Thursday, November 3, 2011 - DT 26628

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26628
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, August 11, 2011
Setter RayT
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26628]
Big Dave's Review Written By Big Dave
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

Introduction

I must have been tuned to the right wavelength this morning, as I was able to complete this puzzle without resorting to my Tool Chest. That is a bit surprising, given the heavy emphasis on cricket in the puzzle - then again, perhaps I am beginning to understand the game.

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.

9a    Bowled over or knocked for six? (9)

The surface reading is all cricket. An over⁵ is a division of play in cricket (a sequence of six balls bowled by a bowler from one end of the pitch, after which [his turn at bowling is over and] another bowler takes over from the other end). [I really couldn't resist throwing that extra phrase into the definition.] Knock (someone) for six⁵ is an informal British expression meaning to utterly surprise or overcome someone. It is an allusion to a forceful hit that scores six runs in cricket (a ball hit such that it carries beyond the boundary of the playing field in the air). Bowl (someone) over⁵ is an informal expression meaning to greatly impress someone by one’s good qualities, looks, or achievements - an expression which is neither restricted to Britain nor seemingly derived from cricket.

11a    Raid on settlement provoking raid (6)

This meaning for inroad⁵ (a hostile attack or raid) is not one with which I was previously acquainted - but the clue was fairly easily solved through the wordplay.

23a    Split from European Community accepted by wet (6)

In British slang, a wet⁵ may be either a person lacking forcefulness or strength of character (there are sorts who look like gangsters and sorts who look like wets) or, as is the most likely meaning in this clue, a Conservative with liberal tendencies (the wets favoured a change in economic policy). This was apparently a label favoured by former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to describe members of her party who did not lean as far to right as she did.

28a    Brilliant Ant and Dec since broadcast around noon (12)

Anthony "Ant" McPartlin and Declan "Dec" Donnelly , known collectively as Ant & Dec⁷, are an English comedy and TV presenting duo from Newcastle upon Tyne, England.

2d    Neat drink followed by half of beer (5)

As a verb, sup⁵ can have a dated or Northern English usage meaning to take (drink or liquid food) by sips or spoonfuls (she supped up her soup delightedly or he was supping straight from the bottle). As a noun, it can mean a sip of liquid (he took another sup of wine) or (Northern English or Irish) an alcoholic drink (the latest sup from those blokes at the brewery).

The word brill⁵ (used by Big Dave in his review) is British slang (an abbreviation of 'brilliant') meaning excellent or marvellous (a brill new series or ‘She says I can spend half-term with you.’ ‘Hey, brill!’).

3d    Soldier in red gear, changing (9)

Historically, a grenadier⁵ is a soldier armed with grenades. In the UK, the Grenadiers (or Grenadier Guards) constitute the first regiment of the royal household infantry.

4d    The man’s said by some to give comfort (4)

The word "he's" as pronounced by a Cockney (dropping the 'h') would sound like 'ease'.

5d    Tree feller, one working for council (8)

In the UK, alderman⁵ is a chiefly historical term for a co-opted (appointed by members from within their ranks) member of an English county or borough council, next in status to the Mayor. In North America and Australia, it means an elected member of a city council - a word that has largely (at least in Canada) been displaced by the gender-neutral term councillor (Ottawa Citizen, Jan 16, 1986). In 1857, Ottawa City Council had both aldermen and councillors as members (all of whom would appear to have been men). I have no idea what differentiated an alderman from a councillor.

As far as I know, the sole connection between the clue and the illustration in Big Dave's review is that the name of the person in the picture is Terry Alderman⁷, an Australian cricket player who enjoyed huge success in matches against England in the 1980s and early 1990s.

14d    Open with a single innuendo (8)

Big Dave inserts a cricket reference into his review - "... a single (not many of those at Edgbaston today – mainly fours!) ...". Edgbaston⁷ is a cricket ground in Birmingham, England which, on August 11 (the date this puzzle appeared in the UK), was the site of day two of a test match between England and India⁷. In cricket, a single is a hit for one run, while a four is a ball hit on the ground to the boundary (edge of the playing surface) which counts as four runs. A six is a ball hit in the air beyond the boundary and scores six runs.

16d    Recognition of a battle on European cape (9)

Ness⁴ is an archaic term for a promontory or headland, that continues to exist as part of place names (Orford Ness).

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 Online (Oxford Dictionary of English)
⁶ - Oxford Dictionaries Online (Oxford American Dictionary)
⁷ - Wikipedia

Signing off for today - Falcon