Puzzle at a Glance
|
|---|
Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 28582 | |
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph
Saturday, November 11, 2017 | |
Setter
Cephas (Peter Chamberlain) | |
Link to Full Review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28582 – Hints]Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 28582 – Review] | |
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By
Big Dave (Hints)crypticsue (Review) | |
BD Rating
| |
| 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
| |
Notes
| |
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.
| |
Introduction
Today's puzzle is a very gentle bit of mental exercise — so gentle, in fact, that I failed to notice that it is a pangram*. A number of those commenting on Big Dave's Crossword Blog mention that they were able to complete the puzzle with little or no assistance, including Agnellov at Comment #33 who reports "finishing on my Jack Jones apart from 5d". On one's jack[5] (or on one's Jack Jones) is British rhyming slang (show explanation ) for "on one's own".
* a puzzle in which every letter of the alphabet appears at least once in the solution
Rhyming slang[5] is a type of slang that replaces words with rhyming words or phrases, typically with the rhyming element omitted. For example, butcher’s, short for butcher’s hook, means ‘look’ in cockney rhyming slang.
hide explanation
* a puzzle in which every letter of the alphabet appears at least once in the solution
Rhyming slang[5] is a type of slang that replaces words with rhyming words or phrases, typically with the rhyming element omitted. For example, butcher’s, short for butcher’s hook, means ‘look’ in cockney rhyming slang.
hide explanation
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
6a Fruitful series // triumph of one barely running (7,6)
8a Lines // one very good soldier from Down Under cut (6)
Anzac*[5] is an informal term for a person from Australia or New Zealand, especially a member of the armed services.
9a Item for storing leaves // two things on course, we hear (3,5)
Tee[5] could refer to either of two "things on [a golf] course":
- a cleared space on a golf course, from which the ball is struck at the beginning of play for each hole
- a small peg with a concave head which can be placed in the ground to support a golf ball before it is struck from a tee
10a Old bird /making/ endless lament (3)
The moa[5] is a large extinct flightless bird resembling the emu, formerly found in New Zealand.
11a Box holding English // produce (6)
12a Metal // barrel by gents removed (8)
As an anagram indicator, remove[10] is used in the sense of to take away and place elsewhere.
14a Thoroughly // fashionable wisdom (2,5)
Depth[5] is used in the sense of complexity and profundity of thought ⇒
the book has unexpected depth.
16a For audience shortly, host /gives/ wave (7)
I got the first part of the homophone, but the British pronunciation of 'army' fooled me.
The word "ARMY", when pronounced in a non-rhotic (show explanation ) accent typical of dialects found in many parts of Britain, sounds like "AH-MEE" ().
Non-rhotic accents omit the sound < r > in certain situations, while rhotic accents generally pronounce < r > in all contexts. Among the several dozen British English accents which exist, many are non-rhotic while American English (US and Canadian) is mainly rhotic. This is, however, a generalisation, as there are areas of Britain that are rhotic, and areas of America that are non-rhotic. For more information, see this guide to pronouncing < r > in British English.
hide explanation
Non-rhotic accents omit the sound < r > in certain situations, while rhotic accents generally pronounce < r > in all contexts. Among the several dozen British English accents which exist, many are non-rhotic while American English (US and Canadian) is mainly rhotic. This is, however, a generalisation, as there are areas of Britain that are rhotic, and areas of America that are non-rhotic. For more information, see this guide to pronouncing < r > in British English.
hide explanation
20a Fringe breaks record time /to show/ short-lived things (8)
"record" = EP (show explanation )
EP[10] (abbreviation for extended-play) is one of the formats in which music is sold, usually comprising four or five tracks.
hide explanation
EP[10] (abbreviation for extended-play) is one of the formats in which music is sold, usually comprising four or five tracks.
hide explanation
23a Bottled gas /could offer/ a new energy to get behind yet (6)
"energy" = E (show explanation )
24a Vigour // this person's displayed after five (3)
"this person's" = IM (show explanation )
It is a common cryptic crossword convention for the creator of the puzzle to use terms such as (the or this) compiler, (the or this) setter, (this) author, (this) writer, or this person to refer to himself or herself. To solve such a clue, one must generally substitute a first person pronoun (I or me) for whichever of these terms has been used in the clue.
Today, the setter has made the scenario slightly more complicated by combining "this person" with the verb "to be"* producing "this person's" (a contraction of "this person is") which must be replaced by "I'm" (a contraction of "I am").
* Although in the surface reading "this person's" is a contraction of "this person has", for cryptic purposes it is interpreted as "this person is".
hide explanation
It is a common cryptic crossword convention for the creator of the puzzle to use terms such as (the or this) compiler, (the or this) setter, (this) author, (this) writer, or this person to refer to himself or herself. To solve such a clue, one must generally substitute a first person pronoun (I or me) for whichever of these terms has been used in the clue.
Today, the setter has made the scenario slightly more complicated by combining "this person" with the verb "to be"* producing "this person's" (a contraction of "this person is") which must be replaced by "I'm" (a contraction of "I am").
* Although in the surface reading "this person's" is a contraction of "this person has", for cryptic purposes it is interpreted as "this person is".
hide explanation
25a Entailed adjusting // what may be found at top of paper (8)
A dateline[5] is a line at the head of a dispatch or newspaper article showing the date and place of writing.
26a Quite a strange one having fled European // match (6)
27a Going off celeb/'s/ heavenly body that's flared up (9,4)
An exploding star[10] is an irregular variable star, such as a nova, supernova, or flare star, in which rapid increases in luminosity occur, caused by some form of explosion.
Down
1d Soak // fruit one sister's put on (8)
2d Film Etna erupting -- // fibre/'s needed/ (8)
Despite being positioned at the end of the clue (due to the complex, inverted clue structure employed by the setter), the phrase "is needed" ('s needed) acts as a link phrase. Were we to rephrase the clue in a more straightforward format, it might read:
- Fibre /is needed [for]/ film Etna erupting (8)
3d Disturb // a person working in US military gallery (7)
"a person working in US military" = GI (show explanation )
A GI[5] is a private soldier in the US army ⇒
Contrary to popular belief, the term apparently is not an abbreviation for general infantryman, but rather derives from the term government (or general) issue (originally denoting equipment supplied to US forces).
hide explanation
A GI[5] is a private soldier in the US army ⇒
she went off with a GI during the war.
Contrary to popular belief, the term apparently is not an abbreviation for general infantryman, but rather derives from the term government (or general) issue (originally denoting equipment supplied to US forces).
hide explanation
"gallery" = TATE (show explanation )
The Tate Gallery[5] (commonly known simply as the Tate) is a national museum of art in London, England founded in 1897 by the sugar manufacturer Sir Henry Tate (1819–1899) 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. [I would surmise that by that time the original collection could no longer be considered "modern".]
hide explanation
The Tate Gallery[5] (commonly known simply as the Tate) is a national museum of art in London, England founded in 1897 by the sugar manufacturer Sir Henry Tate (1819–1899) 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. [I would surmise that by that time the original collection could no longer be considered "modern".]
hide explanation
4d Injury // riddle (6)
As a verb, riddle[5] means to pass (a substance) through a large coarse sieve* ⇒
for final potting, the soil mixture is not riddled.
* A riddle[5] is a large coarse sieve, especially one used for separating ashes from cinders or sand from gravel.
5d Where people go round night and day /getting to/ the heart of problem answers (2,4)
Le Mans[5] is an industrial city in northwestern France. It is the site of a motor-racing circuit, on which a 24-hour endurance race (established in 1923) is held each summer.
6d Oasis // panic, greet law roughly (8,5)
7d Hoaxer going to church /in/ Worcs town (13)
Minster[5] is a British term for a large or important church, typically one of cathedral status in the north of England that was built as part of a monastery ⇒
York Minster.
Kidderminster[7] is a town in Worcestershire, England located approximately midway between the cities of Birmingham and Worcester.
13d Animal // found in alarming numbers (3)
The gnu[5] (also called wildebeest) is a large dark antelope with a long head, a beard and mane, and a sloping back.
What did she say?
| |
|---|---|
In her review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, crypticsue writesFlanders and Swann[7] were a British comedy duo. Actor and singer Michael Flanders (1922–1975) and composer, pianist, and lyricist Donald Swann (1923–1994) collaborated in writing and performing comic songs. They first worked together at a school revue in 1939 and eventually wrote over a hundred comic songs together.Did anyone else spend a good part of their Saturday trying to get the Flanders and Swann song out of their head??. Here is the song that crypticsue could not get out of her head: |
15d Woman briefly // turning chart over (3)
17d Coach comes up with 'Join together or // go under' (8)
18d Quotient resolved, // almost (3,5)
As an anagram indicator, resolve[5] is used in the the sense (said of something seen at a distance) to turn into a different form when seen more clearly ⇒
the orange light resolved itself into four roadwork lanterns.
19d Live jumps during January // Olympic event (7)
21d Grant immunity to // former partner, nearly clear (6)
22d One runs daily or weekly perhaps (6)
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)
[14] - CollinsDictionary.com (COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.