Monday, January 23, 2012 - DT 26701

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26701
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Friday, November 4, 2011
Setter Giovanni
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26701]
Big Dave's Review Written By Gazza
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

This puzzle - like a hockey game - seemed to have three distinct periods. The first was played rather slowly, I sped quickly through the second, and the third was quite a grueling test. However, I did manage to complete the puzzle. My electronic assistants saw lots of ice time in the third period after sitting out the first two.

The puzzle is also full of cricket references - but at least it didn't take as long to complete it as it does to play a cricket match.

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   Showman in big building with ‘orrible smell (6)

In British slang, hum - used as a verb - means to smell unpleasant (when the wind drops this stuff really hums)^[5] and - as a noun - an unpleasant smell^[2].

20a   Beautiful member who may be standing in front of the pavilion (4,3)

In cricket, a fine leg^[5] is (1) a fielding position behind the batsman on the leg side, between long leg and square leg or (2) a fielder playing this position. The leg side^[5] (also called just leg) is the half of the field (as divided lengthways through the pitch) away from which the batsman's feet are pointed when standing to receive the ball. A pavilion^[5] is a building at a cricket ground or other sports ground, used for changing and taking refreshments.

A long leg^[5] is (1) a fielding position far behind the batsman on the leg side or (2) a fielder playing this position. A square leg^[5] is (1) a fielding position level with the batsman approximately halfway towards the boundary on the leg side or (2) a fielder playing this position.

29a   Clever chronicle appended by 100 special notes (9)

Initially I thought that the solution must be SALACIOUS but eventually twigged to the fact that the setter had made a wiser choice (after all, the setter is Giovanni - not Ray T).

30a   Element found in prison, characters kept inside cell (6)

Nick^[5] is British slang for a prison (he’ll end up in the nick for the rest of his life) or police station (he was being fingerprinted in the nick).

3d   Old lover presented with endless nonsense runs (6)

In cricket, an extra^[5] is a run scored other than from a hit with the bat, credited to the batting side rather than to a batsman.

4d   Army races round and round in military display (6)

In the UK, the Territorial Army (TA)^[5] is a volunteer force locally organized to provide a reserve of trained and disciplined manpower for use in an emergency. The Tourist Trophy (TT)^[5] is a motorcycle-racing competition held annually on roads in the Isle of Man since 1907.

6d   Covering of grass around open country (9)

Heath^[5] is chiefly a British term and refers to an area of open uncultivated land, typically on acid sandy soil, with characteristic vegetation of heather, gorse, and coarse grasses.

15d   The Lady of the Lake? (9)

Once you get below the surface, this clue has no connection with the poem by Sir Walter Scott or anything at all to do with Arthurian legends, not with the ballet Swan Lake by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. Rather it has to do with a lake situated in Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

16d   Rare maid — fantastic, right sort of smasher! (3-6)

In Britain, a ram-raider^[5] is a person who executes a robbery by ramming a shop window with a vehicle and looting its contents. A new word for me - but one that I was able to decipher from the wordplay.

18d   Animal is one with leg chopped off above foot (3)

In cricket, as we saw in 20a, the leg side^[5] (also called just leg) is the half of the field (as divided lengthways through the pitch) away from which the batsman's feet are pointed when standing to receive the ball. Another term for this side of the field is the on side (or just on^[5]). Thus "one with leg chopped off" becomes "ONE with ON chopped off" or simply "E" (ONE).

22d   Island — one that’s cold, a beast! (7)

Gazza calls this a "semi all-in-one". It is if you consider the entire clue to constitute the definition. However, if you thought that the definition was simply "island", I think you would still be on solid ground.

24d   Take place in dance clutching Eastern female (6)

The first dance to come to mind was a reel - which made for a strangely appropriate (or, perhaps, inappropriate) answer!

Key to Reference Sources: 

^[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)
^[9] - Infoplease (Random House Unabridged Dictionary)

Signing off for today - Falcon