Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29257 | |
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph
Saturday, January 11, 2020 | |
Setter
Unknown | |
Link to Full Review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29257 – Hints]Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29257 – Review] | |
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By
Big Dave (Hints)gnomethang (Review) | |
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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Notes
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As this was a Saturday "Prize Puzzle" in Britain, there are two entries related to it on Big Dave's Crossword Blog — the first, posted on the date of publication, contains hints for selected clues while the second is a full review issued following the entry deadline for the contest. The vast majority of reader comments will generally be found attached to the "hints" posting with a minimal number — if any — accompanying the full review.
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Introduction
Many people commented on the rather wide spectrum of difficulty exhibited by the clues in this puzzle. With three clues remaining unsolved, I did throw in the towel and use a wordfinder application to identify candidate words matching my checking letters. With that help, I got the answers for two clues and with the checking letter provided by one of those, the third then became evident.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 | Mostly grumpy // character in bar (8) |
Untangling this clue requires some knowledge of British music terminology.
Here and There
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| A bar[7] (or measure) is a segment of time defined by a given number of beats, each of which are assigned a particular note value. The word bar is more common in British English, and the word measure is more common in American English, although musicians generally understand both usages. Originally, the word bar derives from the vertical lines drawn through the staff (or stave)* to mark off metrical units. While in British English, the vertical line is also known as a bar, often the term bar-line is used in order to avoid confusion between the two meanings of bar. In American English, the word bar stands for the lines and nothing else. * In standard Western musical notation[7], the staff[7], or stave, is a set of five horizontal lines and four spaces that each represent a different musical pitch—or, in the case of a percussion staff, different percussion instruments—on which a musical score is written.
For British musicians, stave[5] would seem to be the name of choice whereas in North America, staff[1,2,3,4,10,11] is likely the more commonly used term. (show more )
Both Oxford Dictionaries and Collins English Dictionary characterize stave[1,2,3,4,5,10,11] as a British term, although American dictionaries do not seem to consider this to be the case. Furthermore, most dictionaries show stave[1,2,3,4,10,11] as an alternative term for staff[1,2,3,4,10,11]. Oxford Dictionaries, on the other hand, takes a contrarian view, listing staff[5] as an alternative term for stave[5]. hide |
Crotchet[5] is a British name for a quarter note, a note having the time value of a quarter of a semibreve* or half a minim**, represented by a large solid dot with a plain stem.
| 9a | Drunk // prepared to be fired (6) |
Post Mortem
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| I got it into my head that the clue referred to an item such as pottery being fired in a kiln and that lead might be involved. |
From a British perspective, loaded[5] is an informal North American term meaning drunk [intoxicated].
| 10a | Arrived with artist // one means to produce portrait (6) |
"artist " = RA
A Royal Academician (abbreviation RA[10]) is a member of the Royal Academy of Arts[5] (also Royal Academy; abbreviation also RA[10]), an institution established in London in 1768, whose purpose is to cultivate painting, sculpture, and architecture in Britain.
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A Royal Academician (abbreviation RA[10]) is a member of the Royal Academy of Arts[5] (also Royal Academy; abbreviation also RA[10]), an institution established in London in 1768, whose purpose is to cultivate painting, sculpture, and architecture in Britain.
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| 11a | Explosive // made tiny fragments (8) |
| 12a | Outwit in front of girlfriend? // Things go off after that (4-6,4) |
Post Mortem
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| I just plain drew a blank on this one. |
Off[10] (said of food or drink) means having gone bad, sour, etc ⇒
this milk is off.
It seems that the hyphen is optional. Best-before date[10] (or best before date) is a date on packaged food indicating how long it is safe to keep it.
| 15a | Get topless // to make an impression (4) |
| 17a | Partner's issue on leaving // flight (5) |
Issue[5] is a legal term denoting children of one's own ⇒
the earl died without male issue.
| 19a | Obscure European // coin (4) |
"European " = E [as in E-number]
E[1,2] is the abbreviation for European (as in E number*).
* An E number[1,4,10,14] (or E-number[2,5]) is any of various identification codes required by EU law, consisting of the letter E (for European) followed by a number, that are used to denote food additives such as colourings and preservatives (but excluding flavourings) that have been approved by the European Union.
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E[1,2] is the abbreviation for European (as in E number*).
* An E number[1,4,10,14] (or E-number[2,5]) is any of various identification codes required by EU law, consisting of the letter E (for European) followed by a number, that are used to denote food additives such as colourings and preservatives (but excluding flavourings) that have been approved by the European Union.
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| 20a | Developing match stamina, i.e. // they work out a lot (14) |
| 23a | Fake // the compiler's advertisement (8) |
"the compiler's " = IM
It is a common cryptic crossword convention for the creator of the puzzle to use terms such as (the or this) compiler, (the or this) setter, (the or this) speaker, (this) author, (this) writer, or this person to refer to himself or herself. To solve such a clue, one must generally substitute a first person pronoun (I or ME) for whichever of these terms has been used in the clue.
Today, the setter has made the scenario slightly more complicated by combining "the compiler" with the verb "to be"* producing "the compiler's" (a contraction of "the compiler is") which must be replaced by "I'm" (a contraction of "I am").
* Although in the surface reading "the compiler's" is showing possession, in the wordplay it is interpreted as a contraction of "the compiler is".
hide
It is a common cryptic crossword convention for the creator of the puzzle to use terms such as (the or this) compiler, (the or this) setter, (the or this) speaker, (this) author, (this) writer, or this person to refer to himself or herself. To solve such a clue, one must generally substitute a first person pronoun (I or ME) for whichever of these terms has been used in the clue.
Today, the setter has made the scenario slightly more complicated by combining "the compiler" with the verb "to be"* producing "the compiler's" (a contraction of "the compiler is") which must be replaced by "I'm" (a contraction of "I am").
* Although in the surface reading "the compiler's" is showing possession, in the wordplay it is interpreted as a contraction of "the compiler is".
hide
| 25a | It arouses pity // giving power to musketeer (6) |
The Three Musketeers[7] (French: Les Trois Mousquetaires) is a historical novel written in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas (1802–1870).
Set in 1625–1628, it recounts the adventures of a young man named d'Artagnan after he leaves home to travel to Paris, to join the Musketeers of the Guard. Although d'Artagnan is not able to join this elite corps immediately, he befriends the three most formidable musketeers of the age—Athos, Porthos and Aramis—and gets involved in affairs of the state and court.
| 27a | Harmony // is found in rejection of what's unacceptable (6) |
Non-U[5] is an informal British term meaning (of language or social behaviour) not characteristic of the upper social classes or not socially acceptable to certain people ⇒
he’s always teasing her for her Cockney accent and her non-U turns of phrase.
Musical Objection
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In the thread arising from Comment # on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Fr Gr (supported by Jon from Sussex) argue that as a musician, found the answer to 27a irritatingly the opposite of the straight bit of the clue [i.e., definition]!. As a non-musician, I can't see their point. Harmony[5] is defined as the combination of simultaneously sounded musical notes to produce a pleasing effect. Surely, "simultaneously sounded" equates to "unison". Granted, the musicians may be playing different notes but they are doing so in unison, are they not? There must be something that I, in my musical ignorance, am not getting. |
| 28a | Group of horses leading lady /for/ hack (8) |
A string[5] is a group of racehorses trained at one stable ⇒
I'll be at Aintree, preparing to see one of my string of racehorses running tomorrow, before taking my helicopter back to my mansion.
"leading lady" is a reference to Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II and is being used to clue her regnal cipher "ER" (show explanation ).
A hack[5] is a writer or journalist producing dull, unoriginal work.
Stringer[5] is an informal term for a newspaper correspondent who is retained on a part-time basis to report on events in a particular place.
Scratching the Surface
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In the surface reading, hack[5] is used in the sense of a ride on a horse ⇒ Lessons continued in her 21-horse centre, but the country hacks, popular with tourists, have stopped, bringing a massive loss of business. |
Down
| 1d | Girl in West Side Story fails to start // song (4) |
Maria[7] is the leading female character in the 1957 stage play and 1961 film West Side Story.
As Big Dave alludes in his hint on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Maria is based on Shakespeare's Juliet, who falls in love with Romeo after their first encounter, just as Maria does with Tony, amid two feuding families, who are echoed by the rival gangs in West Side Story.
An aria[5] is a long accompanied song for a solo voice, typically one in an opera or oratorio.
| 2d | Give evidence // during trial (6) |
| 3d | Boss, // hard-working, having debts cancelled (4) |
A boss[5] is a stud on the centre of a shield.
| 4d | Gamble /taking/ breather during exercise (6) |
| 5d | Worker /needing/ fine body parts (4,4) |
| 6d | A warm spell centrally then storms -- // he might say that (10) |
| 8d | Makes great effort to pick up name // that's surprising! (7) |
| 13d | Strangely, men bet not to cover mass // burial (10) |
| 14d | The last one // to appear in home game (5) |
Omega[5] is used in the sense of the last in a series ⇒
That's the beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega, and there's no exceptions.
| 16d | Watering device you once put in // place to encourage plant growth (8) |
| 18d | Miss a // captain (7) |
| 21d | Current // navigator's device needs to start (6) |
A sextant[5] is an instrument with a graduated arc of 60° and a sighting mechanism, used for measuring the angular distances between objects and especially for taking altitudes in navigation and surveying.
| 22d | Mean // nurse to support home (6) |
| 24d | Shrub // sprang up (4) |
| 26d | Old soldiers // warning (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.
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Key to Reference Sources:
[1] - The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition
[2] - Search Chambers - (Chambers 21st Century Dictionary)
[3] - TheFreeDictionary.com (American Heritage Dictionary)
[4] - TheFreeDictionarycom (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)
Signing off for today — Falcon
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