Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29161 | |
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph
Friday, September 20, 2019 | |
Setter
Giovanni (Don Manley) | |
Link to Full Review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29161] | |
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By
Deep Threat | |
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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This puzzle appears on the Friday Diversions page in the Thursday, April 9, 2020 edition of the National Post.
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Introduction
Today we have a puzzle from Giovanni with several nice cryptic definitions — a style of clue of which I am rather fond. Oh, I do miss Rufus.I invite you to leave a comment to let us know how you fared with the puzzle.
Abbreviations — Part VI
Today's abbreviations come from playing cards which give us C(lubs), D(iamonds), H(earts), S(pades), A(ce), K(ing), Q(ueen), and J(ack).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.
| Markup Conventions | |
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| Click here for further explanation and usage examples of markup conventions used on this blog. | |
Across
| 1a & 22d | Sailor, // a bod cavorting with Balinese dame (4-6,6) |
In the Royal Navy, according to Lexico (Oxford Dictionary of English), able seaman[5] (abbreviation AB[5]), is a rank of sailor above ordinary seaman and below leading seaman. On the other hand, Collins English Dictionary tells us that an able seaman[10] (also called able-bodied seaman) is an ordinary seaman, especially one in the merchant navy, who has been trained in certain skills.
Here and There
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On both sides of the Atlantic, bod[3,4,11] is slang for the physical human body or build ⇒ likes brainy men who maintain a good bod(Catherine Breslin). However, in Britain, bod[3,4,11] is also slang for a person ⇒ he's a queer bod. |
| 6a | Neighbour /has/ a word suggesting doubt (4) |
| 9a | Like someone apportioning blame /in/ a case? (10) |
In Latin, Greek, German, and some other languages, the accusative[5] is a case of nouns, pronouns, and adjectives which expresses the object of an action or the goal of motion.
| 10a | In Home Counties see // bush with fruit (4) |
"Home Counties " = SE
The Home Counties[5] are the counties surrounding London in the south-east (SE) part of England, into which London has extended. They comprise chiefly Essex, Kent, Surrey, and Hertfordshire.
No exact definition of the term exists and the composition of the Home Counties remains a matter of debate. While Oxford Dictionaries restrictively lists them as being chiefly Essex, Kent, Surrey, and Hertfordshire, Wikipedia tells us that the Home Counties[7] are generally considered to include these four plus Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Sussex (although Sussex does not border London).
Other counties more distant from London, such as Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Dorset, Hampshire and Oxfordshire are also sometimes included in the list due to their close proximity to the capital and their connection to the London regional economy.
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The Home Counties[5] are the counties surrounding London in the south-east (SE) part of England, into which London has extended. They comprise chiefly Essex, Kent, Surrey, and Hertfordshire.
No exact definition of the term exists and the composition of the Home Counties remains a matter of debate. While Oxford Dictionaries restrictively lists them as being chiefly Essex, Kent, Surrey, and Hertfordshire, Wikipedia tells us that the Home Counties[7] are generally considered to include these four plus Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Sussex (although Sussex does not border London).
Other counties more distant from London, such as Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Dorset, Hampshire and Oxfordshire are also sometimes included in the list due to their close proximity to the capital and their connection to the London regional economy.
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Sloe[5] is:
- another name for the blackthorn[5], a thorny Eurasian shrub (Prunus spinosa) which bears white flowers before the leaves appear
- the name of the small bluish-black fruit of this plant, with a sharp sour taste
| 12a &24a | Boy, I rage -- funny // cartoon character (4,4) |
Yogi Bear[7] is an anthropomorphic funny animal cartoon character, created by Hanna-Barbera Productions, who has appeared in numerous comic books, animated television shows and films. He made his debut in 1958 as a supporting character in the animated television series The Huckleberry Hound Show. Yogi became more popular than Huckleberry Hound and, in 1961, he was given his own show, The Yogi Bear Show.
Did you know?
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 Yogi was one of several Hanna-Barbera characters to have a collar. This allowed animators to keep his body static, redrawing only his head in each frame when he spoke—one of the methods used by Hanna-Barbera to cut costs by reducing the number of drawings needed for a seven-minute cartoon from around 14,000 to around 2,000. |
| 13a | Did a bunk /or/ a bed containing second prisoner start to disintegrate? (9) |
Bunk[10] (especially in the phrase do a bunk) is British slang for a hurried departure, usually under suspicious circumstances.
| 15a | Ease /with which/ yours truly gets entrance at back of US university (8) |
"US university " = MIT [Massachusetts Institute of Technology]
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology[5] (abbreviation MIT) is a US institute of higher education, famous for scientific and technical research, founded in 1861 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
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The Massachusetts Institute of Technology[5] (abbreviation MIT) is a US institute of higher education, famous for scientific and technical research, founded in 1861 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
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| 16a | Sign of disgrace /of/ character in dump with mother (6) |
Stig of the Dump[7] is a children's novel by English author Clive King (1924–2018), first published in the United Kingdom in 1963. It is regarded as a modern children's classic and is often read in schools.
| 18a | Man /of/ darkness, according to report (6) |
A chessman[5] [or informally man[5]] is a solid figure used as a chess piece ⇒
Mr Kravchuk, who prides himself on his chess-playing prowess, did not give up his man easily.
| 20a | Hand out // everything old -- make provision, running short (8) |
| 23a | Dishonour -- // that is what ultimately no politician should have to accept (9) |
"politician " = TORY
A Tory[10] is a member or supporter of the Conservative Party in Great Britain [or, for that matter, in Canada].
The abbreviation for Conservative may be either C.[10] or Con.[10].
Historically, a Tory[10] was a member of the English political party that opposed the exclusion of James, Duke of York from the royal succession (1679–80). Tory remained the label for subsequent major conservative interests until they gave birth to the Conservative Party in the 1830s.
The Conservative Party[5] is a a major British political party that emerged from the old Tory Party under Sir Robert Peel in the 1830s and 1840s. Since the Second World War, it has been in power 1951–64, 1970-74, and 1979–97. It governed in a coalition with the Liberal Democrats from 2010 until the general election of May 2015, in which it was returned with a majority.
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A Tory[10] is a member or supporter of the Conservative Party in Great Britain [or, for that matter, in Canada].
The abbreviation for Conservative may be either C.[10] or Con.[10].
Historically, a Tory[10] was a member of the English political party that opposed the exclusion of James, Duke of York from the royal succession (1679–80). Tory remained the label for subsequent major conservative interests until they gave birth to the Conservative Party in the 1830s.
The Conservative Party[5] is a a major British political party that emerged from the old Tory Party under Sir Robert Peel in the 1830s and 1840s. Since the Second World War, it has been in power 1951–64, 1970-74, and 1979–97. It governed in a coalition with the Liberal Democrats from 2010 until the general election of May 2015, in which it was returned with a majority.
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| 24a | See 12 Across |
| 26a | Dotty // lady who sings (4) |
Dotty[5,10] is an informal British[5] or mainly British[10] term meaning eccentric or slightly crazy or mad ⇒
a dotty old lady.
Gaga[5] is used in the sense of no longer in possession of all one's mental faculties, especially on account of old age ⇒ (i)
I want to write my memoirs before I go too gaga; (ii)
how many raves can you go to without ending up completely gaga?.
Lady Gaga[7] is the professional name of American singer, songwriter, and actress Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta.
| 27a | This person's terribly emotional, not the first /to be/ burning? (10) |
| 28a | Emperor /and/ Queen in negative response (4) |
"Queen " = ER [regnal cipher of Queen Elizabeth]
Nero[5] (AD 37-68) was Roman emperor 54-68; full name Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus. Infamous for his cruelty, he wantonly executed leading Romans. His reign witnessed a fire which destroyed half of Rome in 64.
| 29a | At home with fellow drinking wine, I /will offer/ something in the kitchen? (10) |
Down
| 1d | Horse // takes bit off the end of a smaller creature (4) |
An Arab[5] is a horse of a breed originating in Arabia, with a distinctive high-set tail.
| 2d | Key operation for bosses wanting to keep control? (7) |
Cryptic definition of management-initiated action in a labour dispute.
| 3d | Swimmer // requesting silence when there's clamour around (7,5) |
The basking shark[5] (Cetorhinus maximus) is a large shark which feeds exclusively on plankton and typically swims slowly close to the surface, found chiefly in the open ocean.
| 4d | Takes away // pamphlets after editor's become upset (8) |
| 5d | New love oddly denied -- is husband // mischievous? (6) |
| 7d | /See/ aggressive male do good -- // man of courage? (7) |
Because the setter has chosen to use an inverted syntax in this clue, the link word 'see' (that would normally appear in the middle of the clue) finds itself at the beginning of the clue instead.
| 8d | Get nowhere fast in current circumstances? (5,5) |
A cryptic definition of someone not making progress in flowing water.
| 11d | Sort of panel // to exercise authority over directors (7,5) |
| 14d | One's been recently fired for criminal activity? (7,3) |
A cryptic definition of evidence that a crime has been committed.
| 17d | Sports person outside game /as/ one watching the drama (8) |
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| Go is played on a grid of black lines |
| (usually 19×19). Game pieces, called stones, |
| are played on the lines' intersections. |
From China the game spread, first to Korea and Japan, and eventually worldwide. Despite its relatively simple rules, Go is very complex. Compared to chess, Go has both a larger board with more scope for play and longer games, and, on average, many more alternatives to consider per move. In a simple and anecdotal way of explaining the rules of Go, a teacher simply says to a student "you may place your stone (playing piece) on any point on the board, but if I surround that stone, I may remove it." The name Go is derived from the Japanese name of the game "igo".
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| 19d | One or two maybe? (7) |
... or three, or four, or five, ...
| 21d | Virginia tucked into a cereal, // wanting too much (7) |
| 22d | See 1 Across |
| 25d | Bird /in/ bit of wood? (4) |
I only learned of the existence of this bird recently; now it seems to be showing up everywhere.
The knot[10] (Calidris canutus) is a small northern sandpiper with a short bill and grey plumage.
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 Advanced 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)
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