Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29214 | |
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph
Thursday, November 21, 2019 | |
Setter
RayT (Ray Terrell) | |
Link to Full Review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29214] | |
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By
pommers | |
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
A RayT puzzle is virtually guaranteed to generate highly polarized comments on Big Dave's Crossword Blog — and today's offering proves to be no exception.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
| 7a | Castle I'd destroyed, /and/ fortresses (8) |
| 9a | Measures // springs without pressure (6) |
| 10a | Return of Queen with nearly perfect // material (4) |
"Queen " = ER [regnal cipher of Queen Elizabeth]
| 11a | Help // when yours truly goes after second position (10) |
| 12a | My group /showing/ bodice (6) |
Cor[5] is an informal British exclamation expressing surprise, excitement, admiration, or alarm ⇒
Cor! That‘s a beautiful black eye you’ve got!.
| 14a | Flash car saving energy // as well (8) |
"flash " = MO
Mo (abbreviation for moment) is an informal term* for a short period of time ⇒
* Identified by several British dictionaries as being a British[5,14], chiefly British[2,4], or mainly British[10] term. However, one British and two US dictionaries do not specify that it is British[1,11,12]. This meaning of the word "mo" is not found in my third US dictionary, the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language[3].
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Mo (abbreviation for moment) is an informal term* for a short period of time ⇒
hang on a mo!.
* Identified by several British dictionaries as being a British[5,14], chiefly British[2,4], or mainly British[10] term. However, one British and two US dictionaries do not specify that it is British[1,11,12]. This meaning of the word "mo" is not found in my third US dictionary, the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language[3].
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Rover[7] is a British automotive marque used between 1904 and 2005. It was launched as a bicycle maker called Rover Company in 1878, before manufacturing cars in 1904. From 1967 onward, ownership of the marque changed many times as the result of a series of corporate takeovers, mergers, a nationalisation, and de-mergers. In April 2005, Rover branded cars ceased to be produced when the MG Rover Group became insolvent.
Legally the Rover marque is now the property of Jaguar Land Rover [Land Rover being an offshoot of Rover]. Thus through an extremely complex series of corporate manipulations the "parent" is now owned by the "child".
| 15a | Merkel, perhaps // not entirely relevant (6) |
Angela Merkel[5] is a German Christian Democratic Union stateswoman, Chancellor of Germany since 2005.
| 17a | Appetite // about left one's husband (6) |
| 20a | 'Abdabs', in theory, partly due to this? (8) |
The entire clue is the definition in which the wordplay is embedded. The portion of the clue with the double underline is both the wordplay as well as part of the definition.
Abdabs[5] (also habdabs) is an informal British expression denoting nervous anxiety or irritation ⇒
These are the nightmare scenarios that have caused me to wake with the screaming abdabs over the past month.
Absinthe[5,7,10] (also absinth) is a potent green aniseed-flavoured alcoholic drink, technically a gin, originally made with the shrub wormwood. Absinthe has often been portrayed as a dangerously addictive psychoactive drug and hallucinogen. The chemical compound thujone, which is present in the spirit in trace amounts, was blamed for its alleged harmful effects. As a result, tor most of the twentieth century, absinthe was banned in the United States and much of Europe. Recent studies have shown that absinthe's psychoactive properties have been exaggerated, apart from that of the alcohol.
| 22a | By the sound of it pinches // nerves (6) |
Nerve[5] means to brace (oneself) mentally to face a demanding situation ⇒
she nerved herself to enter the room.
Steel[5] means to mentally prepare (oneself) to do or face something difficult ⇒
his team were steeling themselves for disappointment.
| 23a | Possibly need a term embracing new // love? (10) |
| 24a | Jeer Republican // philistine (4) |
"Republican " = R [member of US political party]
A Republican[5] (abbreviation R[5] or Rep.[5]) is a member or supporter of the Republican Party[5], one of the two main US political parties*, favouring a right-wing stance, limited central government, and tough, interventionist foreign policy. It was formed in 1854 in support of the anti-slavery movement preceding the Civil War.
* the other being the Democratic Party
In the UK, republican[5] can refer to an advocate of a united Ireland but the abbreviation does not seem to apply to that usage.
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A Republican[5] (abbreviation R[5] or Rep.[5]) is a member or supporter of the Republican Party[5], one of the two main US political parties*, favouring a right-wing stance, limited central government, and tough, interventionist foreign policy. It was formed in 1854 in support of the anti-slavery movement preceding the Civil War.
* the other being the Democratic Party
In the UK, republican[5] can refer to an advocate of a united Ireland but the abbreviation does not seem to apply to that usage.
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| 25a | Confusion // finding gold in abundance (6) |
| 26a | Lunatic // charged head of Government in fact (8) |
Down
| 1d | Persistent // criminal caught by lying occasionally (8) |
| 2d | Contact accessing land line initially (4) |
The structure of this clue is sort of the flip side of what we encountered in 20a. The entire clue is the wordplay in which the definition is embedded.
Although pommers marks only the first word as the definition, I see the first four words as the definition. In a RayT initialism clue such as this, one can virtually always include everything but the initialism indicator in the definition — and sometimes even the initialism indicator itself can be included.
| 3d | Temporary housing housing a northern // resident (6) |
| 4d | Does honestly // understand (8) |
Do[5] is an informal British term meaning to swindle ⇒
a thousand pounds for one set of photos — Jacqui had been done.
True[5] (adverb) is used in a literary sense meaning truly ⇒
Hobson spoke truer than he knew.
| 5d | Crazily go insane at /seeing/ needle (10) |
| 6d | Short break precedes prompt // recovery (6) |
| 8d | Seed oddly identical to // another seed (6) |
| 13d | Chaplain, perhaps // one in Army? (10) |
I guess one could consider this to be a double definition with the first one being whimsical.
| 16d | Broadcaster is keen to poach // star (8) |
| 18d | Holy // opening to Heaven admitted (8) |
| 19d | Count // of French prison beginning to despair (6) |
Here and There
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| A North American would solve this clue by recognizing that pen as a shortened form of penitentiary, but note that this is almost certainly not the way Brits would see it. According to British dictionaries, the word penitentiary[2,5,10] in the sense of a prison is a North American term. The Brits would presumably equate PEN to "prison" simply based on pen[5] meaning any small enclosure in which someone or something can be confined. However, in his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, pommers does refer to pen as "an American slang word for prison". |
| 21d | Report on soldiers /in/ Welsh city (6) |
"soldiers " = OR [other ranks]
In the British armed forces, the term other ranks[5] (abbreviation OR[5]) refers to all those who are not commissioned officers.
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In the British armed forces, the term other ranks[5] (abbreviation OR[5]) refers to all those who are not commissioned officers.
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Bangor[7] is a cathedral city and community in Gwynedd, northwest Wales. It is the oldest city in Wales, and one of the smallest cities in the United Kingdom. Of its population of 16,358 at the 2011 census, around 10,500 were students at Bangor University.
| 22d | Instruments // from India employed by idols (6) |
"India " = I [NATO Phonetic Alphabet]
In what is commonly known as the NATO Phonetic Alphabet[7]*, India[5] is a code word representing the letter I.
* officially the International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet
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In what is commonly known as the NATO Phonetic Alphabet[7]*, India[5] is a code word representing the letter I.
* officially the International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet
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The sitar[5] is a large, long-necked Indian lute with movable frets, played with a wire pick.
| 24d | Strip /is/ reportedly censored (4) |
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)
20a Liqueur that makes the heart grow fonder? (8)
ReplyDeleteYes, but Ray S at Comment #12 on Big Dave's Crossword Blog seems to have beaten you to it (although he gets the clue number wrong). He then has to explain it to Taylor Gibson at Comment #36.
DeleteIt's a pretty old joke.
Delete