Monday, January 9, 2011 - DT 26688

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26688
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, October 20, 2011
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26688]
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

I needed help from my electronic friends on a couple of clues today - on 16d because I had never heard of the British comedienne appearing there and on 13a, apparently, from being just too thick to get it. Although I got the correct solutions to 28a and 24d, I needed to do some research into 50-year old movies and British exhibition halls to fully understand the wordplay.

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.

5a   What a lazy setter may resort to (6)

My opinion of this clue improved once I discovered that, in Britain, a doghouse^[5] is called a kennel^[5] (thus the illustration chosen by Big Dave). In North America, a dog might be housed in a kennel but this would be a far more elaborate structure than a simple doghouse.

8a   A half of Pernod and vermouth provided drink (8)

In the UK, "it^[5]" is an informal, dated term for Italian vermouth • he poured a gin and it [a cocktail containing gin and Italian vermouth].

11a   Found a woozy bliss following electric shock treatment (9)

Electric shock treatment (EST^[2]) would seem to be another name for electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)^[7].

17a & 19a   Peruse missing article by premier in tabloid (3,3)

In Britain, a tabloid newspaper is known as a red top^[5] (from the red background on which the titles of certain British newspapers are printed).

28a    George Raft’s Colombo a match for petty quarrels (5)

In the 1959 American comedy Some Like It Hot^[7], George Raft plays Chicago gangster "Spats" Colombo.

3d   Small white wine cocktail in San Tropez starts a fashion (9)

Kir^[5] is a drink made from dry white wine and cassis.

4d   Misinformation about red fruit (6)

Argentine Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara^[7] was an iconic "red" of the 1960s.

5d   Abandon anorak and go for jumper (8)

Why is "abandon^[4]" an anagram indicator? I would have to guess that this role may be based on its meaning to surrender (oneself) to emotion without restraint. Thus, if the letters forming {ANORAK + GO} are unrestrained, they might rearrange themselves into KANGAROO.

16d   Wag is somewhat akin to comedian? (8)

Josephine "Jo" Brand^[7] is a British comedienne (whom I managed to discover online). Had I not stopped my search at that point, I would have eventually also found British comedian Russell Brand^[7]. Judging by Big Dave's remarks, it would seem that I didn't miss much by overlooking the latter.

21d   Something very difficult in 12? (3)

In Britain, one may describe something which is unpleasant or difficult as being a pig of a (something)^[5], for instance "it's a pig of a job".

24d   Sailor depressed by Birmingham’s centre gets delicious drink (6)

The National Exhibition Centre (NEC), located in Birmingham, England, is the largest exhibition centre in the UK as well as being the busiest and seventh-largest exhibition centre in Europe.

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