Thursday, February 4, 2010 (DT 26063)

This puzzle was originally published Monday, October 19, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

The National Post has skipped DT 26062 which was published on Saturday, October 17, 2009 in The Daily Telegraph

Introduction

For a puzzle published in the U.K. on a Monday, this one exhibits a more than average degree of difficulty.

Today's Glossary

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

run - verb 41 cricket to score a run by, or as if by, running.

Tourist Trophy - noun an award given to the winner of the motorcycle races that are held annually on the Isle of Man. Often shortened to TT.

Today's Links

Big Dave's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 26063].

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

1a Cut and ran (6)

We start off today with a term from the game of cricket, where run as a verb may mean to score (by, or as if by, running). I suppose this is not dissimilar to the use of the word homer as a verb in baseball (meaning to hit a home run). For example, one might hear an announcer say "The player singled in the second (inning) and homered in the sixth (inning)". In cricket, a batsman (after hitting the ball) may run back and forth between the two creases in front of the wickets as many times as possible before the opposing team has retrieved the ball. The batsman scores one run for each trip in either direction. Thus, if the batsman runs to the far crease and back, he would score two runs and one might say he ran two (scored two runs).

There is a fair bit of discussion today at Big Dave's site on the subject of cricket terminology. It would seem that not all Brits are cricket fans or even knowledgeable about the game.

12a Deck or dock made shipshape (4)

Big Dave identifies this as a triple definition, with the three definitions for trim being deck (a verb, as in "Deck the halls with boughs of holly ..."), dock (a verb, as in dock a dog's tail), and shipshape (an adjective meaning trim in the sense of tidy). I would think that the word "made" serves as a linking word (expressing equality between the two parts of the clue):

Deck or dock /made\ shipshape (4)

I actually parsed the clue slightly differently (and not necessarily correctly):

Deck /or\ dock made shipshape (4)

where I reasoned that "made shipshape" meant "trimmed" which when docked (has its tail cut off) becomes "trim".

It may not have been the best route to a solution, but it got me there.

20a Yet brunettes may also enjoy it (3,2,3,4)

Between a combination of the wordplay and the checking letters, I was able to work out the solution to this cryptic definition, FUN OF THE FAIR. According to Big Dave, this is truncation of a seemingly well-known British expression "All the fun of the fair". While I was unable to find it in my reference sources, I did find a couple of examples. The first is in an article in The Independent on British country fairs. The second is a musical production by that name slated to open in April at the Garrick Theatre in London, based on an album by British singer David Essex.

7d How a witness may appear to Noah in a new guise (2,4)

I had always thought that one testified "under oath", but it seems that one can also testify "on oath". So the witness may be on or under - but apparently not to the side.

11d They have lots to attract buyers (7,5)

The sale of these lots would not be handled by real estate agents, but by auctioneers.

21d Turning points in making purchases (6)

The purchases here are not commercial transactions, but instances of leverage (of the physical kind, not the financial variety).

22d Know-all makes notes in exercise book (6)

Not long ago we saw books meaning OT (Old Testament). Here we have book meaning NT (New Testament). Either OT or NT may serve as substitutions for book or books since each one is a book comprised of a collection of books.

Signing off for today - Falcon