Friday, April 13, 2012 - DT 26775

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26775
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, January 30, 2012
Setter Rufus
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26775]
Big Dave's Review Written By Digby
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 26774 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, January 28, 2012

Introduction

Today's puzzle displays the unmistakable style of Rufus. While I stumbled over a couple of British expressions (16a and 13d), I managed to decipher a couple of others (12a and 12d which were new to me.

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   Pirate and girl admitting love on ship (10)

In tennis, squash, and some other sports, love^[5] is a score of zero or nil • love fifteen. The resemblance of a zero written as a number (0) to the letter O leads to the cryptic crossword convention of love equating to this letter. SS^[5] is the abbreviation for steamship • the SS Canberra. [I thought it would be timely to use the Titanic as the example here, only to discover that the formal name of that ship was the RMS Titanic (for Royal Mail Ship).]

12a   Saucy girl that accompanies travellers (7)

The Oxford Dictionary of English defines baggage^[5] as a dated term for a cheeky or disagreeable girl or woman • she was a mercenary little baggage. The American Heritage Dictionary and Collins English Dictionary both include an additional meaning, an immoral woman or prostitute^[3,4].

16a   Female cob (5)

Cob^[5] (also cobnut) is another name for (1) a hazelnut or filbert • [as modifier] cobnut stuffing or (2) a hazel or filbert bush (this being a British usage^[4], according to Collins English Dictionary). Hazel^[4] is short for hazelnut.

21a   Lean against counter where your shoes are repaired (4,3)

A heel bar^[5] (almost certainly a British term) is a small shop or stall where shoes are repaired, especially while the customer waits.

3d   Important person giving important lecture (6)

Wig^[5] is dated British slang meaning to rebuke (someone) severely • I had often occasion to wig him for getting drunk.

5d   Such pomposity is not a front (4)

Side^[5] is an informal British expression (usually in the negative) meaning a boastful or pretentious manner or attitude • there was absolutely no side to him.

6d   High-flown writings (7)

I did myself no favours by initially putting AIRSHIP here, thinking that the Goodyear Blimp is used to display high-flown messages.

8d   Pull leg about being found in bed that’s untidy (10)

Not unlike Digby, this clue reminded me of the work by Tracey Emin^[7] — an English artist and part of the group known as Britartists or YBAs (Young British Artists).

Highlights of her work include Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963–1995, a tent appliquéd with names, exhibited at the Royal Academy in London and My Bed (shown at right), an installation at the Tate Gallery consisting of her own unmade dirty bed with used condoms and blood-stained underwear.

12d   Purchased a young animal, fleeced (6,1,3)

I had difficulty finding a definition for this British expression, which I discovered is because it is usually stated from the perspective of the seller rather than the buyer. In Britain, to sell someone a pup^[5] is to swindle someone by selling them something worthless • people don’t want to go into these places because they’re afraid they’ll be sold a pup.

13d   Start work at the mill? (3,7)

Get weaving^[5] is a British expression meaning set briskly to work or begin action.

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