Friday, January 22, 2010 (DT 26052)

This puzzle was originally published Tuesday, October 6, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

Today was definitely one of those days when I appeared to be on the same wavelength as the setter. I was able to complete the puzzle in a very respectable time without the aid of any tools. Nevertheless, I did not necessarily find the clues to be simplistic. In many cases, I just seemed to know the solution almost through intuition.

Today's Glossary

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

Diss - a town in Norfolk, England

fell - noun a hill or stretch of high moorland, especially in northern England

leg - noun 7 cricket a (also leg side) the side of the field that is to the left of a right-handed batsman or to the right of a left-handed batsman; b a fielder positioned on this side of the field.

on - adjective 6 cricket on the side of the field towards which the bat is facing, usually the batsman's left and the bowler's right. Opposite of off.

oven glove - noun a padded glove for handling hot dishes from an oven [while it is difficult to determine whether or not this term is a Briticism, I personally would call this item an oven mitt]

Territorial Army (abbreviation TA) - noun in the UK: a fully trained volunteer force intended to provide back-up to the regular army in cases of emergency.

Today's Links

Gazza's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 26052].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

6d Graceful manner and energy on expert gaining name (8)

The wordplay here had me stumped until I remembered that leg and on are both cricket terms for the side of the field to the left of a right-handed batter (we saw these terms not too long ago in DT 26043).

Chambers (online version) does not provide a definition for on as a noun. However, it is trivial to extrapolate the appropriate definition from the one given for on as an adjective (see Today's Glossary):

• on - noun cricket the side of the field towards which the bat is facing, usually the batsman's left and the bowler's right. Opposite of off.

Chambers defines off as:

• off - noun 2 cricket the side of a field towards which the batsman's feet are pointing, usually the bowler's left.

It would seem that the lexicographer who composed these definitions has assumed that the majority of cricket players bat right-handed.

The solution is:

ELEGANCE (graceful manner) /and\ E (energy) LEG (on) ACE (expert) containing (gaining) N (name)

Signing off for today - Falcon