Wednesday, August 22, 2012 - DT 26886

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26886
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, June 7, 2012
Setter Ray T (Ray Terrell)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26886]
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

Introduction

Pommers has nearly pushed the meters off the scale with his enthusiasm for this puzzle. He says this puzzle was "... the best fun I’ve had with my clothes on!". So the enjoyment level may fall a bit short of the experience of a certain young prince recently.

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   Compiler’s getting stick about hobby (7)

As we saw only yesterday, it is a common cryptic crossword convention for the creator of the puzzle to use terms such as setter, compiler, author, or writer to refer to himself or herself. To solve such a clue, one must usually substitute a first person pronoun (I or me) for whichever of these terms has been used  in the clue. Today, the setter complicates matters a tad by requiring us to insert I'm (I am) in place of compiler's (compiler is).

10a   Model bird going after caress (7)

Having obtained the first and third letters of the solution from the checking letters, I was expecting a rather more passionate caress!

While, in Britain, bird^[5] can be an informal term for a young woman or a man’s girlfriend, this meaning seems rather unlikely in the surface reading of this clue.

15a   Time demand, with no time to waste (9)

I was able to figure out the "time" part and also understood the working of the "no time" part. I just could not think of the right meaning for waste until I called in my electronic help. Even then, I likely came up with a different explanation than did Pommers. As a meaning for waste^[5], I believe he may have used to deliberately dispose of (surplus stock) • 20% of stock will need to be wasted. On the other hand, I assumed that it must mean to kill or severely injure (someone) • I saw them waste the guy I worked for. However, Oxford Dictionaries characterises this latter usage as being North American, so it may be an unlikely possibility.

17a   Stew of scouse, late, endlessly stewed (9)

A Scouse^[4] is (1) a person who lives in or comes from Liverpool, England or (2) the dialect spoken by such a person. In the Liverpool dialect, scouse^[4] is a stew made from left-over meat.

19a   Second tea or perhaps a coffee (5)

In the UK, mo^[5] is an informal term for a short period of time (hang on a mo!) [abbreviation of moment]. In Britain, tea may informally be called char^[5] (or cha or chai).

25a   Redhead consumed by bust size (7)

This clue requires one to separate "redhead" into fodder (red) and indicator (head) from which we are to decipher that the setter means the first (head) letter of Red. A similar construct that we often see is "sweetheart" which indicates the middle (heart) of swEet.

26a   Missionary position? It’s bitter outside! (7)

In Britain, bitter^[5] is beer that is strongly flavoured with hops and has a bitter taste : a pint of bitter.

2d   Country, not a large country (7)

In his review, Pommers refers to Australia as "a large antipodean country". The Antipodes^[5] is an informal name for Australia and New Zealand. This expression makes sense in Britain, as Australia and New Zealand are located approximately diametrically opposite Britain on the globe. The expression seems to have been transported to North America with no consideration for it lack of logic here.

4d   Make water stay under small flower (9)

Speedwell^[5] is a small creeping herbaceous plant of the genus Veronica found in north temperate regions, with small blue or pink flowers.

5d   Skip about on exercise run (5)

PE^[5] is the abbreviation for Physical Education.

7d   One continental eastern area notionally including Australia initially (7)

This is an & lit.^[7] (or all-in-one) clue in which the entire clue is both the definition and (when interpreted differently) provides the wordplay.

8d   Devout about to support wrong Church (7)

The Church of England (abbreviation CE)^[10] is the reformed established state Church in England, Catholic in order and basic doctrine, with the Sovereign as its temporal head.

17d   Charlie and chicks for groups (7)

Charlie^[5] is a code word representing the letter C, used in radio communication.

18d   Beat donkey after drink round river (7)

As a verb, sup^[5] is a dated or Northern English term meaning to take (drink or liquid food) by sips or spoonfuls • (i) she supped up her soup delightedly; (ii) he was supping straight from the bottle. As a noun, it means (1) a sip of liquid • he took another sup of wine or (2) in Northern England or Ireland, an alcoholic drink • the latest sup from those blokes at the brewery.

21d   She could be recast by head of studio (7)

I think this is a semi & lit. clue (as opposed to 7d which was a true & lit.). The entire clue constitutes the definition, but I don't think that the word "she" is considered to be part of the wordplay. Since not all of the words in the clue are used in both the definition and the wordplay it is not a true & lit. clue — but it certainly comes awfully close to being one.

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

Tuesday, August 21, 2012 - DT 26885

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26885
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Setter Jay (Jeremy Mutch)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26885]
Big Dave's Review Written By Falcon
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

As I began to work through today's puzzle, an eerie feeling of déjà vu came over me. Slowly it dawned on me that I had reviewed this puzzle when it appeared in The Daily Telegraph in June.

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.

10a   Panics, pinching sailor’s biscuits (9)

In Britain, a flapjack is a sweet tray-baked oat bar made from rolled oats, butter, brown sugar and golden syrup. In 17th century England, flapjack meant pancake (as it does today in North America). It has been used as the name of the oat bar only since the mid-1930s. A British biscuit^[5] is what we in North America would call a cookie, and what we know as a biscuit would be a scone in Britain.

17a   Revenue for the writer on popular company (6)

It is a common cryptic crossword convention for the creator of the puzzle to use terms such as setter, compiler, author, or writer to refer to himself or herself. To solve such a clue, one must usually substitute a first person pronoun (I or me) for whichever of these terms has been used  in the clue.

25a   King Charles II’s lover’s ring (5)

Nell Gwyn (1650 – 1687) was a long-time mistress of King Charles II of England.

18d   Devices that stop Conservative and Unionist members of the upper classes (3-4)

A Unionist^[5] is a person, especially a member of a Northern Ireland political party, who is in favour of the union of Northern Ireland with Great Britain. In British slang, toff^[5] is a derogatory term for a rich or upper-class person.

20d   Queen wears rocks and jackets (7)

Reefer^[5] is short for reefer jacket^[5], a thick close-fitting double-breasted jacket.

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

Monday, August 20, 2012 - DT 26884

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26884
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26884]
Big Dave's Review Written By Crypticsue
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

Having completed the puzzle without assistance, I was pleasantly surprised to see that it rated three stars for difficulty from Crypticsue. I did take quite some time to establish a starting point. I think that I had no more than two or three solutions following the first read through.

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.

4a   Preliminary entertainment with a jolly at college (4-2)

Jolly^[4] is British slang for a member of the Royal Marines (RM)^[5], a British armed service (part of the Royal Navy) founded in 1664, trained for service at sea, or on land under specific circumstances.

In Britain, up^[5] means at or to a university, especially Oxford or Cambridge : they were up at Cambridge about the same time.

8d   Flattery from gentle older citizen defending son (4,4)

In Britain, OAP^[5] is an abbreviation for old-age pensioner.

11a   One revered actor on radio (4)

This would have been my first clue solved had I gotten the correct answer. I was certain that the solution was IDOL (one revered) which actually sounds like the surname of British actor Eric Idle (of Monty Python fame).

Once that idea was shot down by solutions to the intersecting clues, I did manage to come up with the right answer but I had no idea how to explain the wordplay. It slipped my mind that in Britain the word "Thor" – pronounced with a soft British R – would sound very much like the word "thaw". In any event, I was not familiar with the English actor or any of the programs that he appeared in.

In Scandinavian mythology, Thor^[5] is the god of thunder, the weather, agriculture, and the home, the son of Odin and Freya (Frigga). Thursday is named after him.

John Thaw^[7] (1942 – 2002) was an English actor, who appeared in a range of television, stage and cinema roles, his most popular being police and legal dramas such as Redcap, The Sweeney, Home to Roost, Inspector Morse and Kavanagh QC.

12a   Companion with idiot largely stuck in river getting condition from dampness? (6,4)

The Trent^[5] is the chief river of central England, which rises in Staffordshire and flows 275 km (170 miles) generally north-eastwards, uniting with the River Ouse 25 km (15 miles) west of Hull to form the Humber estuary.

A Companion of Honour (abbreviation CH) is a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour^[7], an order of the Commonwealth realms^[7] founded by King George V in June 1917 as a reward for outstanding achievements in the arts, literature, music, science, politics, industry or religion.

20a   Street by harsh Northern town reportedly offering fruit (10)

Bury (pronounced 'berry') is a town in Greater Manchester, England.

23a   Thick piece around lunchtime for squirrel (8)

It seems that the customary time for lunch in Britain is 1:00 p.m.

25a   Issue in which say a body of engineers needs backing (6)

The engineers today are not the usual Corps of Royal Engineers (RE)^[5] (the field engineering and construction corps of the British army) but the Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME; pronounced phonetically as "Reemee")^[7], a corps of the British Army that has responsibility for the maintenance, servicing and inspection of almost every electrical and mechanical piece of equipment within the British Army from battle tanks and helicopters to dental tools and cooking equipment/utensils.

5d   Estate maybe with line by the sound of it providing support for TV presenters (7)

In Britain, a station wagon^[5] is known as an estate car^[5] (which is often shortened to just estate^[5]), a line or sequence of people or vehicles awaiting their turn to be attended to or to proceed is called a queue^[5], and a television or radio host or anchor is a presenter^[5]. Autocue^[5] is the British name for a teleprompter^[5], a device which projects an enlarged image of a script on to a clear glass screen in front of a person speaking on television or in public, so enabling the speaker to read their speech while appearing to be looking at the viewers or audience.

14d   Impression made by English students’ event with French wine included (9)

In Britain, rag (usually used as a modifier) is a programme of stunts, parades, and other entertainments organized by students to raise money for charity • rag week.

Vin^[8] is the French word for wine.

15d   Area supporting leading Lib Dem in a familiar way? (8)

The Liberal Democrats (Lib Dem) are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which was formed in 1988 by a merger of the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party. Following the 2010 general election, in which no party achieved an overall majority, the Liberal Democrats formed a coalition government with the Conservatives, with Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg becoming Deputy Prime Minister and other Liberal Democrats taking up ministerial positions.

The person mentioned in the clue as being a "leading Lib Dem" is not the leader of the party, but rather Vince Cable^[7] who is currently the Business Secretary.

19d   Look up in support of good man and actress (6)

Meryl Streep^[7] is an American actress who has worked in theatre, television, and film.

21d   Peculiar media boss on the way up? Object (5)

Rum^[5] is dated British slang meaning odd or peculiar.

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

Saturday, August 18, 2012 - Some Like it Hot

Introduction

While the temperature outside may have cooled off recently, there are still plenty of hot spots to be found in today's puzzle from Cox and Rathvon.

New Links

You may have noticed in the listings for other Cryptic Crossword Blogs (found in the sidebar to the right), that I have recently added links to:

• Word Salad, a blog by Joshua Kosman and Henri Picciotto who set puzzles for the US publication, The Nation. Word Salad is described as "Kosman and Picciotto on their Nation puzzle, cryptic crosswords, wordplay and puzzles in general". You can read their blog for free, but the puzzle is only available to subscribers. [Note: Unfortunately, this link will not take you directly to the Word Salad blog page. Instead, you will be redirected to a listing of all blogs associated with The Nation. Scroll down to the bottom of this list of blogs and you will find a link that will take you to Word Salad.]

• The Nation Cryptic Crossword Forum in which Braze discusses not just puzzles from The Nation but also those appearing in a number of publications, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and our own National Post among others.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

Legend:	"*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed
	"( )" letters inserted; "_" letters deleted; "†" explicit in the clue

Across

1a   GARB|LE — GARB (apparel) + LE (the French; French word meaning 'the')

4a   FLA(P|J|A)CK — FLACK (promoter) containing (eating) {P (piece of Pie) + J (bit of Jam) + (and) A (†)}

9a   IN|CUBA|TOR< — IN (†) + CUBA (Communist country) + a reversal (turned) of ROT (corrupt)

11a   RID(G)E — RIDE (travel) containing (around) G (middle [letter] of LoGan)

12a   GENES|IS — GENES (family inheritance) + IS (†)

13a   ERUPTED* — anagram (awfully) of RUDE PET

14a   PREDIC(AMEN)T — AMEN (You said it!) contained in (in) PREDICT (forecast)

19a   B|RAGGADOCIO* — B (Bubble at the front) + an anagram (ruined) of A GOOD CIGAR

22a   PROV(OK)E — PROVE (show) containing (gaining) OK (approval)

24a   RETIRED — double definition; "quit working" & "with new wheels"

26a   C(RAW)L — RAW (au naturel) contained in (coated with) CL ([symbol for the chemical element] chlorine)

27a   SKED|ADDLE — ADDLE (dizzy) following (after) SKED (program; short for schedule)

28a   CHI(POT)LE — POT () contained in (in) CHILE (South American land)

29a   {SNAP TO}* — anagram (drifting) of ON PAST

Down

1d   {GOING APE}* — anagram (scattered) of OPIE GANG

2d   RE(CANT)ED — CANT (lack the wherewithal to; can't) contained in (put in) REED (grass)

3d   LOB|OS — LOB (toss) + OS (goose eggs; zeroes)

5d   _L|ARGE_ — hidden in ruraL ARGEntina

6d   PARQUETED~ — sounds like (overheard) {PARK (temporarily leave; park the kids with the grandparents) + AID (help)}

7d   AUDI(T)S — T (end [letter] of broadcasT) contained in (in) AUDIS (German cars)

8d   KNEADS~ — sounds like (for vocalizing) NEEDS (requires)

10d   TOSTADA* — anagram (tossed) of AT TOADS

15d   IMBROGLIO* — anagram (stirred) of OIL RIG MOB

16d   _EN| GARDE_ — hidden in kitchEN GARDEns

17d   S|C(A|RED) UP — S (small) + {CUP (goblet) containing (filled with) [A (†) + RED (sort of wine)]}

18d   TOO|D(LE-O)O — LEO (sign [of the zodiac]) contained in (in) {TOO (further) + DO (party)}

20d   IPECAC* — anagram (damaged) of ICE CAP

21d   SO|MALI — SO (then) + MALI (West African land)

23d   EASE|L — L (left) following (behind) EASE (facility)

25d   T|RAIN — T (end [letter] of hoT) + RAIN (shower)

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

Friday, August 17, 2012 - DT 26883

[Note: posted Sunday, August 19, 2012 but backdated for sequencing purposes]

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26883
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, June 4, 2012
Setter Rufus (Roger Squires)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26883]
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 26882 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, June 2, 2012.

Introduction

While I didn't find this puzzle to be too difficult, it was hardly in one star territory for me.

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.

1a   Keep arguing — like Mrs Sprat does (4,3,3)

There seems to be some variance of opinion among British dictionaries as to the meaning of the expression to chew the fat. According to Oxford Dictionaries, it means to chat in a leisurely and prolonged way^[5] (which is what I have always understood it to mean). On the other hand, Chambers 21st Century Dictionary defines it as to argue a point, especially at length^[2]. Collins English Dictionary covers all the bases, by giving both meanings^[4].

18a   Completely new sweet flavour (4)

Sweet is the British term for candy^[5]. Polo^[7] (mentioned by Libellule in his review) is a brand of British mint candy with a hole in the middle (similar to Life Savers).

22a   Companion given a smile, causing annoyance (7)

As one usually finds, companion refers to Companion of Honour (abbreviation CH), a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour^[7], an order of the Commonwealth realms^[7] founded by King George V in June 1917 as a reward for outstanding achievements in the arts, literature, music, science, politics, industry or religion.

24a   Temple ornament I’d made badly (6)

Temple refers to the one found on the side of one's head.

3d   Courting ducks take wing outside (6)

In cricket, a duck^[5] is a batsman’s score of nought [zero] • he was out for a duck. In cryptic crossword puzzles, duck is used to indicate the letter "O" based on the resemblance of the number "0" to this letter.

The term duck is a shortening of 'duck egg' and is akin to the North American expression 'goose egg'^[5] meaning a zero score in a game. In British informal speech, when an expression consists of a noun used as an adjective followed by another noun (such as 'duck egg'), it is common to drop the second noun and use only the first noun. Thus duck egg becomes duck, Indian restaurant becomes Indian, and estate car (station wagon) becomes estate. I have often wondered if this tendency is related to the process at play in Cockney rhyming slang where a word is replaced by a phrase and then the rhyming part is dropped. For instance, in Cockney rhyming slang, a mate (friend) is a china because mate rhymes with china plate.

7d Stretcher bearer? (3,7)

A hod^[5] is a builder’s V-shaped open trough on a pole, used for carrying bricks and other building materials. A hod carrier^[10] is a labourer who carries the materials in a hod for a plasterer, bricklayer, etc. A stretcher^[5] is a brick or stone laid with its long side along the face of a wall (in contrast to a header^[5], a brick or stone laid at right angles to the face of a wall).

8d   General still a Duke even if he lost his head (10)

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington^[5] (1769–1852) was a British soldier and Tory statesman who served as Prime Minister from 1828–30 and again in 1834. Known as the Iron Duke, he served as commander of the British forces in the Peninsular War (1808–14) and in 1815 defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo, so ending the Napoleonic Wars.

Duke Ellington^[5] (1899–1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and bandleader; born Edward Kennedy Ellington. Coming to fame in the early 1930s, Ellington wrote over 900 compositions and was one of the first popular musicians to write extended pieces. Notable works: Mood Indigo (1930).

14d   Food the French may get unhappy about (5)

La^[8] is the feminine singular form of the French definite article.

20d   Bundles to haul on board (7)

SS^[5] is the abbreviation for steamship. In cryptic crossword puzzles, one often sees the phrase "on board" used to indicate that some bit of fodder is contained within the letters SS — with the rationale being that this fodder is being carried by a steamship (SS).

26d   Artist about to put up list (4)

RA^[5] is the abbreviation for Royal Academician, a member of the Royal Academy of Arts^[5], an institution established in London in 1768, whose purpose is to cultivate painting, sculpture, and architecture in Britain.

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

Thursday, August 16, 2012 - DT 26881

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26881
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, June 1, 2012
Setter Giovanni
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26881]
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

I ran into a bit of heavy going along the bottom edge of the puzzle — until I found the right piece of equipment to smooth the way.

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.

1a   Beast with personality is going with the upwardly mobile classes (11)

Big Dave comments "the use of “is going with the upwardly mobile” for “is going up” is a bit clunky". On the other hand, a clue reading "Beast with personality is going up classes" is hardly very elegant, is it?

7a   Caretaker has rubbish taken back after start of year (7)

Rot^[5] is a chiefly British term meaning nonsense or rubbish^[5] (absurd, nonsensical, or worthless talk or ideas) • don’t talk rot.

The first day of the year in ancient Rome would be Jan. I, would it not?

14a   Bad effects maybe following a school period? (10)

In Britain, the short form for mathematics is maths^[5] ([as modifier] her mother was a maths teacher), rather than math^[5] as it is in North America (she teaches math and science).

Aside from having to deal with the British version of the school subject, I was also held up for a bit by an incorrect entry at 9d.

22a   The bloke’s in a den — it’s tacky (8)

Big Dave does say in his introduction that he is still suffering the effects from a trip to London, so I think we can forgive his statement "a hyphenated word meaning the bloke’s" when he actually means an apostrophised word.

24a   There’s elegance about this writer’s contorted expression (7)

It is a common cryptic crossword convention for the creator of the puzzle to use terms such as setter, compiler, author, or writer to refer to himself or herself. To solve such a clue, one must usually substitute a first person pronoun (I or me) for whichever of these terms has been used  in the clue.  Today, the setter adds a bit of a wrinkle as we must substitute "I'm" (I am) for "writer's" (writer is).

26a   Restore mall that’s broken up — using this finally? (5-6)

Mall^[4] is used here in the sense of a shaded avenue, especially one that is open to the public, rather than its more common meaning in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand as a short form for shopping mall. [Judging by the dictionary entries, the Brits would appear to use the long form "shopping mall" but not the shorter form "mall".]

1d   Income changes over time — not much money here though (7)

A centimo^[5] is a monetary unit of a number of Latin American countries (and formerly of Spain), equal to one hundredth of the basic unit.

9d   Business operation in which branches will be reduced (4,7)

I initially entered TREE NURSERY here which I justified on the basis that the branches would be reduced since they had not yet had the opportunity to fully develop. This answer correctly matched all the checking letters save the final letter of 14a which, needless to say, caused me a bit of grief on that clue.

19d   Just the sort of agitator to create a storm in a teacup? (7)

In Britain, a person who deliberately causes trouble between others by spreading rumours or gossip would be known as a stirrer^[5].

20d   Skin’s burning up — pain in Nice (6)

The definition is "skin's" (and not merely "skin"). Thus the solution is an adjective (rather than a noun). Mal^[8] is the French word for ache (or pain).

23d   When there’s no holiday in winter months (4)

Oxford Dictionaries defines term as each of the periods in the year, alternating with holiday or vacation, during which instruction is given in a school, college, or university, or during which a law court holds sessions • (i) the summer term; (ii) term starts tomorrow. It seems clear that holiday is used in this definition in the sense of an extended period of leisure and recreation, especially one spent away from home or in travelling (often holidays when used in this sense) rather than a day of festivity or recreation when no work is done. The former sense is chiefly a British usage for which Americans would use the term vacation. In Canada, I would say that the two terms (holiday and vacation) are used interchangeably. For some strange reason, Oxford Dictionaries characterises the word "holiday" (in all senses) as being chiefly British when it is fairly evident that it is only one sense of the word that is British (or more correctly, not US).

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

Wednesday, August 15, 2012 - DT 26880

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26880
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, May 31, 2012
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26880]
Big Dave's Review Written By Gazza
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

Again today, I got off to a slow start but, once having established an initial foothold, was able to progress steadily through the puzzle.

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   Minister grabbing time in part of territory (6)

A canon^[5] is a member of the clergy who is on the staff of a cathedral, especially one who is a member of the chapter • he was appointed canon of Christ Church, Oxford. The chapter^[5] is the governing body of a religious community or knightly order • land granted by the Dean and Chapter of St Paul’s Cathedral.

12a   Paper composed by conservationists is evident around church before joint training period (14)

In Britain, the National Trust (abbreviation NT)^[5] is a trust for the preservation of places of historic interest or natural beauty in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, founded in 1895 and supported by endowment and private subscription. The National Trust for Scotland was founded in 1931.

The Church of England (abbreviation CE)^[10] is the reformed established state Church in England, Catholic in order and basic doctrine, with the Sovereign as its temporal head.

15a   Amused reaction or what might partner it around joker’s finale (4)

In the UK, it^[5] is an informal, dated term for Italian vermouth • he poured a gin and it [a cocktail containing gin and Italian vermouth]. I sometimes wonder if it can be partnered with anything but gin?

17a   Reporting of what police investigate in city (5)

Leeds^[7] – a city in West Yorkshire, England – is the UK's largest centre for business, legal, and financial services outside London.

19a   Challenger, perhaps, restrained by left ankle (4)

There have been three tanks named Challenger^[7] in British military service.

• Cruiser Mk VIII Challenger in service during World War II
• Challenger 1 in service from the late 1980s to early 21st century
• Challenger 2 in service from 1998 onwards

2d   Look shown by an elevated figure, we hear (6)

A peer^[5] is a member of the nobility in Britain or Ireland, comprising the ranks of duke, marquess, earl, viscount, and baron • hereditary peers could still dominate the proceedings of the House of Lords.

4d   Proposal by the writer to follow Southern revolutionary (6)

It is a common cryptic crossword convention for the creator of the puzzle to use terms such as setter, compiler, author, or writer to refer to himself or herself. To solve such a clue, one must usually substitute a first person pronoun (I or me) for whichever of these terms has been used  in the clue. 

16d   Secure at sea to turn up following directions in a place for subs? (8)

In Britain, a subeditor might also be referred to as a sub^[5] • the chief sub would be responsible for the look of the paper. Subeditor^[5] itself is a chiefly British term denoting someone who

checks and corrects (the text of a newspaper or magazine before printing), typically also writing headlines and captions • he wrote articles on sport while subediting the Oxford Magazine.

21d   Old actor initially avoided park employee (6)

Stewart Granger (1913 – 1993) was an English-born American film actor, mainly associated with heroic and romantic leading roles. He was a popular leading man from the 1940s to the early 1960s.

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