dtgk

[supercook]

47 (a) 1936 UK movie based on a novel by W Somerset Maughan directed by Alfred Hitchcock (6,5)

17 (a) Rugby move where the ball is passed backwards with the foot during a scrum (4)

40 (d) Former minor parish officer in England who had the power to punish petty ofenders, a position held by Mr Bumble, the Dickensian characater (6)

41 (a) Small defensive fort or earthwork used in the Middle Ages and the English Civil War (6)

[grasscarp]

47 Secret Agent

[paulineward]

47a Secret Agent
17d Hook
40d Beadle
41d sconce

[sarumite]

47a Secret Agent

17a Hook

40d Beadle

41d Sconce

[kayakamina]

17 Ruck

[sarumite]

Agreed K that ruck is a far more likely answer ... but appreciate you haven't the benefit of grid H?O?

best wishes (S)

[kayakamina]

As an avid Rugby fan I should know the difference between a ruck , maul and hook ! Doh

[paulineward]

Not a rugby fan, watched it, but can't always understand it...but the terms used are intriguing!!...P

[kayakamina]

Thanks S . I should leave the GK crosswords to people with the grid in front of them!

[Otleybard]

Not really a Rugby Union fan either, but shouldn't 17a be 'Heel'?

[sarumite]

Unfortunately "Heel" doesn't fit the grid Otleybard, but it is a term more widely used than hook in my opinion!

[sincnoel]

no, otleybard, becos the person wot does this manoeuvre most of the time is called a hooker, not a heeler.

[Otleybard]

Of course I bow to superior knowledge, but I know which I'd rather be called!