Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29194 | |
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph
Tuesday, October 29, 2019 | |
Setter
Chris Lancaster (Telegraph Puzzles Editor) | |
Link to Full Review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29194] | |
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By
Mr K | |
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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Introduction
This was a "knee-bone connected to the leg-bone; leg-bone connected to the ankle-bone, ankle-bone connected to the foot-bone" situation for me. A wrong entry at 11a blocked progress at 5d which was unhelpful at 10a.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.
| Markup Conventions | |
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| Click here for further explanation and usage examples of markup conventions used on this blog. | |
Across
| 1a | One fights // with others before the French king (8) |
"king " = R [abbreviation for Rex]
In the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms*, Rex[5] (abbreviation R[5]) [Latin for king] denotes the reigning king, used following a name (e.g. Georgius Rex, King George — often shortened to GR) or in the titles of lawsuits (e.g. Rex v. Jones, the Crown versus Jones — often shortened to R. v. Jones).
* A Commonwealth realm[7] is a sovereign state that is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and shares the same person, currently Elizabeth II, as its head of state and reigning constitutional monarch, but retains a crown legally distinct from the other realms. There are currently sixteen Commonwealth realms, the largest being Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom with the remainder being smaller Caribbean and Pacific island nations.
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In the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms*, Rex[5] (abbreviation R[5]) [Latin for king] denotes the reigning king, used following a name (e.g. Georgius Rex, King George — often shortened to GR) or in the titles of lawsuits (e.g. Rex v. Jones, the Crown versus Jones — often shortened to R. v. Jones).
* A Commonwealth realm[7] is a sovereign state that is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and shares the same person, currently Elizabeth II, as its head of state and reigning constitutional monarch, but retains a crown legally distinct from the other realms. There are currently sixteen Commonwealth realms, the largest being Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom with the remainder being smaller Caribbean and Pacific island nations.
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| 6a | See // live bear (6) |
| 9a | Fake article /for/ priest (6) |
A shaman[5] is a person regarded as having access to, and influence in, the world of good and evil spirits, especially among some peoples of northern Asia and North America. Typically such people enter a trance state during a ritual, and practise divination and healing.
| 10a | First-class // flier will get base to replace American (8) |
In mathematics, e[5] is the transcendental* number that is the base of Napierian or natural logarithms, approximately equal to 2.71828.
* A transcendental number[5] is a number such as e or π that is real but not a root of an algebraic equation with rational coefficients.
Post Mortem
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| To my detriment, I became totally fixated on the last five letters of the solution being -PLANE. |
| 11a | Complaint covers Bill, a British // rover (8) |
In Crosswordland, a complaint is usually medical in nature.
Post Mortem
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| I initially bunged in VAGABOND (which matches all but the final checking letter) but, of course, could not parse it. However, its presence in the grid stymied my efforts at 5d. |
| 12a | Chaos /from/ PM on edge (6) |
Theresa May[7] is a British Conservative stateswoman who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. May resigned amid the Brexit turmoil in the UK on July 24, 2019 — approximately three months prior to the appearance of this puzzle in The Daily Telegraph.
| 13a | With five kicked out, criminal evicts no-hoper // from two places (12) |
| 16a | Something to sit on /in/ Midlands town? (12) |
The Midlands[10] denotes the central counties of England, including Warwickshire, Northamptonshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Staffordshire, the former West Midlands metropolitan county, and Worcestershire. This economy of this region is characterized by manufacturing industries.
Chesterfield[5] is a town in Derbyshire, north central England.
| 19a | Climb // a post, reportedly (6) |
| 21a | Worn out item of clothing? (8) |
| 23a | Big talkers // blasted band wearing hairpieces (8) |
| 24a | Brings into play // authorities shorn of power (6) |
| 25a | In front of Parisian street, nut translated: // 'Like a pork pie?' (6) |
The French word for 'street' is rue[8].
Pork pie[10] (also porky) is mainly British and Australian slang* for a lie [in the sense of an untruth].
Rhyming Slang
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| This expression is an example of rhyming slang[5]
(ofter referred to as cockney rhyming slang), 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. In the same manner, porky — shortened from pork pie — is rhyming slang for lie. While one usually sees only the shortened form of rhyming slang, the definition above does specify "typically with the rhyming element omitted". Pork pie seems to be one of those cases where both the full expression and the shortened version are used. |
| 26a | Heartless mum accepting kind help /for/ farm worker (8) |
Down
| 2d | Moving here, a tourist finally /can be/ warm again (6) |
| 3d | Has a moan about // island state (5) |
Samoa[5]
is a country consisting of the western islands of Samoa*.
* Samoa is a group of islands in Polynesia, divided between American Samoa and the state of Samoa (show more ).
First visited by the Dutch in the early 18th century, the islands were divided administratively in 1899 into American Samoa in the east and German Samoa in the west. After the First World War the nine western islands were mandated to New Zealand, and became an independent republic within the Commonwealth in 1962, as Western Samoa. The country became known as Samoa in 1997.
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* Samoa is a group of islands in Polynesia, divided between American Samoa and the state of Samoa (show more ).
First visited by the Dutch in the early 18th century, the islands were divided administratively in 1899 into American Samoa in the east and German Samoa in the west. After the First World War the nine western islands were mandated to New Zealand, and became an independent republic within the Commonwealth in 1962, as Western Samoa. The country became known as Samoa in 1997.
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| 4d | Revolutionary high point of a capital visit? (6,3) |
The London Eye[5] is a large ferris wheel located on the south bank of the River Thames in London; erected in 1999. Height: 135 m (443 ft).
| 5d | Old compiler, right to rise to the top /for/ award (7) |
"Old " = O [linguistics]
In linguistics, O[12] is the abbreviation for Old ⇒ (i)
However, a second entry from this same source shows o (lower case) meaning old (not capitalized) suggesting that the use of this abbreviation may not necessarily be confined to the field of linguistics.
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In linguistics, O[12] is the abbreviation for Old ⇒ (i)
OFr[Old French]; (ii)
OE[Old English].
However, a second entry from this same source shows o (lower case) meaning old (not capitalized) suggesting that the use of this abbreviation may not necessarily be confined to the field of linguistics.
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A rosette[5] is a rose-shaped decoration, typically made of ribbon, worn by supporters of a sports team or political party or awarded as a prize ⇒
the showjumping rosettes Samantha had accumulated.
Off on a Tangent
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 In Britain, it is a common practice to wear a rosette to show one's allegiance to a sports team or political party. Illustrated (appropriately arranged left to right) are rosettes supporting three UK political parties: Labour, Liberal Democrats, and Conservatives. |
Post Mortem
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| Having VAGABOND at 11a caused much grief here. Once I had finally resolved that error, I fear I failed to apply sufficient effort here before throwing in the towel. |
| 6d | Smile crossing river /to find/ swimmer (5) |
The bream[5] (Abramis brama) is a greenish-bronze deep-bodied freshwater fish native to Europe.
| 7d | Trees covered by traditional Christmas decoration? // Lots of stars here! (9) |
| 8d | Spice Girl seen in band? // This could be sexy (8) |
English pop singer-songwriter Geri Halliwell[7] came to international prominence in the 1990s as Ginger Spice, a member of the successful girl group the Spice Girls.
| 13d | One might keep stocking up (9) |
Here and There
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| Before tackling this clue, it is important to understand that, in Britain, suspenders[5] hold up stockings rather than trousers. The accessory that North Americans call suspenders is known in the UK as braces[5].The accessory that North Americans call garters[5]is known in the UK as suspenders. To the Brits, a garter is a band, usually of elastic, worn round the arm or leg to hold up a shirtsleeve, sock, or stocking. Suspenders may attach either to a decorative belt worn around the waist or to a garter worn around the leg (as illustrated below). | |||||
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| For the male counterpart, see the photo in Mr K's review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog. | |||||
| 14d | Item male composed // bit by bit (9) |
| 15d | He paints bad // actor (8) |
| 17d | Force almost recycled // rubbish (7) |
| 18d | Drink -- // the compiler's fix, we hear (3,3) |
"the compiler's " = MY
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, (the or this) speaker, (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 placing "the compiler" in a possessive context.
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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, (the or this) speaker, (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 placing "the compiler" in a possessive context.
hide
A mai tai[5] is a cocktail based on light rum, curaçao, and fruit juices.
| 20d | Cover // talk hosted by journalist on the way up (5) |
| 22d | European blocks stuff /that's/ the best (5) |
"European " = E [as in E-number]
E[1,2] is the abbreviation for European (as in E number*).
* An E number[1,4,10,14] (or E-number[2,5]) is any of various identification codes required by EU law, consisting of the letter E (for European) followed by a number, that are used to denote food additives such as colourings and preservatives (but excluding flavourings) that have been approved by the European Union.
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E[1,2] is the abbreviation for European (as in E number*).
* An E number[1,4,10,14] (or E-number[2,5]) is any of various identification codes required by EU law, consisting of the letter E (for European) followed by a number, that are used to denote food additives such as colourings and preservatives (but excluding flavourings) that have been approved by the European Union.
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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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