Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29223 | |
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph
Monday, December 2, 2019 | |
Setter
Campbell (Allan Scott) | |
Link to Full Review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29223] | |
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By
Kath | |
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
Bloggers often remark how reassuring it is to be able to immediately write the answer to the first clue into the grid. It is equally disheartening when the answer to the first clue is some bizarre British expression that one has not previously encountered.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 | Spiv // with detailed plan, lout recalled (4,3) |
Yob[5] (back slang* for boy) is an informal British term for a rude, noisy, and aggressive youth.
* Back slang[5] is slang in which words are spoken as though they were spelled backwards.
Spiv[5] is an informal British term for a man, typically a flashy dresser, who makes a living by disreputable dealings.
Wide boy[5] is an informal British term for a man involved in petty criminal activities.
| 5a | Publisher entertained by very French // companies (7) |
Oxford University Press[7] (abbreviation OUP) is the largest university press in the world, and the second oldest after Cambridge University Press. It is a department of the University of Oxford.
In French, très[8] is an adverb meaning 'very'.
A troupe[3] is a company or group of actors, dancers, or other performers.
| 9a | Further // bit player (5) |
| 10a | Head of family, perhaps, /could make/ protest about curtailed hearing (9) |
| 11a | Yellow River associated with unknown // disease (10) |
The Po[7] is a river that arises in the Cottian Alps and flows eastward across northern Italy entering the Adriatic Sea through a delta near Venice.
"unknown " = X [algebraic notation]
Scratching the Surface
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| The Yellow River[5] is the second largest river in China, which rises in the mountains of west central China and flows over 4,830 km (3,000 miles) in a huge semicircle before entering the gulf of Bo Hai. |
| 12a | Oscar after Henry/'s/ ring (4) |
"Oscar " = O [NATO Phonetic Alphabet]
In what is commonly known as the NATO Phonetic Alphabet[7]*, Oscar[5] is a code word representing the letter O.
* officially the International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet
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In what is commonly known as the NATO Phonetic Alphabet[7]*, Oscar[5] is a code word representing the letter O.
* officially the International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet
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Hal[nameberry] is a venerable nickname for Henry, Harry [itself a variant of Henry]* and Harold, famously used by Shakespeare in King Henry IV as the name of the king's son, the future Henry V.
* Harry was considered the "spoken form" of Henry[7] in medieval England. Most English kings named Henry were called Harry. At one time, the name was so popular for English men that the phrase "Tom, Dick, and Harry" was used to refer to everyone.
| 14a | Coming from the sea, // unexpectedly (3,2,3,4) |
| 18a | Tense, working to seal one // fault (12) |
| 21a | Attendance // good at start of event (4) |
| 22a | Writing about it, girl /becomes/ unpredictable (3-3-4) |
| 25a | Watch first batsman? // Quite something (3-6) |
In cricket, an opener[2] is either of the two* batsmen who begin the batting for their team.
* in cricket, batsmen always bat in pairs
| 26a | Tree, // thinner on top having been pollarded (5) |
| 27a | Hold back // substitute (7) |
| 28a | Ladies' group -- function we run /for/ a man on his own, perhaps (7) |
The Women's Institute[5] (abbreviation WI[5]) is an organization of women, especially in rural areas, who meet regularly and participate in crafts, cultural activities, and social work. Now worldwide, it was first set up in Ontario, Canada, in 1897, and in Britain in 1915.
* I find it rather ironic that Lexico (formerly Oxford Dictionaries Online) shows the abbreviation for this organization — founded in Canada — as being British.
"run " = R [cricket notation]
Down
| 1d | Young woman crossing river /shows/ strain (6) |
Wench[5] is an archaic or humorous term for a girl or young woman.
| 2d | Arrest // Greek character during row (6) |
Eta[5] is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet (Η, η).
| 3d | British want to protect // the blighter (10) |
Blighter[5] is an informal British term for a person who is regarded with contempt, irritation, or pity ⇒
you little blighter!.
Blackguard[5] is a dated term for a man who behaves in a dishonourable or contemptible way.
| 4d | Country/'s/ desire to have Middle East involved (5) |
| 5d | Fit to bust, tart somehow /gets/ revenge (3,3,3) |
| 6d | Fail to include // old Cambridge seat of learning (4) |
"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.
hide
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.
hide
"Cambridge seat of learning " = 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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| 7d | Easy to carry -- // piano or desk? (8) |
| 8d | Vessel // more willingly boarded by companion (8) |
"companion " = CH [Companion of Honour]
A Companion of Honour (abbreviation CH) is a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour[7], an order of the Commonwealth realms[7] founded by King George V in June 1917 as a reward for outstanding achievements in the arts, literature, music, science, politics, industry or religion.
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A Companion of Honour (abbreviation CH) is a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour[7], an order of the Commonwealth realms[7] founded by King George V in June 1917 as a reward for outstanding achievements in the arts, literature, music, science, politics, industry or religion.
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| 13d | Used // to agree with husband too (6-4) |
| 15d | Duty of Bede, I suspect, in ordinary northern church (9) |
I interpret the entire clue to be the definition in which we find embedded wordplay. The portion of the clue with the double underline is both wordplay as well as part of the definition.
"ordinary " = O [British academic qualification]
Historically, in the UK (with the exception of Scotland), O level[5] (short for ordinary level[5]) was a qualification in a specific subject formerly taken by school students aged 14-16, at a level below A (advanced) level. It was replaced in 1988 by the GCSE[5] (General Certificate of Secondary Education).
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Historically, in the UK (with the exception of Scotland), O level[5] (short for ordinary level[5]) was a qualification in a specific subject formerly taken by school students aged 14-16, at a level below A (advanced) level. It was replaced in 1988 by the GCSE[5] (General Certificate of Secondary Education).
hide
"church " = CE [Church of England]
The Church of England[10] (abbreviation CE[10]) is the reformed established state Church in England, Catholic in order and basic doctrine, with the Sovereign as its temporal head.
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The Church of England[10] (abbreviation CE[10]) is the reformed established state Church in England, Catholic in order and basic doctrine, with the Sovereign as its temporal head.
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Saint Bede[10], known as the Venerable Bede. ?673–735 AD, was an English Benedictine monk, scholar, historian, and theologian, noted for his Latin Ecclesiastical History of the English People (731). He was a member of the monastery of St. Peter and its companion monastery of St. Paul in the Kingdom of Northumbria of the Angles (contemporarily Monkwearmouth–Jarrow Abbey in Tyne and Wear*, England).
* Tyne and Wear[5] is a former metropolitan county of north-eastern England [thus Bede was definitely associated with a "northern" religious institution].
As a Benedictine monk, he would be expected to adhere to the three duties of the Benedictine vow. Since the 6th century, monks and nuns following the Rule of Saint Benedict have been making the Benedictine vow[7] at their public profession of obedience (placing oneself under the direction of the abbot/abbess or prior/prioress), stability (committing oneself to a particular monastery), and "conversion of manners" (which includes forgoing private ownership and celibate chastity).
| 16d | Man, humorist /in/ play (4,4) |
A man[5] is a figure or token used in playing a board game ⇒
Mr Kravchuk, who prides himself on his chess-playing prowess, did not give up his man easily.
Edward Lear[5] (1812–88) was an English humorist and illustrator. He wrote A Book of Nonsense (1845) and Laughable Lyrics (1877). He also published illustrations of birds and of his travels around the Mediterranean.
King Lear[7]* is a tragedy written in 1605 or 1606 by English playwright William Shakespeare (1564–1616).
* Lear[5], a legendary early king of Britain, is mentioned by the 12th century Welsh chronicler Geoffrey of Monmouth in his Historia Regum Britanniae (circa 1139; first printed in 1508), an account of the kings of Britain.
| 17d | Very clean, // unlike a leopard? (8) |
| 19d | Fungal growth, // slight on endless sheep (6) |
| 20d | One taking a lot of interest /in/ ancient city, certain to be impressed (6) |
"ancient city " = UR
Ur[5] is an ancient Sumerian city formerly on the Euphrates, in southern Iraq. It was one of the oldest cities of Mesopotamia, dating from the 4th millennium BC, and reached its zenith in the late 3rd millennium BC. Ur[7] is considered by many to be the city of Ur Kasdim mentioned in the Book of Genesis as the birthplace of the Hebrew patriarch Abraham.
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Ur[5] is an ancient Sumerian city formerly on the Euphrates, in southern Iraq. It was one of the oldest cities of Mesopotamia, dating from the 4th millennium BC, and reached its zenith in the late 3rd millennium BC. Ur[7] is considered by many to be the city of Ur Kasdim mentioned in the Book of Genesis as the birthplace of the Hebrew patriarch Abraham.
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| 23d | A quarrel about right // marker (5) |
| 24d | Box // blows over (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)
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