Friday, December 17, 2010 (DT 26346)

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26346
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Setter Jay
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26346]
Big Dave's Review Written By Falcon
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - **	Enjoyment - ***
Falcon's Performance N/A

Introduction

Your eyes do not deceive you, the reviewer of this puzzle on Big Dave's Blog really is yours truly. This was the first of several reviews that I have done for Big Dave's site, roughly on a monthly basis.

Given that I had solved the puzzle previously, I have not included a performance rating for myself today. Actually, I am surprised at how much I had forgotten about the puzzle in three months. While the solutions to some clues came back to me readily, others required some thought - almost as if I was seeing them for the first time. Amazingly, despite only having originally awarded it two stars for difficulty, I had to resort to my Tool Chest today to help me solve a couple of clues.

Today's Glossary

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

Appearing in Clues:

declare - to end an innings voluntarily before 10 wickets have fallen.

Appearing in Solutions:

conservatory - noun

• British a room with a glass roof and walls, attached to a house at one side and used as a sun lounge or for growing delicate plants. 
• North American another term for conservatoire
  conservatoire - noun British a college for the study of classical music or other arts, typically in the continental European tradition.

demo - noun 1 chiefly British a public demonstration: a peace demo

The Football Association (also known as simply The FA) - a governing body of football (soccer to North Americans) in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man.

Lord's Cricket Ground (generally known as Lord's) - a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London, England owned by Marylebone Cricket Club. Lord's is widely referred to as the "home of cricket" and is home to the world's oldest sporting museum.

MB - abbreviation 1 Medicinae Baccalaureus (Latin), Bachelor of Medicine. [This British degree is seemingly equivalent to an MD (Medicinae Doctor (Latin), Doctor of Medicine) awarded in North America. Despite the name of their degree, British physicians are still referred to as doctors. In Britain, an MD is a higher level degree, pursued by those wishing to enter the field of medical research.]

Commentary on Today's Puzzle

This commentary should be read in conjunction with the review at Big Dave's Crossword Blog, to which a link is provided in the table above.

8a A cricket ground reportedly welcoming very quiet cheers (8)

This clue relies on the British pronunciation of the word 'Lords' which sounds something like 'lawds'. Thus the solution is APPLAUDS (cheers) with the wordplay being A + LAUDS (which sounds like the British pronunciation of Lords, a cricket ground in London) containing PP (pianissimo, a musical direction meaning very quiet).

21a Kid chasing black crow (4)

Comparing the meanings of rag in British and American dictionaries suggests that, while the term can be used in the sense of 'to kid' on both sides of the Atlantic, there may be a bit of difference in the meaning. In North America the term seems to generally suggest a more light-hearted playful teasing, whereas the British definition seems to impart a bit more mean-spirited connotation to the word.

21d One directing players not to declare? (5)

Here the definition is "one directing players" with the solution being BATON, the pronoun "one" referring to something directing players in an orchestra, rather than to someone. The phrase "not to declare" alludes to cricket, where to declare means "to end an innings voluntarily before 10 wickets have fallen". Thus the captain of the batting side has the choice to either declare or BAT ON.

Wikipedia has the following to say about declaration in cricket:

The captain of the batting side may declare an innings closed, when the ball is dead, at any time during a match. Usually this is because the captain thinks his team has already scored enough runs to win the match, though tactical declarations are sometimes used in other circumstances.

A captain considering declaration must balance the risks of declaring too early (thus setting too low a target for the opposing team) against those of declaring too late or not at all (thus causing a draw by leaving insufficient time to complete the match).

Signing off for today - Falcon