Sunday, September 27, 2009 (ST 4342)

This puzzle was originally published in The Sunday London Times on August 16, 2009

Introduction

I rather enjoyed today's puzzle which contained several quite clever cryptic definitions.

Today's Glossary

Some possibly unfamiliar abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions used in today's puzzle

beef tea - Brit. a hot drink made with a beef extract

custom - (noun, defn. 2) Brit. regular dealings with a shop or business by customers

neat - (entry 2) archaic an ox, bull or cow, etc.

over - (noun, defn. 1) cricket a series of six balls bowled (or, in other words, deliveries) by the same bowler from the same end of the pitch

Links to Solutions

It appears that talbinho may have been vacationing this week in August. At any rate, a stand-in provides the solution for today's puzzle, which can be found at Times for the Times [ST 4342].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

11a High winds? (9)

While this would be an excellent clue for JET STREAM, I do not find it at all well-matched to AIRSTREAM. The jet stream is a high speed airstream found at high altitudes. However, an airstream, in general, may be of any speed and at any altitude.

4d Grove school? (7)

Until I read the review on Times for the Times, I had no idea at all what "grove" had to do with ACADEMY. While there is a Grove Academy in Dundee, Scotland, that seems a bit too obscure to be the source of the reference. As it turns out, the reference comes from Paradise Regained by John Milton, in which the poet refers to "The olive grove of Academe". This information comes from Bartlett's Familiar Quotations - although it was anything but familiar to me.

Signing off for this week - Falcon