Wednesday, September 30, 2009 (DT 25930)

This puzzle was originally published Saturday, May 16, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

Today's puzzle had a bit of a split personality. I got off to a rapid start, making good progress through a series of fairly easy (and somewhat pedestrian) clues. However, about halfway through the puzzle, progress ground to a crawl. The remainder of the puzzle proved to be considerably more challenging - and interesting. I completed the puzzle; however, without fully understanding the wordplay for a couple of clues.

Today's Glossary

Some possibly unfamiliar abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions used in today's puzzle

Acol - a bridge bidding system devised in Britain

d - (abbrev., lower case) in the UK prior to 1971, a penny or pence (from the Latin denarius)

hunter - (noun, defn. 2) a watch with a hinged cover protecting the glass

Mumbles - a village, with adjacent headland, in Swansea, Wales

naff - (adj., defn. 2) Brit. tasteless, vulgar

tosh - Brit. nonsense

try it on - (phrases) Brit. deliberately test someone's tolerance or attempt to deceive or seduce someone

Today's Links

As this was a Saturday prize puzzle in the UK, we have both day-of-publication hints from Gazza (sitting in for Big Dave), which may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 25930] -Hints, as well as Peter Biddlecombe's post-submission-date review at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 25930]-Review.

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

19a Be careful, hunter has sex appeal (5,2)

Before reading Peter Biddlecombe's review, I did not fully comprehend the wordplay in this clue, as it had slipped my mind that a "hunter" is a type of watch. Peter characterises this association as a crossword cliché - and (now that he mentions it) I must admit that I do recall having encountered it in a previous puzzle.

27a A fellow in Newfoundland who is vulgar (4)

This clue is rather dated, as the name of the province was officially changed in 2001 to Newfoundland and Labrador, resulting in the abbreviation being changed from NF to NL.

20d Attempt to do something risky - with a dress in a shop? (3,2,2)

This is another clue for which I did not fully comprehend the wordplay - even after reading Peter Biddlecombe's review. After some more research, I discovered that "try it on" is a British expression meaning "deliberately test or attempt to deceive or seduce someone" (Oxford) or "to attempt to deceive someone, or to test their patience or tolerance" (Chambers). According to Peter, we are to reuse the phrase "to do something risky" in both definitions (i.e., read the clue as "attempt to do something risky" and "to do something risky with a dress in a shop"). While I can see that an attempt to deceive or seduce someone might well be considered risky behaviour, I am not sure that I understand why trying on a dress would be (unless I were the one trying it on!).

Signing off for today - Falcon

Tuesday, September 29, 2009 (DT 25929)

This puzzle was originally published Friday, May 15, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

I found today's puzzle to be a rather fun one to do but very challenging - definitely much more difficult than any of those published recently; and I was pleased to see that the Brits (for once) appear to share my opinion. I did complete the puzzle, but I had to open the Tool Chest early and make extensive use of the puzzle solving tools found there. In the end, I remained mystified by the wordplay in one clue - but, understandably so, as the clue printed in the National Post was incorrect.

Error Alert

Clue 7d as printed in the National Post is incorrect. Here is the correct version:

7d Metallic material that could be seen in inro (7,4)

For an explanation of the solution, see Libellule's review on Big Dave's blog.

[For the benefit of readers without access to the National Post, it misprinted "inro" as "into".]

Today's Glossary

Some possibly unfamiliar abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions used in today's puzzle

Elia - pen name of English essayist Charles Lamb

lurgy - Brit. any highly infectious non-specific disease

marg - Brit. margarine

SE - abbrev. South-East: the region of England comprising London and surrounding areas

Today's Links

Libellule's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 25929].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

7a Dispute about prosperous region being less moral? (5)

This was the last clue to be solved - and one that I spent a lot of time on. Very early, I had penciled in WORSE, but as I was not able to reconcile the wordplay, I was more than a little uncertain about it. However, as I progressed, the checking letters (W?R?E) produced a pattern matching WORSE - but I was still unable to sort out the wordplay. A search for words matching the checking letters turned up only two possibilities - WORSE and WARRE. But that created quite a dilemma since the two words are synonyms. Since both words fit the definition and the pattern of checking letters, the differentiator would have to be the wordplay (which was baffling me). In the former option (WORSE), I could see that "prosperous region" could be a reference to the South-East (SE) of England around London. I thought that "about" might be a containment indicator but got nowhere with that approach. As for the second option (WARRE), "dispute" could be WAR and "about" could be RE, but that left "prosperous region" unaccounted for. I was just about to toss in the towel, when the answer hit me like a bolt out of the blue - "dispute" is ROW and "about" is a reversal indicator. Voilà!

Signing off for today - Falcon

Monday, September 28, 2009 (DT 25928)

This puzzle was originally published Thursday, May 14, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

Today's puzzle, while not especially difficult, contains a number of interesting clues having smooth surface readings that, in many cases, very nicely conceal the underlying wordplay.

Today's Glossary

Some possibly unfamiliar abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions used in today's puzzle

OB - abbrev. old boy: (defn. 1) Brit. a former male pupil of a school

RE - abbrev. Royal Engineers: the Corps of Royal Engineers in the British Army (also known in Britain as sappers)

Today's Links

Gazza's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 25928].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

9a Plain dish with a bun in the middle (7)

To my mind, the leap from "bun in the middle" to "the middle letter of bun" is a bit of a stretch. But then again, all's fair in love, war and crossword puzzle clues.

21a Cheer very quietly during a double somersault (7)

Although easily finding the solution based on the definition and the checking letters, I must admit that I had no idea how one gets from "a double somersault" to "A LAUD" until I read Gazza's review (after which I gave myself a good swift kick for having missed the fairly obvious wordplay).

Signing off for today - Falcon

Saturday, September 26, 2009 - Highly Intelligent People in High Places

Introduction

Today's puzzle is a typical Cox and Rathvon creation with their trademark clever wordplay and smooth surface readings.

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

In today's puzzle, we see the word "on" used as a positional indicator in two different senses in two separate clues. In the first case,

2d Red vehicle on land (9)

the definition is CARNATION (red) and the wordplay is CAR (vehicle) preceding (on) NATION (land). Since this is a down clue, the positional indicator (on) shows that the first string (CAR) is placed on top of the second string (NATION) to form the solution (CARNATION).

As a positional indicator, on can also signify that one string is to be added onto an another string, which is how I believe it is used in the second case,

7d Bigwig reversed prohibition on body odour? (5)

where the definition is NABOB (bigwig) and I would interpret the wordplay as BAN (prohibition) first being added to (on) BO (body odour) to get the intermediate string BOBAN, which is then reversed to get the final solution NABOB.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

Legend:	"CD" Cryptic Definition; "DD" Double Definition
	"*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed
	"( )" letters inserted; "_" letters deleted

Across

1a {ROCKY MOUNTAINS}* - {O MAN SKI COUNTRY} perhaps

9a MARAUDERS* - {DRAMA SURE} misrepresented

10a L(I)BRA - {L (leader's foremost) + BRA (supporter)} around (carrying) I (one)

11a A_|MAL_|GAM_ - unfinished As MALe GAMe

12a LI(V)ABLE - LIABLE (apt) around (when housing) V (five)

13a PRIOR - DD

14a {TOP-DRAWER}< - {REWARD (prize) + POT (kitty)} reversed (returned)

17a SUNBATHER* - foolishly {HUNT BEARS}

19a W(ORS)E - ORS (alternatives) inside (adopted by) WE (the two of us)

20a P(IRATE)D - IRATE (mad) inside (in) PD (police department)

23a STOLLEN~ - sounds like (reportedly) STOLEN (ripped off)

25a RA|DII - RA (sun god) + DII (Roman Numeral 502)

26a A|SIA M|IN|OR - A + SIAM (former neighbour of Viet Nam) + IN + OR (Oregon)

27a INTELLIGENTSIA* - {AN ELITE LISTING} perhaps

Down

1d RUM|BA - RUM (drink) + BA (Bachelor of Arts)

2d CAR|NATION - CAR (vehicle) preceding (on) NATION (land)

3d YOU|N|GER - {N (northern) GER (German)} following (is after) YOU

4d OVERMATCH* - breaking {CHARM VOTE}

5d NASA|L - NASA (Apollo 13 group) + L (left)

6d AL|L OVER - AL (Pacino) + LOVER (fan)

7d NAB|OB - reversed {BAN (prohibition) following (on) BO (body odour)}

8d C(A|REF)REE - CREE (a tribe) around (includes) {A + REF (whistle-blower)}

13d PASSPORT - PAS (Pop's) + SPORT (fun)

15d PER(I)SHING - PERSHING (American general) around I (one)

16d WARP|LANES - WARP (distort) + LANES (paths)

18d ASTAIRE - sounds like (for the audience) A STAIR (step)

19d WO(OD)MAN - OD (overdose) inside (taken by) WOMAN (female)

21d RA(DO)N - RAN (managed) around (keeping) DO (party)

22d DRAWL - DRAW (sketch) + L (Liberal)

24d NORMA< - {A + M (male) + RON (Ronald)} reversed (comes back)

Signing off for today - Falcon

Friday, September 25, 2009 (DT 25927)

This puzzle was originally published Wednesday, May 13, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

Once again, I managed to get down to two clues remaining unsolved before being forced to dig into the Tool Chest. I finished with one wrong answer.

Today's Glossary

Some possibly unfamiliar abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions used in today's puzzle

Boris Johnson - mayor of London, England and, seemingly, a bicycle enthusiast

programme - Brit. program

Today's Links

Big Dave's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 25927].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

12a Regular supporter of Boris Johnson? (4)

The checking letters limit the solution to the pattern "?I?E". However, this really isn't very limiting as Chambers WordWizard provides 133 possible matches to this pattern. I had several theories, amongst them AIDE. Or, perhaps he has a talent for gambling and is supported by DICE, or has mobster connections and is supported by VICE, or has a drinking problem and is supported by WINE, or is supported by a rich WIFE. Finally, I settled on R (regular) plus ITE (supporter) to give RITE (which turned out to be anything but right).

22a Cost of zero fare? (10)

Having mistakenly put FREEZE for 20d seriously held me up on solving this clue. With this error in place, a search for words matching the checking letters returned no candidates. By removing checking letters one at a time and repeating the search, I found the correct solution for this clue and also discovered that my initial attempt at an answer for 20d was incorrect.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Thursday, September 24, 2009 (DT 25926)

This puzzle was originally published Tuesday, May 12, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

In terms of difficulty, I found today's puzzle to be pretty much on a par with the one published yesterday. Once again, I got down to two clues remaining before having to dig into the Tool Chest for help. In each case, a search for words matching the checking letters produced very short lists of possible solutions from which it was a trivial matter to select the correct one.

Today's Glossary

Some possibly unfamiliar abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions used in today's puzzle

carburettor - Brit. carburetor

Today's Links

Gazza's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 25926].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

The last two clues to be solved were:

14a Upset first person held back by drink (8)

Although there is nothing especially remarkable about this clue, and the wordplay is obvious once the solution is known, I just could not seem to get my head around it.

18d A source of delivery in the main? (8)

This is a clever cryptic definition, where delivery is used in the sense of "the act of saving or setting free" and "in the main" represents the sea.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Wednesday, September 23, 2009 (DT 25925)

This puzzle was originally published Monday, May 11, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

I found today's puzzle to be slightly more difficult than yesterday's - which once again puts me at odds with the Brits. While it took me considerably longer to complete today's puzzle, I was able to solve all but one clue unaided. The length of time required to finish the puzzle was increased by having two incorrect entries which remained undiscovered for quite some time.

Today's Glossary

Some possibly unfamiliar abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions used in today's puzzle

gin - Brit. trap (entry 2, defn. 1)

gong - Brit. medal (defn. 2)

lido - Brit. (1) a fashionable beach resort; or (2) a public open-air swimming pool

Today's Links

Tilsit's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 25925].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

8a Score with reverse billiards shot? Excellent (3-5)

I was hoping to complete the puzzle without the aid of my puzzle solving tools. However, being unable to figure out either this clue or 1d, I was forced to dip into the Tool Chest. Even missing the first letter, a search on the remaining checking letters returned only one possible solution. As soon as I had the solution to this clue, the solution to 1d became immediately obvious.

13a Something much appreciated by card-players (1,4,4)

An incorrect solution here (as well as at 24a) slowed my progress considerably on the right-hand side. My initial solution was "A GOOD HAND", which I still think may be a superior match to the wordplay than the solution that the setter envisioned. Since "a hand" can mean applause, "a good hand" would clearly show much appreciation.

24a What dictionaries do about it is quite clear (8)

This was where I temporarily had my second incorrect solution - with my original attempt being "DEFINING".

6d Politician entering government to screw up (6)

In this clue, "to screw up" does not mean to make a mistake. Rather, it means to wrinkle. Although I only recall having heard it used in this sense in the phrase "screw up one's face", it appears that the word may be more commonly used in this sense in Britain (Tilsit provides as an example "screwing up paper").

20d Mum, listen for a change (6)

My initial suspicion that "listen" might be a homophone (sounds like) indicator proved false.

Signing off for today - Falcon