Wednesday, January 16, 2012 - DT 27012

Puzzle at a Glance

Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph DT 27012
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph Thursday, November 1, 2012
Setter RayT
Link to Full Review Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 27012]
Big Dave's Review Written By Falcon
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

Despite the fact that I had reviewed this puzzle on Big Dave's Crossword Blog when it originally appeared in the UK in November, it was scarcely less difficult the second time around. It is a rather tame offering (in the innuendo department) from RayT. You will also discover, if you visit Big Dave's site, that my original review contains a couple of errors.

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   Shrinks from bullies boxing ears, oddly (6)

This was my first faux pas, failing to recognize that "bullies" means COWS in the sense of a verb meaning intimidates. I managed to invent a much more fanciful (in more than one sense) explanation.

12a   Dessert following recipe produces beams (7)

In Britain, afters^[5] is the sweet course following the main course of a meal; pudding ⇒there was apple pie for afters.

17a   Show envy after Queen record (9)

It wouldn't be a RayT creation if it didn't have a reference to Queen — reputedly his favourite band.

25a   Victorian female? (6)

My second goof — identifying Victoria as an Australian city rather than a state.

26a   Spoils, losing wicket, batsman's time (7)

On cricket scorecards, W^[5] is used as an abbreviation for wicket(s). The word wicket^[10] can mean several different things in cricket. It may be (1) either of two constructions, placed 22 yards apart, consisting of three pointed stumps stuck parallel in the ground with two wooden bails resting on top, at which the batsman stands; (2) the strip of ground between these [constructions] (i.e., the pitch); (3) a batsman's turn at batting or the period during which two batsmen bat ⇒ a third-wicket partnership; or (4) the act or instance of a batsman being got out ⇒ the bowler took six wickets.

Likewise, innings^[5] has multiple meanings in cricket. It may be (1) each of two or four divisions of a game during which one side has a turn at batting ⇒ the highlight of the Surrey innings (2) a player’s turn at batting ⇒ he had played his greatest innings or (3) the score achieved during a player’s turn at batting ⇒ a solid innings of 78 by Marsh. Note that, unlike the word inning in baseball, innings is spelled with an s in cricket. The plural of innings is inningses.

2d   Splendid chaps wearing right togs (7)

A1^[4][5] or A-one^[3] meaning first class or excellent comes from a classification for ships in The Lloyd's Register of Shipping where it means equipped to the highest standard or first-class.

7d   Mundane river ends in River Test (11)

The Tees^[5] is a river of NE England which rises in Cumbria and flows 128 km (80 miles) generally south-eastwards to the North Sea at Middlesbrough.

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