Sunday, November 8, 2009 (ST 4348)

This puzzle was originally published in The Sunday London Times on September 27, 2009

Introduction

A fairly average puzzle - but one that seems to have provided quite a bit of grist for the blog.

Today's Glossary

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

CH - abbrev. Companion of Honour: a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour, an order (decoration) of the Commonwealth realms

dress circle - a circular or curving division of seats in a theater, opera house, etc., usually the first gallery, originally set apart for spectators in evening dress

Hansard - an official printed daily report of what has happened in the British (or Canadian) parliament

hock - Brit. a dry white wine from the German Rhineland

quarrel - a short heavy square-headed arrow or bolt for a crossbow or arbalest

The Order of the Companions of Honour

Most dictionaries state that this is a British order, and I have written in another blog that it is an order of the Commonwealth of Nations. It would appear that the former assertion is incomplete and the latter, upon reflection, is an overstatement. This seems to be a case of that which is concise not being true and that which is true not being concise. As near as I can determine, the correct interpretation would be that it is an order of the Commonwealth realms (a fairly small subset of the nations within the Commonwealth of Nations), being those members of the Commonwealth who have the Queen as their Head of State. Although even the Queen's own website is vague on this point, it would appear that the Queen makes these awards in her respective roles as sovereign of each realm. Thus, when she confers the honour on a citizen of the UK, she does so as Queen of the United Kingdom. Equally, when she confers the honour on a citizen of Canada, she does so as Queen of Canada. Therefore, it can be said that this is a British order for some recipients, a Canadian order for other recipients, an Australian order for yet others, etc. Therefore, the dictionaries' statement that this is a British order would seem to be - at best - incomplete. I believe if this were considered to be a British honour, then Canadian citizens would be forbidden from accepting it (remember Conrad Black who relinquished his Canadian citizenship in order to accept a British knighthood).

Links to Solutions

A review of today's puzzle by talbinho can be found at Times for the Times [ST 4348].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

11a She's returning us to hospital for a brief spell (5)

Whether you favour the British spelling (sanitorium) or favor the American spelling (sanitarium), "a brief spell" (abbreviation) of this hospital remains the same.

19a Its ugly facial features resultant from a growth? (7)

There is an anagram in this clue, although I managed to overlook it - perhaps because the checking letters pretty much gave the solution away.

28a Keen, clear-cut incisiveness needed, in this position? (5-4)

Even after solving this clue, it continues to cry out to me that I have overlooked some nuance in the wordplay - and it would appear that talbinho feels the same way.

5d Hock - his and her new, alternative tipple (7)

I had questions about the wordplay in this clue, essentially the same ones raised by talbinho.

16d Providing her services with small charge (9)

I, as did talbinho, found the wording of this clue somewhat questionable. In my opinion, it would have been better worded "One providing her services with small charge".

18d Shrank from having quarrel end nastily outside (8)

I figured out that "shrank" is NARROWED where "end nastily outside" accounts for the N...ED (anagram of END as a container). But I mistakenly presumed that "quarrel" is ROW, leaving me perplexed as to where the AR comes from - having never before encountered the other meaning of "quarrel" as an ARROW. I expected that talbinho's review would clear up the confusion, but as he accepted "arrow" without comment, I was forced to do some additional research.

Signing off for this week - Falcon