Friday, August 31, 2012 - DT 26895

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26895
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, June 18, 2012
Setter Rufus (Roger Squires)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26895]
Big Dave's Review Written By Libellule
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 26894 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, June 16, 2012.

Introduction

Today, Rufus serves up a fairly easy puzzle and even goes light on the Briticisms.

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.

13a   He keeps an eye on the hands to avoid overtime (5-7)

This is not an boss monitoring the employees, but an employee watching the clock.

2d   Soldiers are unable to withdraw (6)

The Corps of Royal Engineers (RE)^[5] is the field engineering and construction corps of the British army.

3d   We set about the final course (5)

In Britain, a sweet^[5] may be either (1) a small shaped piece of confectionery made with sugar • a bag of sweets [in North America known as candy] or (2) a sweet dish forming a course of a meal; in other words, a pudding or dessert.

6d   Steps — quiet ones (5)

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).

13d   Big plunge on Swiss bank? (6,3)

The Cresta Run^[5] is a hazardously winding, steeply banked channel of ice built each year at the Cresta Valley, St Moritz, Switzerland, as a tobogganing [sledding] course, on which competitors race on light toboggans [sleds] in a characteristic head-first position. Such a run was first built in 1884.

Toboggan is the British name for a sled and bears absolutely no resemblance to what would be known as a toboggan in North American. A Cresta sled is very similar – if not identical – to a skeleton sled.

For more on this subject, see my review of DT 26375.

15d   Words are not about to stick (8)

Gum^[2] as a noun is (1) any of various substances found in certain plants, especially trees, that produce a sticky solution or gel when added to water, used in confectionery, gummed envelopes, etc. or (2) this or any similar substance used as glue. As a verb, it means to to smear, glue or unite something with gum.

17d   Rough cowl on chimney in Scotland (7)

In Scottish and Northern English, lum^[5] means chimney.

18d   Recover one’s possession? (6)

It seems that I was not alone in thinking that this clue is rather tenuous.

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