Friday, March 23, 2012 - DT 26757

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26757
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, January 9, 2012
Setter Rufus
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26757]
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 26756 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, January 7, 2012

Introduction

Libellule thought this puzzle was "a bit trickier than usual". I certainly have no hesitation in backing that judgement. I definitely needed lots of assistance from my electronic friends today.

Meet the Setter

Here is what Crossword Who's Who has to say about today's setter:

Roger Squires in 2005

Roger Squires (born 22 February 1932, in Tettenhall, Wolverhampton, England) is best known for being the world's most prolific crossword compiler.

In 1981 he joined The Guardian, the Times Educational Supplement and Financial Times and became the Birmingham Post crossword editor for 22 years. In 1986 he joined The Daily Telegraph and The Independent. He compiled for The Sun (1992-1998), The Times (1993-2005) and the Times Educational Supplement (1981-2006). He has set crosswords for virtually every British newspaper, under pseudonyms including Rufus, Dante, Icarus, Hodge and Bower.

Wikipedia carries a much more in depth article on Roger Squires^[7].

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.

9a   At risk when making a call (2,3,4)

I mistakenly entered ON THE HOOK even though it should have been blatantly obvious that one could not be "making a call" while in that state.

21a   Raised voice in row on river (8)

The River Fal^[7] flows through Cornwall, United Kingdom, rising on the Goss Moor and reaching the English Channel at Falmouth. The River Fal separates the Roseland peninsula from the rest of Cornwall. Like most of its kind on the south coast of Cornwall and Devon, the Fal estuary is a classic ria, or drowned river valley.

23a   Housework to the French is fair game (4-2)

In Britain, hoop-la^[2] or hoopla^[4,5] is a fairground game in which rings are thrown from behind a line in an attempt to encircle [and thereby winning] one of several prizes. In North America, hoopla means unnecessary fuss surrounding something • I really didn’t know what the hoopla was all about.

8d   Know-all may appear to be perceptive over the port (8)

In Britain, a a person who behaves as if they know everything would be called a know-all^[5] • (i) you’re a bumptious little know-all at times; (ii) [as modifier] a know-all panellist. I am only familiar with this term as know-it-all^[5].

14d   Is it similar to a hurricane light? (8)

In Britain, a blowtorch is known as a blowlamp^[7]. In North America, the usual name for the oil lamp is 'hurricane lamp' which - as best as I could determine - is also the case in Britain. I would imagine that the setter may have changed this to 'hurricane light' merely to avoid having the word 'lamp' appear in both the clue and the solution. 

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)
^[10] - CollinsDictionary.com (Collins English Dictionary)

Signing off for today - Falcon