Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29199 | |
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph
Monday, November 4, 2019 | |
Setter
Campbell (Allan Scott) | |
Link to Full Review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29199] | |
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By
Miffypops | |
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
I found the puzzle to be a bit more challenging than the typical "Monday" fare (Monday being the day of the week on which it appeared in the UK).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 | Close to centre, // from memory (2,5) |
| 5a | An object enthralling male /in/ a Disney location (7) |
The Disneyland Resort[7], commonly known as Disneyland, is an entertainment resort in Anaheim, California owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company. It is home to two theme parks (Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure), three hotels, and a shopping, dining, and entertainment complex known as Downtown Disney.
| 9a | Vignette /of/ eccentric with small sailing boat (9,6) |
A ketch[5] is a two-masted, fore-and-aft rigged sailing boat with a mizzenmast stepped forward of the rudder and smaller than its foremast.
| 10a | List of competitors /in/ lobby (5) |
In the first definition, entry[5] is used in the sense of the number of competitors in a particular race or competition ⇒
another large international entry is anticipated for this year's event.
| 11a | Scamp with fruitcake, /and/ something else to eat (6,3) |
Monkey nut[5] is a British name for a peanut ⇒
A man protesting against student debt has completed the stunt of rolling a monkey nut seven miles to Downing Street using only his nose.
| 12a | Cover a wider area -- // might that be suggested by padres? (6,3) |
The structure of this clue is what a mathematician would call an inverse transformation. Whereas an anagram is a transformation in which the anagram indicator and anagram fodder are found in the wordplay and the result of the transformation appears in the solution, here we are presented with the inverse of that scenario in which the solution (SPREAD OUT) could be interpreted as an anagram (out) of SPREAD producing the result PADRES which is given to us in the wordplay.
| 14a | Theatre // scene (5) |
In the first definition, I initially thought that the setter might be using theatre[5] in the sense of the area in which something happens ⇒
a new theatre of war has been opened up. However, as this would be synonymous with the second definition, I must conclude that, in the first definition, theatre and arena are being used in the sense of entertainment venues.
In the second definition, arena[5] is used in the sense of a place or scene of activity, debate, or conflict ⇒
he has re-entered the political arena.
| 15a | Conscious /of/ a conflict close to home (5) |
| 16a | Emblem /in/ house, mounted (5,4) |
The House of Tudor[5] was the English royal dynasty which held the throne from the accession of Henry VII in 1485 until the death of Elizabeth I in 1603.
The rose is the national flower of England[7], a usage dating back to the English civil wars of the fifteenth century (later called Wars of the Roses), in which a red rose represented the House of Lancaster, and a white rose represented the House of York. The Tudor dynasty created the Tudor rose, which united both the white and the red roses incorporating design elements from both.
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| 18a | Result of bumpkin being caught by a belt? (1,5,3) |
The entire clue is a cryptic definition which contains embedded wordplay (the portion of the clue with the double underline indicating that it is not only wordplay but also forms part of the definition).
The clue cryptically specifies that we are looking for the result of a bumpkin (or anyone else, for that matter) being caught by a belt or blow to the side of the head.
In the wordplay, belt[5] is used as a verb in the sense of to rush or dash in a specified direction.
| 21a | Floor /of/ drain in need of repair (5) |
Nadir[5] is the lowest or most unsuccessful point in a situation ⇒
asking that question was the nadir of my career.
| 22a | Where bandits are likely to take your money? (9,6) |
One-armed bandit is an informal term for a slot machine.
| 23a | What climber may need // to carry crossing face of Eiger (7) |
Scratching the Surface
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| Eiger[5] is a mountain peak in the Bernese Alps of Switzerland, which rises to 3,970 m (13,101 ft). |
| 24a | Irregular soldiers tense? // A bit (7) |
Down
| 1d | Large amount /in/ pails (7) |
| 2d | Play // organ before holiday audience (10,5) |
Here and There
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The British use the word holiday(s) for what North Americans would call vacation[5]. (read more )
Holiday[5,10] (often holidays) is a chiefly British term for a period in which a break is taken from work or studies for rest, travel, or recreation ⇒ (i) I spent my summer holidays on a farm; (ii) Fred was on holiday in Spain. According to British dictionaries, the usual US and Canadian term for such a break is vacation. However, I am accustomed to hearing the two terms used almost interchangeably in this sense — in much the same manner that I would use fall and autumn interchangeably. This may not be the case in all parts of Canada, but I grew up in the Maritimes and have lived in Eastern Ontario for most of my life, both areas where British influence is particularly strong. In Britain, the word vacation[5] has a very specific meaning, a fixed holiday period between terms in universities and law courts ⇒ the Easter vacation. In North America, such a period might be called a break[7]. hide |
Heartbreak House[7] is a play* written by Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw, first published in 1919 and first performed in 1920.
* The title, in full, is Heartbreak House: A Fantasia in the Russian Manner on English Themes. The "Russian manner" of the subtitle refers to the style of Anton Chekhov, which Shaw adapts.
Different time, different place, same situation?
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| According to A. C. Ward in his introduction and notes to a 1961 edition of the play, the work argues that "cultured, leisured Europe" was drifting toward destruction, and that "Those in a position to guide Europe to safety failed to learn their proper business of political navigation". |
| 3d | Scoffed about a new tray, new // if nothing else (2,3,4) |
| 4d | Symbol, // from time to time, put up (5) |
| 5d | Football team in Scotland // are untidy, in disarray (3,6) |
Ayr United Football Club[7] are a football [soccer] club in Ayr, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League.
| 6d | Cause anger blowing top /in/ joint (5) |
| 7d | Informal alliance // Alec entered into unwisely (7,8) |
An entente cordiale[10] is a friendly understanding between political powers that is less formal than an alliance.
| 8d | Mother holding headgear /for/ religious sage (7) |
Mahatma[5] is a South Asian term for a revered person regarded with love and respect; a holy person or sage.
| 13d | Recovering, // continuously injecting them (2,3,4) |
| 14d | High priest's staff /producing/ novel (6,3) |
In the Bible, Aaron[5] was the brother of Moses and traditional founder of the Jewish priesthood (Exodus 28:1).
Aaron's Rod[7] is a novel by English writer D. H. Lawrence published in 1922.
| 15d | Inflexible, // a guy surrounded by detailed facts and figures (7) |
| 17d | Intensely serious // article penned by Hemingway, perhaps (7) |
Ernest Hemingway[5] (1899–1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist (show more ).
Hemingway achieved success with The Sun Also Rises (1926), which reflected the disillusionment of the post-war ‘lost generation’. Other notable works: A Farewell to Arms (1929), For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940), and The Old Man and the Sea (1952, Pulitzer Prize 1953). He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954.
hide
Hemingway achieved success with The Sun Also Rises (1926), which reflected the disillusionment of the post-war ‘lost generation’. Other notable works: A Farewell to Arms (1929), For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940), and The Old Man and the Sea (1952, Pulitzer Prize 1953). He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954.
hide
| 19d | Cardinal, say, breaking firm // set of beliefs (5) |
| 20d | Proportion /of/ allowance reduced (5) |
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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