Introduction
A moderately difficult puzzle today - for myself, at least. However, in retrospect, I must admit that the clues really don't look all that difficult - but isn't that always the case? Although I was able to complete it, this was one of those puzzles where I was often forced to find candidate words that matched the checking letters and then work backwards to understand the wordplay. Interestingly, both Big Dave and Peter Biddlecombe (xwd_fiend) rated the puzzle as easy - I shudder to think how I might do when I run up against a difficult puzzle. At least, I can take satisfaction from having correctly deciphered all the wordplay - even though I still have reservations about at least one clue.
Today's Glossary
Some possibly unfamiliar abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions used in today's puzzle
Sir Michael Tippett - British composer
Tyneside - a conurbation in North East England
Today's Links
I found no questions on AnswerBank discussing today's puzzle.
Big Dave's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 25855].
Commentary on Today's Puzzle
1d Low wall having a drill in side (7)
Ironically, even though this was one of the first solutions that I found today - the wordplay eluded me until long after I had solved the rest of the puzzle. However, I do have somewhat of a quibble with the solution - to the best of my knowledge, while a "drill" is a monkey, it is not an ape.
Correction:
My original (and incorrect) solution for this clue was:
1d Low wall [PAR(APE)T] /having\ a drill [APE] in side [PAR^T] (7)
As Big Dave points out in his comment to this post, the correct solution is:
1d Low wall [PAR(A|PE)T] /having\ A drill [PE (physical education)] in side [PAR^T] (7)
2d Prize promoted in feast (5)
This clue works very well in American English, where both variants of "prize" have the same spelling. However, I was a bit surprised to see it in the Telegraph as I thought the British term for "lever" was spelled "prise". Is the language becoming Americanized (Americanised)? [Note: I see that Big Dave has a bit of a comment on this point in his blog, as well.]
5d One who benefits from a sacking? (9)
Unless I have overlooked some clever nuance, this seems a rather weak cryptic definition.
13d United followers beginning to take satisfaction (9)
Don't be fooled by focussing too intently on the improving fortunes of the Manchester football club
Solution to Today's Puzzle
| Legend: | "CD" Cryptic Definition; "DD" Double Definition |
| "*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed | |
| "( )" letters inserted; "_" letters deleted |
1ac PARATROOPER* - {A PROPER ROTA}*
7ac ARRIVAL~ - sounds like A RIVAL
8ac _THUNDER_ - you[TH UNDER]stood
10ac IM(P)EL* - MI^LE* + (P)
11ac _T|READ|MILL - studen[T]
12ac ESTUARY* - {SAY TRUE}*
14ac LAR(C)ENY* - NEA^RLY* + (C)
15ac D(ET)ROIT
18ac S(URGE)ON
20ac ZOOKEEPER - CD
21ac OT<|PIC
22ac N(AI|VET)E
23ac A|POLO|G_Y - [G]u[Y]
24ac E(N|TIT)LEMENT
Down
1d PAR(A|PE)T
2d REVEL<
3d TOLS|*TOY - LOTS* + TOY
4d O|A|T(_M)EAL - strea[M]
5d PLUNDERER - CD
6d RED-LINE
7d {A DIME A DOZEN}* - {D(ay) IN A ZONE MEDIA}*
9d RALLYING C(R)Y
13d AT|ONE|MEN|T_ - [T]ake
16d TWO-TIME
17d TIP|PETT_ - [PETT]y
18d SURF|ACE
19d EX|PLO(I)T
21d _TROVE_ - in[TROVE]rt
Signing off for today - Falcon
Falcon
ReplyDeleteOn 1 down you have missed a rather small but important space between the A and the PE in my explanation. PE is the abbreviation for Physical Education, or drill in the (military) sense of to exercise by repeated practice.
Blogs for later puzzles usually explain abbreviations more precisely.
Thanks, Big Dave,
ReplyDeleteIt sure looks like the setter succeeded in making a monkey out of me with this clue.
I'll fix my posting.
-ize and -ise: prize is only marked as a US variation in some UK dictionaries, not all. Apart from a few cases like arise, advise and surprise, both -ize and -ise are fine in English (everywhere outside the US I believe) and the choice in books and newspapers depends on house style - the Oxford University Press has gone for -ize for a long time.
ReplyDelete