Tuesday, January 31, 2012 - DT 26709

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26709
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, November 14, 2011
Setter Rufus
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26709]
Big Dave's Review Written By Libellule
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 26708 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, November 12, 2011

Introduction

Today we have a typical offering from Rufus - the master of the cryptic definition. It is not too difficult a puzzle, but it did take a bit of surfing to decipher 8a. It is no wonder that I needed to resort to my electronic assistants, as the clue utilises a bit of new (to me) Cockney rhyming slang. Not only is the solution Cockney rhyming slang, but the term with which it rhymes is itself 'normal' British slang.

Roger Squires (aka Rufus), who created this puzzle, holds the Guinness record for being the most prolific crossword setter in the world. You can learn more about this fascinating individual from An Interview with Roger Squires at Crossword Unclued.

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.

8a   Short of capital (7,4)

Boracic lint^[7] is Cockney rhyming slang for skint^[5], which itself is British slang meaning (of a person) having little or no money available • I’m a bit skint just now. Boracic lint was a type of medical dressing made from surgical lint that was soaked in a hot, saturated solution of boracic acid and glycerine and then left to dry. It has been in use since at least the 19th century, but is now less commonly used.

11a   Lady love is after the money (4)

The pound^[5] (also pound sterling) is the basic monetary unit of the UK, equal to 100 pence. The proper symbol for the pound is £, but it seems that this is often written as L^[4].

12a   About turn in Old Ireland (4)

Erin^[5] is an archaic or literary name for Ireland.

17a   It’s something to build on (4)

Initially, I thought that there might be more to this clue and tried to figure out some way to incorporate an anagram of ITS into it. However, the clue is merely a cryptic definition.

26a   Heat too much water? (4)

In Scottish and Northern English dialects, a burn^[5] is a small stream.

27a   Late payments? (5,6)

In the UK, a death duty^[5] was a tax levied on property after the owner’s death (replaced officially in 1975 by capital transfer tax and in 1986 by inheritance tax).

28a   Working in MPH, AA meet required speed (11)

The Automobile Association (The AA)^[7] is a British motoring association founded in 1905. Its counterparts in North America would be the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) and the American Automobile Association (AAA).

2d   Insect audible in Asian country (4)

In the UK, apparently, Laos^[4] is pronounced so that it sounds like louse^[4]. I would say that the American pronunciations seem to provide a better match than the British ones. You can judge for yourself by listening to the sound samples at the referenced links.

3d   Caught, suspended and reformed (7)

On cricket scorecards, the abbreviation c^[5] indicates caught (by) • ME Waugh c Lara b Walsh 19.

5d   The coalminer’s dog, Rex (7)

Rex^[4] (Latin for king, abbreviated as R^[5]) is part of the official title of a king, now used chiefly in documents, legal proceedings, and inscriptions on coins. It may be used following a name (e.g. Georgius Rex, or GR, for King George^[5]) or in the titles of lawsuits, e.g. Rex v. Jones: the Crown versus Jones^[5] (which would often be written simply as R. vs Jones).

10d   Free newspaper? (11)

The Independent^[7] is a British national morning newspaper published in London. Nicknamed the Indy, it was launched in 1986 and is one of the youngest UK national daily newspapers. The daily edition was named National Newspaper of the Year at the 2004 British Press Awards.

20d   Ghost in the ruins of Hampton (7)

Although there seems to be an almost endless list of places in the UK with Hampton^[7] in their names, I presume Hampton^[7] may refer to a suburban area, centred on an old village on the north bank of the River Thames, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in England.

Key to Reference Sources: 

^[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