Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29220 | |
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph
Thursday, November 28 2019 | |
Setter
proXimal (Steve Bartlett) | |
Link to Full Review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29220] | |
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
Early on I recognized that this was likely a proXimal Xless near-pangram and actually tracked the letters until only J was left unused and a handful of clues in the southeast corner remained to be solved.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 | Give lots of time /for/ courses (8) |
| 5a | Bags containing new // crisps, perhaps (6) |
Crisps[2] (also called potato crisps) is the British name for potato chips*, thin deep-fried slices of potato, usually flavoured and sold in packets as a snack.
* In the UK, chips[2] are strips of deep-fried potato, similar to but usually shorter and thicker than French fries[2].
| 9a | Tike hints about /being/ playful (9) |
| 11a | Soup/'s/ good! Idiot ignoring starter (5) |
In Cajun cooking, gumbo[5] (North American) is a spicy chicken or seafood soup thickened typically with okra or rice.
| 12a | Fine // knight pointed projectile (6) |
"knight " = N [chess notation]
A knight[5] is a chess piece, typically with its top shaped like a horse’s head, that moves by jumping to the opposite corner of a rectangle two squares by three. Each player starts the game with two knights.
N[5] is the abbreviation for knight used in recording moves in chess [representing the pronunciation of kn-, since the initial letter k- represents 'king'].
As an aside, it is interesting to note that the Chambers 21st Century Dictionary defines:
On the other hand, both The Chambers Dictionary and the Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary list K or K.[1,11] as an abbreviation for knight without specifying the specific context in which this abbreviation is used. However, the context may well be in an honours list rather than in a game of chess. In the UK, for instance, KBE[5] stands for Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
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A knight[5] is a chess piece, typically with its top shaped like a horse’s head, that moves by jumping to the opposite corner of a rectangle two squares by three. Each player starts the game with two knights.
N[5] is the abbreviation for knight used in recording moves in chess [representing the pronunciation of kn-, since the initial letter k- represents 'king'].
As an aside, it is interesting to note that the Chambers 21st Century Dictionary defines:
- K[2] as an abbreviation used in chess for knight.
- K[2] is a symbol used in chess to represent a king.
- N[2] is a symbol used in chess to represent a knight.
On the other hand, both The Chambers Dictionary and the Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary list K or K.[1,11] as an abbreviation for knight without specifying the specific context in which this abbreviation is used. However, the context may well be in an honours list rather than in a game of chess. In the UK, for instance, KBE[5] stands for Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
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| 13a | Dancing /in/ Disney animation? (8) |
Walt Disney[5] (1901–1966) was an American animator and film producer. (show more )
He made his name with the creation of cartoon characters such as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, and Pluto. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) was the first full-length cartoon feature film with sound and colour. Other notable films: Pinocchio (1940), Dumbo (1941), and Bambi (1942).
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He made his name with the creation of cartoon characters such as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, and Pluto. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) was the first full-length cartoon feature film with sound and colour. Other notable films: Pinocchio (1940), Dumbo (1941), and Bambi (1942).
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Zing[11] is used in the sense of vitality, animation, or zest.
| 15a | They might get close /for/ old-school computer game (5,8) |
A double definition; the first an allusion to violators of social distancing boundaries*.
* A term that likely didn't even exist when this puzzle appeared in the UK back in November.
Space Invaders[7] is a 1978 arcade game in which the goal is to defeat wave after wave of descending aliens with a horizontally moving laser to earn as many points as possible. The game was subsequently ported to gaming consoles and other platforms. On an inflation-adjusted basis, Space Invaders is the highest-grossing video game of all time.
| 18a | Denizen of rocky shores or beach (9,4) |
The entire clue is a precise definition in which wordplay* is embedded. The portion of the clue with the double underline serves not only as the wordplay but doubles as part of the definition.
* an anagram (rocky) of SHORES OR BEACH
The horseshoe crab[5] is a large marine arthropod with a domed horseshoe-shaped shell, a long tail spine, and ten legs, little changed since the Devonian.
| 22a | Tick found around very big desert /is/ bloodsucker (8) |
Tick[5] is an informal British term for a moment ⇒ (i)
I shan’t be a tick; (ii)
I’ll be with you in a tick.
Mo (abbreviation for moment) is an informal term* for a short period of time ⇒
hang on a mo!.
| 23a | Roughly, allowance /is/ split (6) |
| 26a | Experienced // person that's horrible must retire (5) |
| 27a | Nightingale, perhaps, // tires from flying (9) |
Florence Nightingale[5,7] (1820–1910) was an English nurse and medical reformer who is regarded as the
founder of modern nursing. (show more )
In 1854, during the Crimean War, she improved sanitation and medical procedures at the army hospital at Scutari, achieving a dramatic reduction in the mortality rate. She was known as "The Lady with the Lamp" after her habit of making rounds at night.
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In 1854, during the Crimean War, she improved sanitation and medical procedures at the army hospital at Scutari, achieving a dramatic reduction in the mortality rate. She was known as "The Lady with the Lamp" after her habit of making rounds at night.
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| 28a | Oddly, thugs use leek /in/ fight (6) |
| 29a | Worry about nothing ancient // predicted (8) |
Down
| 1d | Dog // exercise class -- family pet seen regularly (8) |
| 2d | Rodent is climbing // instrument (5) |
The sitar[5] is a large, long-necked Indian lute with movable frets, played with a wire pick.
| 3d | Area people raised with single // plant (7) |
An anemone[5] is a plant of the buttercup family which typically has brightly coloured flowers and deeply divided leaves.
| 4d | Impressive // characters in winkle-pickers (4) |
Scratching the Surface
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| Winkle-picker[5]
is an informal British term for a shoe with a long pointed toe*, popular in the 1950s. * A picture of pair of these shoes is included pommer's review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog. I wonder if this style of shoe might be revived today as a means to ensure social distancing. I had supposed that a winkle-picker might be someone who harvested winkles[5], a type of shellfish*. Winkle[5] is also a child's term for a penis — but it is probably best not to pursue the possibilities that avenue of exploration might expose. |
| 6d | Near match /for/ garment (7) |
North Americans might see "match" and "tie" to be synonymous as verbs meaning 'to equal' as in
In his final run, the driver was able to match the best time posted so far in the competition.However, Brits are almost certainly going to interpret the clue in a different light.
Tie[5] is a British term meaning a sports match between two or more players or teams in which the winners proceed to the next round of the competition ⇒
Swindon Town have gained themselves a third round tie* against Oldham.
* This does not mean — as a North American might suppose — that Swindon Town and Oldham played to a draw in the third round. Rather, it means that Swindon Town defeated their opponent in the second round and will move on to face Oldham in the third round.
| 7d | Foreign minister, // male admitted to racism so stupidly (9) |
"Foreign minister" cryptially alludes to a minister in a foreign government.
A commissar[5] was a head of a government department in the former Soviet Union before 1946.
* In recent times, a commissar[5] is an official of the Communist Party, especially in the former Soviet Union or present-day China, responsible for political education and organization ⇒
films that are passed by the political commissar.
| 8d | Small cat /is/ gloomy (6) |
Moggy is a variant spelling of moggie[5], an informal British term for a cat, typically one that does not have a pedigree or is otherwise unremarkable ⇒
I have three other cats (two moggies and one Bengal/Tonkinese cross).
| 10d | Something worrying // that man and Aztec horde, all discontented (8) |
The setter uses the phrase "all discontented" to indicate that the inner letters of the three preceding wotds are to be removed. This cryptic device is based on the whimsical logic that if disembowel means to remove one's innards, then it only stands to reason that discontent must mean to remove one's contents.
| 14d | Designer // catalogue abridged (8) |
| 16d | Sides have reconciled; // they form bonds (9) |
| 17d | Refused assent, // journalist supports article (8) |
| 19d | Travelled on horseback, hugging a French lake, /making/ circle (7) |
| 20d | Make bigger // space with lager ordered (7) |
In printing, the en[5] is a unit of measurement equal to half an em and approximately the average width of typeset characters, used especially for estimating the total amount of space a text will require.
| 21d | Charm // a smuggler with last place in boat (6) |
| 24d | First person in before noon, work // friend (5) |
| 25d | Do // answer father with love (4) |
"love " = O [nil score in tennis]
In tennis, squash, and some other sports, love[5] is a score of zero or nil ⇒
Although folk etymology has connected the word with French l'oeuf 'egg', from the resemblance in shape between an egg and a zero, the term apparently comes from the phrase play for love (i.e. the love of the game, not for money).
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In tennis, squash, and some other sports, love[5] is a score of zero or nil ⇒
love fifteen. The resemblance of a zero written as a numeral (0) to the letter O leads to the cryptic crossword convention of the word "love" being used to clue this letter.
Although folk etymology has connected the word with French l'oeuf 'egg', from the resemblance in shape between an egg and a zero, the term apparently comes from the phrase play for love (i.e. the love of the game, not for money).
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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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