Friday, July 13, 2012 - DT 26853

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26853
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, April 30, 2012
Setter Rufus
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26853]
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 26852 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, April 28, 2012

Introduction

It was definitely not one of my finer performances today — perhaps there is something to this Friday the 13th thing after all. Before visiting Big Dave's blog, I had one wrong solution and two unsolved clues (which intersected with one them also being checked by the wrong solution). To add insult to injury, this is a two-star Rufus offering.

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.

10a   Hesitate to declare after Warwickshire’s opening (5)

The surface reading alludes to cricket. Warwickshire^[7] is a county in the West Midlands region of England and is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare and George Eliot. It is also the home of the Warwickshire County Cricket Club^[7].

As I discussed last week, the objective of each team in cricket^[7] is to score more runs than the opposing team. In Test cricket (a match between national teams), it is necessary to score the most runs and dismiss the opposition twice in order to win the match, which would otherwise be drawn. Therefore, the captain of a batting team which has built up a large lead may declare the innings closed prematurely in order to allow the opposition to bat (and thus gain an opportunity to dismiss them). As a captain, the key to victory is picking the right time to declare. Declare too early and the other team may score more runs than your team has amassed and thereby defeat you. Declare too late and the match may end before your team can dismiss the other team (resulting in a draw, even though your team may have a substantial lead in runs).

13a   Love to wander about a royal house (6)

The House of Orange^[5], according to Oxford Dictionaries, is the Dutch royal house. However, that would seem to be, at best, a gross oversimplification. I knew that William of Orange became King William III of England. However, although his title was Prince of Orange, it would seem that the name of the Dutch royal house was (and still is) the House of Orange-Nassau^[7]. By the way, I was surprised to learn that the tiny principality of Orange (which gives rise to the name) is located — not in Holland — but in Provence, in the south of France, and was ceded to France in 1713 under the Treaty of Utrecht.

21a   Note garden feature in China (8)

Having the wrong solution for 22d was somewhat of a hindrance, although I did have a question mark against it as I suspected that it might be incorrect. I even considered and rejected crockery as a solution, thinking that it wasn't "china". This term may include a broader range of items in Britain than it does in North America. The American Heritage Dictionary defines crockery^[3] simply as "earthenware" and the Random House Dictionary as "crocks collectively; earthenware"^[9]. On the other hand, Oxford Dictionaries says crockery^[5] includes plates, dishes, cups, and other similar items, especially ones made of earthenware or china. Chambers^[2] and Collins^[10] also both specifically mention china in their definitions.

23a   Bring the match alive with shot at goal (6)

In sporting contexts, strike^[5] means to hit or kick a ball. In soccer, a striker^[10] is an attacking player, especially one who generally positions himself near his opponent's goal in the hope of scoring.

26a   One of five, one may feel (5)

I first wrote in TOUCH, then rejected that in favour of THUMB, but eventually found the right answer.

4d   Inordinately vain man who had a terrible reputation (4)

Ivan the Terrible^[7] was Grand Prince of Moscow from 1533 until his death in 1584.

7d   Birds give strange shrieks (7)

Shrikes^[7] are passerine birds of the family Laniidae. The family is composed of thirty-one species in three genera. The family name, and that of the largest genus, Lanius, is derived from the Latin word for "butcher", and some shrikes were also known as "butcher birds" because of their feeding habits. Note that the Australasian butcherbirds are not shrikes. Most shrike species have a Eurasian and African distribution, with just two breeding in North America (the Loggerhead and Great Grey shrikes).

 14d No one is missing full board and lodging (3,5)

All found^[5] is a dated British term meaning (with respect to an employee’s wages) with board and lodging provided free • your wages would be five shillings all found.

22d   They’re up for the celebration (5)

I had rather gingerly entered TREES, as Christmas trees are "up for the celebration". This was another answer in which I had little confidence — with good reason, as it turns out. Knees-up^[5] is British slang for a lively party or gathering • we had a bit of a knees-up last night.

"Knees Up Mother Brown" is a song that became popular in English pubs in the early part of the 20th century and was particularly associated with Cockney culture. The expression "knees up" came to mean a party or a dance. The tune has been adopted by football [soccer] fans for various chants. [Listen to a rendition by Noel Harrison and Petula Clark.]

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