Friday, March 2, 2012 - DT 26736

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26736
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, December 15, 2011
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26736]
Big Dave's Review Written By Pommers
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

The first pass through the puzzle this morning did not offer much hope. However, once a foothold had been established, I was able to build on it and work my way methodically through the puzzle. In the end, I was able to finish it without calling in my electronic assistants.

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.

4a   Limit European policy connected with a built-up area (8)

I managed to get the correct solution despite never having heard of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)^[7], a system of European Union agricultural subsidies and programmes that represents 48% of the EU's budget.

8a   Girl  facing river in additional room? (6)

The River Exe^[7] is an English river that rises in Somerset, near the Bristol Channel coast, but flows more or less directly due south, so that most of its length lies in Devon. It reaches the sea at a substantial ria, the Exe Estuary, on the south (English Channel) coast of Devon. As for the solution, the Brits spell it annexe^[3,4], the Yanks spell it annex^[3,4],  and I expect that Canucks generally accept either spelling.

10a   Estate, maybe, that’s ruined in no time, we hear (5-3)

In Britain, a station wagon^[5] is known as an estate car^[5] (which is often shortened to just estate^[5]).

13a   Engish spymaster is perhaps protecting Republican agent (8)

M^[7] is a fictional character in Ian Fleming's James Bond series; the character is the Head of the Secret Intelligence Service—also known as MI6.

19a   Educated woman among Irish conservationists, one proving troublesome? (8)

Educating Rita^[7] is a stage comedy by British playwright Willy Russell that premièred in London, in June 1980 . It is a play for two actors set entirely in the office of an Open University lecturer. The play follows the relationship between a young Liverpudlian working-class hairdresser ("Rita", as she initially calls herself) and Dr. Frank Bryant, a middle-aged university lecturer, during the course of a year. The play was adapted by Russell for a 1983 film with Michael Caine and Julie Walters, directed by Lewis Gilbert.

The National Trust (abbreviation NT)^[5], is a trust for the preservation of places of historic interest or natural beauty in Britain. 

26a   View certainly backed in British island (8)

Anglesey^[5] is an island in northwestern Wales, separated from the mainland by the Menai Strait.

2d   Unusual socialist accompanied by people in hunt (4,5)

The field^[10] is the term for the mounted followers that hunt with a pack of hounds. Pommers is quite right when he says "I’ve no real idea where this phrase ["left field"] comes from but I suspect it’s baseball.". Left field^[3] (in the phrase "out in left field") is used to characterize a position far from the center or mainstream, as of opinion or reason • opinions that are out in left field. There are several theories - all relating to baseball - to explain the origin of the expression. One of these ascribes the phrase to the asymmetrical geometry of the old Yankee Stadium in New York in which left field was much deeper than centre field or right field. Thus the left fielder was positioned much further from home plate than the centre fielder or right fielder. This expression should not be confused with the phrase "out of left field" which describes an occurrence or event that is a complete shock or surprise, the origin of which may come from the experience of a base runner. A runner attempting to score from third base will have his back to left field, thus a throw to the plate "out of left field" can arrive seemingly out of nowhere as a surprise to the runner.^[7]

5d   Picture left by artist with charisma (8)

RA^[5] is the abbreviation for Royal Academician, a member of the Royal Academy of the Arts^[5], an institution established in London in 1768, whose purpose is to cultivate painting, sculpture, and architecture in Britain.

7d   Attendants on queen in coach (7)

By tradition, British monarchs use initials formed from the Latin version of their first name followed by either Rex or Regina (Latin for king or queen, respectively). Thus Queen Elizabeth's initials are ER^[5] - from the Latin Elizabetha Regina.

18d   Favoured condition entered by European is provisional (7)

Pommers, being a sailor, would likely have been familiar with the term in trim^[5], meaning in good order (in a nautical sense) or slim and fit (in a more general sense).

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)
^[10] - CollinsDictionary.com (Collins English Dictionary)

Signing off for today - Falcon