Friday, January 8, 2010 (DT 26040)

This puzzle was originally published Tuesday, September 22, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

I found it to be a moderately easy puzzle today - with a few Briticisms probably making it a bit trickier for North Americans than it would have been for the Brits.

As an aside, it is interesting to note that British ski jumper Michael "Eddie the Eagle" Edwards took part yesterday in the Olympic Torch Relay. While I am sure that few have any idea who won the ski jump medals in 1988 at the Calgary Winter Olympic Games, Eddie (despite finishing last) is still fondly remembered in Canada.

Today's Glossary

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

Arundel - a town in West Sussex, England

conker - noun Brit. 1 the hard shiny dark brown nut of a horse chestnut tree

endorsement - noun 2 (in the UK) a note on a driving licence recording the penalty points incurred for a driving offence

peaky - adjective pale from illness or fatigue

pork pie - Cockney rhyming slang for lie (untruth)

Today's Links

Gazza's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 26040].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

23a Grand course mostly, site of disturbance? (9)

I was a bit shaken up to discover that Aintree did not factor into this clue.

24a Reach top beside yard looking off colour (5)

While peaky is a new term to me, it is obviously a close variant of peaked (sense 2: pale and drawn in appearance so as to suggest illness or stress; wan and sickly) - a term with which I am quite familiar.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Thursday, January 7, 2010 (DT 26039)

This puzzle was originally published Monday, September 21, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

The National Post has skipped DT 26038 published Saturday, September 19, 2009 in the Daily Telegraph

Introduction

I rather enjoyed today's puzzle. While relatively easy, I found it had lots of quite clever clues. I was a bit uncertain about a couple of solutions, but they turned out to be correct. I was also in the dark on the wordplay for a couple of clues - but, then again, so were some of the Brits.

Today's Glossary

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

investment - noun 10. a siege or blockade; the surrounding of a place with military forces or works, as in besieging

Nelson's Column - a monument located in Trafalgar Square, London, England

pie² or pi - noun 1 printing confusedly mixed type

Today's Links

Big Dave's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 26039].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

14a Their occupants make a make a row in church (4)

At first, I thought there might there be a logical inconsistency in this clue. Surely, the occupants of a single pew would form a row, and the occupants of several pews would form multiple rows. However, if one considered two adjacent pews on opposite sides of an aisle, the occupants of the two pews would form a single row.

1d Reduce length of one spade, for example (8)

In contract bridge, as Big Dave states, "one spade is a bid" - and, as he might have added, should it be the winning bid, it would become a contract.

7d End of investment that helps the poor (6)

Having absolutely no idea that investment could mean a military siege, I was at a loss to explain the wordplay in this clue - which left me feeling somewhat uncertain about my solution. However, I had a feeling of RELIEF when Big Dave's blog confirmed it as correct. This meaning for investment is not even a uniquely British expression, as I found it in several American dictionaries. In fact, the only British Dictionary in which I found it was Collins, which denotes it as a rare usage ("noun 7. (Military) Rare the act of besieging with military forces, works, etc.).

21d Dull-witted type taken in by boss (6)

I felt a bit STUPID at not being able to fully understand the wordplay in this clue - the printing term pi being totally new to me.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Wednesday, January 6, 2010 (DT 26037)

This puzzle was originally published Friday, September 18, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

I was rather surprised to see that the Brit's had given this puzzle a degree of difficulty rating of four stars, as I was able to complete almost the entire puzzle without the aid of my puzzle solving tools. Perhaps I was just on the same wavelength with the setter today.

Today's Glossary

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

A - abbreviation adult: British Board of Film Classification certificate in use prior to 1970 signifying that children must be accompanied by an adult

Desperate Dan - character in a British comic strip

Home Counties - plural noun the counties around London, including Essex, Kent, Surrey and Hertfordshire (in the South East of England)

L - abbreviation pound (sterling); Note: I didn't find this in any of the dictionaries that I consulted, perhaps because it is really only a rough approximation to the official symbol for pound sterling (£)

M1 - a major motorway in England primarily connecting London to Leeds

maiden - noun 3 (also maiden over) Cricket an over in which no runs are scored

OR - abbreviation 3 military other ranks

pi² - adjective Brit slang a short form of pious

RU - abbreviation rugby union: a form of rugby played in teams of fifteen

Today's Links

Gazza's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 26037].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

11a Slope outside to accommodate sport (3,3)

Having missed the wordplay here (before reading Gazza's review), the clue at first didn't appear very cryptic to me. The sport in question in the wordplay is not skiing, although the solution does relate to skiing. Oh dear, just when we start to get into cricket, the setter throws rugby union at us.

21a Wet - say, after working (6)

Here we have an example of the rarely seen & lit. (or all-in-one) clue. The entire clue read one way provides a definition of the solution, while read another way is cryptic wordplay for the solution. "Wet - say, after working" is both a definition for SWEATY and wordplay indicating an anagram (after working) of WET SAY.

1d Desperate man, 101, no good doing the foxtrot maybe (7)

Desperate Dan (whom I recall him from a previous puzzle) appears once again today. He must be desperate as, according to Gazza's review, he eats cow pies. I suppose he follows those up with an order of meadow muffins.

5d Brute upset a top man participating in water sport (8)

I thought that perhaps yak might be a British slang expression, but I found no evidence of it. It seems that brute is probably just intended to mean "a savage animal", an example of which being a yak.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Tuesday, January 5, 2010 (DT 26036)

This puzzle was originally published Thursday, September 17, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

It was a fairly straightforward puzzle today which I was able to complete without the use of any external aids, although my solving time of well over an hour would be, I am sure, tortoise-like when compared to the Brits. However, I was a bit surprised to see this puzzle rated on Big Dave's site as more difficult than the one yesterday. Perhaps the absence of cricket terms and references to British geography today has some bearing on our relative perspectives.

Today's Glossary

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

CID - abbreviation (in the UK) Criminal Investigation Department

Today's Links

Libellule's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 26036].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

2a Weapon used to dump the girlfriend? (5-7)

I made a careless mistake here. Having initially guessed that the second part of the solution might be SHOOTER, when I finally figured out the first part, I neglected to verify the overall answer. Although it fits the checking letters, FLAME-SHOOTER is not in the dictionary; but FLAME-THROWER is.

14d The wheels of justice? (6,3)

Jumping in the wrong vehicle here hampered my progress in the southeast quadrant. I first test drove a PRISON VAN, switching later to a POLICE CAR, before ending up in a PATROL CAR.

19d Arts programme on Italian channel (6)

There is a fair bit of discussion on Big Dave's blog regarding the use of "programme" as an anagram indicator. However, Oxford defines programme as "verb 3 arrange according to a plan or schedule" which I think should qualify it for the role.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Monday, January 4, 2010 (DT 26035)

This puzzle was originally published Wednesday, September 16, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

I probably found today's puzzle a bit more difficult than the Brits due to the generous number of references to cricket and British geography. Tilsit's review carried a bit of an edge - perhaps a bit has rubbed off on me.

Today's Glossary

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

bairn - noun chiefly Scottish & N. English a child

extra - noun 5 cricket a run scored other than by hitting the ball with the bat

Herts - abbreviation Hertfordshire: a county in England

M - abbreviation maiden: noun 3 (also maiden over) Cricket an over in which no runs are scored

over - noun, cricket 1 a series of six (or formerly in Australia eight) balls bowled by the same bowler from the same end of the pitch 2 play during such a series of balls

Pinner - a suburb in the London Borough of Harrow in Greater London, England

Potters Bar - a town in Hertfordshire, England

River Usk - a river in Wales

spinner - noun 2 Cricket a bowler who is expert in spinning the ball

wide - noun (also wide ball) Cricket a ball that is judged to be too wide of the stumps for the batsman to play

Today's Links

Tilsit's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 26035].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

14a Affinity in harbour after strike (7)

Tilsit comments "“In” here has no obvious use except to make the clue read nicely." However, in my (albeit limited) experience, I can recall seeing this sort of construct frequently where the clue takes the form "definition in wordplay" (as here) or its converse, "wordplay in definition". I assume that the word "in" plays the role of a linking word, similar to the way the word "is" may be used in some clues. In either case, the setter is saying that the wordplay is equivalent to the definition (or vice versa).

From a mathematical perspective, the concept of "in" being the same as "is" is quite normal. In set theory, a set A is contained in a second set B if all the elements in set A are also present in set B. For A to be in B, B can have more elements than A, but it cannot have fewer. If both sets have precisely the same elements, then A is in B, B is in A, and A=B.

21a A wide, perhaps, in over (5)

This clue is pretty well incomprehensible without at least a rudimentary knowledge of cricket. I admit that I am far from an expert in this field, but I will attempt a basic explanation. I am sure if I have screwed up too badly, we will hear about it from our British colleagues.

An over is a division of play in cricket, consisting of "a series of six balls bowled by the same bowler from the same end of the pitch". A wide is a ball bowled in such a manner that it is "judged to be too wide of the stumps for the batsman to play". A wide is scored as an extra, "a run scored other than by hitting the ball with the bat". "When a wide is bowled, the batting team [is] awarded a run, which is tallied separately on the scorecard and does not count towards an individual batsman's score. Additionally, a wide is not counted as one of the six balls in the over and a replacement is bowled."

This is one of those clues that is hard to categorize. Tilsit describes it as a cryptic definition. However, as a pure cryptic definition, there seems to be little cryptic about it - aside from the prerequisite knowledge of cricket. I thought perhaps that it might actually be a double definition, with the first definition being "A wide, perhaps" as a wide is one of several types of extra in cricket and the second definition being "over", meaning extra in the plain vanilla non-cricket sense. However, the inclusion of the word "in" would seem to rule it out as a double definition, which I believe would need to be worded as "A wide, perhaps, over (5)" (I don't think one can have a linking word in a double definition - but I stand to be corrected).

The clue would actually seem to be of the form "wordplay in definition" (the converse of 14a discussed above), where the wordplay is "a wide, perhaps" and the definition is "over". Again, the wordplay would seem to be cryptic only to the extent that a knowledge of cricket is required.

26a Smuggled whisky? That's a foolish notion (9)

Tilsit writes "... should “whisky have had an “e” ..." (quoting a correspondent identified only as "a grumpy pedant"). This comment obviously arises from the fact that, in Ireland and the United States, whiskey is generally spelled with an "e", while in most of the rest of the world (including Scotland and Canada) whisky is spelled without an "e". Since "moonshine" is primarily an American term, consistency would seem to demand that whiskey be spelled with an "e" in the clue.

27a Bowler from South London borough (7)

I searched in vain for the London borough that is home to the cricket player in this clue. It seems that the community for which we are looking is not a borough in its own right, but rather a part of the Borough of Harrow (a point made also by a visitor to Big Dave's blog).

6d Where one can display a vice among company! (6)

Tilsit says that "This is one of those clues known as “&lit” where the whole clue defines the word required and provides the indications." While he is correct on the first part, I would beg to differ on the latter part. It seems to me that the "indications" are provided by simply "a vice among company". Therefore, due to the inclusion of the extra wording "Where one can display", I think that this has to be considered to be a cryptic definition and not an & lit. clue.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Saturday, January 2, 2010 - Let Me Exclaim

Introduction

After spending a couple of hours shoveling snow (yuck!), I was more than ready to relax with today's puzzle by Cox and Rathvon, which turned out to be full of interjections; some noisy, but others expressing a range of feelings from awe to fright - but mostly disgust.

I expect that this puzzle contains a few clues that might prove quite challenging to any Brits who might attempt to solve it.

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

6a Piece of lumber in a lot of tanbark (5)

A heads-up to any Brits attempting this puzzle, lumber does not refer to disused articles of furniture. In North America, lumber is timber that has been sawn (and often planed) to standard dimensions.

12a Indian city with (bam!) ale or rum (9)

Anyone who regularly does the British cryptic crosswords would likely know that rum is a British expression meaning odd or peculiar. Here it is used as an anagram indicator.

22d After opening, dribble small amount of liquid (5)

While I believe one may also dribble in football (soccer), basketball is the sport in the spotlight here, where dribble means to "take the ball forward ... by continuous bouncing".

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

1a BOOM|ERANG* - BOOM (wham) adjacent to (with) an anagram (flexible) of RANGE

6a MU(L)CH - L (piece of lumber; i.e., first letter of lumber) contained in (in) MUCH (a lot of)

9a MAI(TRE) D - TRE (three in Rome; i.e., Italian word for three) contained in (accommodated by) MAID (domestic)

10a ELL|IS|ON - ELL (add-on) IS ON (working); Harlan Ellison: American science fiction writer

11a IRIS|H - IRIS (rainbow) H (hue's origin; i.e., first letter of hue) /\ IRISH (in the Emerald Isle)

12a BANG|ALORE* - BANG (bam) plus an anagram (rum) of ALE OR

13a SERBIAN* - anagram (moving) of BEARS IN

14a D(ICK)ENS - DENS (studies) containing (about) ICK (yuck)

16a FRA(UGH)T - FRAT (campus house) containing (keeps) UGH (yuck)

19a IV|ERS|ON - IV (four; Roman numeral) ERS (hesitations) ON (about); Allen Iverson: American professional basketball player

21a POW|WOWING - POW (socko) WOWING (impressing)

23a PAR|IS - PAR (average) IS (lives)

25a DU(RANT)E - DUE (deserved) containing (getting) RANT (rave); Jimmy Durante: American comedian, singer, pianist and actor

26a OUT(R)AGE - OUTAGE (power loss) containing (around) R (Russia's capital; first and capital letter of Russia)

27a LAT(T)E - LATE (after hours) containing (taking) T (a bit of tea; i.e., the first letter of tea)

28a ALP|HA G|EEK - ALP (mountain) HAG (witch) EEK (yikes)

Down

1d BAMBI - first letters of (heads to) Bed And Might Break It

2d OLIV(I)ER - I (ego) contained in (in) OLIVER (musical); Sir Laurence Olivier: English actor, director and producer

3d EARTHLING* - anagram (monstrous) of LARGE HINT

4d AU|DUB|ON - DUB (name) contained in (in) AU (gold; chemical symbol) ON (over); John James Audubon: American ornithologist, naturalist, hunter and painter

5d G|LEANED - G ($1,000) LEANED (tipped)

6d _MEL|BA_ - hidden word (conveyed by) caMEL BAck; Dame Nellie Melba: Australian opera soprano

7d L|IS|SOME - L (fifty; Roman numeral) IS SOME (a number)

8d H(ANGERS) ON - HON (sweetie) contains (keeps) ANGERS (incenses)

13d {SOFT PEDAL}* - anagram (stranger) of LOPED FAST

15d CLEOPATRA* - anagram (translated) of APT ORACLE

17d {AT WORST}* - anagram (novel) of TWO-STAR

18d _TRIBE|CA_ - hidden word (includes) in diaTRIBE CAllously; TriBeCa: a neighbourhood in New York City (acronym for Triangle Below Canal Street)

19d {IN GROUP}* - anagram (fluid) of POURING

20d S(URN)AME - URN (vase) contained in (covered with) SAME (identical) /\ SURNAME (tag)

22d _OUNCE - BOUNCE (dribble) with the first letter deleted (after opening)

24d STEAK~ - sounds like (vocally) STAKE (wager)

Signing off for today - Falcon

Saturday, January 2, 2010 (DT 26034)

This puzzle was originally published Tuesday, September 15, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

Today, we get another double dose of cryptic crosswords in the National Post. This puzzle, appearing on the Friday Diversions page, is the puzzle that would have run yesterday had the Post been published. Presumably, the Post prints this puzzle to make sure we have a diversion to occupy our time on New Years Day (not)! Having finished this puzzle, I will now take a bit of a break before tackling the Cox and Rathvon puzzle. It having been snowing for the last two days, there is a fair accumulation of snow in my driveway demanding my attention.

I thought that today's puzzle was near the midpoint of the difficulty scale, perhaps leaning slightly toward the more difficult side.

Today's Glossary

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

bird - noun 3 Brit. informal a young woman or girlfriend

caught - cricket a method of dismissing a batsman

lag - noun Brit. informal a habitual convict

lolly - noun informal 1 chiefly Brit. a lollipop 3 Brit. money

motor - noun 2 Brit. informal a car

RA - abbreviation 1 (in the UK) Royal Academician, a member of the Royal Academy (an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the visual arts)

RADA - abbreviation (in the UK) Royal Academy of Dramatic Art

side - noun [15] Brit. informal boastful or pretentious manner or attitude

Today's Links

Gazza's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 26034].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

11a In RADA, get trained actor (9)

My first instinct suggested that this might be a hidden word clue, but I eventually discovered that it is an anagram instead.

26a Kill time after time? One caught getting put inside (9)

The wordplay is DATE (time) after ERA (time) containing (getting put inside) I (one) C (caught) to give ERADICATE (kill).

Time and date are synonymous in the sense "From that time forward ...". Caught is a cricket term (being one method of dismissing a batsman), with the abbreviation C likely arising from its use on scoreboards at cricket pitches or in tables found in the sports pages of newspapers - as one would see R, H, and E (runs, hits, and errors) on a baseball scoreboard or in a statistical summary of a game.

27a He won't share his lolly! (5)

I realize that I've recently encountered a few instances where I have seen cryptic definitions where others see double definitions, but I think I'm on safe ground in declaring this to be a cryptic definition.

I was familiar with lolly being a shortened version of lollipop, even though one would not commonly hear it used in North America. Even the word lollipop is used much less frequently than the far more often used term for this candy, which is the much less elegant word sucker.

2d Bird after diamonds is degenerate (5)

To appreciate the surface reading of this clue, one must keep in mind that bird is British slang for "a young woman or girlfriend".

6d They're useless, pointless (7)

I only saw the cryptic definition here of NEEDLES (they're useless [when] pointless). Gazza points out the wordplay that makes it an all-in-one (& lit.) clue, although he would seem to imply that he doesn't think the setter quite succeeds ("a neat attempt").

21d Another male swallows raised draught? (7)

I was sure that "raised" must be a reversal indicator. However, having finally solved the clue, I found this theory to be wrong. Instead, look for a hidden word.

22d Swerve motor, even losing velocity (6)

The British apparently use motor as a synonym for car. To the best of my knowledge, one would never hear this usage in North America. One might (fairly rarely) hear the term motor car, and it would not be unusual to hear motor used as a verb, meaning to travel by car. On this side of the pond, a motor is the engine that powers the car.

Signing off for today - Falcon