Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 28462 | |
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph
Saturday, June 24, 2017 | |
Setter
Unknown | |
Link to Full Review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28462 – Hints]Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28462 – Review] | |
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By
Big Dave (Hints)crypticsue (Review) | |
BD Rating
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| Difficulty - ★ | Enjoyment - ★★ |
Falcon's Experience
┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐
███████████████████████████████████
└────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘
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
█ - solved but without fully parsing the clue
█ - unsolved or incorrect prior to visiting Big Dave's Crossword Blog
█ - solved with aid of checking letters provided by solutions from Big Dave's Crossword Blog
█ - reviewed by Falcon for Big Dave's Crossword Blog
█ - yet to be solved
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Notes
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As this was a Saturday "Prize Puzzle" in Britain, there are two entries related to it on Big Dave's Crossword Blog — the first, posted on the date of publication, contains hints for selected clues while the second is a full review issued following the entry deadline for the contest. The vast majority of reader comments will generally be found attached to the "hints" posting with a minimal number — if any — accompanying the full review.
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Introduction
An easy challenge to end the week.Some British solvers were preoccupied with the fortunes of the British and Irish Lions rugby union team which was in the midst of a tour of New Zealand[7] when this puzzle appeared in the UK. The British and Irish Lions[7] is a team that participates in international competitions the members of which are selected from players eligible for any of the Home Nations – the national sides of the British Isles; England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
On the day that this puzzle was published in the UK, the Lions were playing the New Zealand national rugby union team[7], known as the All Blacks.
I originally confused the New Zealand national team with a different team that the Lions had played a week before on their tour, namely the Māori All Blacks[7], a New Zealand rugby union team that participates in international competitions the members of which are selected from the rosters of teams playing in the New Zealand Rugby Union. A prerequisite for playing in this team* is that the player has Māori whakapapa (genealogy). In the past this rule was not strictly applied; non–Māori players who looked Māori were often selected in the team. These included a few Island players and a couple of African descent. Today all players have their ancestry verified before selection in the team.
* Note that, in Britain, a player is said to be "in a team" rather than "on a team" as one would say in North America.
I invite you to leave a comment to let us know how you fared with the puzzle.
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.
Primary indications (definitions) are marked with a solid underline in the clue; subsidiary indications (be they wordplay or other) are marked with a dashed underline in semi-all-in-one (semi-&lit.) clues. All-in-one (&lit.) clues and cryptic definitions are marked with a dotted underline. Explicit link words and phrases are enclosed in forward slashes (/link/) and implicit links are shown as double forward slashes (//).
Primary indications (definitions) are marked with a solid underline in the clue; subsidiary indications (be they wordplay or other) are marked with a dashed underline in semi-all-in-one (semi-&lit.) clues. All-in-one (&lit.) clues and cryptic definitions are marked with a dotted underline. Explicit link words and phrases are enclosed in forward slashes (/link/) and implicit links are shown as double forward slashes (//).
Across
1a Fairly good // judge, following fashion (8)
5a April's turned out /to be/ springlike (6)
9a Pile of hay's put with wild fruit /in/ carriage (8)
To add a slight bit of precision to the parsing shown by crypticsue, it is RICK (pile of hay) +S ('s) + (with) HAW (wild fruit).
A rick[5] is a stack of hay, corn, straw, or similar material, especially one formerly built into a regular shape and thatched.
A haw[5] is the red fruit of the hawthorn[5], a thorny shrub or tree of the rose family, with white, pink, or red blossom and small dark red fruits. Native to north temperate regions, it is commonly used for hedging in Britain.
10a Channel // without water mentioned (6)
Behind the Picture
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| Big Dave illustrates his hint for this clue on Big Dave's Crossword Blog with a photo of the Menai Strait[7], a narrow stretch of shallow tidal water about 25 km (16 mi) long, which separates the island of Anglesey from the mainland of Wales. |
11a Fast eating that is initially not // sparing (7)
12a City // in great shambles (7)
Tangier[5] (also Tangiers) is a seaport on the northern coast of Morocco, on the Strait of Gibraltar commanding the western entrance to the Mediterranean; population 762,583 (2004). Portuguese from the end of the 15th century, Tangier was ruled by the sultan of Morocco 1684–1904, when it came under international control; it passed to the newly independent monarchy of Morocco in 1956.
13a Clear // coach's avoiding one father? (11)
You will notice that crypticsue shows PARENT as being clued by (father?). The question mark is not meant to suggest that she is questioning the wordplay, but rather to show that the setter has used a "definition by example" (and has correspondingly included the question mark in the clue to indicate this).
As in 9a, the S in the solution comes from the contracted form of the word "is" ('s) — which this time crypticsue does indicate.
16a Summons to action /from/ US president, and French come round (7,4)
"and French" = ET (show explanation )
A trumpet call[5] is a rousing summons to take action ⇒
Churchill's famous trumpet call of resistance.
An Implicit Message?
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Sometimes what is not said is as telling as what is said. Entries in Oxford Dictionaries customarily described world leaders as "statesmen" (or "stateswomen") as:
Donald Trump[5] (1946–) 45th President of the US, since 2017; full name Donald John Trump. As a real estate developer, he is noted for building Trump Tower (1982) in New York City and the Taj Mahal gambling complex (1990) in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He was the host of the reality television program The Apprentice from 2004 to 2015. In 2016 he secured the Republican presidential nomination and was elected to the presidency, running on a campaign that strongly opposed the existing political establishment.It would appear that the editors at Oxford Dictionaries just could not bring themselves to apply the term in this case. |
21a Leaving South Carolina, motorcyclist /or/ walker (7)
In official postal use, the abbreviation for South Carolina is SC[5].
Scrambler[5] is a British term for a motorcycle* for racing over rough and hilly ground.
* and, seemingly, also for its rider
Interestingly, scrambler[5] is also a term for a person who walks over steep, mountainous terrain as a pastime. However, it is not the term needed to solve this clue.
Behind the Picture
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| Big Dave illustrates his hint for this clue with a photo of Stephen Gough[7] — popularly known as the "Naked Rambler" — a British activist and former Royal Marine and prisoner of conscience. In 2003–04, he walked the length of Great Britain naked, but was arrested when he did it again in 2005-06. Since then he has spent most of the intervening years in prison, having been repeatedly rearrested for contempt of court for public nudity, each time within a short period after release. |
22a Humiliate // degree-holder briefly seen in river (7)
Dee[5,7] could possibly refer to any of several rivers of that name in Scotland, England, Ireland, and Australia among which the most prominent are:
- a river in northeastern Scotland, which rises in the Grampian Mountains and flows eastwards past Balmoral Castle to the North Sea at Aberdeen;
- a river that rises in North Wales and flows past Chester and on into the Irish Sea.
23a Killer // struck worker (6)
24a First couple of questions priest composed /to be/ comic (8)
25a After exercises, Swiss hero rolled over /in/ small ball (6)
"exercises" = PE (show explanation )
PE[5] is the abbreviation for physical education [or Phys Ed, as it was known in my school days].
hide explanation
PE[5] is the abbreviation for physical education [or Phys Ed, as it was known in my school days].
hide explanation
William Tell[5] was a legendary hero of the liberation of Switzerland from Austrian oppression. He was required to hit with an arrow an apple placed on the head of his son, which he did successfully. The events are placed in the 14th century, but there is no evidence for a historical person of this name, and similar legends are of widespread occurrence.
26a Inconsistent // bishop avoids scepticism following fashionable article (2,3,3)
I was unable to find an entry for in and out in any of my dictionaries — at least, not with this meaning. However, I believe the usage is pretty self-evident.
"bishop" = B (show explanation )
Down
1d Man accepts alternative // spirits (6)
2d Pour // out of brigade canteen (6)
3d Admiration /as/ Peter's turned about 100 (7)
4d One responsible for somebody's health after a meal (11)
6d Favourite college will get over a // bloomer (7)
Uni[5] is an informal term (originally Australian) for university ⇒
he planned to go to uni.
A bloomer[5] is a plant that produces flowers at a specified time ⇒
fragrant night-bloomers such as nicotiana.
Scratching the Surface
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Bloomer[5] is a dated informal British term for a serious or stupid mistake ⇒ he never committed a bloomer. |
7d Caught on // concerning a sled I damaged (8)
8d Intelligentsia /must be/ switched on, period -- it's uplifting (8)
12d Have a fling then go? /It's/ what some do after retiring! (4,3,4)
14d Features cool // spacecraft (8)
15d Grey // knight in fix -- and others (8)
"knight" = N (show explanation )
A knight[5] is a chess piece, typically with its top shaped like a horse’s head, that moves by jumping to the opposite corner of a rectangle two squares by three. Each player starts the game with two knights.
N[5] is the abbreviation for knight used in recording moves in chess [representing the pronunciation of kn-, since the initial letter k- represents 'king'].
As an aside, it is interesting to note that the Chambers 21st Century Dictionary defines:
On the other hand, both The Chambers Dictionary and the Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary list K or K.[1,11] as an abbreviation for knight without specifying the specific context in which this abbreviation is used. However, the context may well be in an honours list rather than in a game of chess. In the UK, for instance, KBE[5] stands for Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
hide explanation
A knight[5] is a chess piece, typically with its top shaped like a horse’s head, that moves by jumping to the opposite corner of a rectangle two squares by three. Each player starts the game with two knights.
N[5] is the abbreviation for knight used in recording moves in chess [representing the pronunciation of kn-, since the initial letter k- represents 'king'].
As an aside, it is interesting to note that the Chambers 21st Century Dictionary defines:
- K[2] as an abbreviation used in chess for knight.
- K[2] is a symbol used in chess to represent a king.
- N[2] is a symbol used in chess to represent a knight.
On the other hand, both The Chambers Dictionary and the Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary list K or K.[1,11] as an abbreviation for knight without specifying the specific context in which this abbreviation is used. However, the context may well be in an honours list rather than in a game of chess. In the UK, for instance, KBE[5] stands for Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
hide explanation
Gum[3] is used in the sense of to fix in place with gum.
17d Attendant coming over poorly /gets/ sack (7)
Page[5] could be used any of the following senses (especially the latter three):
- a boy or young man, usually in uniform, employed in a hotel or club to run errands, open doors, etc.;
- a young boy attending a bride at a wedding;
- (historical) a boy in training for knighthood, ranking next below a squire in the personal service of a knight; or
- (historical) a man or boy employed as the personal attendant of a person of rank.
she looked poorly.
18d Not a pleasing, deviating // type of bowling (3,4)
In cricket, leg spin[5] is a type of spin* bowling which causes the ball to deviate from the leg side** towards the off side*** after pitching ⇒
he coped comfortably with the leg spin of Mushtaq Ahmed.
* Spin[5] means to to bowl, pitch, hit, or kick (a ball) so that it rotates in the air and changes direction or speed on bouncing, or (of a ball) to be projected in this way.
** The leg side[5] (also called leg) is another name for the on side[5] (also known as on), the half of the field (as divided lengthways through the pitch) away from which the batsman’s feet are pointed when standing to receive the ball.
*** The off side[5] (also called off) is the half of the field (as divided lengthways through the pitch) towards which the batsman's feet are pointed when standing to receive the ball.
19d Junk excessively // personal artwork (6)
Tat[5] is an informal British term for tasteless or shoddy clothes, jewellery, or ornaments ⇒
the place was decorated with all manner of gaudy tat.
20d Covert // cult embracing religious class (6)
In the UK, religious education[10] (abbreviation RE[5]) is a subject taught in schools which educates about the different religions of the world.
Key to Reference Sources:Signing off for today — Falcon
[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)
[11] - TheFreeDictionary.com (Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary)
[12] - CollinsDictionary.com (Webster’s New World College Dictionary)
[13] - MacmillanDictionary.com (Macmillan Dictionary)
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