Friday, November 16, 2012 - DT 26961

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26961
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, September 3, 2012
Setter Rufus (Roger Squires)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26961]
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 26960 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, September 1, 2012.

Introduction

After sitting on the sidelines yesterday, my electronic helpers saw very limited action today as we are presented with the usual gentle fare from Rufus. Rufus is the acknowledged master of the cryptic definition so it is hardly surprising that more than half of the clues that I have chosen to comment on today are of that type.

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   A naturally talented spinner (6)

The setter likely intends that the surface reading carry a cricket connotation. In that sport, a spinner^[5] is a bowler who is expert in spinning the ball.

11a   Quartz watch that doesn't look for real? (5,3)

In the surface reading, quartz watch^[10] refers to a watch that is operated by the vibrations of a quartz crystal controlled by a microcircuit. However, in the cryptic reading, we have a charade of GLASS (quartz) + EYE (watch). Of course, a glass eye is unable to see anything (doesn't look for real).

Quartz^[10] is a short form for quartz glass^[10], a colourless glass composed of almost pure silica, resistant to very high temperatures and transparent to near-ultraviolet radiation (also called silica glass or nitreous silica).

12a   Union left gets in extremely easily (6)

In the UK, US, and several other countries, Equity^[5] is a trade union to which all professional actors must belong.

13a   Horse-racing is fun for Cambridge college? (5,2,5)

Horse racing is known as the sport of kings^[5]. King's College^[7] is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England.

16a   Flat-finding agencies (6,6)

An agency^[5] is a thing or person that acts to produce a particular result ⇒ the movies could be an agency moulding the values of the public.

25a   Promise to uncle, perhaps (6)

Uncle^[5] is an archaic, informal term for a pawnbroker.

5d   Able to pay up five pound in notes, perhaps (7)

The pound^[5] (also pound sterling) is the basic monetary unit of the UK, equal to 100 pence. While the symbol for pound is £, it is often written as L^[10].

6d   Sign sick note for char (5)

In the surface reading, char^[5] is likely used as a shortened version of charwoman^[5], a dated term for a woman employed as a cleaner in a house or office.

22d   Posh vehicle for baker's deliveries? (5)

Rolls^[10] is an informal term for a Rolls-Royce automobile.

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