Friday, April 27, 2012 - DT 26787

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26787
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, February 13, 2012
Setter Rufus
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26787]
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
Notes The National Post has skipped DT 26786 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, February 11, 2012

Introduction

I'm not sure this puzzle deserved three stars for difficulty - my performance certainly would not support that rating. Then again, perhaps I just happened to be tuned to the right wave-length today.

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   Soldier gets pay for work, others may get it without work (7,6)

Follow the trail long enough and you will get an answer. Private income^[5] is another term for unearned income^[5], which is income derived from private means rather than from work. Private means^[5] is a British term for income from investments, property, or inheritance, as opposed to earned income or state benefit • (i) old people with private means can choose such care; (ii) he is a man of private means.

14a   Dog left to play with stones on the ice (4)

Big Dave illustrates this clue with a photo of Canadian curler Cheryl Bernard^[5] from Calgary, Alberta - who is certainly anything but a dog! Bernard's rink won the silver medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. However, I am surprised that Big Dave passed up the chance to use the accompanying photo (which I strongly doubt is of Cheryl Bernard).

19a   US city entered in a huge novel conveyance (7)

Here conveyance^[5] means the action or process of transporting or carrying someone or something from one place to another • a busy centre for the conveyance of agricultural produce from the Billingshurst area. The meaning that I associate with this word, a means of transport or a vehicle, is characterised by Oxford as formal or humorous (which itself seems to be rather surprising mix of usages). Haulage^[5] is a British term for the commercial transport of goods • road haulage.

3d   It turns to face the incoming blow (4)

It seems that one learns something new every day. I never realised that the pointer of a weather vane faces the wind direction. I had always supposed that the arrow pointed in the same direction as the wind was blowing - but, in fact, it is just the opposite (a fact apparently known to only 4 out 5 American scientists). Perhaps this explains why a north wind is one coming out of the north rather than one blowing toward the north.

6d   One possibly in the lead as a conductor (4)

I knew we were dealing with electrical wires, but a difference between British and North American terminology did me in. In Britain, a lead^[5] is a wire (1) that conveys electric current from a source to an appliance, or (2) that connects two points of a circuit together. Also, in Britain, a flex^[5] is a flexible insulated cable used for carrying electric current to an appliance. I assume that a flex would be considered a lead in the first sense of that word. The equivalent term in North America would be cord^[5] - which is what I chose to use. The proper "British" solution to the clue is core^[5], the inner strand of an electric cable or rope - which would seem to apply under either of the foregoing definitions for lead. However, I don't feel so bad, seeing that even some of the Brits thought that the answer might be cord.

21d   Baltic country resort one is at (7)

Resort^[2] is used as a verb meaning to sort something again or differently.Most dictionaries insist that this word requires a hyphen (re-sort) but Chambers allows either spelling.

23d   Possibly train as a mechanic (7)

An artisan^[5] is defined as a worker in a skilled trade, especially one that involves making things by hand • street markets where local artisans display handwoven textiles, painted ceramics, and leather goods. I know that mechanics^[5] are a skilled workers who repair and maintain vehicle engines and other machinery, but I never considered them to be artisans. However, Oxford also shows an archaic meaning of mechanic to be a manual labourer or artisan • the Mechanics' Institute.

Mechanics' Institutes^[7] were educational establishments formed to provide adult education, particularly in technical subjects, to working men. As such, they were often funded by local industrialists on the grounds that they would ultimately benefit from having more knowledgeable and skilled employees. The world's first Mechanics' Institute was established in Edinburgh, Scotland in October 1821. By the mid-19th century, there were over 700 institutes in towns and cities across the UK and overseas.

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