Thursday, May 19, 2011 (DT 26485)

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26485
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, February 25, 2011
Setter Giovanni
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26485]
Big Dave's Review Written By Gazza
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - ★★	Enjoyment - ★★★
Falcon's Performance ┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐ ███████████████████████████████████ └────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘ Legend: █ - solved without assistance █ - incorrect prior to use of puzzle solving tools █ - solved with assistance from puzzle solving tools █ - unsolved or incorrect prior to visiting Big Dave's blog █ - reviewed by Falcon for Big Dave's blog

Introduction

I did fairly well today, despite an error at 21a which then handicapped me at 21d. However, with the assistance of my Tool Chest, I was able to resolve the mess.

It is a not uncommon occurrence that I am able to complete some piece of wordplay by assuming that the missing component is a bit of British slang that I have never before encountered. It is surprising how often this proves to be correct. However, not today. At 21a, I had entered TIDY - thinking that "being in organisation" might be a cryptic way of saying that something is 'tidy' and that 'tid' might be a new (to me) bit of British slang. Well, at least the final two letters were correct. However, the first two stunk - almost as much as those in the real solution.

Today's Glossary

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

[An asterisk beside an entry merely indicates that it has been taken it from a Cumulative Glossary of entries which have previously appeared, in either this blog or its companion blog, the Ottawa Citizen Cryptic Crossword Forum.]

Appearing in Solutions:

amine - noun Chemistry an organic compound derived from ammonia by replacement of one or more hydrogen atoms by organic radicals.

Bow - an area of London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a built-up, mostly residential district located 4.6 miles (7.4 km) east of Charing Cross, and is a part of the East End.

*CH - abbreviation  [1^st entry] (in the UK) Companion of Honour.

River Exe - English river which rises near the village of Simonsbath, on Exmoor in Somerset, near the Bristol Channel coast, but flows more or less directly due south, so that most of its length lies in Devon. It reaches the sea at a substantial ria, the Exe Estuary, on the south (English Channel) coast of Devon.

Sir Isaac Newton - (1642–1727), English mathematician and physicist, considered the greatest single influence on theoretical physics until Einstein.

Palermo - the capital of the Italian island of Sicily, a port on the north coast; population 659,433 (2008).

penny - noun (plural for separate coins pennies, for a sum of money pence) 1 [1^st entry] (abbreviation: p) a British bronze coin and monetary unit equal to one hundredth of a pound. [2^nd entry] (abbreviation: d) a former British coin and monetary unit equal to one twelfth of a shilling and 240th of a pound.

quarto - noun Printing [a] a size of book page resulting from folding each printed sheet into four leaves (eight pages). [b] a book of quarto size.

*RE - abbreviation religious education (as a school subject).

*sup¹ - noun [a] a sip of liquid: he took another sup of wine [b] Northern English & Irish alcoholic drink

yr - abbreviation [3^rd entry] your.

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.

16a   People like you wanting new money rather than old, we gather! (7)

The definition is "we gather" for which the solution is REAPERS. The wordplay is READERS (people like you; i.e., the setter is characterising solvers of the puzzle as readers [of the newspaper]) with P (the abbreviation for penny in the new British monetary system) replacing D (the abbreviation for penny in the old British monetary system).

Signing off for today - Falcon

Wednesday, May 18, 2018 (DT 26484)

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26484
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, February 24, 2011
Setter Ray T
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26484]
Big Dave's Review Written By Big Dave
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - ★★★	Enjoyment - ★★★★
Falcon's Performance ┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐ ███████████████████████████████████ └────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘ Legend: █ - solved without assistance █ - incorrect prior to use of puzzle solving tools █ - solved with assistance from puzzle solving tools █ - unsolved or incorrect prior to visiting Big Dave's blog █ - reviewed by Falcon for Big Dave's blog

Introduction

I found today's puzzle to be a bit more of a challenge than those we have seen recently, causing me to dip into my Tool Chest for assistance in dealing with a handful of clues. Moreover, I needed Big Dave to explain the wordplay in 2d.

Today's Glossary

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

[An asterisk beside an entry merely indicates that it has been taken it from a Cumulative Glossary of entries which have previously appeared, in either this blog or its companion blog, the Ottawa Citizen Cryptic Crossword Forum.]

Appearing in Clues:

Meanings listed in this section may reflect how the word is used in the surface reading of the clue. Of course, that meaning may be contributing to the misdirection that the setter is attempting to create.

pit¹ - noun 1 [5^th entry] (the pit) literary hell.

Appearing in Solutions:

hedge sparrow - noun another term for dunnock, a small European songbird of the accentor family, with a dark grey head and a reddish -brown back. Prunella modularis, family Prunellidae

hellebore - noun a poisonous winter-flowering Eurasian plant of the buttercup family, typically having coarse divided leaves and large white, green, or purplish flowers. Genus Helleborus, family Ranunculaceae: several species, including the Christmas rose

Jewel in the Crown - 1966 novel by Paul Scott that starts his Raj Quartet, a four-volume novel sequence about the concluding years of the British Raj in India. The phrase "jewel in the crown" alludes to the British perception that "India was the most important of the overseas possessions of the British Empire" and is attributed to Benjamin Disraeli, the British prime minister from 1874 to 1881 who called India "the brightest jewel in the crown" [ref. Answers.com].

Loire - a river of west central France. France's longest river, it rises in the Massif Central and flows 1,015 km (630 miles) north and west to the Atlantic at St-Nazaire.

maths - plural noun [treated as singular] British mathematics. [North American math]

mathematics - plural noun [usually treated as singular] the abstract science of number, quantity, and space, either as abstract concepts (pure mathematics), or as applied to other disciplines such as physics and engineering (applied mathematics).

PA - abbreviation [3^rd entry] British personal assistant, noun a secretary or administrative assistant working exclusively for one particular person. [Note: although Oxford Dictionaries Online identifies this expression as British, I am certainly familiar with the term in Canada.]

rouge - noun 3 (in full vin rouge) French red wine.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Tuesday, May 17, 2011 (DT 26483)

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26483
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Setter Jay
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26483]
Big Dave's Review Written By Falcon
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - ★★★	Enjoyment - ★★★
Falcon's Performance ┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐ ███████████████████████████████████ └────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘ Legend: █ - solved without assistance █ - incorrect prior to use of puzzle solving tools █ - solved with assistance from puzzle solving tools █ - unsolved or incorrect prior to visiting Big Dave's blog █ - reviewed by Falcon for Big Dave's blog

Introduction

It took a few clues until I suspected that I may have seen this puzzle previously, and a few more for me to be convinced that I had, in fact, already solved it. It is puzzle I reviewed for Big Dave's blog back in February. I must confess that the puzzle was no cakewalk the second time around. At least I was consistent, as the same two clues (26a and 10a) were the ones that gave me the most trouble on both occasions - not so much in finding the solution, but in deciphering the wordplay. When I examine my completed puzzle sheet from February, I see a large question mark beside each of these clues - a notation I employ to flag that I have entered a solution without understanding the wordplay. For a while, I thought I might even have to resort to my review on Big Dave's site to figure them out. However, after much 'perservation' [a word coined by Mary, a frequent visitor to Big Dave's site], the penny finally dropped.

Today's Glossary

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

[An asterisk beside an entry merely indicates that it has been taken it from a Cumulative Glossary of entries which have previously appeared, in either this blog or its companion blog, the Ottawa Citizen Cryptic Crossword Forum.]

Appearing in Solutions:

Arden - an area, mainly located in Warwickshire, England, formerly heavily forested and known as the Forest of Arden -  the setting for William Shakespeare's play As You Like It.

*E² - abbreviation 9 IVR [International Vehicle Registration code]: España (Spanish), Spain.

mug¹ - noun 3 British informal a stupid or gullible person. 4 US informal a hoodlum or thug.

RU - abbreviation rugby union.

whinge - verb British informal complain persistently and in a peevish or irritating way: stop whingeing and get on with it!

Signing off for today - Falcon

Monday, May 16, 2011 - DT 26482

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26482
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26482]
Big Dave's Review Written By Gazza
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - ★★	Enjoyment - ★★★
Falcon's Performance ┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐ ███████████████████████████████████ └────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘ Legend: █ - solved without assistance █ - incorrect prior to use of puzzle solving tools █ - solved with assistance from puzzle solving tools █ - unsolved or incorrect prior to visiting Big Dave's blog

Introduction

I was able to finish all but two clues at a very rapid pace, but then needed to pop open my Tool Chest. One of the holdouts was 15a which also seemed to be the last in for many of the Brits. Even after my electronic assistants revealed the existence of only a single candidate which matches the checking letters, it took a moment of thought to decipher the wordplay. My folly arose largely from mistakenly thinking that the definition must be "joint". At 26a, I was done in by being unfamiliar with the British "crocodile". Again, my word finder turned up only one word which satisfies the checking letters - causing a furrowed brow until I found out that a crocodile may not necessarily be a reptile in the U.K.

Although 17d seems to have stumped many Brits, the solution came easily to me as this subject has been a major political issue in Canada in the last couple of years. However, as the recent federal election produced a majority government, it will undoubtedly not be an issue during the life of the current Parliament.

Today's Glossary

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

[An asterisk beside an entry merely indicates that it has been taken it from a Cumulative Glossary of entries which have previously appeared, in either this blog or its companion blog, the Ottawa Citizen Cryptic Crossword Forum.]

Appearing in Clues:

Meanings listed in this section may reflect how the word is used in the surface reading of the clue. Of course, that meaning may be contributing to the misdirection that the setter is attempting to create.

crocodile - noun 2 British informal a line of schoolchildren walking in pairs.

off - noun 1 (also off side) Cricket the half of the field (as divided lengthways through the pitch ) towards which the batsman's feet are pointed when standing to receive the ball.  The opposite of leg [or on].

Note: the customary spelling when used in this sense (as a Cricket term) may be as two words (off side). However, the "bible" (The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition) has it as a single word (offside). Under its listing for offside, Oxford Dictionaries Online states "See also off side at off (sense 1 of the noun)". It is somewhat unclear to me whether Oxford is suggesting by this that offside is a variant spelling of off side in the Cricket sense, or pointing out the difference in meaning between the terms offside and off side (although I would strongly suspect the latter).

Relate - a charity providing relationship support throughout the United Kingdom. Services include counselling for couples, families, young people and individuals, sex therapy, mediation and training courses.

Appearing in Solutions:

cut - verb 11 [3^rd entry] Cricket hit (the ball) to the off side with the bat held almost horizontally; play such a stroke against (the bowler).

Dover - 1 [1^st entry] a ferry port in Kent, in England, on the coast of the English Channel; population 35,200 (est. 2009). It is mainland Britain's nearest point to the Continent, being only 35 km (22 miles) from Calais[, France].

gen - noun British informal information: you've got more gen on him than we have

red rag - [Collins English Dictionary] noun a provocation; something that infuriates [so called because red objects supposedly infuriate bulls]

a red rag to a bull - phrase an object, utterance, or act which is certain to provoke someone: the refusal to discuss the central issue was like a red rag to a bull

rye bread - noun any of various breads made with rye flour.

Note: this entry is from Chambers 21st Century Dictionary (Search Chambers). Both the Oxford Dictionary of English (Oxford Dictionaries Online) and Collins English Dictionary (TheFreeDictionary.com) also show this term as two words (rye bread). The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition is alone in its stance that this is a single word (ryebread).

un - definite article French a

up - [The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition] adverb in revolt

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.

17a   Put off supporting scoundrel (8)

Anyone with even a passing interest in Canadian politics should have had no difficulty solving this clue. The definition is "put off" with the solution being PROROGUE, which formally means to "discontinue a session of (a parliament or other legislative assembly) without dissolving it". The wordplay is PRO (supporting) + ROGUE (scoundrel) - which I suppose those of a certain political persuasion might also take as a bit of a commentary on Canadian politics.

28a   Hear about side with it (6)

The definition is "with it" for which the solution is TRENDY. The wordplay is TRY (hear; as a case in court) containing (about) END (side).

I was initially puzzled by end and side being synonyms, as I was thinking in terms of a rectangle which has two sides (the longer dimensions) and two ends (the shorter dimensions). However, if one thinks of side as meaning "either of the two halves of an object, surface, or place regarded as divided by an imaginary central line" (a sports field or court, for instance) and end as "either of the halves of a sports field or court defended by one team or player" then the words clearly can be synonymous.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Saturday, May 14, 2011 - Please Be Seated

Introduction

It being spring, what better time to rearrange the furniture - a chore that Cox and Rathvon have embarked upon in today's puzzle.












Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

1a   CHESTERFIELD* - anagram (getting wild) of CHEERS LIFTED

9a   {TOUR BUS}* - anagram (the wrong way) of TO RUB US

10a   PAL|F(R)EY - PAL (chum) + {FEY (clairvoyant) containing (about) R (Derby's third; i.e., third letter of DeRby)}

11a   RU(PE)E - RUE (regret) containing (eating) PE (most of peg; i.e., all but the last letter of PEg).

12a   {EASY (CHAI)R}* - anagram (new) of YEARS containing (consuming) CHAI (spiced tea)

13a   RE(CL)INER - REINER ([American] director Rob [Reiner]) containing (placed around) CL (sides of cell; i.e., the outside letters of CelL)

15a   ST|AGED - ST (street) + AGED (grew more mature)

18a   {I|S|RAEL}< - reversal (set back) of {LEAR (tragic king) + S ('s) + I (ego)}

19a   LOVE SE(A)T - A (one) contained in (involved in) LOVE SET (six-game shutout)

• love set - Tennis a set in which the loser has a score of zero.
• tete-a-tete - noun 2. A short sofa intended to accommodate two persons.

22a   DAVENPORT* - anagram (repaired) of ON TV PADRE

24a   WICC~|A - {sounds like (in hearing) WICK (something ignited)} + A

26a   BO(L)O TIE - L (left) contained in (in) BOOTIE (infant's shoe)

27a   BAN|D (A)ID - A (article) contained in (appearing in) {BAN (prohibition) + DID (achieved)}

28a   {CHAISE LONGUE}* - anagram (spilled) of GOULASH NIECE

Down

1d   CATERER* - anagram (rearranged) of TERRACE

2d   E|QUIP - QUIP (witticism) following (after) E (nd of joke; i.e., last letter of jokE)

3d   T(A|BLE W)INE - TINE (point) containing (about) {A + BLEW (squandered)}

4d   RESEEDED~ - sounds like (say) RECEDED (moved back)

5d   I|MP|IS|H - I {[symbol (in Physics) for] current} MP (legislator; i.e., Member of Parliament) + IS + H (hit; e.g., abbreviation used in baseball)

6d   L(I)LAC< - I contained in (involved in) a reversal (from the right) of CALL (visit)

7d   TRIANGLE* - anagram (alien) of ALTERING

8d   _HY|BRID_ - hidden in (borne by) tropHY BRIDe

14d    C|A|RAVEL|S - C (average [grade at school]) + A + RAVEL (knot) + (by) S (sail, at first; i.e., first letter of Sail)

16d   TAE-KW(O)N-DO - O (nothing) contained in (in) an anagram (changed) of TAKEDOWN

17d   PO(R)TABLE - POTABLE (good to drink) containing (about) R (fifth of Seagram's; i.e., fifth letter of SeagRam's)

The Seagram Company Ltd. was a large corporation headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada that was the largest distiller of alcoholic beverages in the world. Toward the end of its independent existence it also controlled various entertainment and other business ventures. The Seagram assets have since been acquired by other companies, notably PepsiCo, Diageo, and Pernod Ricard.

18d   {IN DEBT}* - anagram (bucks) of BID TEN

The use of "bucks" as an anagram indicator is likely based on this usage:

• buck¹ - [Collins English Dictionary] verb 5. US and Canadian informal (especially of a car) to move forward jerkily; jolt

Perhaps the rationale is that if a vehicle were to buck severely enough, its load might become rearranged.

20d   T|WADDLE - WADDLE (take baby steps) following (after) T (beginning to taste; i.e., first letter of Taste)

21d   D(O-R)E-MI - DEMI (actress [Demi] Moore) containing (assuming) OR (otherwise)

"Do-Re-Mi" is a show tune from the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music. Within the story, it is used by Maria to teach the notes of the major musical scale to the Von Trapp children who learn to sing for the first time, even though their father has disallowed frivolity after their mother's death. The song is notable in that each syllable of the musical solfege system appears in its lyrics, sung on the pitch it names.

23d   NOT|C|H - NOT + C ([Roman numeral for] 100) + H (hours)

25d   CLAN|G - CLAN (family) + G (guy's opening; i.e., first letter of Guy)

Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family living in the fictional city of Quahog, Rhode Island, and bases much of its humor on parodying American pop culture.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Friday, May 13, 2011 - DT 26481

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26481
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, February 21, 2011
Setter Rufus
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26481]
Big Dave's Review Written By Libellule
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - ★	Enjoyment - ★★★
Falcon's Performance ┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐ ███████████████████████████████████ └────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘ Legend: █ - solved without assistance █ - incorrect prior to use of puzzle solving tools █ - solved with assistance from puzzle solving tools █ - unsolved or incorrect prior to visiting Big Dave's blog
Notes The National Post has skipped DT 26480 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, February 19, 2011

Introduction

Today we have a gentle puzzle from Rufus. I actually thought that this puzzle might have been set by Ray T. This suspicion was largely based on 15d, as well as 13d (which seemed like it could be the way Ray T might describe himself). However, the word "tit" is probably considered less "blue" in the U.K. than it is here - where the principal image of birds it might evoke would likely by 'hooters'. Needless to say, my hunch turned out to be wrong. In hindsight, the plethora of clever cryptic definitions in the puzzle should have been a clear giveaway that it was created by Rufus.

Today's Glossary

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

[An asterisk beside an entry merely indicates that it has been taken it from a Cumulative Glossary of entries which have previously appeared, in either this blog or its companion blog, the Ottawa Citizen Cryptic Crossword Forum.]

Appearing in Clues:

Meanings listed in this section may reflect how the word is used in the surface reading of the clue. Of course, that meaning may be contributing to the misdirection that the setter is attempting to create.

blue tit - noun a small tit (songbird) with a blue cap, greenish -blue back, and yellow underparts, widespread in Eurasia and NW Africa. Parus caeruleus, family Paridae

pebble-dash - noun British mortar with pebbles in it, used as a coating for external walls. [This definition is from Oxford Dictionaries Online. Search Chambers (based on Chambers 21st Century Dictionary) and The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition both have this word spelled without a hyphen.]

subscription - noun 2 formal a signature or short piece of writing at the end of a document: he signed the letter and added a subscription

Appearing in Solutions:

* ER - abbreviation Queen Elizabeth. [from Latin Elizabetha Regina]

Signing off for today - Falcon

Thursday, May 12, 2011 (DT 26479)

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26479
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, February 18, 2011
Setter Giovanni
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26479]
Big Dave's Review Written By Gazza
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - ★★	Enjoyment - ★★★★
Falcon's Performance ┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐ ███████████████████████████████████ └────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘ Legend: █ - solved without assistance █ - incorrect prior to use of puzzle solving tools █ - solved with assistance from puzzle solving tools █ - unsolved or incorrect prior to visiting Big Dave's blog
Notes The National Post has skipped DT 26476 through DT 26478 which were published in The Daily Telegraph from Tuesday, February 15, 2011 through Thursday, February 17, 2011.

Introduction

The reason for this post being late is that Blogger (the site that hosts this blog) experienced severe technical problems causing it to be taken off-line for over 20 hours. Apparently, an upgrade to the site went horribly wrong causing the site to be shut down. The recovery involved rolling the site back to a state prior to my Wednesday blog, so when the site came up (in read only mode) that posting was missing. Blogger is now back in full operation and the missing Wednesday posting has been recovered. Now I have to catch up.

You can learn more about the Blogger outage here.

As if the issues with Blogger were not enough to contend with, the National Post has skipped ahead several puzzles. At least the puzzle itself was rather easy, but still very enjoyable.

Today's Glossary

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

[An asterisk beside an entry merely indicates that it has been taken it from a Cumulative Glossary of entries which have previously appeared, in either this blog or its companion blog, the Ottawa Citizen Cryptic Crossword Forum.]

Appearing in Clues:

Meanings listed in this section may reflect how the word is used in the surface reading of the clue. Of course, that meaning may be contributing to the misdirection that the setter is attempting to create.

deal² - [Collins English Dictionary] noun 1. a plank of softwood timber, such as fir or pine, or such planks collectively 2. the sawn wood of various coniferous trees, such as that from the Scots pine (red deal) or from the Norway Spruce (white deal). [As a similar definition appears in the American Heritage Dictionary, it would appear that this is not a British expression (although I would think that it must undoubtedly be in more common usage there than it is in North America).]

Appearing in Solutions:

draper - noun British dated a person who sells textile fabrics.

palatine (or palatinus) - a high-level official attached to imperial or royal courts in Europe since Roman times. The term palatinus was first used in Ancient Rome for chamberlains of the Emperor due to their association with the Palatine Hill, the imperial palace guard after the rise of Constantine I were also called the Scholae Palatinae for the same reason.

*para¹ - noun [likely British] informal 1 a paratrooper. [Although I found no specific confirmation that this is a British expression, it would seem to be so judging by the dictionaries in which it is found.]

*TA - abbreviation (in the UK) Territorial Army, a volunteer force locally organized to provide a reserve of trained and disciplined manpower for use in an emergency.

Signing off for today - Falcon