Sunday, February 6, 2011 (ST 4414)

The Sunday London Times Puzzle Number ST 4414
Publication Date in The Sunday London Times Sunday, January 2, 2011
Link to Full Review Times for the Times [ST 4414]
Times for the Times Review Written By Dave Perry
Publication Date in the Toronto Star Saturday, January 29, 2011

Introduction

I found this to be quite an enjoyable puzzle, but some of the wordplay required some heavy concentration to decipher. There is a fair bit of discussion on Times for the Times regarding the style of the explanations given at that site.

In case you missed it, I have somewhat belatedly posted a review of [ST-4257], the puzzle which was published in the Citizen on January 23, 2011. This puzzle, resurrected from three years ago, replaced a Jumbo Christmas Crossword that appeared in The Sunday London Times on December 19, 2010.

Today's Glossary

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

Appearing in Solutions

brougham - noun [1^st entry] historical a horse-drawn carriage with a roof, four wheels, and an open driver's seat in front

Mab - [Collins English Dictionary] noun (in English and Irish folklore) a fairy queen said to create and control men's dreams

Maureen "Little Mo" Connelly (1934 – 1969) - American tennis player who was the first woman to win all four Grand Slam tournaments during the same calendar year

mignonette - noun a herbaceous plant with spikes of small fragrant greenish flowers; Genus Reseda, family Resedaceae: several species, in particular the North African R. odorata, which is cultivated as an ornamental and for its essential oil, and the European wild mignonette (R. lutea)

pish - exclamation dated used to express annoyance, impatience, or disgust

River Ure - a river in North Yorkshire, England, approximately 119km long from its source to the point where it changes name to the River Ouse

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

This commentary should be read in conjunction with the full review at Times for the Times, to which a link is provided in the table above.

11a   The odd fish gets to finish on the far side of the dam (6)

I believe the definition must be "the odd fish" with the solution being WEIRDO. I interpret the wordplay to be DO (to finish) following (on the far side of) WEIR (the dam). While this meaning for 'do' did not spring immediately to mind, Oxford Dictionaries Online defines do¹ [verb sense 2] as "achieve or complete".

Signing off for this week - Falcon