Monday, November 28, 2011 - DT 26649

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26649
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, September 5, 2011
Setter Rufus
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26649]
Big Dave's Review Written By Libellule
Big Dave's Rating
Difficulty - ★★	Enjoyment - ★★★
Falcon's Performance ┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐ ███████████████████████████████████ └────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘ Legend: █ - solved without assistance █ - incorrect prior to use of puzzle solving tools █ - solved with assistance from puzzle solving tools █ - solved with aid of checking letters provided by puzzle solving tools █ - unsolved or incorrect prior to visiting Big Dave's blog █ - reviewed by Falcon for Big Dave's blog
Notes The National Post has skipped DT 26648 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, September 3, 2011

Introduction

I found today's puzzle to be fairly easy so I was able to give my Tool Chest a rest.

Notes on Today's Puzzle

This commentary is intended to serve as a supplement to the review of this puzzle found at Big Dave's Crossword Blog, to which a link is provided in the table above.

11a   Net return on a Yorkshire river holding (6)

The River Ure^[7] is a river in North Yorkshire, England, approximately 74 miles (119 km) long from its source to the point where it changes name to the River Ouse. It is the principal river of Wensleydale. Wensleydale^[7] is the valley (dale) of the River Ure on the east side of the Pennines in North Yorkshire, England.

19a   An eight-foot long snooker rest? (6)

A spider^[5] is a long-legged rest for a billiard cue that can be placed over a ball without touching it. It would appear that this device is fairly unique to the UK. According to Billiards Forum (a North American website), a spider rest is a form of mechanical bridge that is used in snooker, blackball, and British pool that is considerably taller, but otherwise similar to, the North American style mechanical bridge. Because the spider rest is taller, the player's cue sits higher which allows him or her to achieve a shot that may not otherwise be possible due to blocking object balls.

26a   Draw up Daily Telegraph leader (5)

The Daily Telegraph^[7] , where this puzzle originally appeared, is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper based in London and distributed throughout the United Kingdom as well as internationally. Char^[5] is an informal British term for a charwoman^[5], which itself is a dated British word denoting a woman employed as a cleaner in a house or office. A daily^[5] (or daily help) is another dated British expression meaing a woman who is employed to clean someone else’s house each day.

27a   Cockney thieves may end up in hot water (3,6)

Tea leaf^[5] is British rhyming slang for a thief. Rhyming slang is a feature, in particular, of the cockney^[5] dialect spoken by the inhabitants of an area of East London.

1d   Render first aid (7)

In Britain, an adhesive strip of material for covering cuts and wounds is known as a plaster^[5]. In North America, it might be called an adhesive bandage or a band-aid (a trademark that has entered into general usage).

4d   Source of power on the American football field (4)

I am quite familiar with a football field being called a gridiron. However, I do not recall ever having heard it referred to as a grid^[3] - although the American Heritage Dictionary does support this meaning. It also says that gridiron^[3] may denote the game of football itself in addition to the field of play.

5d   Very affected by going off to temporary accommodation (4,4)

Collins English Dictionary says that high camp^[4] is a sophisticated form of camp^[4] which, in turn, is defined as a style that is consciously artificial, exaggerated, vulgar, or mannered; one which is self-parodying, especially when in dubious taste.

References: 
^[1] - The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition
^[2] - Search Chambers - (Chambers 21st Century Dictionary)
^[3] - TheFreeDictionary.com (American Heritage Dictionary)
^[4] - TheFreeDictionary.com (Collins English Dictionary)
^[5] - Oxford Dictionaries (Oxford Dictionary of English)
^[6] - Oxford Dictionaries (Oxford American Dictionary)
^[7] - Wikipedia
^[8] - Reverso Online Dictionary (Collins French-English Dictionary)

Signing off for today - Falcon