Thursday, March 15, 2012 - DT 26747

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26747
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Setter Jay
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26747]
Big Dave's Review Written By Pommers
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

Today's puzzle is definitely much less difficult than the one with which we were confronted yesterday. Pommers suggests in the introduction to his review that his three star rating for difficulty may have been a bit of a stretch.

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   Run, in case of savings and investments (6)

In Britain, hare^[5] is used as a verb meaning to run with great speed • he hared off between the trees.

16a   Errors in items of intimate apparel (8)

Bloomer^[5] is an informal, dated British expression meaning a serious or stupid mistake • he never committed a bloomer [equivalent to blooming error].

25a   Water-borne constituent? (8,5)

In Britain, a person who has not decided which way to vote in an election, or one who does not consistently vote for the same political party is known as a floating voter^[5] • the party leader stepped up his efforts to appeal to floating voters.

2d   Drugs for the leading actress? (7)

E^[5] is an abbreviation for the drug Ecstasy or a tablet of Ecstasy • (1) people have died after taking E; (2) being busted with three Es can lead to stiff penalties.

3d   Shelled crab has it on a dish with rogan josh (5)

Rogan josh^[5] is an Indian dish of curried meat, typically lamb, in a rich tomato-based sauce.

7d   Instructions for monarch to be executed in underwear (9)

Hint: in Crosswordland, executions are almost invariably carried out by beheading.

15d   Old-fashioned but alive, and made changes (9)

Here the wordplay is a hybrid - an anagram of a charade. We have an anagram (changes) of {ALIVE + (and) MADE}. Although the wordplay could just as well have been interpreted as ALIVE + (and) an anagram (changes) of MADE, that would not have produced any sort of meaningful result - and therefore must be discarded as an option.

18d   One of five in street finally recognises eye problems (7)

I thought I might be experiencing eye problems until I consulted my dictionary. In the UK, the short form for quintuplet is quin^[5], not quint^[5] as it is in North America.

20d   Go too far — finished on ladder (7)

In Britain, a vertical strip of unravelled fabric in tights or stockings is called a ladder^[5] • one of Sally’s stockings developed a ladder. This word can also be used as a verb meaning (with reference to tights or stockings) to develop or cause to develop a ladder • (i) [as adjective laddered] her tights were always laddered; (ii) [no object] they laddered the minute I put them on.

22d   Science degree thus not needing university (5)

In Britain, the short form for mathematics is maths^[5] ([as modifier] her mother was a maths teacher), rather than math^[5] as it is in North America (she teaches math and science).

24d   Up for porridge after tea finishes (5)

According to The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition, porridge^[1] is British slang meaning a jail or a jail sentence, especially in the phrase do porridge meaning to serve a jail sentence. This is the only source in which I have been able to find the word having the former meaning ('jail'). The online editions of Chambers 21st Century Dictionary^[2], Collins English Dictionary^[4,10] , and the Oxford Dictionary of English^[5] all show the word with only the latter meaning ('jail sentence').

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