Thursday, June 14, 2012 - DT 26825

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26825
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Setter Jay
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26825]
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
Notes This puzzle is a pangram – a puzzle in which all the letters of the alphabet are found in the solutions.

Introduction

It took me at least three sittings but I eventually completed the puzzle unaided. However, I failed to notice that it is a pangram.

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.

7a   A bid for change — queen finally made to give up (8)

A queen is an adult female cat that has not been spayed.

10a   One day accepting church is cold (4)

The Church of England (CE)^[5] is the English branch of the Western Christian Church, which combines Catholic and Protestant traditions, rejects the Pope’s authority, and has the monarch as its titular head.

11a   Ladies with day left in struggle for illumination (10)

In Britain, the Ladies^[5] is a term for a women’s public toilet. Loo^[5] is an informal British term for a toilet.

15a   Fruit initially served in Rover’s Return (6)

The Rovers Return Inn^[7] is a fictional public house on the long-running British soap opera Coronation Street.

25a   Frisk doctor in prison (6)

In Britain, the degree required to practice medicine is a Bachelor of Medicine^[7] (MB, from Latin Medicinae Baccalaureus), which is equivalent to a North American Doctor of Medicine (MD, from Latin Medicinae Doctor). The degree of Doctor of Medicine also exists in Britain, but it is an advanced degree pursued by those who wish to go into medical research. Physicians in Britain are still addressed as Dr. despite not having a doctoral degree.

In Britain, gaol^[5] is an alternative spelling of jail.

26a   Drink from quiet hotel in Kent area beside river (8)

Kent is a county on the SE coast of England. Piano^[3,5] (abbreviation p^[5]), is a musical direction meaning either soft or quiet (as an adjective) or softly or quietly (as an adverb). Often, in cryptic crossword puzzles, hotel^[5] is a code word representing the letter H, used in radio communication. However, that is not the case today. Rather, you need the name of a well known hotel in London or Paris, whose name has become synonymous with luxurious accommodation.

3d   Reprimand leader missing in upset (6)

It would seem that "leader missing in upset" could indicate either of two words. Upset^[5] is the state of being unhappy, disappointed, or worried. Tearful would qualify under the first item on this list and fearful under the last item.

6d   He has a target of a run before church — then beer regularly (6)

This being a British puzzle, the setter likely wasn't thinking of baseball. On cricket scorecards, R^[5] is used as an abbreviation for run(s).

13d   Fingerprints trapping members who in Paris will be failures (4,6)

Dabs^[5] is British slang for fingerprints • the catalogue is being dusted for your dabs. An MP is a Member of Parliament in Britain (or in Canada). Qui^[8] is a French pronoun meaning 'who'. To the British, a damp squib^[5] is a situation or event which is much less impressive than expected • my moment of power was a damp squib. A squib^[5] is a small firework that burns with a hissing sound before exploding.

18d   Excused retired European politician on trend, oddly (8)

The politicians from 13d make another appearance.

22d   Vessel carrying fruit — and weapons (6)

In Crosswordland, a vessel quite often turns out to be a steamship (abbreviation SS^[5]).

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