Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29224 | |
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph
Tuesday, December 3, 2019 | |
Setter
Unknown | |
Link to Full Review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29224] | |
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
Today's puzzle is a pleasant diversion on a hot day. By the way, there is an interesting discussion in the comments section on Big Dave's Crossword Blog concerning the modern day desecration of the English language.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 | Criticism // for each returned fish (8) |
The roach[5] is an edible Eurasian freshwater fish of the carp family, popular with anglers.
| 5a | Charm /from/ a drug smuggler ending in airport (6) |
| 10a | Meandering bus trip gets near // city (5,10) |
Saint Petersburg[5,10] (usually abbreviated to St Petersburg) is a city and seaport in north-western Russia, situated on
the delta of the River Neva, on the eastern shores of the Gulf of Finland. (show more )
Founded in 1703 by Peter the Great, St Petersburg was the capital of Russia from 1712 until the Russian Revolution in 1918. It was the scene in February and October 1917 of the events which triggered the Revolution. During the Second World War it was subjected by German and Finnish forces to a siege which lasted for more than two years (1941–4). Formerly known as Petrograd (1914-24) and Leningrad (1924-91).
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Founded in 1703 by Peter the Great, St Petersburg was the capital of Russia from 1712 until the Russian Revolution in 1918. It was the scene in February and October 1917 of the events which triggered the Revolution. During the Second World War it was subjected by German and Finnish forces to a siege which lasted for more than two years (1941–4). Formerly known as Petrograd (1914-24) and Leningrad (1924-91).
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| 11a | Marine mammals, perhaps captured -- // one hopefully has them on board (3,4) |
| 12a | Put information into code // in French vault (7) |
In French, en[8] is a preposition denoting 'in'.
| 13a | Cooked our moist // chicken (8) |
| 15a | John's energy // unrestricted (5) |
John[5] is an informal North American term for a toilet ⇒
you have to walk across the stage to get to the john.
Loo[5] is an informal British term for a toilet [either as a room or a plumbing fixture].
| 18a | Carry out desire /for/ senior member (5) |
| 20a | Ambition to swallow stout // grew (8) |
Scratching the Surface
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| Stout[5] (noun) is a kind of strong, dark beer brewed with roasted malt or barley. |
| 23a | Make smooth, // milky coffee after following note (7) |
| 25a | Wise man following dad's // route (7) |
| 26a | Government interference // affected investment in Rio (15) |
Scratching the Surface
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| Rio de Janeiro[5] [commonly known as Rio] is a city in eastern Brazil, on the Atlantic coast. The chief port of Brazil, it was the country’s capital from 1763 until 1960, when it was replaced by Brasilia. |
| 27a | Mix up // clothing, porter possibly going topless (6) |
Porter[5] is a dark brown bitter beer brewed from malt partly charred or browned by drying at a high temperature (originally made as a drink for porters).
| 28a | Borrowers usually pay this // attention (8) |
Down
| 1d | Block // is in place (6) |
| 2d | First and foremost, // one student is behind most of school year (9) |
"student " = L [driver under instruction]
The cryptic crossword convention of L meaning learner or student arises from the L-plate[7], a square plate bearing a sans-serif letter L, for learner, which must be affixed to the front and back of a vehicle in various jurisdictions (including the UK) if its driver is a learner under instruction.
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The cryptic crossword convention of L meaning learner or student arises from the L-plate[7], a square plate bearing a sans-serif letter L, for learner, which must be affixed to the front and back of a vehicle in various jurisdictions (including the UK) if its driver is a learner under instruction.
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| Automobile displaying an L-plate |
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Primary[2] is a colloquial British term for a primary school[2] which is a school, especially a state* one, for pupils aged between 5 and 11.
* State school[5] is a British term for a school that is funded and controlled by the state and for which no fees are charged.
Plus ça change ...
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| The French have a saying, "Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose" (The more things change, the more they stay the same). That would be an accurate observation on this clue. We are instructed to remove the 'y' from the end of 'primary' ("most of school") only to replace it with another 'y' ("year"). |
| 3d | Busy // during month, e.g. October (2,3,2) |
| 4d | Mate finishes this // chapter -- he's succeeded (5) |
In chess, mate[5] is short for checkmate as either a noun or a verb. As a noun, checkmate[5] is a position in which a player’s king is directly attacked by an opponent’s piece or pawn and has no possible move to escape the check. The attacking player thus wins the game. As a verb, checkmate[5] means to put (an opponent) into checkmate.
| 6d | Doctor is calm about uranium? // Pleasing to hear (7) |
| 7d | Pants // initially large -- one usually selects Y-fronts (5) |
Pants[5] is an informal British term meaning rubbish or nonsense ⇒ (i)
It's not art - it's pants.; (ii)
I thought I'd give it a go. Unfortunately, I'd not looked at the opinions of others..........boy, do I wish I had! It's pants. It really is a poor programme.
Scratching the Surface
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| In
Britain, the word pants[5] does not mean trousers* as it does in North America. Rather, it refers to underwear — specifically men's undershorts or women's panties (the latter otherwise known as knickers[5]
to the Brits). * Then again, this may not have always been the case or may not be true in all parts of the UK as evidenced by the following observation made by Lincoln Latic in a comment on my review of DT 28909 on Big Dave's Crossword Blog: I didn’t see this [pants used as a synonym for trousers] as an Americanism. I grew up in the northwest of England (before the big influx of Americanisms into the language) and ‘pants’ was the usual term for trousers. You had short pants as a real youngster then progressed into long pants as you got older which for most of us was when you were nearly at the end of primary school probably around aged 9 or 10. What most people consider ‘pants’ refers to now, were called underpants because they went under your pants. Y-fronts[5] is a British trademark for men’s or boys' underpants with a branching seam at the front in the shape of an upside-down Y. |
| 8d | Turn over and seize the woman // at the same time (8) |
TO[2] is the abbreviation for turn over*.
* In Comment #12 on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Rabbit Dave describes this as the "impolite version" of PTO[5] (abbreviation for please turn over), a notation written at the foot of a page in British publications to indicate that the text continues on the reverse.
| 9d | Show welcoming resistance with Boris's last // U-turn (8) |
"resistance " = R [symbol used in physics]
Scratching the Surface
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| Boris Johnson[7] is a British politician, author, and former journalist who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party since 2019. |
| 14d | Alder -- one exotic // shrub (8) |
Oleander[5] is a poisonous evergreen Old World shrub grown in warm countries for its clusters of white, pink, or red flowers.
| 16d | I have to support Aida, say -- tense // worker (9) |
Aida[7] is an opera by Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901). Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it premièred in Cairo in 1871,
| 17d | Improving // English and longing to ring one female (8) |
Edify[5] means to instruct or improve (someone) morally or intellectually.
| 19d | Sun to rise on river? /That's/ normal (7) |
The Ural River[5] is a river, 1,575 miles (2,534 km) long, that rises at the southern end of the Ural Mountains in western Russia and flows through western Kazakhstan to the Caspian Sea at Atyraū.
| 21d | Royal Engineers with shop // to repair (7) |
"Royal Engineers " = RE [Royal Engineers]
The Corps of Royal Engineers[7], usually just called the Royal Engineers (abbreviation RE), and commonly known as the Sappers[7], is a corps of the British Army that provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces.
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The Corps of Royal Engineers[7], usually just called the Royal Engineers (abbreviation RE), and commonly known as the Sappers[7], is a corps of the British Army that provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces.
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| 22d | Acknowledge // what one could do to hair (6) |
| 24d | Change // voice briefly in front of the Queen (5) |
"the Queen " = ER [regnal cipher of Queen Elizabeth]
| 25d | Physical training outside university feasible /for/ don (3,2) |
PT[10] is the abbreviation for physical training[10], an old-fashioned term for training and practice in sports, gymnastics, etc, as in schools and colleges.
Scratching the Surface
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| In the surface reading, don[10] is used in the sense of a member of the teaching staff at a university or college, especially at Oxford or Cambridge. |
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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