Friday, October 8, 2010 (DT 26287)

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26287
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph  Thursday, July 8, 2010
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26287]
Big Dave's Review Written By Big Dave
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - **	Enjoyment - **

Introduction

Monday will be Thanksgiving Day in Canada and I am away from home for the weekend. Thus the blogs are likely to be brief for the next few days.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Thursday, October 7, 2010 (DT 26286)

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26286
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph  Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Setter Jay
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26286]
Big Dave's Review Written By Big Dave
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - **	Enjoyment - ***

Introduction

Big Dave rates today's puzzle on a par with the one we saw yesterday. Perhaps the reason I found today's offering less difficult and more enjoyable is due to being able to tackle it first thing in the morning when my brain was still fresh.

Today's Glossary

Selected abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions appearing in today's puzzle

Appearing in Solutions:

doss - verb British informal 1 sleep in rough accommodation or on an improvised bed: he dossed down on a friend's floor

hard cheese - phrase British informal used to express sympathy over a petty matter

hard cheese - exclamation colloquial, often insincere or ironic bad luck!

nick - verb 2

• British informal steal: she nicked fivers from the till
• (nick someone for) North American informal cheat someone of (a sum of money): banks will be nicked for an extra $40 million

Territorial Army (abbreviation TA) - noun in the UK: a fully trained volunteer force intended to provide back-up to the regular army in cases of emergency.

tout¹ - noun

• 1 (also ticket tout) British a person who buys up tickets for an event to resell them at a profit [North American scalper]
• 2 North American a person who offers racing tips for a share of any resulting winnings

Today's Links

The link to Big Dave's Crossword Blog is now found in the table at the top of the blog.

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

4a Decorate, with help from sailor (8)

I want to focus on the use of the word "from" in this clue, which is used as a link word joining the wordplay to the definition. I suspect that some solvers, especially those new to cryptic crosswords, might solve clues like this without fully comprehending the role of the link word in the clue.

The definition is "sailor" and the wordplay (a charade) is DECK (decorate) + (with) HAND (help) producing the solution DECKHAND. The clue is a terse statement of what could be expressed more verbosely as "[One can get] 'decorate with help' from 'sailor' [by performing the appropriate action]" where, of course, the words in single quotation marks must be replaced by the appropriate substitutes. In this case, the 'appropriate action' is to split the solution (DECKHAND) into two words (DECK and HAND).

13a Diplomas once protective of craftsman (5)

Although I quickly spotted our craftsman busy at his stonework from the definition and checking letters, I failed to see him lurking in the wordplay (clued by protective). Instead, I supposed that MAS (Masters of Arts) would account for "diplomas", leaving me with a fruitless search to justify ON meaning "once protective of" - thinking that I was looking for some archaic meaning for the word "on".

17a Ignore an interlude by getting drunk (4,1, 5,3)

Having fooled me on 13a, our setter almost pulled off the same feat again. Once more I got the solution from the definition and checking letters, but had trouble with the wordplay (and I don't even have the excuse of a blind eye). The definition is "ignore" and the wordplay is an anagram (getting drunk) of AN INTERLUDE BY resulting in the solution TURN A BLIND EYE.

My initial thought was that TURN = "interlude" and so I was vainly trying to figure out if A BLIND EYE might mean "getting drunk" (it seemed plausible that this might be a British expression). The word turn has many meanings, several of which might equate to "interlude". However, the best match is probably a meaning used in British theatre "a short theatrical act, especially in music hall, cabaret, etc." [Collins English Dictionary, noun 18] which might be seen to be similar to interlude meaning "a brief piece of music, dance, etc., given between the sections of another performance" [Collins English Dictionary, noun 3].

25a Food that's unlucky when hard (6)

I am sure that this was one of the easiest clues for the Brits and likely one of the first to be solved. It was quite the reverse in my case as I had never heard the expression on which the clue is based.

26a One privy to secret supporter of opener (8)

Many Brits are likely to see opener as suggesting "a [cricket] batsman who opens the batting", equivalent to the leadoff batter in baseball. Bridge players on both sides of the Atlantic may see it as "the player who makes the first bid in the auction". More than a few Canadians are likely to think of a device to pop the cap off a bottle of beer. However, it is none of the above. It is something that opens to give access to your back yard, for example (or garden, in Britain).

27a Stopped being formal in hearing (6)

I misinterpreted (or can we say, interpreted differently) the wordplay. Big Dave explains that this is meant to be a homophone (sounds like) clue, where the homophone indicator is "in hearing" and STAYED (stopped, as in the sense of "resided") sounds like STAID (formal). I had thought of another meaning for stay, being the formal term for the stopping of a court proceeding (hearing). With this is mind, a lawyer speaking to a judge in a hearing would use the formal term 'stayed' rather than the informal term 'stopped'. Perhaps the clue was not intended to be read this way, but it is always interesting to come up with plausible explanations of the wordplay that were not foreseen by the setter.

22d Group nicking silver from abandoned cottage (5)

I started Today's Commentary by discussing the use of the word "from" in 4a. Here we have the same word but used in a different manner. In this clue, there is no link word between the definition and wordplay (i.e., the boundary is implicit). The definition is "group" and the wordplay is an anagram (abandoned) of COTTAGE with AG (chemical symbol for silver) removed (nicking ... from; nick being British slang meaning steal). The solution is OCTET (an eight member musical group). Thus "from" which was a link word in 4a plays a different role here, being part of a deletion indicator (nicking ... from).

One might wonder about the use of abandoned as an anagram indicator. I suppose if a cottage is abandoned, it will eventually fall into a state of disrepair (which would be a form of change or transformation).

Signing off for today - Falcon

Wednesday, October 6, 2010 (DT 26285)

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26285
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph  Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Setter Ray T
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26285]
BD Reviewer Gazza
BD Rating
Difficulty - **	Enjoyment - ***

Introduction

You have probably noticed a bit of a different look to the blog today. I have collected together some of the information about the puzzle that was previously scattered through the blog and placed it in a single table at the beginning of the blog. You will now be able to see this information at a glance, rather than searching through the blog for it. In the table, you will find The Daily Telegraph sequence number (which does not appear in the National Post), the date on which the puzzle was published in The Daily Telegraph in the U.K., the identity of the setter (if known), a link to a review of the puzzle at Big Dave's Crossword Blog and the identity of the reviewer, as well as the number of stars awarded by the reviewer for difficulty level and enjoyment.

Although both today's puzzle and yesterday's puzzle were awarded two stars for difficulty by the reviewers at Big Dave's site, I certainly found today's puzzle to be considerably more difficult. However, that may not be the case for everyone. Sometimes we just seem to be more in tune with the style of certain setters.

Today's Glossary

Selected abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions appearing in today's puzzle

Appearing in Solutions:

brief - noun 2 British informal a solicitor or barrister: it was only his brief's eloquence that had saved him from prison

River Trent - a major river in England

Today's Links

The link to Big Dave's site is now found in the summary box at the beginning of the blog.

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

11 Double eagle producing handicap (9)

There is a spirited discussion on Big Dave's site regarding an albatross (a score of three under par in golf) being termed a double eagle in the U.S. Most of the comments question why, given that an eagle is two under par, a double eagle would be only three under par. I wondered if the origin might relate to wagering on games, where the payoff for three under par might have been double that for two under par. However, while I found lots of evidence that betting on golf games may have played a part in the emergence of golf scoring terminology, I found no evidence to support my specific hypothesis.

By the way, the scoring terms are birdie (one under par), eagle (two under), albatross (three under), condor (four under) and ostrich (five under). A condor is a hole-in-one on a par-five hole or a score of two on a par-six hole. According to Wikipedia, a condor has only been accomplished four times in history and an ostrich (a hole-in-one) on a par-six hole has never been achieved (and is unlikely to ever to be seen). Par-six holes are over 600 yards in length and are exceedingly rare. In fact, most golfers probably don't even know that such holes exist (and likely would prefer not to know!).

24a Platform for 'Brief Encounter'? (9)

Brief Encounter is a 1945 British film, much of which was shot at Carnforth railway station in Lancashire, England. Thus many of the Brits made the connection to railway platform and entered CARNFORTH here. Not being familiar with the film, I didn't fall into this trap. However, after seeing that COURTROOM would fit the checking letters, I did expend some time in trying to determine whether the film might be a courtroom drama (it's not). The clue is a play on the word brief which is an informal term used in Britain for a lawyer. A courtroom is the platform (or stage) on which lawyers confront (encounter) each other.

4d External protection for canines? (6)

I recognized right away that "canines" were likely teeth. Unlike some of the Brits, I did not write BRACES into the grid. However, having played hockey in my younger days, I did spend time looking for a British expression meaning mouthguard. Oh, in case you are wondering, that is not me in the picture - it is Bobby Clarke of the Philadelphia Flyers in his playing days.

8d One may go down fast (8)

This is a cryptic definition of a TOBOGGAN. What interests me, though, is seeing Gazza illustrate the clue with a picture of a bobsleigh. Checking Oxford, however, I see that toboggan is defined there as "a long, light, narrow vehicle, typically on runners, used for sliding downhill over snow or ice" which certainly sounds an awful lot like a bobsleigh. However, that is not at all what I know as a toboggan, which according to the American Heritage Dictionary, is a "long, narrow, runnerless sled constructed of thin boards curled upward at the front end".

Signing off for today - Falcon

Tuesday, October 5, 2010 (DT 26284)

This puzzle, by Rufus, was originally published in The Daily Telegraph on Monday, July 5, 2010

The National Post has skipped DT 26283 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, July 3, 2010

Introduction

Today we have a typically enjoyable - if slightly less difficult than usual - puzzle from Rufus. Libellule awards it two stars for difficulty and three for enjoyment. I was able to complete it unaided as I sat in my doctor's waiting room, out of reach of my Tool Chest.

Today's Glossary

Selected abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions appearing in today's puzzle

Appearing in Solutions:

boob¹ - noun

• 1 British an embarrassing mistake (also verb make an embarrassing mistake)
• 2 North American a foolish or stupid person

Note: not to be confused with its appropriately superscripted companion definition boob²

c. - abbreviation 1. cricket caught

circus - noun [in place names] British a rounded open space in a town where several streets converge: Piccadilly Circus

departmental store - noun British a department store

Note: Judging by the rarity of its appearance in dictionaries (including British ones), I would have to think that this term is not in common use in the U.K.. Presumably, the Brits, like North Americans, use the term department store. Most of the instances of usage that I found were in reference to India, so the term may be used there. Perhaps it is a vestige of usage from colonial times that has since fallen out of favour in Britain but survived in India.

feather-brain - noun a silly or absent-minded person

Note: The meaning of this term is fairly self-evident. However, Oxford (ODE) is the only dictionary to spell it with a hyphen. Without exception, every other dictionary (at least, among the extensive list of them that I regularly consult) spells it as as a single word, featherbrain.

nick¹ - [Collins English Dictionary] verb 2. Slang, chiefly British a. to steal; b. to take into legal custody; arrest

warren (also rabbit warren) - noun

• a network of interconnecting rabbit burrows
• British historical an enclosed piece of land set aside for breeding game, especially rabbits

Today's Links
Libellule's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26284].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

28a For an NCO such punishment may well involve stripes (8)

Before reading Libellule's review I had not twigged to the possibility that the punishment could have been a couple of lashes. Perhaps as I had first entered DEMOTION here, I was fixated on the idea that we were dealing with a sergeant who had a stripe removed (actually two, one from each arm).

21d Show where traffic goes round (6)

My first entry here was CIRCLE, but it failed on two counts. First, as I was soon to discover, it does not match the checking letter provided by 30a. Second, a circle is not a show - but a circus is. In Britain, a circus is 'a rounded open space in a town where several streets converge'. Traffic goes round there because a circus almost invariably contains a traffic circle. Another definition for circus is 'a public scene of frenetic, noisy, or confused activity', and I can't help but wonder whether this sense of the word evolved from the shenanigans of the travelling company of performers or from the traffic chaos in the centre of British towns.

By the way, traffic circles are beginning to be introduced into Ottawa. We have long had one intersection in the middle of the Central Experimental Farm (a large park in Ottawa that is also an active agricultural research institution) that looks like a traffic circle but which does not adhere to the rules of traffic flow for a traffic circle. When I first moved to Ottawa from Nova Scotia, where I was familiar with traffic circles (called rotaries there), I was nearly involved in an accident when I attempted to navigate this intersection as if it were a traffic circle - and all the other drivers followed a different set of driving rules. Now that we have several real traffic circles in the city, it seems that the potential for disaster can only increase if we continue to allow this abomination to exist.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Monday, October 4, 2010 (DT 26282)

This puzzle, by Giovanni, was originally published in The Daily Telegraph on Friday, July 2, 2010

Introduction

Similar to many of the Brits, it took me a while to get started (not until I had read through the clues at least twice). And like Lea, I first solved the upper half of the puzzle - managing to do it unaided but not without a lot of intense concentration. For the bottom half, I had to resort to assistance from my Tool Chest. As a number of the Brits commented, the clues in a Giovanni puzzle often do not look overly difficult in hindsight but can seem totally daunting until "the penny drops".

Today's Glossary

Selected abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions appearing in today's puzzle

Appearing in Solutions:

advert¹ - noun British informal an advertisement

Sebastian Coe - British middle distance runner who is numbered among the dominant athletes of the 1980s

cor - exclamation British informal expressing surprise, excitement, admiration, or alarm: Cor! That‘s a beautiful black eye you’ve got!

full back (US fullback) - noun (in certain team games) a player in a defensive position, playing at the side of the field in soccer and hockey [obviously field hockey] and behind the other backs in rugby

• Note 1: Being a British dictionary, the ODE (Oxford Dictionary of English, not to be confused with the Oxford English Dictionary - an error of which I have been found guilty in the past) uses the term hockey in reference to field hockey and would undoubtedly refer to what Canadians know as hockey as ice hockey.
• Note 2: While Oxford gives the spelling as full back (with the U.S. spelling being fullback), both Chambers and Collins show this word spelled only as fullback
• Note 3: A fullback in American or Canadian football is a player in an offensive position, specifically "an offensive backfield player whose position is behind the quarterback and halfbacks and who primarily performs offensive blocking and line plunges"
• Note 4: Collins specifically states that a fullback is "one of two defensive players positioned in front of the goalkeeper" in soccer, field hockey and ice hockey. However, in ice hockey, this position is called defence and the player is called a defenceman (in both men's and women's hockey). It did occur to me that field hockey terminology might be used in British ice hockey, but judging by the roster of the Manchester Phoenix of the British Elite Ice Hockey League, the terminology is the same in Britain as in Canada.

nates - plural noun Anatomy the buttocks [Note: I have seen and heard countless names for this part of the anatomy, but it seems that I have never encountered the proper anatomical term until now]

tin - noun 1 British informal, dated money

Today's Links

Gazza's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26282].

It is often interesting and informative to read through the comments on Big Dave's site. For instance, today I added to my knowledge of cricket. I knew that a cricket match consists of two innings played over a period of five days. However, it is intriguing to learn that one can solve a cryptic crossword while playing. Given that a batsman may bat a century (100 hits) or more before being out, I suppose that a player has lots of spare time while waiting to bat. I certainly hope that is the right interpretation - I'd hate to think that the puzzle was solved while the player was on the field :-)

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

18a A French prisoner's disciplined, but not locked up (13)

I felt that I knew the answer as soon as I read the clue, and immediately wrote in UNCONFINED - leaving me with three empty spots in the grid!

Signing off for today - Falcon

Saturday, October 2, 2010 - The Roaring Game

Introduction

The theme of today's puzzle by Cox and Rathvon is curling, a game that originated in Scotland and a pastime that is especially popular in Canada. There is a lot of curling terminology (as well as words that could relate to curling) hidden in the solutions. In this game, played by teams called rinks on sheets of ice (which may also be called rinks) in buildings that are (guess what) called rinks, players are required to throw stones (also called rocks) from the hacks (located at one end of the ice surface) in the direction of the house (located at the other end). To deliver a stone, a curler will push off from the hack and slide along the ice holding the stone by its handle. The thrower must release the stone before crossing the near hog line. A substantial amount of work is required from the other members of the team who are expected to sweep the ice in front of the stone (which affects both the speed and direction of the stone). A player wears a slider on one shoe while sweeping to allow him or her to slide along the ice ahead of the stone. A division of play is called an end. A team will score points for stones remaining in the house at the completion of an end - provided those stones are closer to the button (centre of the house) than any stone belonging to the opposing team. Following the match, it is traditional for the players to get together in the bar where the winners buy the losers a drink - which might arrive (borne by a cupbearer?) in a glass containing an ice cube or two. And Canadians do take extra pleasure from games in which they trounce the Yankees from south of the border.

Today's Glossary

Selected abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions used in today's puzzle

Used in Clues:

American League - (abbreviation AL) one of two leagues (the other being the National League) that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada

Anne Heche - an American actress, director, and screenwriter

Dell Inc. - a multinational information technology corporation based in Texas that develops, sells and supports computers and related products and services

NBA - abbreviation National Basketball Association, the major men's basketball league in the United States and Canada

Used in Solutions:

Choctaw - a Native American people originally from the Southeastern United States, the majority of whose members were forced, under a U.S. government policy of deracination (forced migration) that has become known as the Trail of Tears, to move to Oklahoma

Trivia: In Bobbie Gentry's ballad Ode to Billie Joe, Choctaw Ridge was presumably both the home of Billie Joe MacAllister and the location of the Tallahatchie Bridge

cupbearer (or sometimes cup-bearer) - an officer of high rank in royal courts, whose duty it was to serve the drinks at the royal table

On account of the constant fear of plots and intrigues, a person must be regarded as thoroughly trustworthy to hold this position. He must guard against poison in the king's cup, and was sometimes required to swallow some of the wine before serving it.

I - abbreviation interest [Note: although I could find no listing for this abbreviation in several American and British dictionaries, it may possibly be justified based on its appearance in formulas used in performing financial calculations]

Ice Cube - stage name of O'Shea Jackson,  an American rapper, actor, screenwriter, film director, and producer

Iroquois - an association of several tribes of indigenous people of eastern North America (both Canada and the United States) composed of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, Tuscarora nations

Shoshone - a Native American tribe of the western United States

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

13a Grind and eat chops (5,2)

The definition seems to be "chops" with the wordplay being HACK (grind) + SUP (eat) producing the solution HACKS UP. A fairly extensive search failed to find any dictionary listing hack as a synonym for grind. However, one can at least envision the connection, as one definition for hack is "one who works hard at boring tasks" while a grind can be "a laborious task, routine, or study" or "a student who works or studies excessively".

15a Wax new counter (7)

I fail to understand this clue. For wordplay, we appear to have an anagram (new) of COUNTER producing the solution TROUNCE. However, I could not find any meaning for "wax" that relates to trounce. Perhaps it was meant to be a homophone (sounds like) clue, where "wax" sounds like 'whacks' which then might somehow lead to trounce. Even that seems pretty far-fetched. If any perceptive readers have discerned something that I have overlooked, please leave a comment.

17d Anne Heche, dropping the last guy, changed for the better (7)

Apparently "he" (the last guy) is former husband Coley Laffoon, whom she left for Men in Trees co-star James Tupper. Ms. Heche is probably best known as the former same-sex partner of comedienne Ellen DeGeneres (whom she dumped for Mr. Laffoon).

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

1a {CURLING IRON}* - anagram (trained) of UNICORN GIRL

7a PAST(IM)E - IM (I'm) contained in (into) PASTE (stick)

8a {YAN|KEES}< - reversal of (on the way back) {SEEK (look for) NAY (no)}

10a {SL(I)DE RULE}* - anagram (upset) of DELL USER containing (about) I (one)

11a SOL(V)E - V (volume) contained in (inserted in) SOLE (only)

12a BAN|D|AGE - BAN (proscription) + D (500; i.e., Roman numeral for 500) + AGE (years old)

13a HACK|S UP - HACK (grind) + (and) SUP (eat)

15a TROUNCE* - anagram (new) of COUNTER

18a COP(Y|CA)T - COPT (Egyptian) containing (keeping) {Y (yellow) CA (California)}

20a ONE|AL - ONE + AL (American League)

22a HOU(SEW|O)R|K - {[SEW (stitch) + O (hoop)] contained in HOUR (60 minutes)} + (then) K (first of kitchen; i.e., first letter of the word "kitchen")

23a {SI|DEMAN}< - reversal (backing) of NAMED (chosen) + IS

24a PI(RAT)ES - RAT (snitch) contained in (splitting) PIES (desserts)

25a S(TO|NES T)H|ROW - {TO + NEST (home)} contained in (in) {SH (quiet) + ROW (street)}

Down

1d C(ASP|I)AN {ASP (snake) + I (interest)} contained in (in) CAN (vessel)

2d {RAISE CAIN}* - anagram (disturbed) of CANARIES I

3d {ICE CUBE}* - anagram (pitches) of CRUD BEER

4d _G|WY(N)ETH - {G (ultimately, painting; i.e., the final letter of the word "painting") + (by) WYETH} containing (acquires) N (new)

5d R|INKS - R (red) + INKS (pen colours)

6d NEEDLES_ - all but final letter (almost) of NEEDLESS (without point)

7d {PUSH BUTTONS}* - anagram (flipping) of SPOT BUSH NUT

9d S|WEEPS|TAKES - S (soprano) + WEEPS (cries) + TAKES (wins)

14d {CUPBEARER}* - anagram (prepared) of CRAB PUREE

16d _ONE|ID|AS_ - hidden in (found among) ShoshONE ID ASsume

17d ENHANCE* - anagram (changed) of {ANNE HEC[he] with the final HE deleted (dropping the last guy)} [Note: this is the "last guy" in two senses, being not only the last two letters of her name but also the second appearance of this combination of letters in her name]

18d C|RUM|PET - C (cold) + RUM (booze) + (and) PET (favourite)

19d CHOCTAW* - anagram (moving) of COW CHAT

21d LIMBO - double definition

Signing off for today - Falcon

Friday, October 1, 2010 (DT 26281)

This puzzle, by a mystery setter, was originally published in The Daily Telegraph on Thursday, July 1, 2010

Introduction

I started out on a sprint today - until I became severely mired in the southeast quadrant. So what initially seemed like it might be a two star romp turned out to be at least a three star effort. For a few clues, even having gotten the correct solutions, I had to puzzle mightily to figure out the wordplay. Big Dave awarded this puzzle three stars each for difficulty and enjoyment.

Today's Glossary

Selected abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions used in today's puzzle

Used in Clues:

bar - preposition

• chiefly British except for: his kids were all gone now, bar one
• Horse Racing, British except the horses indicated (used when stating the odds)

Oscar² - noun a code word representing the letter O, used in radio communication

Rupert [Bear] - a children's comic strip character in Britain, Rupert is a bear who lives with his parents in a house in Nutwood [Note: the books are also available in Canada, as I recall my siblings or I having had several of them]

Used in Solutions:

A - abbreviation Adult

Supposedly "Adult as a film category" (according to Big Dave), although there actually may not be (or may no longer be) such a film category in the U.K. The U.K. film rating categories that I was able to find are Uc, U, PG, 12A (where the A stands for Accompanied/Advisory), 12, 15, 18, and R18. But no such concern exists on this side of the Atlantic as such a category does exist in the Canadian film rating system (at least, outside of Quebec)!

en clair - adjective & adverb (especially of a telegram or official message) in ordinary language, rather than in code or cipher

entry - [Collins English Dictionary] noun 7 the competitors entering a contest considered collectively: a good entry this year for the speed trials

hat - noun used to refer to a particular role or occupation of someone who has more than one: wearing her scientific hat she is director of a pharmacology research group [Note: not an unfamiliar meaning of the word for me, but one that did not come quickly to mind today]

L² - abbreviation British (on a motor vehicle) learner driver [or learner for short and, by extension, student]

Poole - a large coastal town and seaport in the county of Dorset, on the south coast of England

Preston - a city in Lancashire, England

saloon (also saloon bar) - noun British another term for lounge bar

lounge bar - noun British the smarter and more comfortably furnished bar in a pub. Compare with public bar
public bar - noun British the more plainly furnished bar in a pub. Compare with lounge bar

sandpit - noun British a shallow box or hollow in the ground, partly filled with sand for children to play in [in North America, a sandbox]

U³ - adjective British informal (of language or social behaviour) characteristic of or appropriate to the upper social classes: U manners

Today's Links

Big Dave's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26281].

The Brits are exceptionally chatty today, with most of the comments expressing displeasure with 17a. They just didn't see it like I did (in both senses of the phrase, perhaps).

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

10a Drink in here? Shop stocks nothing but (6,3)

Initially not being able to see the wordplay, I penciled in the solution very faintly, fearing it might well be wrong. However, it did turn out to be correct. The definition is "drink in here" (i.e., we need a term for a British watering hole) which happens to be SALOON BAR. I eventually figured out the wordplay which is SALON (shop) containing (stocks) O (nothing) + BAR (but; i.e., except for). It seems that in the U.K. a saloon is a rather upscale drinking establishment, contrary to North America.

17a Where youngsters play could make you spit! (7)

Some of my difficulty in the southeast quadrant actually arose from floundering around here. My first attempt was SANDBOX which I later (upon solving 8d) had to change to SANDLOT (in North America, youngsters commonly play sandlot ball). I was eventually to discover that this was still not the correct solution, it being SANDPIT (in Britain, an alternative term for a sandbox).

All of the foregoing was achieved strictly on the basis of the definition and checking letters - and even then perhaps using only a partial definition. The wordplay is difficult to see - and even more difficult to explain.

I would say that we may encounter here, not only an example of reverse wordplay but also, an & lit. (all-in-one) clue. I realize that one might consider the definition to be merely "where youngsters play" (which could be many different places including a SANDPIT). However, I think one could well consider the entire clue to be the definition, as the latter part provides additional descriptive information that further narrows down the choice of play areas. As a child, I spent countless hours playing in sand and I frequently got sand in my mouth, which definitely made me spit.

As for the wordplay, we have a case of what I think is an instance of what I believe to be termed "reverse wordplay" (how's that for waffling!). In this rarely seen type of clue, the solution itself must be incorporated into the wordplay. Thus "where youngsters play" could be SANDPIT. Treating the clue as an & lit., the wordplay is then "SANDPIT could make you SPIT" or, expanded "S AND PIT could make, [for] you, SPIT". In a less flowery fashion, this could be stated as "You could make the word SPIT from S + PIT".

This clue was severely panned in the comments on Big Dave's blog. Rarely have I seen such vitriol directed at a clue. However, perhaps if we were more like birders, we would be rejoicing at having spotted a rarely seen exotic species rather than complaining that it isn't yet another crow.

5d Cream cakes - girl's got her sixth in her mouth! (7)

The setter put an exclamation mark at the end of this clue for a reason - to flag to us that it is a bit out of the ordinary. I put a question mark beside it for a reason - to flag that I hadn't been able to decipher the wordplay. That question mark stayed there a long time, despite several return visits to the clue. The answer did finally hit me, striking like a bolt out of the blue. Take CLAIRES (girl's; i.e., CLAIRE's dropping the apostrophe) and move the letter E (her sixth [letter]) to the front (in her mouth; i.e., opening).

Signing off for today - Falcon