Monday, February 15, 2010 (DT 26071)

This puzzle was originally published Wednesday, October 28, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

I found it to be a moderately easy puzzle today. However, between watching the Olympics and entertaining out-of-town visitors, I'm afraid that I'm a bit late in posting this edition of the blog.

Today's Glossary

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

Grantham - a town in Lincolnshire, England

Lincs. - abbreviation Lincolnshire: a county in 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

off - noun 2 cricket the side of a field towards which the batsman's feet are pointing, usually the bowler's left [i.e., to the right of a right-handed batsman]

By extrapolation from the above:

• on - noun cricket the side of a field away from which the batsman's feet are pointing, usually the bowler's right [i.e., to the left of a right-handed batsman]
  

Note: For some unknown reason, the online version of Chambers does not include a definition for "on" as a noun corresponding to the above definition of "off". I have therefore extrapolated the definition of "on" above. However, from experience of previous puzzles, I am confident that in cricket, ON = LEG.

pin table - Brit. pinball machine

up - adverb 9 formal to or at university • up at Oxford.

Today's Links

Tilsit's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 26071].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

10a Assess greatness at a higher level (4,2)

Only those who make the effort to read through the fairly lengthy comments on Big Dave's site would notice that a couple of writers disagree with Tilsit's explanation for this clue. The alternative explanation (which happens to correspond to my own understanding of the wordplay) is:

SIZE UP (assess) /\ SIZE (greatness) UP (at a higher level)

13a Go faster than posse and get free (4,2,3,3)

For North Americans, a good part of the challenge (and much of the enjoyment) comes from deciphering obscure (to those of us on this side of the Atlantic) British expressions. It is therefore always interesting to see the reaction of the Brits when the odd Americanism creeps into a puzzle, as today with STEP ON THE GAS. One visitor to Big Dave's site writes, in fairly typical fashion, "13a is a horrible americanism, something that should be banned from all crosswords."

21a Examine odd person in suit (4)

As Tilsit points out, this is a triple definition. The solution is CASE, with the definitions being "examine" as in "case the joint", "odd person" as in "He's a real case", and "suit" as in "taking a case to court".

Signing off for today - Falcon