Monday, October 22, 2012 - DT 26938

Puzzle at a Glance

Daily Telegraph Puzzle Number DT 26938
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Setter Unknown
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 26938]
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

Although I completed the puzzle without assistance from my electronic aids, I needed to exercise my brain a bit to do so. While I agree that it falls short of a three star effort, I would say that it sits at the upper end of a two star rating.

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.

1a   Very large vehicles gaining awards (6)

The sizes of clothing that North Americans would describe as plus-size^[7] (or often big and tall in the case of men's clothing) would be called outsize OS^[5] in Britain.

10a   ‘Beefy’ fare perhaps for riotous do in Oval (8)

Vindaloo^[7] is an Indian curry dish known globally in its Anglo-Indian form as a staple of curry house menus, often regarded as a fiery spicy dish, though it is not necessarily the hottest dish available. While I don't expect that it is commonly made with beef in India, it would seem that a beef version is generally available in other parts of the world.

'Beefy' is the nickname of Ian Botham, a former England Test (defined below) cricketer and Test team captain, and current cricket commentator. He was a genuine all-rounder^[5] (a cricketer who can both bat and bowl well) with 14 centuries (a century^[5] being a batsman’s score of a hundred runs) and 383 wickets (a wicket^[5] being the dismissal of a batsman by a bowler) in Test cricket. While a controversial player both on and off the field at times (see below), Botham also held a number of Test cricket records, and still holds the record for the highest number of wickets taken by an England bowler. He is generally regarded as being England's greatest ever all-rounder, particularly in Test cricket.

A Test (short for Test match)^[5] is an international cricket or rugby match, typically one of a series, played between teams representing two different countries ⇒ the Test match between Pakistan and the West Indies.

The Oval^[7], referred to as the Kia Oval due to a commercial sponsorship deal, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club, and also traditionally hosts the final Test match of each English summer season in late August or early September.

It seems that events could get rather riotous where 'Beefy' was involved^[7].

Botham often courted controversy and was suspended briefly in 1986 for smoking cannabis and was allegedly accused of racism and ball tampering by renowned Pakistani cricketer Imran Khan. This would become the subject of a court case later on, one that Imran Khan would go on to win. Botham was liable for all expenses in the court case in the ruling, even those incurred by Imran Khan. He also fell out publicly with other players, including fellow England opener Geoff Boycott, Somerset captain Peter Roebuck, and Australian batsman Ian Chappell, with whom he had an altercation in an Adelaide Oval car park during the 2010–11 Ashes series. His private life has also made occasional dramatic appearances in Britain's tabloid newspapers, with at least one extramarital affair prompting a public apology to his wife Kathy. Botham was also sacked from the Queensland team after being arrested for assault of a fellow airline passenger.

11a   Stratagem revealed by doctor during walk (6)

In Britain, the degree required to practice medicine is a Bachelor of Medicine^[7] (MB, from Latin Medicinae Baccalaureus), which is equivalent to a North American Doctor of Medicine (MD, from Latin Medicinae Doctor). The degree of Doctor of Medicine also exists in Britain, but it is an advanced degree pursued by those who wish to go into medical research. Physicians in Britain are still addressed as Dr. despite not having a doctoral degree.

While I had been a big fan of the television series The Avengers, I seem to have totally missed out on its sequel The New Avengers. Pommers illustration of English actress Joanna Lumley in the role of Purdey from the latter series prompted a bit of research.

The New Avengers^[7] is a British secret agent fantasy adventure television series produced during 1976 and 1977 as a sequel to the 1960s series, The Avengers. A joint UK-France-Canada production, the series picks up the adventures of John Steed (again played by Patrick Macnee) as he and his team of "Avengers" fight evil plots and world domination. Whereas in the original series Steed had almost always been partnered with a woman, in the new series he had two partners: Mike Gambit (Gareth Hunt), a top agent, crack marksman and trained martial artist, and Purdey (Joanna Lumley), a former trainee with The Royal Ballet (to which she ascribed the high-kicking skills she frequently used in the series) who was an amalgam of many of the best talents from Steed's female partners in The Avengers.

14a   Leave last from chateau encircled by French lake (8)

Lough^[10] is an Irish word for lake. Its pronunciation is identical to that of the Scot word loch^[10] (which also means lake).

21a   Precisely what’s required in old golf club, with foremost from Turnberry being entertained (4- 2)

The spoon^[7] is an obsolete wooden golf club, one with a higher loft than a present-day 2-wood. Turnberry^[7] is a golf resort in South Ayrshire, Scotland located  on the rugged coast of the outer Firth of Clyde.

23a   Knowing 8, such a crossword can’t be solved? (8)

The number "8" in the clue is a cross reference to clue 8d. To reveal the complete clue, one must insert the solution to clue 8d in place of the cross reference indicator.

25a   Ali had what Oliver wanted? (6,7)

Oliver Twist^[7] is the title character and the protagonist of the 1838 novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. Muhammad Ali^[7] (born Cassius Clay, Jr.) is an American former professional boxer.

27a   Until now gallery has accepted what’s bizarre, without limit (2,4)

The Tate Gallery^[5] (or simply the Tate) is a national museum of art at Millbank, London, founded in 1897 by the sugar manufacturer Sir Henry Tate (1819–99) to house his collection of modern British paintings, as a nucleus for a permanent national collection of modern art. It was renamed Tate Britain in 2000, when the new Tate Modern gallery opened.

8d   Love recording with husband inside (7)

In tennis, squash, and some other sports, love^[5] is a score of zero or nil ⇒ love fifteen. The resemblance of a zero written as a number (0) to the letter O leads to the cryptic crossword convention of love equating to this letter.

15d   Fish reportedly studied on Hebridean island by English leader of team (3,6)

The red mullets^[7] or surmullets are two species of goatfish, Mullus barbatus and Mullus surmuletus, found in the Mediterranean Sea, east North Atlantic Ocean, and the Black Sea. Mull^[5] is a large island of the Inner Hebrides. It is separated from the coast of Scotland near Oban by the Sound of Mull.

18d   Everybody catching salmon in the drink? (7)

Judging by Pommers comment, coho are as unfamiliar to the Brits as red mullets are to me.

20d   Understanding of current things in variety (7)

In physics, I^[10] is the symbol for electric current.

24d   Boy stopped by Irish landowner (5)

In Scotland, a laird^[5] is a person who owns a large estate.

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