Wednesday, July 25, 2012 - DT 26862

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26862
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, May 10, 2012
Setter Ray T
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26862]
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

Introduction

In today's puzzle, Ray T has toned down the difficulty — as well as the innuendo — a notch.

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.

9a   Still Caledonian’s first dressed in tartan (6)

Caledonia^[10], the Roman name for Scotland, is now used poetically and, sometimes, humorously. Caledonian may either be an adjective meaning of or relating to Scotland or, as in this clue, a noun (used in a literary context) denoting a native or inhabitant of Scotland.

14a   Go abroad, it’s grand in Abu Dhabi (8)

... Abu Dhabi^[10] being an example of an emirate.

15a   Pressure’s socially acceptable wearing frock (6)

In Britain, U^[5] is used informally as an adjective with respect to language or social behaviour meaning characteristic of or appropriate to the upper social classes (U manners). In today's puzzle, the setter clues it as "socially acceptable". The term, an abbreviation of  upper class, was coined in 1954 by Alan S. C. Ross, professor of linguistics, and popularized by its use in Nancy Mitford's Noblesse Oblige (1956).

22a   Push Tory leader for financial statement (6)

Big Dave's illustration shows British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne carrying his Budget speech to the House of Commons in the traditional red budget box^[7].

1d   In eating, our man devours (8)

Big Dave illustrates this clue with a picture of himself.

3d   Liberal in Conservatives perhaps, to a degree (6)

Like Canada, Britain has Liberal and Conservative Parties.

5d   Changed midstream detaining Navy engineer (10)

In case you are wondering, N^[1] as an abbreviation for navy is found in The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition — although seemingly nowhere else.

8d   Got well-educated, no beginner (6)

Big Dave must have been distracted by 16d, as the end of this hint appears to have gone missing. The wordplay is LEARNED (well-educated) with the initial letter deleted (no beginner).

13d   An impediment to free speech? (10)

Still distracted, Big Dave has repeated the phrase "inflammation of the" in the hint.

16d   One displaying tackle on pitch? (8)

Should not the streaker in Big Dave's illustrations have been male since tackle^[5] is British vulgar slang for a man’s genitals?

21d   Exclusive class owns large country pile (6)

A pile^[5] is a large imposing building or group of buildings • a Victorian Gothic pile. I was surprised to discover that this is apparently not a Briticism as it is also found in The American Heritage Dictionary^[3].

24d   Queen turned over in check (4)

It would not be a Ray T puzzle without a mention of his favourite band in the surface reading — which happens to double as Her Majesty in the cryptic reading. By tradition, British monarchs use initials formed from the Latin version of their first name followed by either Rex or Regina (Latin for king or queen, respectively). Thus Queen Elizabeth's initials are ER^[5] — from the Latin Elizabetha Regina.

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