Friday, January 11, 2013 — DT 27009

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27009
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Monday, October 29, 2012
Setter Rufus (Roger Squires)
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27009]
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 27008 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, October 27, 2012.

Introduction

Today's puzzle is the usual relatively gentle fare from Rufus, generously peppered with cryptic definitions. I kicked myself for not getting 16a without assistance from my electronic friends

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.

9a   Indian  who may keep watch for you (6)

Pawnee^[2] is another name for a pawnbroker [but seemingly a definition found only in Chambers].

11a   One drink that refreshes, but another will be a different matter (3,2,3)

Not one's cup of tea^[5] is an idiom denoting not what one likes or is interested in ⇒ cats were not her cup of tea.

12a   A ship taking trouble to attack (6)

SS^[5] is the abbreviation for steamship ⇒ the SS Canberra.

13a   Put a foot wrong and he may bail you out (12)

In cricket^[7], a wicket consists of three wooden stumps placed vertically, in line with one another. They are surmounted by two wooden crosspieces called bails. In front of the wicket is a rectangular area known as the batsman's "safe territory" or "ground" which is delineated by four lines called creases. The bowling crease is the line on which the wicket stands, the popping crease is located four feet in front of the bowling crease (and thus four feet in front of the wicket), and the two return creases (which are 8 feet 8 inches apart) form the sides of the rectangle. Note that in cricket, a crease is a line (unlike hockey, where a crease is an area in front of the net.

There are ten ways by which a batsman may be dismissed. Two of these involve a player on the fielding side breaking or "putting down" the wicket (knocking the bails off the stumps) by throwing the ball at it when the batsman is out of his ground (has stepped outside one of the creases, either in an attempt to score a run or in a missed attempt to hit a bowled ball). The dismissal is referred to as being stumped when the wicketkeeper^[5] (a fielder stationed close behind a batsman’s wicket and typically equipped with gloves and pads [a counterpart to the catcher in baseball]) who has broken or "put down" the wicket with the ball after the batsman has missed the bowled ball and has stepped out of his ground.

I believe that Libellule's question "For cricket aficionado’s to discuss, even allowing for cryptic licence does removing the bails means the batsman is bailed out?" alludes to the fact that the proper cricket terminology is "stumped" rather than "bailed out".

16a   A religious point to follow in secular pursuit? (12)

Sometimes when one gets on the wrong path, it seems impossible to get back on the correct one. Such was the case here. I got it in my head that "point to follow" is indicating the compass point found at the end of the solution — and seemingly nothing could get dissuade me from following that wrong path.

3d   Oriental bamboo fencing (5)

This is a type a clue that we often see from Rufus. It's a cryptic definition that people frequently characterise as being 'barely cryptic'. The misdirection in the clue relies on one not readily recognizing that it refers to the Japanese martial art and, instead, interpreting it to be a description of a barrier formed from bamboo stakes (around a rice paddy, for example).

6d   A current issue on the coast (5)

Another cryptic definition — this one a bit better disguised. A location on the coast where a river empties (or a current issues) into the ocean.

7d   Club about to give female support (9)

In golf, brassie^[5] is a name [rather dated, methinks] for a number two wood [so named because the wood was originally shod with brass].

22d   Spaniard, or anyone with a gift (5)

Don^[5] is (1) a Spanish title prefixed to a male forename or (2) a Spanish gentleman.

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