Thursday, October 20, 2011 - DT 26615

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26615
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Setter Jay
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26615]
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

Introduction

I found this puzzle to be quite a challenge, so I was relieved to see that Pommers' assessment jived with my experience. I turned to my Tool Chest with three clues in the upper left-hand quadrant remaining to be solved. Once I had identified the little monkeys at 2d, the remaining clues (12a and 3d) were so blatantly obvious that I chastised myself for not having solved them earlier. I was able to find the person selling on credit at 16d, even though this was a new word to me. Actually, it was a new meaning to an old word. From listening to Harry Belafonte, I had always thought this meant someone counting bunches of bananas being loaded on a ship. I wonder how many searched in vain at 19d, as I did, for a union with the initials SCU.

Notes on Today's Puzzle

8a   A haka is a Maori ceremonial war dance involving chanting, an imitation of which is performed by New Zealand rugby teams before a match.

12a   In Britain, a presenter is a person who introduces and appears in a television or radio programme (someone who, in North America, might variously be known as a host, a news reader, or a news anchor).

16a   In Britain, U is used informally as an adjective to describe language or social behaviour that is characteristic of or appropriate to the upper social classes (example: U manners). It often appears in cryptic crosswords clued, as today, by the phrase "socially acceptable". An abbreviation of  upper class, the term was coined in 1954 by Alan S. C. Ross, professor of linguistics, and popularized by its use in Nancy Mitford's Noblesse Oblige (1956).

2d   Mo is an informal, chiefly British expression meaning a short period of time (example: Hang on a mo!). It is a shortened form of moment.

4d   An existentialist is a proponent of a philosophical theory or approach which emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining their own development through acts of the will.

6d   The taiga is the swampy coniferous forest of high northern latitudes, especially that between the tundra and steppes of Siberia.

16d   In Britain, a tallyman is a person who sells goods on credit, especially from door to door.

19d   The escudo was the basic monetary unit of Portugal and the Cape Verde Islands, equal to 100 centavos (replaced in Portugal by the euro in 2002).

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.

26a   One without roots lets no girl on if dressed (7,5)

I followed a rather convoluted route in attempting to decipher the wordplay here. I quickly recognized the solution, ROLLING STONE, from the definition and checking letters. However, I didn't initially see the anagram. In fact, the first thing to come to mind was the old adage, "A rolling stone gathers no moss". From that, I supposed perhaps that the girl not being let on (gathered?) might be English supermodel Kate Moss. That, of course, inevitably gave rise to the notion that she might be allowed on if naked.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Wednesday, October 19, 2011 - DT 26614

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26614
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26614]
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 very nearly needed to call on my Tool Chest for help on 5a, but I noticed the solution hiding in the clue at the very last moment. This oriental language is not a word that is in my regular vocabulary, nor is the synonym for agreement at 7d. However, I expect I must have encountered both of them at sometime or other in the past. I certainly had never heard of the West Sussex town at 15a but was able to work the name out correctly based on the wordplay. Finally, the use of "nervous" as an anagram indicator at 22a is a new one to me.

Notes on Today's Puzzle

5a   Manchu is the Tungusic language of the Manchus, still spoken by a few thousand people in Xinjiang, a region in northwest China, though most Manchus now speak Chinese. The Manchus are a people, originally living in Manchuria, who formed the last imperial dynasty of China (1644–1912).

12a   Eugene O'Neill (1888–1953) was an American dramatist who was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his first full-length play, Beyond the Horizon (1920). Other notable works include The Iceman Cometh (1946) and Long Day’s Journey into Night (1956, posthumously).

15a   East Grinstead is a town in West Sussex, England.

18a   Father Ted is a comedy series set in Ireland that was aired by British broadcaster Channel 4 from 1995 until 1998. Set on the remote fictional Craggy Island off Ireland's west coast, the show was about the titular Father Ted Crilly and two other priests who had all been exiled on the island for various past incidents. The priests live together in the Parochial House (Irish Catholic name for a clergy residence) with their housekeeper Mrs. Doyle.

23a   A satrap is a provincial governor in the ancient Persian empire.

26a   Sir Alan Ayckbourn (b.1939) is an English dramatist known chiefly for comedies dealing with suburban and middle-class life, such as Relatively Speaking (1967) and Absurd Person Singular (1973).

1d   Hanover was the British royal house from 1714 to the death of Queen Victoria in 1901.

4d   Clubs (abbreviation C) are one of the four suits in a deck of cards.

7d   A concordat is an agreement or treaty, especially one between the Vatican and a secular government relating to matters of mutual interest. Concord is the state capital of New Hampshire.

19d   In cryptic crosswords, worker is often a clue for ant (or sometimes bee).

20d   Une is the feminine form of the French pronoun meaning one. One meaning of describe is to move in a way which follows the outline of (an imaginary geometrical figure). Thus one might say that a compass describes a circle. In cryptic crossword puzzles, saying that one word describes another means that the first word surrounds the second one (i.e., the first word is a container for the second).

Signing off for today - Falcon

Tuesday, October 18, 2011 - DT 26613

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26613
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, July 25, 2011
Setter Rufus
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26613]
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 26612 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, July 23, 2011.

Introduction

Today's puzzle was like a stroll in a lovely park - not too demanding but, nevertheless, a very pleasant way to spend some time. At 18a, I did have to pull out the dictionary to confirm the placement of the vowels in the British sausage. Furthermore, the musical term at 22a was also new to me, though it was quite readily decipherable from the wordplay.

Today's Glossary

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

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.

I'm sure virtually everyone knows that the pound (or pound sterling) [25a] is the basic monetary unit of the UK. The symbol for the pound is £ and the abbreviation is l. (a lower case letter L with a period). According to the Oxford Dictionary of English this latter usage is archaic.

Appearing in Solutions:

Eire [12a] is the Gaelic name for Ireland and was the official name of the Republic of Ireland from 1937 to 1949.

The National Union of Students (NUS) [14a] is Britain’s confederation of students’ unions whose membership comprises some 600 students’ unions accounting for more than 95 per cent of all higher and further education unions in the UK - representing the interests of more than seven million students.

A saveloy is a British foodstuff - a seasoned red pork sausage, dried and smoked and sold ready to eat.

Students of music will no doubt recognize a descant [22a] as an independent treble melody sung or played above a basic melody. Those of us who are musically challenged likely found the clue a bit more difficult.

Un [30a] is a French indefinite article, equivalent to the English "a" (clued as "a French").

"Red sky at night, shepherd's warning" [9d] is a bit of British weather lore.

In North America, we would say:

Red sky at night, sailor's delight,

Red sky at morning, sailors take warning.

However, in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, the saying goes thus:

Red sky at night, shepherd's delight,

Red sky in morning, shepherd's warning.

Trenchermen [15d] are persons who enjoy food, in other words hearty eaters.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Monday, October 17, 2011 - DT 26611

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26611
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, July 22, 2011
Setter Giovanni
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26611]
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 needed only a bit of assistance from my electronic aids today - on 16a (although I kicked myself vigorously for not getting this one without help), 20a (musical terms often trip me up), and 17d (a new expression for me).

I did need to rely on Gazza to confirm my explanation of the wordplay in 17d. I figured that bone must sound like some type of wine but inexplicably I was not able to find support for this notion (I obviously didn't search diligently enough). I also puzzled over the wordplay at 9a until I realized that "close friend" in this case is an intimate, rather than a mate.

You may notice that I've introduced a minor refinement in the "Falcon's Performance" chart above. In the past, any clues solved after I started to use my puzzle solving tools would have been shown in cyan whether or not I actually used the tools to solve those particular clues. Today I am indicating in cyan only those clues for which I used puzzle solving aids. Any clues subsequently solved without the help of tools are shown in blue. Thus today I began using my tools with six clues remaining to be solved. Of these six, I needed the tools to solve three of them and was able to solve three others without assistance (albeit with the help of checking letters provided by those clues solved with the aid of tools).

Today's Glossary

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

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.

Good (abbreviation G) [24a] is a mark that a teacher might award on a test or assignment.

Bishop (abbreviation B) [7d] is a chess piece - at least in the cryptic reading of the clue.

A Liberal (abbreviation L) [9d] is a member of a British political party.

In British crossword puzzles, companion [7d] is almost always a stand-in for Companion of Honour (abbreviation CH), a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour which is an order of the Commonwealth realms (not merely the UK, a fact often overlooked by British commentators). It was founded by King George V in June 1917, as a reward for outstanding achievements in the arts, literature, music, science, politics, industry or religion.

Appearing in Solutions:

Con [15a] is an archaic word meaning to study attentively or learn by heart (a piece of writing).

The Financial Times (abbreviation FT) [18a] is an international business newspaper. A morning daily broadsheet, it is published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. It is readily recognized by the light salmon-coloured paper on which it is printed.

Chid [26a] is an archaic form of the past tense of chide. [Note: Gazza says in his review that chid is the archaic past participle of chide. However, according to Oxford that would appear to be chidden.]

Greensward [29a] is an archaic or literary expression meaning fresh green turf or an area of such turf.

Tidemark [4d] is a chiefly British expression (although certainly not unheard of in Canada) that can mean either a mark showing a level reached by a liquid ("a tidemark on the bathtub") or - more apropos with regard to this puzzle - a dirty mark on the skin, indicating the extent to which someone has washed.

In Britain, a tout [5d] is a person who buys up tickets for an event to resell them at a profit (in North American terms, a scalper).

At 17d, bone-idle [Chambers] or bone idle [Oxford Dictionary of English] is a British expression meaning extremely idle or lazy (idle to the bone). Beaune (or, more formally, Côte de Beaune) is a wine producing area within the Burgundy region of France.

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.

10a   Part of stock of typical farmer (4)

This relatively rarely encountered type of clue is known formally as an "& lit." clue, standing for "and literally so". In this type of clue, the entire clue is both a definition and a cryptic clue. In some publications (but obviously not the Daily Telegraph) this type of clue is always indicated by an exclamation mark at the end of the clue. Writers on Big Dave's blog prefer to refer to this type of clue as an all-in-one clue.

In the present clue, the entire clue serves as the definition and the solution happens to be CALF (an animal that might be included in the stock of a typical farmer). The wordplay tells us that the solution is hidden in (part of) the letters forming (stock of) the phrase typiCAL Farmer.

Before twigging to the fact that this is a hidden word clue, I was working on the theory that stock might be British slang for a leg. When I could find no evidence to support that supposition, I had to abandon it and look for other possibilities.

Signing off for today - Falcon

Saturday, October 15, 2011 - French Canadian Cinema

Introduction

Today's puzzle by Cox and Rathvon may prove a bit taxing for those not familiar with French Canadian cinema. We are presented with examples of the work of two well-known Québécois directors.

Note of Thanks

I wish to extend a special thank you to Matt Mitchell for stepping in to provide solutions during my absence.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

1a   ME(MO P)AD - MOP (clean) contained in (inside of) MEAD

Mead® is a brand name used by the American company MeadWestvaco Corporation for a variety of products including calendars, planners, notebooks, folders, etc.

5a   FOR|AGED - FOR (explicit in the clue) + AGED (senior)

9a   JES(US| DE MON)T|REAL - {US (Yankee) + DEMON (devil)} contained in (in) JEST (fun) + REAL (authentic)

Jésus de Montréal (in English, Jesus of Montreal) is a 1989 Canadian film directed by Denys Arcand.

10a   SECTORS* - anagram (burst) of CORSETS

11a   RAP|IDLY - RAP (knock) + IDLY (lazily)

12a   Y_U|LE T|IDES - YU (heartless YOU; i.e., YOU with its middle letter deleted) + LET (allow) + IDES (mid-month)

In the ancient Roman calendar, ides was a day falling roughly in the middle of each month (the 15th day of March, May, July, and October, and the 13th of other months) from which other dates were calculated.

14a   D|OPED - OP ED (newspaper page) following (after) D ([Roman numeral for] 500)

In North American newspapers, the op-ed page is found opposite the editorial page, and is typically devoted to personal comment, feature articles, etc.

16a   BASIL - double definition; "Sherlock portrayer" & "pesto ingredient"

Sir Basil Rathbone (1892 – 1967) was a South-African born English actor whose most famous role was that of Sherlock Holmes in fourteen Hollywood films made between 1939 and 1946 and in a radio series.

18a   SU(STAIN)ED - SUED (brought suit) containing (about) STAIN (blemish)

21a   H(I|BACH)I - {I (Island) + BACH (composer)} contained in (in) HI (Hawaii)

23a   CAT S|CAN - CATS (felines) + CAN (are able to)

24a   M(ON| ON|C|LE ANTO)INE - {ON (running) + ON (about) + C (cold) + LEAN-TO (shed)} contained in (in) MINE (pit)

Mon oncle Antoine (in English, My Uncle Antoine) is a 1971 National Film Board of Canada (Office national du film du Canada) French language drama film. Québécois director Claude Jutra co-wrote the screenplay with Clément Perron and directed what is one of the most acclaimed works in Canadian film history.

25a   SO|LACED - SO (thus) + LACED (fortified; like a punch with a bit of extra punch)

26a   HE(X|AGO)N - HEN (layer [of eggs]) containing (around) {X ([Roman numeral for] ten) + AGO (past)}

Down

1d   MAJESTY* - anagram (after changing) of MET JAYS

The Toronto Blue Jays (often referred to simply as the Jays) are a professional baseball team located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

2d   MU(SIC|A)LES - {SIC ([command to] attack) + A (article)} contained in (carried by) MULES (beasts of burden)

Musicale is a North American term for a musical gathering or concert.

3d   P(A|SS) OUT - POUT (sulk) containing (about) {A (explicit in the clue) + SS (shortstop)}

In baseball, a shortstop is a fielder positioned between second and third base.

4d   DEEPS< - reversal (returning) of SPEED (expedition)

This is a formal and - in my experience - infrequently seen meaning of expedition (promptness or speed in doing something).

5d   FO(OT<)RESTS - {reversal (put back) of TO} contained in (in) FORESTS (woods)

6d   RE(TAP)ED - TAP (faucet) contained in (in) REED (grass)

7d   GREED* - anagram (broken) of EDGER

Greed, being one of the seven deadly sins, is a major character flaw.

8d   DE(LAY)ED - DEED (act) containing (taking) LAY (place)

13d   DI(STILL)ED - DIED (faded) containing (outside) STILL (yet)

15d   PA|NICKING - PA (Dad) + NICKING (slightly cutting with a razor)

16d   BA(HAM)AS - BAAS (bleats) containing (about) HAM (meat)

17d   LA(CON)IC - CON (prisoner) contained in (involved with) LAIC (secular)

19d   ANTITAX - anagram (in a way) of TAN TAXI

20d   DUNG|EON - DUNG (manure) + EON (forever and a day)

Although the most common meaning for dungeon is "a strong underground prison cell, especially in a castle", here it is an archaic term for donjon, "the great tower or innermost keep of a castle".

22d   BAN|AL - BAN (forbid) + AL ([chemical symbol for] aluminum)

Aluminum is the North American name for what would be known in the UK as aluminium.

23d   C|LASH - C ([Roman numeral for] 100) + (with) LASH (whip)

Signing off for today - Falcon

Friday, October 14, 2011 - DT 26610

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26610
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, July 21, 2011
Setter RayT
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26610]
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

The last two clues to be solved were 18a and 19a. I had initially put ALPHA for the former, but was forced to remove it once I had solved 1d. Just as I was reaching for my Tool Chest, memories of my days as a Wolf Cub came back to me. In Canada, the original name (Wolf Cub) is still in use, whereas it seems to have been displaced in the UK by the term Cub Scout. As for the latter, I did manage to guess the answer correctly despite never having heard of this British name for a common kitchen implement.

Vocabulary in Today's Puzzle

Terms found in clues

Queen [8a] refers to Elizabeth II, the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms (among them being the United Kingdom and Canada). "Queen Elizabeth" is abbreviated ER (from Latin Elizabetha Regina). Edelzwicker [13a] is a type of wine from the Alsace region of France, one that is produced by blending together wine from several varieties of grape. While Bishop [20a] refers to a clergyman in the surface reading, it almost certainly needs to be interpreted as a chess piece (abbreviated B) in the cryptic reading. Over [4d] (abbreviated O) is a division of play in cricket.

Terms found in solutions

An airer [8a] is a British term for a "a frame or stand for airing or drying clothes" (a definition which sounds like it might include what I know as a clothes horse - although the illustration used by Big Dave shows quite a different contraption). Brassie [13a] is a rather archaic golf term for a two wood. By the way, I seem to detect a subtle difference between the American and British definitions of brasserie [13a], with the former being a restaurant that may serve alcohol and the latter a bar that may serve food. A fish slice [19a] is a kitchen implement that most North Americans would recognise as a spatula. Rum [20a] is old-fashioned British slang meaning odd or peculiar. According to The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition, an exorciser [22a] is another term for an exorcist. The Trent [26a] is the chief river of central England, which rises in Staffordshire and flows 275 km (170 miles) generally north-eastwards, uniting with the River Ouse 25 km (15 miles) west of Hull to form the Humber estuary. Porto [2d] is another name for port wine (also known as Vinho do Porto or simply port). To a botanist, digitalis [5d] is any plant of the genus that includes the foxglove. Carte blanche [7d] is a term signifying "complete freedom to act as one wishes". It comes from French, where it means literally 'blank paper' (i.e. a blank sheet on which to write whatever one wishes, particularly one's own terms for an agreement). Shambolic [14d] is British slang meaning "chaotic, disorganized, or mismanaged".

Signing off for today - Falcon

Thursday, October 13, 2011 - DT 26609

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26609
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Setter Jay
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26609]
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
Notes This is the 500th puzzle that Jay (Jeremy Mutch) has set for The Daily Telegraph.

Introduction

Life is returning to normal after my trip to Ireland which was immediately followed by a second trip to visit relatives for the (Canadian) Thanksgiving Day weekend. The trip to Ireland was very enjoyable despite being a bit wet on occasion. I got to kiss the Blarney Stone in a steady drizzle and a planned tour of the Ring of Kerry was cancelled due to severe fog (the worst in twenty years, according to the bus drivers). We arrived at the Cliffs of Moher to find them completely enveloped in fog as well. However, while we ate lunch, the fog lifted and we were treated to spectacular views. Nevertheless, for the most part, the weather was quite warm and pleasant. Evenings were joyfully spent in Irish pubs listening to Celtic music and imbibing the finest that Ireland has to offer (Guinness, Kilkenny, Smithwick's, Beamish, and Murphy's) - not to mention a drop or two of Tullamore Dew.

Congratulations to Jay

Today's offering marks a milestone for the setter of this puzzle. The National Post carries the following note: "Congratulations to our compiler on his 500th Telegraph Crossword. Having started in 1999, Jeremy Mutch set the Thursday Cryptic and Quick from 2002 to 2010 and now sets every Wednesday."

The Daily Telegraph normally does not identify the compilers of the Daily Telegraph Cryptic puzzles (sometimes referred to informally as the back-page puzzle due to its position in the British paper), as Big Dave alludes to in his review, "It’s not often that a back-page setter is identified, but Jay, as we know him, is given a name check in today’s newspaper." Despite this supposed anonymity, there is a regular weekly rotation for compilers that reviewers writing on Big Dave's Crossword Blog have identified. The compilers are known on Big Dave's site either by pseudonyms that the setters use when setting other puzzles (appearing in either The Daily Telegraph or other publications) or by screen names they use when visiting Big Dave's blog (which several of them do on a regular basis).

Puzzles appearing in The Daily Telegraph on Monday, Wednesday and Friday are almost invariably set by Rufus (Roger Squires), Jay (Jeremy Mutch), and Giovanni (Don Manley) respectively. Setting duty on Thursday is shared between RayT (Ray Terrell) and Shamus (Philip Marlow), with an occasional contribution from other mystery setter(s). The puzzles on Tuesday come from one or more unknown compiler(s). The Saturday puzzle (which has not been carried in the National Post for some time) is set by Cephas (Peter Chamberlain). The puzzles generally do not appear in the National Post on the same day of the week that they appeared in Britain. Currently, puzzles appear on the next day of the week (e.g., a puzzle which appeared in the UK on a Monday will be published in the National Post on a Tuesday, etc.). Of course, there is also a twelve week delay in crossing the Atlantic.

Not only is it unusual for The Daily Telegraph to acknowledge the setter, this also marks the first time that I can recall the National Post acknowledging The Daily Telegraph as the source of the puzzles.

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

The meaning ("exhausted") attributed to washed up [11a] is new to me (I would tend to think of the term as meaning "no longer effective or successful"). While not found in the Oxford Dictionary of English, this meaning is given by both Chambers 21st Century Dictionary and Collins English Dictionary - with the latter saying that the expression is "chiefly US, Canadian, and NZ".

Also in 11a, up is a British expression meaning "at or to a university, especially Oxford or Cambridge" as in the phrase "they were up at Cambridge about the same time".

The Privy Council [13a] is is a body found in the UK and countries such as Canada which follow the British Parliamentary system of government. It is "a body of advisers appointed by a sovereign or a Governor General (now chiefly on an honorary basis and including present and former government ministers)".

French polish [16a] should be clear to woodworkers (at least those from Britain). It is a "shellac polish that produces a high gloss on wood". The Oxford Dictionary of English identifies this as a British term but it is to be found in the Random House Unabridged Dictionary.

The term "mother's ruin" [14d] is British slang for gin (the alcoholic drink). The name may derive from the reputed ability of gin, if consumed in large quantity, to induce abortion in pregnant women. An interesting account of the effects of gin-drinking on English society in the mid-eighteenth century can be found here.

A pantomime [13d] in Britain is "a theatrical entertainment, mainly for children, which involves music, topical jokes, and slapstick comedy and is based on a fairy tale or nursery story, usually produced around Christmas".

Armagnac [15d] - a drink which I have yet to imbibe - is "a type of brandy traditionally made in Aquitaine in SW France".

Although Collins English Dictionary characterises the usage as "Chiefly US", lint [22d] may well refer to "[t]he mass of soft fibers surrounding the seeds of unginned cotton" [American Heritage Dictionary]. It could also possibly be a reference to "an absorbent cotton or linen fabric with the nap raised on one side, used to dress wounds, etc." [Collins English Dictionary].

There are also a couple of references to specialised terms. Chemists should easily recognise the symbol for copper (Cu) [10a] while grammarians will likely have little trouble with the abbreviation for tense (t) [21a] (the latter found in The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition).

Signing off for today - Falcon