Friday, May 18, 2012 - DT 26805

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26805
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, March 5, 2012
Setter Rufus
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26805]
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 26804 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, March 3, 2012

Symbols:
En dash : –
Em dash : —
Bullet : •
Superscript : ^[5] .


Introduction

I sat down to write today's blog only to discover that I had solved the wrong puzzle. With the coming Monday being Victoria Day, a national holiday in Canada, and a day on which the National Post does not publish, both the Friday and Monday puzzles appeared in today's paper. I found that I had inadvertently completed Monday's puzzle having failed to notice that there were two pages of puzzles and other diversions.

Fortunately, I was able to do today's puzzle fairly quickly given that it was by Rufus and not overly difficult. However, there were a couple of clues for which the wordplay was unfathomable for me.

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.

14a   Exaggerate one’s role playing at cover (7)

To understand the surface reading of the clue, it helps to know a bit about cricket. Cover^[5] is short for cover point^[5], which is (1) a fielding position a little in front of the batsman on the off side and halfway to the boundary or (2) a fielder at cover point. The boundary^[2] is the marked limits of a cricket field. See 12d for a definition of off side.

22a   He has publicity consultant as boss (7)

The American Heritage Dictionary and Collins English Dictionary both have a tribal chief as the first listed meaning of headman^[3,4] and each also gives one other meaning. However, these alternate meanings bear no resemblance. The British reference work gives a foreman or overseer while the American reference has a headsman^[3,4] (executioner).

23a   Studio that is later converted (7)

Technically, is this not an indirect anagram - a sin for which Rufus was roundly chastised four weeks ago in DT 26781. An indirect anagram is a clue in which the anagram fodder does not appear explicitly in the clue. In DT 26781, the solver was required to substitute a synonym for a word in the clue to obtain the anagram fodder. In today's clue, we must substitute an abbreviation for a word in the clue to produce the fodder. In the previous instance, many people were willing to forgive the transgression, given the obvious nature of the substitution required. I would say that today's occurrence is an even less serious violation. On the other hand, it is a second offence. Then again, it did not raise a peep from those who commented at Big Dave's site.

24a   It may be kept or eaten (4)

I thought I was being very clever when I wrote in CAKE, based on the old adage you can't have your cake and eat it too. Unfortunately, that is not what the setter had in mind. I eventually discovered the error of my ways when the penny dropped on 13d.

30a   Those on the board who make plans (11)

Draughtsman^[5] is the British spelling of draftsman^[5], a person who makes detailed technical plans or drawings. In Britain, a draftsman^[5] is a person who drafts legal documents • parliamentary draftsmen seem to delight in complicating even the simplest provision. In Britain, draughts^[5] is the name of the board game known in North America as checkers^[5].

I failed to see the reference to the board game and supposed that the clue was referring to a drafting board (or drawing board^[5]).

5d   Player giving lead on pitch (4)

Like Libellule, I guessed the solution from the checking letters but did not understand the wordplay. The surface reading is clearly intended to misdirect us to a sports theme. In Britain, a pitch^[5] is either (1) an area of ground marked out or used for play in an outdoor team game : a football [soccer] pitch or (2) in cricket, the strip of ground between the two sets of stumps • both batsmen were stranded in the middle of the pitch. See Libellule's review for an explanation of the musical interpretation of the wordplay.

6d   Church to lease out a place in London (7)

Chelsea^[5] is an area of West London, England.

12d   Eliminated outstanding cricket side (8,3)

The cricket lesson continues. Here "side" refers not to a team but to a side of the cricket field itself. In cricket, the off^[5]  (also off side) is the half of the field (as divided lengthways through the pitch ) towards which the batsman's feet are pointed when standing to receive the ball.  The other side of the field is known either as the leg^[5] (also leg side) or on (also on side).

20d   Fellow tripper, perhaps (7)

I had the correct solution, as the only words that seemed to fit the checking letters were PARTNER and PARDNER. However, I failed to see the dance reference in the wordplay.

26d   River claims lives twice (4)

The Isis^[7] is the name given to the part of the River Thames which flows through the city of Oxford, England.

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