Sunday, April 11, 2010 (ST 4371)

This puzzle was originally published in The Sunday London Times on March 7, 2010

Introduction

A very difficult puzzle today, due in no small part to the tremendous number of Briticisms in it. I don't believe that I ever had anywhere near this number of entries in the Today's Glossary section for any previous blog. Not only were there a lot of British expressions and references, but some clues relied on relating several of them to find the solution. I was therefore rather pleased with myself for having completed the puzzle correctly - even though I did not completely understand all the wordplay for several clues. I felt even better when I saw that many of the clues that had baffled me also seemed to perplex the Brits.

Today's Major Error

15d Tin - I discarded for this other metal, symbolically (7)

There is a major error in this clue. It would appear that the setter intended for us to have removed (discarded) the I from "Tin" to obtain TN which the setter apparently thinks is the chemical symbol for tungsten with the answer being the former name for this metal, i.e., WOLFRAM. However, the chemical symbol for tungsten (as it was when this substance was still known as wolfram) is W, not Tn.

Today's Glossary

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

Alton Towers - an amusement park in Staffordshire, England

boot¹ - noun 3 Brit. a space at the back of a car for carrying luggage [In North America, known as a trunk]

car boot sale - noun Brit. an outdoor sale at which people sell things from the boots (trunks) of their cars

charlie - noun informal 1 Brit. a fool

drum - Brit. Cockney rhyming slang house [drum and bass = place; i.e., house]

Eccles - a town within the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England - historically a part of Lancashire

Eccles - the name of a comedy character, created and performed by Spike Milligan, from the 1950s United Kingdom radio comedy series The Goon Show

Eccles cake - noun Brit. a round flat cake of sweetened pastry filled with currants (ORIGIN named after the town of Eccles near Manchester)

fool² - noun chiefly Brit. a cold dessert made of puréed fruit mixed or served with cream or custard

funfair - noun chiefly Brit. a fair consisting of rides, sideshows, and other amusements

lounge room - Australian (and possibly also British) term for a living room (Ref: Wikipedia and Cambridge)

mo - noun informal, chiefly Brit. a moment

OTT - abbreviation Brit. informal over the top

otto - an essential oil extracted from rose petals (better known - to myself, at least - as attar)

Spike Milligan - an Irish comedian who was the co-creator, main writer and a principal cast member of the 1950s United Kingdom radio comedy series The Goon Show

shell suit - noun U.K. bright lightweight tracksuit: a lightweight shiny brightly colored tracksuit worn casually or for sport. It is usually made of nylon with a soft lining.

Links to Solutions

A review of today's puzzle by talbinho can be found at Times for the Times [ST 4371].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

14a Mark follows him for another book (7)

Having solved this clue, I was sure that I must be missing something in the wordplay - prompting me to wonder . . .

17a Old venue without room to relax (6)

Despite getting the correct solution, I was at a loss to explain the wordplay - and I see that even talbinho seemed to be at a loss (despite making a valiant attempt at an explanation).

According to talbinho's review, the solution LOUNGE is arrived at by removing ROOM from LOUNGE ROOM. I was only able to find lounge room listed in a couple of sources. According to Cambridge, lounge room is an Australian term for living room whereas Wikipedia seems to indicate that the term is both Australian and British. The wording of the clue ("old venue") would tend to suggest that the term is outdated. Thus, based on this approach, the "old venue" would be LOUNGE ROOM, which without ROOM becomes LOUNGE, which means "to relax". After all this, I would say, hardly a standout clue.

Sure enough, we are dealing with an outdated term - but it seems that it is not lounge room. According to a visitor to Times for the Times, "venue" is an obsolete term for "a hit or thrust in fencing" (or, in other words, a LUNGE). The wordplay would then become O (old) with LUNGE (venue) containing it (without; i.e., on the outside). This meaning for venue is hinted at by the etymology note in Chambers which attributes the modern meaning to a 14th century meaning "obsolete sense 'a coming on, in order to attack'".

I have to wonder if using the meaning of word from 700 years ago may not be reaching back a bit far!

22a Proper form required when police finally have business to enter house (7)

Another clue that I solved correctly but was only able to understand the wordplay after reading talbinho's review. In fact, I had futilely spent considerable time and effort trying to construct suitable wordplay around house meaning DORM.

The definition is "proper form" with the solution being DECORUM. The wordplay is {E (police finally; i.e., the final letter of the word "police") + (have) CO (business; i.e., abbreviation for "company")} contained in (to enter) DRUM (house).

Why does drum mean "house"? It is Cockney rhyming slang. The rationale for it seemingly follows this chain of connectedness: drum goes with bass (musical instruments), bass rhymes with place, place is another name for house, therefore drum means house.

Another point worth pointing out is the use of "have" in this clue to link the elements of a charade ("E have CO" implies "E attached to CO" or ECO). Sometimes "have" will indicate a container relationship while, at other times, it will be used in a charade (as it is today) to indicate that one element of the charade is attached to a second element of the charade. One must figure out the intent of the setter from the context.

3d Extravagant oil, primarily (4)

This is one clue where I got the wordplay but failed to see the definition - just the reverse of my usual predicament. The wordplay is OTT (British expression meaning "extravagant" coming from the abbreviation for "over the top") plus O (oil, primarily; i.e., the primary - or first - letter in the word "oil"). Even after reading talbinho's review, I was not much further ahead (other than having him confirm that this is an &lit clue). Through further research, I eventually discovered that otto is another name for attar, an essential oil extracted from rose petals and used in perfumery.

Signing off for this week - Falcon