goal scored when a player inadvertently strikes or deflects the ball into their own team’s goal. The term is also used figuratively in Britain to refer to an act that unintentionally harms one’s own interests • government scores own goal by assisting organized crime in London.

1d   Company chief managed rocker (7)

Eddie Cochran (1938 – 1960) was an American rock and roll pioneer who died in a traffic accident while touring Britain when the speeding taxi in which he was a passenger blew a tire, lost control, and crashed into a lamp 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)
^[9] - Infoplease (Random House Unabridged Dictionary)

Signing off for today - Falcon