Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29248 | |
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph
Wednesday, January 1, 2020 | |
Setter
Jay (Jeremy Mutch) | |
Link to Full Review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29248] | |
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By
2Kiwis
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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
An especially easy puzzle that was published in the UK on January 1, 2020 — possibly catering to solvers enduring the morning after the night before (as might be inferred from clues such as 22a and 24a). In addition to those clues, 1a and the 13a/15a pair also bear relevance to the date of publication.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 | Answer by soldiers /must be/ commitment (10) |
"soldiers " = 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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| 6a | Type of knot // that poses a danger to shipping? (4) |
Read the second definition as "that [which] poses a danger to shipping" or "[something] that poses a danger to shipping".
| 10a | Character /of/ small time politician stifling answer (5) |
| 11a | Ready to change and go /for/ a ticket like this (3,6) |
Day return[5] is a British term for a reduced-price fare for a journey on public transport out and back in one day.
| 12a | Policy U-turn /could make you/ suddenly get very angry, then collapse (4-4) |
| 13a & 15a | Pay when payer amended // such a wish (5,3,4) |
| 15a | See 13 Across |
| 17a | Do ask mostly /for/ best (7) |
Do[5] is an informal British term meaning to swindle ⇒
It was only after travelling to Amsterdam and meeting the fraudsters that she became suspicious and contacted police, who told her: ‘Sorry, but you've been done.
Best[5] is used as a verb meaning to outwit or get the better of (someone)* ⇒
she refused to allow herself to be bested.
* Ironically, in this sense best is a synonym of worst[5], a verb meaning to get the better of or defeat ⇒
this was not the time for a deep discussion—she was tired and she would be worsted.
| 19a | Humour ultimately missing from sadly integral // part of a joke? (3,4) |
| 21a | Sudden advances /made by/ son with friends (7) |
| 22a | Hurts /to see/ a game finishing early (5) |
| 24a | The after-effects /of/ Chinese dynasty rule cut short (8) |
The Han[5] dynasty ruled China from 206 BC until AD 220 with only a brief interruption. During this period Chinese rule was extended over Mongolia, Confucianism was recognized as the state philosophy, and detailed historical records were kept.
| 27a | Independent vote in Ohio converted // ordinary people (3,6) |
"Independent " = I [politician with no party affiliation]
I[1] is the abbreviation for independent, in all likelihood in the sense of a politician with no party affiliation.
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I[1] is the abbreviation for independent, in all likelihood in the sense of a politician with no party affiliation.
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| 28a | Blow last of pimiento /to make/ relish (5) |
| 29a | Source of deadly green // extract (4) |
| 30a | Home entry fixed to include everybody // on the inside (10) |
Down
| 1d | Take a chance on // body-search with top off (4) |
| 2d | Scoundrel/'s/ stolen goods including ring and yen (9) |
Here and There
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Ring[5] is an informal — more or less British (show more ) — term for:
In North America, the word would seem to be more accepted as a noun ( I'll give you a ring) than as a verb ( I'll ring you). According to various dictionaries, the word ring used in this sense is:
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| 3d | Left a young seal // to drink eagerly (3,2) |
| 4d | Child // beginning to trust stranger crossing line (7) |
| 5d | Policy must change over month // of games (7) |
| 7d | Marine finally joining crack // outfit (5) |
Scratching the Surface
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| The Royal Marines[5] is a British armed service (part of the Royal Navy) founded in 1664, trained for service at sea, or on land under specific circumstances. |
| 8d | Imagine groom/'s/ costume (5,5) |
| 9d | Satisfied hotel with new loan /for/ alcohol (8) |
"Hotel " = H [NATO Phonetic Alphabet]
In what is commonly known as the NATO Phonetic Alphabet[7]*, Hotel[5] is a code word representing the letter H.
* officially the International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet
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In what is commonly known as the NATO Phonetic Alphabet[7]*, Hotel[5] is a code word representing the letter H.
* officially the International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet
hide
| 14d | Disturbingly cute, at hand -- /and/ without ties (10) |
| 16d | Issue // undertaking to support energy (8) |
| 18d | General // shift in values squeezing right (9) |
| 20d | Level /of/ aid mainly accepted by European prisoner (7) |
| 21d | Illumination // that comes after tequila? (7) |
A tequila sunrise[5] is a cocktail containing tequila, orange juice, and grenadine.
| 23d | Aloha -- if arriving outside // this port! (5) |
Haifa[5] is the chief port of Israel, in the north-west of the country on the Mediterranean coast.
| 25d | An instrument // for gangsters to conceal (5) |
| 26d | Quality of wine // society? (4) |
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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