Tuesday, April 3, 2012 - DT 26765

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26765
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Setter Jay
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26765]
Big Dave's Review Written By Falcon
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

I reviewed this puzzle for Big Dave's Crossword Blog when it was originally published in The Daily Telegraph in January. I didn't find it overly difficult then - and it was even easier 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.

5a   Rushes from overnight sleeper boarding ship (8)

In my review for Big Dave, I suggested that "overnight sleeper" referred to "someone using makeshift sleeping accommodation". I believe that definition came from my head rather than a dictionary. Certainly, I think one might say something like "My cousin has been camped out on my couch since his girlfriend kicked him out." This phraseology did not seem to resonate with British readers who thought that the reference was to a large motor vehicle with living accommodation^[5].

10a   Church service finishes surrounded by friends — and weapons (8)

Mate^[5] is an informal British term (1) for a friend or companion • my best mate Steve or (2) used as a friendly form of address between men or boys • ‘See you then, mate.’

19a   Cancels cash advances covering credit (6)

In Britain, an advance or loan against expected income is known as a sub^[5] • the replay to ‘I’ve got no money.’  might be ‘Want a sub?’

23a   Trustworthy Liberal getting lost touring Spain (8)

The International Vehicle Registration (IVR) code for Spain is E^[5] (from Spanish España).

3d   Evidence of embarrassment as president embraces student (5)

The cryptic crossword convention of L meaning learner or student arises from the L-plate^[7], a square plate bearing a sans-serif letter L, for learner, which must be affixed to the front and back of a vehicle in various countries (including the UK) if its driver is a learner under instruction.

5d   Perverts and drips oddly included in school tests (7)

The school tests referenced here are British SATs (Standard Assessment Tests) which are administered to school students at the end of year 2, year 6 and year 9 to measure a child's progress against other children of the same age. Although the formal name of these tests is the National Curriculum assessment^[7], they are colloquially known as SATs. However, I am sure that solvers on this side of the Atlantic can be pardoned if they thought that the reference is to American Scholastic Aptitude Tests^[7], which are a test of a student’s verbal and mathematical skills, used for admission to American colleges.

7d   Herald’s quiet errors involved protecting copper (9)

Piano^[3,5] (abbreviation p^[5])  is a direction used in music to mean either (as an adjective) soft or quiet (as an adverb) softly or quietly.

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