Saturday, August 20, 2011 - Nothing Short of Marvellous

Introduction

In today's puzzle from Cox and Rathvon, the setters present us with a plethora of words that can be used to describe something of superlative quality

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:

Bowser the Hound - a fictional dog appearing in a series of children's books by American author Thornton W. Burgess

The setters seem to use the word bowser as though it were an informal term for a dog (a synonym for pooch). However, I failed to find this meaning in any dictionary. Nevertheless, I am quite familiar with Bowser the Hound, as I had the complete set of Burgess Bedtime Story Books as a child.

putter³ - verb North American term for potter, occupy oneself in a desultory but pleasant way.

emersion - noun 2 Astronomy the reappearance of a celestial body after its eclipse or occultation.

slam-bang - informal, chiefly North American adjective [a] exciting and energetic: a slam-bang action cartoon [b] with no niceties, subtleties, or restraints; direct and forceful: the slam-bang world of daily journalism adverb suddenly and forcefully or violently: I walked slam-bang into this character

slap-bang - [Collins English Dictionary] adverb Informal, chiefly British 1. in a violent, sudden, or noisy manner; US equivalent slam-bang 2. directly or immediately slap-bang in the middle

Weldon Leo "Jack" Teagarden - (1905 – 1964), an influential jazz trombonist, bandleader, composer, and vocalist, regarded as the "Father of Jazz Trombone".

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

1a   S(LAM-B)ANG - LAMB (innocent) contained in (put inside) SANG (confessed)

5a   S(POT)-ON - SON (boy) containing (grasping) POT (weed)

9a   _AL|A|MO_< - reversed (back) and hidden in (in) frOM A LAndmark

10a   FIR|ST-(R)ATE - {FIR (evergreen) + STATE (say)} containing (about) R (right)

12a   SP(LASH)Y - SPY (agent) containing (carrying) LASH (whip)

13a   TOENAIL* - anagram (in another form) of TALON IE

Note: this is an & lit. (all-in-one) clue, a type of clue in which the entire clue (when read one way) serves as the definition, and (when read a different way) comprises the wordplay.

14a   {REMARK|ABLE}< - reversal (observed from the east) of {ELBA (Italian island) + KRAMER (Seinfeld's friend)}

17a   _IDES - [the portion of] RIDES (goes on board) following (after) the first [letter]

19a   (SO_S)O - SOS (help) + O {the first (premier) letter of Ontario}

20a   P(HEN|OMEN)AL - PAL (friend) containing (eating) {HEN (chicken) + (next to) OMEN (sign)}

23a   AP|HAS|I|A - AP (Associated Press) + HAS + A (article) containing (about) I (one)

24a   {PERFEC}*T - anagram (repaired) of FREE PC + (by) T {chief [first letter] of T(echs)}

26a   FAN|T(A|ST)IC - {FAN (great admirer) + TIC (jerk)} containing (on either side of) {A + ST (street)}

27a   IRATE - I {piece of iron; i.e., first letter of I(ron)} + RATE (evaluate)

28a   DREAMY* - anagram (convertible) of MY DEAR

29a   ST(AND)OUT - AND (too) contained in (in) STOUT (dark beer)

Down

1d   SPARS|ER - SPARS (fights) + ER (well; expressing hesitation)

"The court is free now. Would you like to try your hand at tennis?" "Well, I suppose I have no choice."

2d   A|V|AIL - A + V (victory) + AIL (hurt)

3d   B(R)OWSERS - R (run) contained in (into) BOWSERS (pooches)

4d   N(IF|T)Y - {IF (supposing) + T (central [letter of] staTion)} contained in (in) NY (New York)

6d   PUTTER - double definition; 'iron' (golf club) & 'fiddle' (occupy oneself in a desultory but pleasant way)

7d   TEAGARDEN - anagram (snarled) of GREAT DANE

8d   NEEDLES_ - NEEDLESS (gratuitous) with the last letter deleted (mostly)

11d   RITALIN - anagram (failing) of IN TRIAL

15d   MI(SCHA*)NCE - MINCE (dice) containing (having) {an anagram (lost) of CASH}

16d   A|T (HE)ART - {A + TART (pie)} containing (split by) HE (that guy)

18d   EMERS(I)ON_ - I contained in (involved in) EMERSON ([American essayist, lecturer, and poet] Ralph Waldo [Emerson])

19d   SCARFED - double definition; 'sporting neckwear' and 'ate greedily'

21d   LI(THE)ST - LIST (catalogue) containing THE

22d   AS|WARM - AS (so) + WARM (friendly)

24d   PI(CO)T - CO (company) contained in (acquired by) PIT (mine)

25d   ERA|TO - ERA (period) + TO (intended for)

Signing off for today - Falcon

Thursday, August 18, 2011 - DT 26561

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26561
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Setter Jay
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26561]
Big Dave's Review Written By Pommers
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
Notes: This puzzle is a pangram.

Introduction

I needed a bit of help from my Tool Chest today. In retrospect, the clues that eluded me (12a, 23a, 3d, and 9d) do not appear to be any more difficult than others in the puzzle. Nevertheless, I sometimes seem to have a mental block with respect to certain clues - where, if I don't see the solution immediately, I may never see it. It did not help that I had entered STILL SHOTS at 10a. Although it seemed to satisfy the wordplay, the term did not ring entirely true. However, that is not always a reliable indicator as the British often use expressions that I have never heard of. I also had NIGHTSHOWS at 5d (another questionable - and eventually found to be incorrect - attempt). At least that error did not affect the checking letters for the intersecting across clues. Finally, I failed to notice that the puzzle is a pangram (i.e., the solutions to the clues include every letter of the alphabet).

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.

tinker - verb attempt to repair or improve something in a casual or desultory way: he spent hours tinkering with the car

Appearing in Solutions:

boot¹ - noun 3 British [North American trunk] an enclosed space at the back of a car for carrying luggage or other goods.

hare - verb British run with great speed: he hared off between the trees

Jericho - [The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition] (humorous) noun a remote out-of-the-way place, to which one is consigned. [Supposed to refer to Bible, 2 Samuel 10:4-5]

laird - noun (in Scotland) a person who owns a large estate.

off-licence - noun British a shop selling alcoholic drink for consumption elsewhere.

potter¹ - [British] (North American putter) verb [a] occupy oneself in a desultory but pleasant way: I'm quite happy just to potter about by myself here [b] [with adverbial of direction] move or go in a casual, unhurried way: I might potter into Nice for the day

Signing off for today - Falcon

Wednesday, August 17, 2011 - DT 26560

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26560
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26560]
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 worked away on this puzzle throughout the day during breaks between other activities. Finally, at the end of the day, I was able to sit down and focus on the puzzle exclusively. Whether it was due to the cogitation that occurred between solving sessions, or a result of the period of uninterrupted concentration, or some combination of the two, but I was able to complete it. However, it certainly seemed like the puzzle was more difficult than the rating given by Gazza. Then again, maybe the fact that I finished without assistance indicates that it really is that easy.

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.

Biggles - nickname for James Bigglesworth, a pilot and adventurer, who is the title character and main hero of the Biggles series of youth-oriented adventure books written by English author W. E. Johns.

box³ - noun 1 (also box tree) a slow-growing European evergreen shrub or small tree with small glossy dark green leaves. It is widely used in hedging and for topiary, and yields hard, heavy timber. [Buxus sempervirens, family Buxaceae]

Appearing in Solutions:

*B³ - symbol 1 chess bishop.

*c - abbreviation Cricket (on scorecards) caught by: ME Waugh c Lara b Walsh 19

coup - French blow

[River] Exe - an English river that rises 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.

gin² - noun 3 (also gin trap) a trap for catching birds or small mammals.

shelf¹ - noun 2 [a] a ledge of rock or protruding strip of land. [b] a submarine bank, or a part of the continental shelf.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Tuesday, August 16, 2011 - DT 26559

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26559
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, May 23, 2011
Setter Rufus
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26559]
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 █ - reviewed by Falcon for Big Dave's blog
Notes The National Post has skipped DT 26558 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, May 21, 2011

Introduction

I definitely found this puzzle from Rufus to be a notch or two above his usual fare on the difficulty scale. I needed copious amounts of help from my electronic assistants in the southwest quadrant - and even they were not able to crack 17d, forcing me to use Libellule's hint. As I was to discover, I had entered an incorrect solution at 16a, thereby turning the relatively easy clue at 17d into an insurmountable obstacle.

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.

assume - [American Heritage Dictionary] verb 4. To put on; don: The queen assumed a velvet robe.

King Charles [spaniel] - noun a spaniel of a small breed, typically with a white, black, and tan coat.

Cavalier King Charles [spaniel] - another name for Cavalier [spaniel], noun 3 a small spaniel of a breed with a long snout [a breed of dog that resembles, but is a bit larger than, a King Charles spaniel].

many - cryptic crossword convention any large Roman numeral, such as L (fifty), C (one hundred), D (five hundred) and M (one thousand).

shanty - (British also sea shanty; archaic or US chantey or chanty) noun a song with alternating solo and chorus, of a kind originally sung by sailors while performing physical labour together. [Note: Canada, in my experience, follows the British spelling]

Appearing in Solutions:

boot¹ - noun 3 British an enclosed space at the back of a car for carrying luggage or other goods. [North American trunk]

put in the boot - alternative form of put the boot in

• put the boot in (or into) someone - [Oxford Dictionary of English]  [a] kick someone hard when they are on the ground. [b] treat someone vulnerable in a cruel way.
• put the boot in or put in the boot - [The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition] informal to resort to physical or verbal bullying; to bring a situation to an end brutally.

cavy - noun (plural cavies) a South American rodent with a sturdy body and vestigial tail. [Family Caviidae: five genera and several species, in particular the guinea pig]

Dee - 1 a river in NE Scotland, which rises in the Grampian Mountains and flows eastwards past Balmoral Castle to the North Sea at Aberdeen. 2 a river which rises in North Wales and flows past Chester and on into the Irish Sea.

Dresden² (also Dresden china) - noun porcelain ware with elaborate decoration and delicate colourings, made originally at Dresden and (since 1710) at nearby Meissen.

nick¹ - verb 3 British informal arrest (someone): Stuart and Dan got nicked for burglary

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

stir² - noun informal prison: I've spent twenty-eight years in stir

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   He has the best time of anyone (6-6)

I solved this puzzle in numerous sessions spread over a couple of days. While this allows plenty of time for cogitation (as Crypticsue often prescribes), it also produces opportunity for lapses in the thought process. Thus the fact that I had written in a rather sketchy solution here at 16a during an early solving session had largely slipped my mind several sessions later. Consequently, I was totally stymied on 17d.

The solution here is RECORD-HOLDER. However, I had put in SECOND-GRADER, which I was a bit leery about as I suspected that it might not even be a term that is used in Britain. The equivalent British expression would probably be something along the lines of 'a student in the second form'. I made a mental note (big mistake) to check this with the British dictionaries later.

My rationale for this solution was that if the term were read (in a fanciful way, as Rufus often does) as someone who was engaged in grading (rating) seconds (units of time), then they would obviously be able to select the "best time". I realized that this seemed to be a bit of a stretch - but then I have seen clues that I consider to be even more of a stretch!

Signing off for today - Falcon

Monday, August 15, 2011 - DT 26557

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26557
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, May 20, 2011
Setter Giovanni
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26557]
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
Notes This puzzle appears on the Monday Diversions page of the Saturday, August 13, 2011 edition of the National Post

Introduction

I needed quite a bit of aid from my electronic assistants today. In addition, I had to look up a couple of British slang expressions (moggie and swot) just to understand the clue.

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.

moggie (also moggy) - noun British informal a cat.

swot - British informal verb [a] study assiduously: kids swotting for GCSEs  [b] (swot up on) study (a subject) intensively, especially in preparation for something: swot up on the country's driving laws before you go; (swot something up) I‘ve always been interested in old furniture and I’ve swotted it up a bit  noun derogatory a person who studies very hard.

Zola Budd - South African-born former Olympic track and field competitor (for Britain in 1984 and South Africa in 1992) who, in less than three years, twice broke the world record in the women's 5000 metres and twice was the women's winner at the World Cross Country Championships. Budd's career was unusual in that she mainly trained and raced barefoot. Her achievements on the track were often overshadowed by the political controversy she aroused during her short stay in the United Kingdom.

Appearing in Solutions:

*AB² - abbreviation [1^st entry] able seaman, noun a rank of sailor in the Royal Navy above ordinary seaman and below leading seaman

Aubrey Beardsley - (1872 – 1898), English illustrator and author whose drawings, executed in black ink and influenced by the style of Japanese woodcuts, emphasized the grotesque, the decadent, and the erotic. He was a leading figure in the Aesthetic movement which also included Oscar Wilde and James A. McNeill Whistler. Beardsley's contribution to the development of the Art Nouveau style and the poster movement was significant, despite the brevity of his career before his early death from tuberculosis.

Barbican (formally the Barbican Centre) - the largest performing arts centre in Europe. Located in the north of the City of London, England, in the heart of the Barbican Estate, the Centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhibitions. It also houses a library, three restaurants, and a conservatory. The London Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Symphony Orchestra are based in the Barbican Centre's concert hall.

cedilla - noun a mark (¸) written under the letter c, especially in French, to show that it is pronounced like an s rather than a k (e.g. façade).

garçon - French waiter

Lolita - novel by Vladimir Nabokov, first written in English and published in 1955 in Paris and 1958 in New York, and later translated by the author into Russian. The book is internationally famous for its innovative style and infamous for its controversial subject: the protagonist and unreliable narrator, middle-aged Humbert Humbert, who becomes obsessed and sexually involved with a 12-year-old girl named Dolores Haze for whom his private nickname is Lolita.

mug² - verb (mug something up) British informal learn or revise a subject as far as possible in a short time: I'm constantly having to mug up things ahead of teaching them; we had mugged up on all things Venetian before the start of the course

*nob¹ - noun British informal a person of wealth or high social position.

*RE - abbreviation (in the UK) Royal Engineers, the field engineering and construction corps of the British army

snook² - noun (in phrase cock a snook) informal, chiefly British [a] place one‘s hand so that the thumb touches one’s nose and the fingers are spread out, in order to express contempt. [b] openly show contempt or a lack of respect for someone or something: he spent a lifetime cocking a snook at the art world

up - adverb 4 [2^nd entry] British at or to a university, especially Oxford or Cambridge: they were up at Cambridge about the same time

virginal - noun (usually virginals) an early spinet with the strings parallel to the keyboard, typically rectangular, and popular in 16th and 17th century houses.

yeomanry - noun [treated as singular or plural] historical [a] a group of men who held and cultivated small landed estates. [b] (in Britain) a volunteer cavalry force raised from the yeomanry (1794–1908).

Appearing on Big Dave's Site:

neat² - noun archaic [a] a bovine animal. [b] [mass noun] cattle.

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.

4a   Separate area reached by sailors (8)

I struggled a bit to understand how the word "reached" is used in this clue. In the end, I concluded that the definition is "separate" and the wordplay is TRACT (area [of land]) touching (reached by) ABS (sailors) in which AB (able seaman) is a rank in the Royal Navy. The solution is ABSTRACT, meaning to extract or remove (something).

Signing off for today - Falcon

Saturday, August 13, 2011 - Just for Starters ...

Introduction

Sometimes it is difficult to find an entry point into a puzzle, but that should not be an issue today as this puzzle from Cox and Rathvon has an ample supply of starters.










Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

1a   FOUNDERS - double definition; "sinks" (as a ship might do in a storm) & "starters" (as those who start a company or organization"

5a   A S|HARP - AS (for instance; as used here) + HARP (stringed instrument)

9a   R|EELS - R (red) + EELS (fish)

10a   NEOPHYTES* - anagram (altered) of THE PEONYS

12a   BREAD|TH_ - BREAD (loaf of dough) + (with) TH (most of the; i.e., TH(e) with the final letter deleted)

13a   TOR(MEN)T - TORT (legal wrongdoing) contains (has) MEN (guys)

14a   A|ESOP< - A + reversal (backward) of POSE

16a   NO|VICES - NO + VICES (flaws)

18a   ROOKIES - ROCKIES with C replace by O (making C [into] O)

19a   L|I|BRA - L (large) + I (Roman numeral for one) + (by) BRA (women's underwear)

22a   N(O|IS)OME -  {O (nothing) + IS} contained in (in) NOME (Alaskan town)

Note: for effect presumably, the setters have inverted the natural order of the clue.

23a   HERTZ|OG - HERTZ (car rental company) + a reversal (back) of GO

J. B. M. Hertzog - (1866 – 1942) was a Boer general during the second Anglo-Boer War who later went on to become Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa from 1924 to 1939.

25a   BEG(INNER)S - BEGS (makes entreaties) containing (about) INNER (private)

26a   FERAL - anagram (shot) of FLARE

27a   EDDIES - EDDIE ([American] Jockey [Eddie] Arcaro) + S ('S)

28a   TRAINEES* - anagram (mobile) of SEE ART IN

The surface reading is likely a reference to Mobile, Alabama.

Down

1d   {FORE|BEAR}~ - sounds like (speaking) {FOR + BARE (naked)}

2d   U(SELES)S - SELES (Monica of tennis; Serbian-born American-Hungarian tennis player Monica Seles) contained in (in) US (U.S.)

3d   DOS|ED - DOS (two in Spanish; i.e., Spanish word meaning 'two') + ED (education)

4d   RAN|CH - RAN (operated) + (by) CH (church)

6d   SPHERICAL* - anagram (oddly) of HIS PARCEL

7d   AC|TRESS - AC ([alternating] current) + TRESS (hair bit)

8d   PE(SET)A - SET (lodged) contained in (inside) PEA (green veggie)

11d   OCTAVES* - anagram (shifting) of AVOCETS

15d   P(RON)OUNCE - POUNCE (suddenly attack) containing (capturing) RON (Ronald)

16d   NA(IVE)TE - NATE contains (maintains) IVE (I've; shortened form of 'I have')

17d   {TANG|ELOS}< - reversal (going back) of {SOLE (only) + GNAT (insect)}

18d   {RAIN GOD}* - anagram (nuts) of ADORING

20d   BIZARRE~ - sounds like (sound of) BAZAAR (Middle Eastern market)

21d   {ENAB|LE}< - reversal of (return of) {LE (the Spanish; i.e., Spanish word meaning 'the') + BANE (ruin)}

23d   HOSER* - anagram (about) of HORSE

hoser - noun Canadian informal a foolish or uncultivated person. [Origin: (1980s), of uncertain origin; popularized by characters on the Canadian television show SCTV (1980–82)]

24d   {RAF|FI} - reversal (back) of {IF (provided) + FAR (way; as an adverb, e.g., "The quality of Korean-made automobiles today is way beyond what it was twenty years ago.")}

Raffi Cavoukian, better known by his stage name Raffi, is a Canadian-Armenian singer-songwriter, who has been called “the most popular children’s singer in the English-speaking world” (Washington Post, May 31, 1992).

Signing off for today - Falcon

Friday, August 12, 2011 - DT 26556

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26556
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, May 19, 2011
Setter Ray T
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26556]
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

As usual, Ray T provides a fun puzzle with just a soupçon of naughtiness - and perhaps a little easier than customary. I handicapped myself by putting BUCCANEER in at 16d, but was able to recover once I had found the solution to 15a. I also needed a little help on the clue dealing with the Yorkshire dialect. However, a search for words matching the checking letters turned up only three candidates and the correct one jumped out at me as I remembered that the principal distinguishing characteristic of the Yorkshire dialect (at least, as far as crossword puzzles go) is Definite Article Reduction (in linguists' lingo). The clue at 26a reminded me of high school where, at the start of the school year, teachers would hand out textbooks and students would vie for a new mint-condition book rather than a used one. That is, they did so in every class except Latin, where everyone wanted to score a copy of an older version of the text which contained a reproduction of Botticelli's The Birth of Venus (which authorities had seen fit to remove from later printings of the book). Last year, on a trip to Italy, I had the opportunity to see the original hanging in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.

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.

bird - noun 3 British informal a young woman or a man's girlfriend.

Heston Blumenthal - English chef and owner of The Fat Duck, a three-Michelin-starred restaurant in Bray, Berkshire voted Best Restaurant in the UK by The Good Food Guide 2007 and 2009, and voted best restaurant in the world by Restaurant magazine in 2005.

cracking - adjective [attributive] British informal excellent: he is in cracking form to win this race; [as submodifier] a cracking good story

*grass - verb 2 British informal inform the police of someone's criminal activities or plans: [no object]: someone had grassed on the thieves; [with object]: she threatened to grass me up

Pomerol - noun a red Bordeaux wine produced in Pomerol, a region in the Gironde, France.

Appearing in Solutions:

*Ag¹ - symbol the chemical element silver.

Che Guevara - (1928–67), Argentinian revolutionary and guerrilla leader ; full name Ernesto Guevara de la Serna. He played a significant part in the Cuban revolution (1956-9) and became a government minister under Castro. He was captured and executed by the Bolivian army while training guerrillas for a planned uprising in Bolivia.

cove² - noun British informal, dated a man: he is a perfectly amiable cove

H² - abbreviation [1^st entry] hard (used in describing grades of pencil lead): a 2H pencil

Henrik Ibsen - (1828–1906), Norwegian dramatist. He is credited with being the first major dramatist to write tragedy about ordinary people in prose. Ibsen‘s later works, such as The Master Builder (1892), deal increasingly with the forces of the unconscious and were admired by Sigmund Freud. Other notable works: Peer Gynt (1867), A Doll’s House (1879), Ghosts (1881).

Harold Pinter - (1930–2008), English dramatist, actor, and director. His plays are associated with the Theatre of the Absurd and are typically marked by a sense of menace. Notable plays: The Birthday Party (1958), The Caretaker (1960), and Party Time (1991). Nobel Prize for Literature (2005).

rattling - adjective 2 informal, dated very good of its kind (used for emphasis): a rattling good story

scupper - verb British 2. Informal.to prevent from happening or succeeding; ruin; wreck.

t' - Yorkshire Dialect the

Definite Article Reduction (DAR) is the term used in recent linguistic work to refer to the use of vowel-less forms of the definite article the in Northern dialects of English English, for example in the Yorkshire dialect and accent.

voilà - French there is, there are

While voilà literally means there is or there are, it can take a wide range of idiomatic senses. For instance, if someone were to ask to borrow your pen, as you handed it to them you might say in English "There you are" or "There you go". In French, the equivalent reply would be "Voilà".

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.

28a   Garter men undo, endlessly excited finding stocking? (12)

The definition is "stocking" and the wordplay is an anagram (excited) of GARTER MEN UND (UNDO endlessly; i.e., without its final letter). The solution is UNDERGARMENT. My interpretation is that the setter considers stockings to be undergarments, not because they are worn under another article of clothing (as Big Dave indicates in his hint), but because they are worn on the lower part of the body (with this non-conventional meaning being signalled by the question mark at the end of the clue).

Signing off for today - Falcon