Friday, May 21, 2010 (DT 26154)

This puzzle, created by Jay, was originally published Wednesday, February 3, 2010 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

Today is a red letter day, as I completed the puzzle completely unaided. This was especially satisfying as I thought some of the clues were rather difficult and I also managed to decode a couple of terms (one of them a Briticism) that I had never before encountered.

Today's Glossary

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

Used in Solutions:

down³ - noun 1 a gently rolling hill. 2 (the Downs) ridges of undulating chalk and limestone hills in southern England.

glen - noun a narrow valley, especially in Scotland or Ireland.

point - noun Cricket a fielding position on the off side near the batsman.

transport cafe - noun Brit. a roadside cafe for drivers of haulage vehicles. [Note: the equivalent term in North America is truck stop]

water dog - [American Heritage Dictionary] noun 1. A dog that takes easily to the water, especially one trained for hunting waterfowl; [Collins English Dictionary] noun 1. a dog trained to hunt in water. [Note: obviously not a Briticism, but certainly a new term to me]

Today's Links

Tilsit's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26154].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

5d Assume iron signs have no cover (5)

I assume you will have no difficulty with this clue, as long as the initial word in the clue assumes its proper meaning. Here, assume does not mean "accept as true without proof", nor "take (responsibility or control)", not even "begin to have (a quality, appearance, or extent)", but rather "pretend to have; adopt falsely".

16d Wet track means one retrieves the game (5,3)

Here "wet" is a verb, not an adjective, so it means water, as in "to water the garden". "Track" is also a verb, not a noun, and means "to dog". Thus the solution is WATER DOG. While the discussion on Big Dave's site seems to centre on one particular breed, the Portuguese Water Dog, a number of dog breeds are included in the category of water dogs - including the Standard Poodle (illustrated) as well as various spaniels and retrievers.

Paring and Extracting

In today's puzzle, we see several examples of expressions which are used to indicate that only a portion of a word either constitutes the solution or is to be used in the wordplay.

• In 15a, "risks ignoring leader" indicates that we are to drop (ignore) the initial letter (leader) of the word "dangers" (risks), leaving us with ANGERS (gets annoyed).
• In 26a, "source of rumour" indicates that we are to use the initial letter (source) of the word "rumour" (i.e., R) in the wordplay.
• In 1d, "finally remove" indicates that we are to use the final letter (finally) of the word "remove" (i.e., E) in the wordplay.
• In 5d, "signs have no cover" indicates that we are to use the interior letters (have no cover) of the word "signs" (i.e., IGN) in the wordplay.
• In 23d, "dropped case" indicates that we are to use the exterior letters (case) of the word "dropped" (i.e., DD) in the wordplay.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Thursday, May 20, 2010 (DT 26153)

This puzzle, set by Ray T, was originally published Tuesday, February 2, 2010 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

Gazza rates today's puzzle as 4 stars for difficulty and 4 stars for enjoyment. I must say that I did enjoy doing this puzzle. Although, I completed it in a fairly respectable time, I was left with one clue that I really did not comprehend and one where I blundered.

Today's Glossary

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

Used in Solutions:

mo - noun informal, chiefly Brit. a moment

OM - abbreviation (in the UK [and Commonwealth realms]) Order of Merit: an honour bestowed by the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms upon citizens of those countries

Today's Links

Gazza's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26153].

After the appearance of American General Ulysses S. Grant yesterday, when I saw yet another U.S. general, not to mention Canadian police officers, in today's puzzle, I was expecting an outcry arising from visitors to Big Dave's site. However, it did not materialize. Perhaps the Brits are becoming inured to the occasional North American reference.

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

12a Old are going to diminish (4)

I needed help from Gazza on this clue. where "old are going to" is equivalent to saying "archaic word meaning are going to", as in the Wiccan Rede, "An it harm none, do what thou wilt".

18a Agent's cover holding gun (6)

Although I saw the wordplay in this clue almost immediately, I was held up for a long time thinking that "cover" must be referring to lid. Eventually, I realized that we actually need a different 3 letter word starting with L - one meaning cover of quite another sort.

20a General accepting medal for regular (8)

We last saw this medal in Monday's puzzle. Not only did this general die more than 25 years before this honour was first bestowed, but being an American, he would not have been eligible for full membership - although he perhaps could have been granted honourary admittance.

1d Howl with pain (4)

My first stab at a solution here caused me some pain. I thought that the solution might be OUCH (a howl one may make when in pain), which definitely slowed me down for some time in the northwest quadrant.

4d Cause and effect (8)

It is generally frowned upon in a double definition for both definitions to have the same meaning. That is, the two parts of the double definition are expected to each be a meaning of the solution without meaning the same thing themselves. Before reading Gazza's review, I thought that this principle might have been violated by this clue. The solution is OCCASION, a verb meaning "cause". The first definition is cause and the second is effect, which can also be a verb meaning "cause to happen; bring about". Thus, it would seem that the two definitions and the solution are all verbs being either cause or a word meaning cause. However, it seems that I have no cause for concern, as cause can also be a noun meaning reason or occasion (in the sense that I have just used it). So, although the reasoning may be a bit convoluted, the two definitions are "cause = reason = occasion" as a noun and "effect = cause = occasion" as a verb.

22d Stretch from detective's overdue (6)

Oops! I made a major blunder here by having the detective as a PI (private investigator). This produced PILATE which I thought might be a singular form related to the exercise system known as Pilates (and which might involve stretching). When I tried to verify my theory, I discovered that Pilates is the surname of Joseph Pilates, the developer of this physical fitness system. That left two choices, either I had the wrong solution or the setter had made an error. At that point, I should have accepted the inevitable, recognized that I was at fault and reopened the investigation.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Wednesday, May 19, 2010 (DT 26152)

This puzzle, by Rufus, was originally published Monday, February 1, 2010 in The Daily Telegraph

The National Post has skipped DT 26151 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, January 30, 2010

Introduction

Today's puzzle is considerably more difficult than the typical "Monday" puzzle. Despite getting the correct solution at 19d, I didn't completely understand the wordplay until I read Rishi's review. I had some difficulty with 15d as well, and I think the clue may rely on a British usage of the word - anyway, that's my excuse.

Today's Glossary

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

Used in Clues:

Cresta Run - a skeleton racing sled track in St. Moritz, Switzerland

Today's Links

Rishi's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26152].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

31a Friend goes to States for talks (8)

In a comment, Rishi states "In the clue ‘talks’ is a noun in plural form. But as definition for word required it does a switcheroo as a verb ..." While one may choose to interpret the clue in this fashion, I certainly don't think it is the only way to interpret the clue. Palaver can just as easily be a noun as a verb, in which case it could mean "noun 2 dated a parley or improvised conference between two sides". I seem to recall from Western novels I read as a boy that the commanding officer of the cavalry was always holding palavers with Indian chiefs (those of the North American variety).

15d A record number of contestants in the field (5)

An ENTRY can be either a "record" (as an entry in a log book, for example) or the "number of contestants in the field". This latter shade of meaning may be more prevalent in Britain than in North America. One of the tools that I like to use to gauge whether a particular usage is British is The Free Dictionary web site. That site usually provides definitions from both an American dictionary (The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language) and a British dictionary (Collins English Dictionary). By comparing the respective entries (how appropriate) in the two dictionaries, I hope to get some indication whether a particular usage may be British. I'm not sure how reliable this method is - it may just be that Collins provides a more comprehensive range of different shades of meaning.

For entry, the American Heritage Dictionary gives "one entered in a competition" while the Collins English Dictionary, in addition to the aforementioned meaning, also provides "the competitors entering a contest considered collectively". I am sure that were I to encounter the example given ("a good entry this year for the speed trials"), I would understand its meaning. However, I would undoubtedly be inclined to use the word field to refer to the competitors collectively rather than entry.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Tuesday, May 18, 2010 (DT 26150)

This puzzle, created by Giovanni, was originally published Friday, January 29, 2010 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

Gazza rates today's puzzle as four stars for difficulty, so I must have been tuned to Giovanni's wavelength today as I was able to make excellent progress in solving it. I did end up with an error in one solution.

Today's Glossary

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

Used in Solutions:

coil² - noun old use trouble and tumult; this mortal coil the troubles of life and the world

André Gide - a French author who was the winner of the Nobel Prize in literature in 1947

mixer tap - U.K. faucet mixing hot and cold: a faucet with separate controls for hot and cold water and a single outlet that combines both flows

mo - noun informal, chiefly Brit. a moment

post chaise - noun historical a fast, usually four-wheeled, coach carrying up to four passengers and mail, drawn by posthorses

Today's Links

Gazza's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26150].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

25a & 26a Several things that could make one cry? (6,2,6)

Although there really was no other possibility than STRING and ONIONS for the two 6 letter words, I mistakenly put in OR for the 2 letter word. Obviously, that attempt at a solution left me quite confused until I was set straight by Gazza.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Monday, May 17, 2010 (DT 26149)

This puzzle was originally published Thursday, January 28, 2010 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

It was a relatively easy, but quite enjoyable, offering today. For a while, I thought that I might actually complete it unaided. Alas, a minor Shakespearean character proved to be my undoing and I had to crack open the Tool Chest to finish the southwest quadrant.

In the last few days, you may have noticed a minor refinement in the Today's Glossary section, which now has separate lists for entries that appear in clues and solutions. The former list may help readers better understand the clues without giving away the solutions. The glossary is a compilation of items that may be unknown to readers (in particular, those from North America). You may find contained therein explanations for obscure or archaic words or expressions, Briticisms, British geographical references, personalities, etc. I sometimes include personalities (as today with Fred Astaire and Loretta Young) who I consider well-known, as I've discovered that names that are familiar to one generation are not necessarily known to other generations.

Today's Glossary

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

Appearing in clues:

Fred Astaire - an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor

Portia - the heroine of William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice

Appearing in solutions:

Richard Estes - an American painter who is best known for his photorealistic paintings

Eton College - British independent school for boys [Note: It seems that boys in Crosswordland have little choice in where to pursue their education]

golden hello - Informal a payment made to a sought-after recruit on signing a contract of employment with a company (see also Wikipedia article on Golden hello)

OM - abbreviation (in the UK [and Commonwealth realms]) Order of Merit: an honour bestowed by the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms upon citizens of those countries

Nerissa - Portia's waiting maid in William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice

NT - abbreviation 1 National Trust: in full, the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, a conservation organisation in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland

Reigate - a historic market town in Surrey, England

Bertie Wooster - a recurring fictional character in the Jeeves novels of British author P. G. Wodehouse

Loretta Young - an American film and television actress who performed from 1917 to 2000

Today's Links

Libellule's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26149].

Anniversaries

The day that this puzzle appeared in the U.K. marked the One Year Anniversary of Big Dave's Crossword Blog. I would like to offer Big Dave and his team my somewhat belated congratulations on having reached this milestone. May your outstanding website enjoy a successful future (and I'll continue to ride your coat-tails as long as I can).

On seeing that Big Dave's site had celebrated its first year of operation, I realized that the one year anniversary of my own site had slipped by unnoticed earlier this month. The first edition of my blog appeared on May 2, 2009.

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

24a Well-known college rejected daughter (5)

As is almost always the case, the "well-known college" is ETON. Eton was once known as a public school which is "(in the UK) a private fee-paying secondary school", quite different from the meaning of the term in North America ("a school supported by public funds"). It seems that these schools now prefer to style themselves as independent schools. In his comments on Big Dave's blog, Yoshik says "I am English, public school educated, and detest the adulteration of the language" which means he attended what we would call a private school.

6d Strongly disliked bowler, English, opener for Derbyshire? (5)

The surface reading of this clue relies on at least a passing knowledge of the game of cricket. A bowler is a cricket player, the one who delivers the ball to the batsman. The opener is the first player to bowl in the match. The opener, or opening bowler, would be akin to the starting pitcher in baseball. The clue suggests that a player, an Englishman who is the opening bowler for the Derbyshire cricket team, is not very popular.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Saturday, May 15, 2010 - Dancing with the Stars

Introduction

In today's puzzle, Cox and Rathvon present four of the most eminent choreographers in the history of American dance. They are joined by a trio of famous sports stars - two from the baseball diamond and one from the horse racing track. Fittingly, if our crossword puzzle grid were overlaid on a baseball diamond, we would have all bases covered, with George Balanchine behind the plate, Paul Taylor at first base, Merce Cunningham at second, and Twyla Tharp at third. It seems that only Martha Graham is missing - perhaps she is performing on the mound today.

Today's Glossary

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

castle - [Collins English Dictionary] verb Chess to move the king two squares laterally on the first rank and place the nearest rook on the square passed over by the king, either towards the king's side (castling short) or the queen's side (castling long)

Today's Personalities

Appearing in today's puzzle are a quartet of iconic choreographers, a brace of renowned baseball stars, and a legendary jockey.

Felipe Alou - a former outfielder and first baseman with several Major League Baseball teams and former manager of the San Francisco Giants and Montreal Expos; his brothers, Matty and Jésus, and his son, Moises, also played in the major leagues

George Balanchine - Russian-born American choreographer, co-founder of the New York City Ballet

Yogi Berra - a former Major League Baseball player and manager who played almost his entire career with the New York Yankees; a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, he is regarded as one of the greatest catchers of all time

Merce Cunningham - American dancer and choreographer, who was at the forefront of American avant garde for more than fifty years

Paul Taylor - one of the foremost American choreographers of the 20th century, he performed in the companies of Merce Cunningham, Martha Graham, and George Balanchine before founding the Paul Taylor Dance Company

In addition to being an iconic figure in American dance, Paul Taylor was also seemingly laconic (see 18a). According to Wikipedia, he "[c]laimed notoriety when he performed "Duet," where he and his pianist walk on stage, stand there for four minutes, then walk off. The newspaper review for this piece (written by Louis Horst) was four inches of blank space with just 'L.H.' at the bottom."

Twyla Tharp - American dancer and choreographer, who studied dance under Martha Graham and Merce Cunningham and danced in the Paul Taylor Dance Company before forming her own dance company; her work Come Fly Away, set to the vocals of Frank Sinatra, is currently playing on Broadway

Ron Turcotte - Canadian Hall of Fame thoroughbred race horse jockey best known as the rider of U.S. Triple Crown Champion Secretariat

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

17a Teach punk about male cat (7)

Although I was able to find many meanings for the word "punk", I failed to find a really compelling one to qualify it as an anagram indicator. Punk can mean a youth movement of the late 1970s, characterized by anti-Establishment slogans and outrageous clothes and hairstyles; a young person, especially an adherent of this rebellious counterculture movement; an inexperienced young man; in music, short for punk rock or a punk rocker; a petty criminal or hoodlum; a young man who is the sexual partner of an older man; a prostitute; an inferior, rotten, or worthless person or thing; worthless articles collectively; dry decayed wood, used as tinder; any of various substances that smolder when ignited, used to light fireworks; Chinese incense; of poor quality; inferior, rotten, or worthless; weak in spirits or health. Perhaps the best choice of the lot may be "decayed" indicating that the structure of the word TEACH breaks down, allowing the letters to form another pattern?

16d Idiot's humour about northern antelope (4,3)

It would seem that wing nut (or wingnut) was originally a term meaning an eccentric person or someone holding extreme political views. However, the word appears to have taken on a variety of slang meanings such as an uneducated person or a mentally ill person. At least one contributor to the Online Slang Dictionary could be an unintentional poster boy for wingnuts, who (in attempting to differentiate wingnuts from the mentally ill) states "Mentally handicapped person has no control over their circumstances, where as the "Wingnut" is completely responsible for their lack of intelligents".

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

1a BALANC(H|IN)E - BALANCE (poise) containing (disrupted by) {H (husband) + IN (at home)}; choreographer George Balanchine

6a EMIT< - reversal (in reversal) of TIME (prison sentence) 9a WAGE (W|A)R - {W (with) + A (one)} contained in (involved in) WAGER (bet)

10a MA(JEST)Y - JEST (kid) contained in (surrounded by) MAY (might)

12a CAST|LED - CAST (acting group) + LED (went ahead)

13a B(ER)RA - ER (um) contained in (wearing) BRA (lingerie item)

15a ALLOWED~ - sounds like (said) ALOUD (audibly)

17a C(HE)ETAH* - anagram (punk) of TEACH containing (about) HE (male)

18a LA(CON)IC - CON (against) contained in (entering) LAIC (non-clerical)

21a VI|SIT|OR - VI (six; i.e., Roman numeral for six) + SIT (pose for an artist) + OR

23a A(PRO)N - AN (article) containing (wrapping) PRO (expert)

24a ARTISAN* - anagram (developed) of A STRAIN

27a LU(NET)TE - NET (web) contained in (seen in) LUTE (instrument)

28a COLLIE|R - R (right) following (behind) COLLIE (dog); collier: a coal miner (worker with a pickaxe)

29a ROCK - double definition; "pitch" (shake) and "stone"

30a CUNNING|HAM - CUNNING (clever) + HAM (mug); choreographer Merce Cunningham

Down

1d BOWL - double definition; "try to get strikes" and "stadium"

2d LO(GI)CAL - LOCAL (neighbourhood) containing (embracing) GI (soldier)

3d NEW(T)S - NEWS (broadcast information) containing (about) T (true)

4d HURT|L|ED - HURT (wound) + L (left) + ED (Edward)

5d _NOMADIC_ - hidden in (through) soNOMA DICtate

7d MUSKRAT* - anagram (of a sort) of US KMART; Kmart: U.S. department store chain

8d {TWYLA THARP}* - anagram (disturbed) of WHAT PARTLY; choreographer Twyla Tharp

11d JO|BLESS - BLESS (favour) following (going after) JO (one of the March girls); Jo March: one of four sisters who are the principal characters in Little Women, a novel by American author Louisa May Alcott

14d {PAUL TAYLOR}* - anagram (upset) of ALOU PARTLY; choreographer Paul Taylor

16d WI(N|G NU)T - WIT (humour) containing (about) {N (northern) + GNU (antelope)}

19d CH(RON)IC - RON (jockey Ron Turcotte) contained in (in) CHIC (elegance); Note: the setter employs an inverted sentence structure

20d C(HATE|A)U - {HATE (despise) + A} contained in (clad) CU (chemical symbol for copper)

21d VAT(I)CAN* - anagram (strangely) of VACANT containing I (one)

22d TENNIS|H - H (hot) following (after) TENNIS (game on a court)

25d SO|LON_ - SO LONG (farewell) without the G (nearly finished); Solon: Athenian statesman, lawmaker, and poet

26d CRAM< - reversal (brought back) of MARC (Roman politician and general Marc Antony)

Signing off for today - Falcon

Friday, May 14, 2010 (DT 26148)

This puzzle, set by Jay, was originally published Wednesday, January 27, 2010 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

I made very good progress on this until I reached 27a, which caused me some agony. I was down to about the final half dozen clues before resorting to my Tool Chest.

Today's Glossary

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

agony aunt (or agony uncle) - noun Brit. informal a person who answers letters in an agony column

agony column - noun Brit. informal a column in a newspaper or magazine offering advice on readers’ personal problems

cable - a shortened form of cablegram, an international telegram (and, based on Tilsit's comments, apparently an Americanism); originally, a telegram sent by submarine cable, but the meaning seems to have been extended to also include those sent via other media such as radio or satellite

River Trent - one of the major rivers of England

Today's Links

Tilsit's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26148].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

10a Rock offering shade on beach (9)

This is an example of a clue where the syllabication of the solution produced by the definition varies from that produced by the wordplay. For the definition "rock" the solution is SAND·STONE. However, for the wordplay, we have TONE (shade) following (on) SANDS (beach) producing SANDS·TONE.

27a Columnist shot in a city in front of relative (5,4)

This clue will teach me never to discount any possibility - no matter how improbable it may appear to be. From the checking letters, I did see that the words agony and aunt would fit - but was on the verge of dismissing this as being just too ridiculous. However, when I did a web search, I discovered that agony aunt is a British term for a newspaper advice columnist. The wordplay is GO (shot, meaning attempt) contained in (in) A NY (city) + (in front of) AUNT (relative). See also commentary for 26d.

2d What a musician may do is express relief and walk (5-4)

Like 10a, this clue has a solution where the syllabication varies between that produced by the wordplay and that produced by the definition. The definition is "what a musician may do", for which the solution is SIGHT-READ. The wordplay is SIGH (express relief) + (and) TREAD (walk) producing SIGH·TREAD.

3d Density found in sort of rice beverage (5)

This is an example of what some of the British bloggers like to impishly refer to as a "lift and separate" clue (the expression comes from an old brassiere commercial). That is, although the phrase "rice beverage" would appear to be an entity (and it is intended to be such in the surface reading), we must separate the two elements in the phrase in the cryptic analysis. Thus, the clue is read cryptically as "Density found in sort of rice /\ beverage" (where the fulcrum symbol "/\" is used to show the dividing line between the wordplay on the left and the definition on the right. It turns out that we are not looking for a rice beverage (sake, as I initially suspected) at all, but rather an apple beverage.

Perhaps "d" is a symbol for density in some field of endeavour. While it does not appear in the online version of Chambers, I take solace in the fact that it undoubtedly appears in some edition of the unabridged version of Chambers. When I studied physics and engineering, the symbol for density was ρ (the Greek letter rho).

8d Sporting knowledge? (5,5)

Here "sport" has little, if anything, to do with athletic endeavours, but rather takes the meaning "to wear or display, especially proudly".

26d Go and get fired (4)

In this double definition, the solution is SHOT. One definition is "go" (attempt) and the second is "get fired" (as a gun might get fired or shot). Note that in 27a we see "shot" = GO and here we see just the reverse.

Signing off for today - Falcon