Tuesday, November 23, 2010 (DT 26324)

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26324
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, August 20, 2010
Setter Giovanni
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26324]
Big Dave's Review Written By Gazza
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - ***	Enjoyment - ****

Introduction

For the second day in a row, I was able to complete a puzzle unaided which, I believe, is the first time that I have accomplished that achievement. This one is definitely a more substantial challenge than the one presented to us yesterday.

Solving Tip - Cryptic Clichés

Today's puzzle contains a number of instances of standard cryptic substitutions that appear so frequently in puzzles that they can be considered to be clichés. Among them are:

• old lover - EX
• gangster - AL (Capone)
• rocker - TED (short for Teddy Boy; see Today's Glossary)
• sailor - TAR
• the Parisian - LE (French word for 'the')
• ship - SS
• hesitation - ER (when its not UM)
• of French - DE (French word for 'of')

Today's Glossary

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

Appearing in Clues:

bags - noun (bag 3) British dated loose-fitting trousers

maiden (abbreviation M; e.g., in game summaries) - noun 2 (also maiden over) Cricket an over in which no runs are scored

Westminster - [Collins English Dictionary] 2. the [British] Houses of Parliament at Westminster [in London, England]

Appearing in Solutions:

disco - noun 1 a discotheque. 2 a party with dancing to recorded music. 3 the mobile hi-fi and lighting equipment used for such a party. [Note: only the first definition would likely be recognized in North America].

gust - noun a sudden burst of something such as rain, sound, or emotion

lords and ladies - noun The European wake-robin (Arum maculatum) - those with purplish spadix the lords, and those with pale spadix the ladies. Range: Lords and ladies is very common across most of the British Isles, being absent only from North Scotland. It also occurs frequently in Europe.

Description: Wild arum or lords and ladies (just one of this abundant plant’s local names), has a striking appearance when in flower. From amongst the shiny-green, black-speckled, arrow-shaped leaves, arises a tall slender cowl. This opens on one side to reveal a slender purple spike. This ‘spadix’ is the true flower of the wild arum, and it gave rise to another of the plant’s local names ‘cuckoo pint’. This derives from the time of the flower’s appearance – usually with the first cuckoos – whilst ‘pint’ (once pronounced to rhyme with ‘mint’) is an Old English slang for ‘pintle’, meaning penis.

Ted - noun British informal a Teddy boy: (in the 1950s ) a young man of a subculture characterized by a style of dress based on Edwardian fashion (typically with drainpipe trousers, bootlace tie, and hair slicked up in a quiff) and a liking for rock-and-roll music

ton ¹ - noun 4 British informal a hundred, in particular a speed of 100 mph, a score of 100 or more , or a sum of £100: he scored 102 not out, his third ton of the tour

trouser - verb British informal receive or take (something, especially money) for oneself; pocket: they claimed that he had trousered a £2 million advance

South East England - one of the nine official regions of England. Its boundaries include Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and West Sussex. In common usage, however, the area referred to as the 'south east' can vary considerably [and would likely include London]. The South East is a very prosperous region, having the second largest regional economy in the UK (after London), as well as the second largest GDP per capita (again second behind only London). Finally, I couldn't help but notice that, by some strange twist of geography, the South East Region is located to the south west of the East Region (with London between them).

Signing off for today - Falcon

Monday, November 22, 2010 (DT 26323)

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26323
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, August 19, 2010
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26323]
Big Dave's Review Written By Big Dave
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - **	Enjoyment - **

Introduction

It was not a difficult puzzle today - Big Dave awarded it two stars in this category - and it contained almost no Briticisms. This no doubt explains why I was able to complete it quite rapidly without needing to pull out my Tool Chest.

Today's Glossary

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

Appearing in Clues:

David Cameron - Prime Minister of the U.K. - and a avid cyclist

centre-forward - noun Soccer & [Field] Hockey an attacker who plays in the middle of the field

Appearing in Solutions:

I ³ - symbol Physics electric current

Signing off for today - Falcon

Saturday, November 20, 2010 - National Icons

Introduction

Today's relatively easy offering from Cox and Rathvon serves up a quartet of objects and foods iconically associated with particular nations - not to mention a couple of iconic actresses from the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

5d Sauces for pair of artists in places with yachts (9)

Our American setters offer us a clue where the definition is "sauces", the solution is MARINARAS, and the wordplay is AR (pair of artists; i..e., first two letters of "artists") contained in (in) MARINAS (places with yachts) or MARIN(AR)AS.

A British setter may well have taken a different tack, giving us "Sauces for artists in places with yachts (9)" where the definition and solution would remain the same, but he wordplay would be RA (Royal Academy) in MARINAS or MARINA(RA)S.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

Legend:	"*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed
	"( )" letters inserted; "_" letters deleted

Across

1a {SPANISH OMELET}* - {SPAN (period) + IS + LET (allowed)} containing (outside) HOME (house)

9a ICELANDER~ - sounds like (you might say) I SLANDER (badmouth)

10a MARCH - double definition; month (time of year) and genre of music (Sousa piece)

John Philip Sousa (1854 – 1932) - an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era, known particularly for American military and patriotic marches, regarded (at least in the U.S.) as "The March King".

11a S(I)TAR - I contained in (donated to) STAR (celebrity)

12a SE|N(S)ATION - SE (southeast) + {NATION (country) containing (adopts) S (small)}

13a {RICE PAPER}* - anagram (off) of PAIR CREPE

16a A(BET)S - AS (while) containing (holding) BET (wager)

17a Y|EATS - Y (fork; like a fork in a road, for example) + EATS (has dinner)

William Butler Yeats (1865 – 1939) - an Irish poet and dramatist, and one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature.

19a {ROSE PETAL}* - anagram (new) of REAL POETS

21a _N|EARTH|IN|G_ - hidden (interior) in oN EARTH IN Germany

23a OR|SON - OR (Oregon) + SON (boy)

25a F|LAME - F (failing; as a grade at school) + LAME (feeble)

26a THE|REF|ORE - THE + REF (referee) + ORE (rocks)

27a {CANADIAN BACON}* - anagram (hurt) of A BAN ON ACID CAN

Down -
1d {SWISS ARMY KNIFE}* - anagram (sloppy) of KISS IF MY ANSWER

2d A|GENT - A + GENT (male)

3d _IN A TRA|P_ - hidden in (part of) sINATRA Performance

4d HIDES - double definition

5d MARIN(AR)AS - AR (pair of artists; i.e., first two letters of "artist") contained in (in) MARINAS (places with yachts)

6d LAMB(A)DA - LAMBDA (Greek character; i.e., a letter in the Greek alphabet) containing (holding) A

The association of Lambada and the idea of 'dirty dancing' became quite extensive. The appellative forbidden dance was and is often ascribed to the Lambada. This was largely due to

• its links to Maxixe. The true forbidden dance of the early 1920s in Brazil is the Maxixe, because of its spicy lyrics and movements.
• the 1990 movies Lambada and The Forbidden Dance, and
• the short skirts, typical to the Lambada dance, that were in fashion around 1988.

7d TOR(RIDES)T - RIDES (taunts) contained in (in) TORT (legal case)

8d {CHINESE LANTERN}* - anagram (changed) of IN RESET CHANNEL

14d _CH|ARAB|ANC_ - hidden in (essential to) riCH ARAB ANCestors

charabanc - a type of horse-drawn vehicle or early motor coach, usually open-topped, common in Britain during the early part of the 20th century. It was especially popular for sight-seeing or "works outings" to the country or the seaside, organised by businesses once a year.

15d PER|MITTED - PER (by means of) + MITTED (wearing a glove)

18d SO|THE|RN - SO (likewise) + THE + RN (nurse)

• registered nurse (abbreviation RN) - noun North American a fully trained nurse with an official state certificate of competence
• Ann Sothern (1909 – 2001) - an American film and television actress with a career spanning six decades.

20d P(ROVER)B - ROVER (dog's tag) contained in (written in) PB (lead; i.e., the chemical symbol for the element lead)

22d _G|RETA_ - hidden in (in) demandinG RETAke

Greta Garbo (1905 – 1990) - a Swedish actress primarily known for her work in the United States during Hollywood's silent film period and part of its subsequent Golden Age.

24d S(TO)IC - SIC (order to attack) containing (is bracing) TO

 I believe "bracing" here is used in the sense of 'to enclose in braces ("{ }")'.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Friday, November 19, 2010 (DT 26322)

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26322
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Setter Jay
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26322]
Big Dave's Review Written By Crypticsue
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - ***	Enjoyment - **/***

Introduction

In her review, Crypticsue observes that she "took a while to get into today’s Jay puzzle". I had a similar experience, needing to resort to a little electronic help after solving only four or five clues. However, once I had found one or two clues using that help, I was then able to get quite a few more clues without assistance. I did end up with a couple of incorrect entries - largely due to carelessness.

Today's Errata

11a Bird song under the baobob tree - finally! (5)

The National Post repeats a spelling error that originally appeared in The Daily Telegraph - the correct spelling of the name of this tree is baobab.

Today's Glossary

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

Appearing in Solutions:

boob ¹ - noun informal

• 1 British an embarrassing mistake
• 2 North American a foolish or stupid person

know-all - noun British informal a person who behaves as if they know everything [Note: the equivalent North American expression is know-it-all]

let ¹ - verb 3 chiefly British allow someone to have the use of (a room or property) in return for regular payments: she let the flat to a tenant; they've let out their house [Note: this usage is not unknown in North America, but one would be far more likely to hear rent than let]

piano ² - music adverb softly. adjective soft. noun a passage of music to be played or performed softly.

British Sky Broadcasting Group (or Sky for short) - a public satellite broadcasting company operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is the largest pay-TV broadcaster in The United Kingdom.

U ³ - adjective British informal (of language or social behaviour) characteristic of or appropriate to the upper social classes: U manners

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

This commentary should be read in conjunction with the review at Big Dave's Crossword Blog, to which a link is provided in the table above.

5a Display of food causing strike (6)

An error at 7d compounded by a bit of carelessness led to a mistake here. Having incorrectly entered OPEN RANGE instead of FREE-RANGE at 7d, I came up with PUT OUT as a solution here. For some unknown reason, I failed to notice that the numeration (3,3) of this effort clearly does not match that of the clue. Instead I became preoccupied with trying (albeit, unsuccessfully) to decipher the wordplay. Display could mean put out, as to put out something for viewing. I also thought that strike might somehow be related to out as a cricket term. However, I was totally at a loss to see how food might factor into the wordplay.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Thursday, November 18, 2010 (DT 26321)

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26321
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Setter Ray T
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26321]
Big Dave's Review Written By Gazza
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - ****	Enjoyment - ****

Introduction

Given that Gazza awarded this puzzle four stars for difficulty (as well as a similar number for enjoyment), I felt more than satisfied with my solving time. The bottom right-hand corner was the last part of the puzzle to be completed, and 27a and 21 down were the final two clues to be solved. Interestingly, they share a similar clue structure - perhaps that is an indication that this type of clue is my bête noire.

Today's Glossary

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

Appearing in Solutions:
bent - adjective 2 British slang a dishonest; corrupt • bent officers in the force; b obtained dishonestly; stolen • bent goods.

blackleg - [American Heritage Dictionary] noun 4. Chiefly British A worker who is opposed to trade unions; a scab.

CID - abbreviation Criminal Investigation Department, the detective branch of the British police force

detective inspector (abbreviation DI) - an officer holding the rank of inspector in the Criminal Investigation Department of a British police force

Plain-clothes detective inspectors are equal in rank to their uniformed counterparts, the prefix 'detective' identifying them as having been trained in criminal investigation and being part of or attached to their force's Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

fishmonger - [Collins English Dictionary] noun Chiefly British a retailer of fish

ling ¹ - noun any of a number of long-bodied edible marine fishes:

• a large East Atlantic fish related to the cod (genus Molva, family Gadidae), in particular M. molva, which is of commercial importance 
• a related Australian fish (Lotella callarias, family Gadidae) 
• a similar but unrelated Australian fish (Genypterus blacodes, family Ophidiidae)

sledge - verb Cricket (of a fielder) make offensive remarks to (an opposing batsman) in order to break their concentration [Note: it would appear that sledging is the British equivalent to trash talking.]

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

This commentary should be read in conjunction with the review at Big Dave's Crossword Blog, to which a link is provided in the table above.

24a Amazon I leapt bridging river (4)

In a recent post containing a primer on cryptic crosswords, I wrote about the surface reading of clues. Here is a clue with a very awkward surface reading - one I am sure would not be found in everyday speech. I presume we are supposed to interpret the surface reading along the lines of 'I leapt over the Amazon thereby bridging the river'. The meanings given in the British dictionaries for the verb bridge are "to build or provide a bridge over something" and "to connect or reduce the distance between". American dictionaries also add a slightly different meaning that does include the idea of crossing a gap, "to cross by or as if by a bridge". However, jumping across a river hardly seems to be the same as crossing it on a bridge.

27a Obtain fortune without getting praise (10)

I spent considerable time trying to solve this clue as "a word meaning "obtain" containing (outside) a synonym for "getting praise" - only to eventually discover that it is just the opposite. It is one of those recipe-type clues, where one must:
Step 1 - Start with: ELICIT (obtain)
Step2 - Add: FATE (fortune) outside (without) the interim result from Step 1
Result (getting): FELICITATE (praise)

21d Violent Labour leader's in recovery (7)

This is yet another recipe-type clue on which I fruitlessly expended a lot of effort before seeing the light.
Step 1 - Start with: SAVAGE (violent)
Step 2 - Add: L (Labour leader; i.e., the first letter of "Labour") inside (in) the interim result from Step 1
Result: SALVAGE (recovery)

Signing off for today - Falcon

Wednesday, November 17, 2010 (DT 26320)

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26320
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, August 16, 2010
Setter Rufus
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26320]
Big Dave's Review Written By Libellule
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - **	Enjoyment - ***
Note The National Post has skipped DT 26319 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, August 14, 2010

Introduction

Today's puzzle was not overly difficult - and contained a minimum of Briticisms.

Today's Glossary

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

Appearing in Clues:

agency - noun 2 a thing or person that acts to produce a particular result: the movies could be an agency moulding the values of the public [Note: perhaps not the sense of the word that most readily comes to mind]

flat 2 - noun chiefly British a set of rooms forming an individual residence, typically on one floor and within a larger building containing a number of such residences: a block of flats

Appearing in Solutions:

rag ² - noun British (usually used as a modifier) a programme of stunts, parades, and other entertainments organized by students to raise money for charity: rag week [or rag day]

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

This commentary should be read in conjunction with the review at Big Dave's Crossword Blog, to which a link is provided in the table above.

9a In which a boxer may drop his guard? (3,6)

I think I initially took the bait, thinking we were looking for a place where a prizefighter might remove his mouth guard. I made a couple of attempts, such as HIS CORNER or THE CORNER, before realizing that today's boxer is not a pugilist at all.

13a When students may collect on the streets (3,3)

Libellule asks "How cryptic is this?". The setter intends us to read "collect" as congregate. However, like Libellule, I readily saw through the intended deception. Most North Americans, even if they interpreted the clue correctly, would likely have difficulty coming up with the British term 'rag day'. I only managed to get it without much delay as I had encountered it in a previous puzzle.

19a Drive to a meeting place? (6)

In addition to the wordplay pointed out by Libellule - namely, A + VENUE (meeting place) - Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition gives avenue and meeting place as synonyms for both forum and concourse. Thus, if we can reasonably assume that words that are the synonyms of the same word are also synonyms of each other, avenue is a synonym of meeting place.

3d Crude, but in a gentle fashion (9)

I totally missed the anagram that Libellule points out, thinking instead that this might be a charade of IN + ELEGANT (in a gentle fashion). I know elegant actually means 'in a graceful fashion', so perhaps it was a bit of a stretch on my part to equate gentle to graceful.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Tuesday, November 16, 2010 (DT 26318)

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26318
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, August 13, 2010
Setter Giovanni
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26318]
Big Dave's Review Written By Gazza
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - ***	Enjoyment - ****

Introduction

I found this puzzle to be like a tangled pile of yarn - one must first find an end before the mess can be sorted out. If I remember correctly, I was on my second pass through the clues before I found an end - which happened to be 16a. By some fortuitous coincidence, the solution was also today's Word of the Day, another feature that appears on the National Post's Diversions page. Having solved one clue, I was able to leverage the checking letters it provided to conquer other clues, and so it proceeded until the puzzle was complete. Although there were a few new words today, brendam (writing on Big Dave's site) nicely sums up my feelings when she says "For me a super cryptic Xword because I could literally work out what the word was from the clue, even though I’d never heard of it."

Today's Glossary

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

Appearing in Clues:

gee-gee - noun British informal (in children's use or in racehorse betting) a horse

Appearing in Solutions:

boot - noun 3 British an enclosed space at the back of a car for carrying luggage or other goods [In North America, known as a trunk]

The River Dee - a 70-mile (110 km) long river that travels through Wales and England and also forms part of the border between the two countries. It is also the name of at least three other rivers in the U.K.

dory ¹ - [Collins English Dictionary] noun

• 1. any spiny-finned marine teleost food fish of the family Zeidae, especially the John Dory, having a deep compressed body 
• 2. another name for walleye (the fish)

histologist - noun one who studies the microscopic structure of tissues

ingle - chiefly dialect; origin: early 16th century (originally Scots): perhaps from Scottish Gaelic aingeal 'light, fire', Irish aingeal 'live ember'

• a domestic fire or fireplace
  
• an inglenook
  

Financial Times (FT) - a British international business newspaper, third in world circulation behind New York City-based The Wall Street Journal and India's The Economic Times.

Stephen Fry - English actor, writer, journalist, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club.

nark ¹ - verb British cause annoyance to: women like her nark me

put the boot in (or into someone) - phrase

• kick someone hard when they are on the ground
•  treat someone vulnerable in a cruel way

Sand eel (or sandeel) - the common name used for a considerable number of species of fish, most of them being sea fish of the genera Hyperoplus (greater sandeels), Gymnammodytes or Ammodytes. Many species are found off the western coasts of Europe from Spain to Scotland, and in the Mediterranean and Baltic Seas.

shy ² - verb dated fling or throw (something) at a target: he tore the spectacles off and shied them at her

slush - noun 1 half-melted snow. 2 any watery half-liquid substance; e.g., liquid mud.

Note: I am only familiar with the former usage; however, the latter meaning appears in both American and British dictionaries.

The Sun - a daily tabloid newspaper which is the largest-selling newspaper in the U.K. It and its broadsheet stablemate The Times are published by a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation.

sundowner - 2 Australian/NZ informal, dated a tramp arriving at a sheep station in the evening under the pretence of seeking work, so as to obtain food and shelter

t' - used in dialects in northern England for “the” [ref: Gazza's review]

An example of usage appears in a comment from Digby, a visitor to Big Dave's blog, who quotes an old saying “The only good thing to come out of Lancashire is t’road back to Yorkshire”

Note: This barb is thrown out during a friendly dispute among the Brits on Big Dave's site today about what constitutes "northern" England.

The Dales (more formally known as the Yorkshire Dales) - an upland area, in Northern England within the historic county boundaries of Yorkshire, most of which lies within Yorkshire Dales National Park.

tweed - noun 1. A coarse, rugged, often nubby woolen fabric made in any of various twill weaves and used chiefly for casual suits and coats

tweeds - noun clothes made of tweed: boisterous Englishwomen in tweeds

weed - noun 2 British informal a contemptibly feeble person

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

This commentary should be read in conjunction with the review at Big Dave's Crossword Blog, to which a link is provided in the table above.

13a Unfairly criticise what you suppose one of the car assemblers might do? (3,3,4,2)

Gazza characterises this as "a clue that might have been devised to confuse our transatlantic cousins". Well, he is correct about the phrase (although I was nearly able to puzzle it out - just needing to consult Oxford to confirm whether the final word was 'in' or 'on'). However, the British term 'boot' meaning the trunk of a car is fairly well known in North America (likely from British movies and television programmes).

21d Plan to cross river is silly (5)

One must do some mental gymnastics to solve this clue. The definition is "plan" and the wordplay is "to cross river is silly". However, we must essentially reverse the order of elements in the wordplay to get the correct cryptic meaning. So just as "To err is human" really means "It is human to err", the wordplay in this clue actually means "It is silly to cross river" or DAFT (silly) containing (to cross) R (river).

24a The northern chaps looking thin and weak in country clothes (6)

Despite obtaining the correct solution (based on the definition and checking letters), I needed Gazza's explanation to understand the wordplay. The definition is "country clothes" which are TWEEDS. The wordplay is T (the northern; i.e., the way the word 'the' is pronounced in dialects in northern England) + WEEDS (chaps looking thin and weak). Weed is British slang for a "a contemptibly feeble person".

Signing off for today - Falcon