Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle Number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29254 | |
Publication Date in The Daily Telegraph
Wednesday, January 8, 2020 | |
Setter
Jay (Jeremy Mutch) | |
Link to Full Review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29254] | |
Big Dave's Crossword Blog Review Written By
2Kiwis | |
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 very gentle offering to get us over " hump day".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 | Staff /in/ the habit of sleeping (5,5) |
| 6a | Complaint /of/ charge rejected by British (4) |
| 9a | Embarrassment /of/ King George during succession (7) |
The regnal ciphers (monograms) of British monarchs are initials formed from the Latin version of their first name followed by either Rex or Regina (Latin for king or queen, respectively). Thus, the regnal cipher of King George was GR[5] — from the Latin Georgius Rex.
| 10a | Auntie maybe going topless -- // what joy! (7) |
| 12a | Ignoring Right, poor Thatcher's cue to // skip the preliminaries (3,2,3,5) |
Scratching the Surface
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| The surface reading is an allusion to Margaret Thatcher[5], Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven (1925–2013), a British Conservative stateswoman who was prime minister 1979–90. |
| 14a | Examines // source of protein found in bugs (8) |
| 15a | Brilliant // material rejected in advance (6) |
Rep[5] (also repp) is a fabric with a ribbed surface, used in curtains and upholstery.
Sub[5] is a British term for an advance or loan against expected income ⇒
‘I've got no money.’ ‘Want a sub?’
| 17a | Maybe ladies and footballers will need hard // scourer (6) |
Loo[5] is an informal British term for a toilet [either as a room or a plumbing fixture].
The Football Association[7], also known simply as the FA, is the governing body of football [soccer] in England. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world and is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the amateur and professional game in England.
Loofah is a variant spelling of loofa[2] (also luffa), the roughly cylindrical dried inner part of a tropical gourd-like fruit, used as a kind of rough sponge.
| 19a | Poem /from/ minister shortly cut (8) |
A clerihew[5] is a short comic or nonsensical verse, typically in two rhyming couplets with lines of unequal length and referring to a famous person.
Origin: named after English novelist and humorist Edmund Clerihew Bentley (1875–1956), who invented it
Bentley's first clerihew[7], published in 1905, was written about Sir Humphry Davy:
Sir Humphry Davy
Abominated gravy.
He lived in the odium
Of having discovered sodium.
Abominated gravy.
He lived in the odium
Of having discovered sodium.
| 21a | Somehow mastered deal on pressure // vessel (6,7) |
Paddle steamer[5] (also paddle boat) is another term for paddlewheeler[5], a boat powered by steam and propelled by paddle wheels.
| 24a | Book // rock band (7) |
Genesis[5] is the first book of the Bible, which includes the stories of the creation of the world, Noah’s Ark, the Tower of Babel, and the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph.
Genesis[7] are an English rock band formed in 1967 that has undergone many changes in both membership and musical style over the course of its existence.
* The most commercially successful and longest-lasting line-up consisted of keyboardist Tony Banks, bassist/guitarist Mike Rutherford and drummer/singer Phil Collins. Former members include original lead singer Peter Gabriel and guitarists Anthony Phillips and Steve Hackett. The band underwent many changes in musical style over its career, from folk music to progressive rock in the 1970s, before moving towards pop at the end of the decade.
| 25a | Discharges from the army? (7) |
| 26a | Old sailor/'s/ cure? (4) |
| 27a | Family member /needing/ followers after boycott (5,5) |
Black[5] is a dated British expression meaning to refuse to handle (goods), undertake (work), or have dealings with (a person or business) as a way of taking industrial action ⇒
the printers blacked firms trying to employ women.
Down
| 1d | Condition /of/ prison (4) |
In ... nick[5] is an informal British expression meaning in a specified condition ⇒ (i)
you’ve kept the car in good nick; (ii)
He said: ‘I'm still not in bad nick and think I can play for another two years.’.
The nick[5] is an informal British term for prison ⇒
he’ll end up in the nick for the rest of his life.
| 2d | Looks // good with jousting weapons (7) |
| 3d | Troubled hunter battles // to get the upper hand (4,3,6) |
| 4d | Haunts // German chap having problem with foot inside (8) |
Hans[7] is a German masculine given name. It was originally short for Johannes (John), but is now also recognized as a name in its own right for official purposes. I would say it ranks just behind Otto in terms of popularity of German names in Crosswordland.
| 5d | Meat that's right for line /is/ extra (5) |
Fresh[5] is used in the sense of not previously known or used; in other words, new or different ⇒
the court had heard fresh evidence.
| 7d | Go and live overseas with no golf /in/ Abu Dhabi perhaps (7) |
"Golf " = G [NATO Phonetic Alphabet]
In what is commonly known as the NATO Phonetic Alphabet[7]*, Golf[5] is a code word representing the letter G.
* officially the International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet
hide
In what is commonly known as the NATO Phonetic Alphabet[7]*, Golf[5] is a code word representing the letter G.
* officially the International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet
hide
| 8d | Digital input facility offered to diner? (10) |
| 11d | Equipment // developing no rust, etc, came (13) |
| 13d | Quiet a long time after championship /and/ start of book (5,5) |
| 16d | Sort of reaction /from/ the French in cooking garlic? (8) |
"the French " = LE [French definite article]
| 18d | For example, first // racket during exam (7) |
| 20d | Leading lady /and/ heir one upset (7) |
| 22d | Fibre // claimed by cereals is a laugh! (5) |
| 23d | Profound // river pilot's leader (4) |
The Dee[5,7] could be any of several rivers in Scotland and England — not to mention Ireland and Australia — the most prominent being:
- a river in northeastern Scotland, which rises in the Grampian Mountains and flows eastwards past Balmoral Castle to the North Sea at Aberdeen
- a river that rises in North Wales and flows into England, past Chester and on into the Irish Sea
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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