Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29297 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Thursday, February 27, 2020 | |
Setter
Unknown | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29297]
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Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
Miffypops | |
BD rating
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| Difficulty - ★★ | Enjoyment - ★★ |
Falcon's experience
┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐
███████████████████████████████████ └────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘ | |
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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
The comments on Big Dave's Crossword Blog reveal a mixed bag of opinions concerning the challenge posed by this puzzle — some feeling that it is overly difficult and others dissatisfied by its lack of difficulty.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
| 5a | Revise // procedure for getting clean and tidy (5-2) |
You may notice that I have placed the demarcation between the two parts of this double definition in a different spot than Miffypops does in his review.
Revise[5] is used in a British sense meaning to reread work done previously to improve one's knowledge of a subject, typically to prepare for an examination ⇒
students frantically revising for exams.
North American Equivalent: review
Brush-up[10] is a British expression denoting the act or an instance of tidying one's appearance (especially in the phrase wash and brush-up).
| 7a | Goes out with hounds /in/ county as before (5) |
Huntingdonshire[7] (abbreviation Hunts) is a former county of southeastern England, since 1974 a part of Cambridgeshire.
| 9a | Nervous // in a situation where cliff may collapse? (2,4) |
| 10a | Looking embarrassed about vehicle /having to be/ recovered (8) |
What did he say?
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In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Miffypops describes the vehicle in question asThis led me to think that the British must define coupe differently than we do in North America. However the definition on Lexico matched my concept of this vehicle to a tee, defining coupe[5] (also coupé) as a car with a fixed roof, two doors, and a sloping rear.an open top touring car. Fortunately, before calling out Miffypops on this point, I did some further research and discovered that Collins English Dictionary is somewhat more enlightening. It defines coupé[10] (also called fixed-head coupé) as a four-seater car with a fixed roof, a sloping back, and usually two doors. So far, the same result as Lexico. However, Collins invites the reader to compare drophead coupé[10] which it defines as a British term for a two-door four-seater car with a folding roof and a sloping back. This would tend to suggest that the term coupé on its own applies only to the former style (fixed-head coupé) and not to the latter (drophead coupé). On the other hand, The Chambers Dictionary defines coupé as a two-door motor car with a roof sloping toward the back. This would suggest that the term might encompass both the fixed-head and drophead styles of the car. In any event, Miffypops would appear to be describing a drophead coupé. Variant(s): According to some British dictionaries, coupe is the US[14] or North American[1] spelling of coupé. I am reminded of the old adage about the man with one clock knowing what time it is but a man with two clocks not being sure of the time. The same applies to a man with two dictionaries — he is not sure what words mean. And the confusion would seem to increase exponentially with the number of dictionaries owned. |
| 11a | Opposing erstwhile bolshiness, ultimately // they fall in line (10) |
Scratching the Surface
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| Bolshiness[5] is an informal British term for the quality or fact of being deliberately combative or uncooperative. |
| 13a | Some statement /issued by/ benefactor of art (4) |
In 1897, sugar manufacturer Sir Henry Tate (1819–1899) founded the Tate Gallery[5] (commonly known simply as the Tate) in London, England to house his collection of modern British paintings, as a nucleus for a permanent national collection of modern art. The Gallery was renamed Tate Britain in 2000, when the new Tate Modern gallery opened. [I would surmise that by that time the original collection could no longer be considered "modern".]
| 14a | I paid sentries for working -- // people getting regular payments (13) |
| 16a | Go in Scotland /in/ criminal group (4) |
In Scottish dialect, gang[5] means go or proceed ⇒
gang to your bed, lass.
| 17a | Competitor // cheated dreadfully, having got let in (10) |
| 19a | Unofficial // instruction to tell a student what is going on (8) |
"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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What is he talking about?
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On Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Mr K writes at Comment #14I supposed I must be missing something in this clue, but it seems that this clue does just contain lots and lots of 'padding' (words that are merely present for the surface reading and and are neither link words nor play any role in the definition or wordplay).Didn’t like the padding in 13a and 19a. The wordplay parses as INFORM (to tell) + A (from the clue) + L (student; learner driver). This leaves the words "instruction . . . what is going on" as padding. However, I fail to see his point regarding the presence of padding in 13a. It seems to me that every word can be accounted for. The wordplay is "some sTATEment", the definition is "benefactor of the arts", and "issued by" is (to me) a perfectly acceptable link phrase. |
| 20a | Time /when/ soldiers will get involved in test (6) |
In the UK, MOT[5] (also MOT test) denotes a compulsory annual test for safety and exhaust emissions of motor vehicles of more than a specified age. It is an abbreviation of Ministry of Transport, which introduced the original test.
| 22a | Poet/'s/ appointment around noon (5) |
Dante[5] (1265–1321), full name Dante Alighieri, was an Italian poet. (show more )
His reputation rests chiefly on The Divine Comedy (c.1309–20), an epic poem describing his spiritual journey through Hell and Purgatory and finally to Paradise. His love for Beatrice Portinari is described in Vita nuova (c.1290–4).
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His reputation rests chiefly on The Divine Comedy (c.1309–20), an epic poem describing his spiritual journey through Hell and Purgatory and finally to Paradise. His love for Beatrice Portinari is described in Vita nuova (c.1290–4).
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| 23a | King wanting new attire, /becoming/ more annoyed (7) |
"king " = R [Rex]
In the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms*, Rex[5] (abbreviation R[5]) [Latin for king] denotes the reigning king, used following a name (e.g. Georgius Rex, King George — often shortened to GR) or in the titles of lawsuits (e.g. Rex v. Jones, the Crown versus Jones — often shortened to R. v. Jones).
* A Commonwealth realm[7] is a sovereign state that is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and shares the same person, currently Elizabeth II, as its head of state and reigning constitutional monarch, but retains a crown legally distinct from the other realms. There are currently sixteen Commonwealth realms, the largest being Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom with the remainder being smaller Caribbean and Pacific island nations.
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In the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms*, Rex[5] (abbreviation R[5]) [Latin for king] denotes the reigning king, used following a name (e.g. Georgius Rex, King George — often shortened to GR) or in the titles of lawsuits (e.g. Rex v. Jones, the Crown versus Jones — often shortened to R. v. Jones).
* A Commonwealth realm[7] is a sovereign state that is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and shares the same person, currently Elizabeth II, as its head of state and reigning constitutional monarch, but retains a crown legally distinct from the other realms. There are currently sixteen Commonwealth realms, the largest being Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom with the remainder being smaller Caribbean and Pacific island nations.
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Ratty[5] is an informal British term meaning bad-tempered and irritable ⇒
I was a bit ratty with the children.
Down
| 1d | Money supply // discovered, nothing missing (4) |
| 2d | Wiggle toes here -- // it may help footwear problem (8) |
| 3d | Wine being smuggled aboard ship /in/ jars (6) |
Hock[5] is a British term for a dry white wine from the German Rhineland.
| 4d | Like a type of estate /in/ trouble south of river (10) |
The Indus[5] is a river of southern Asia, about 2,900 km (1,800 miles) in length, flowing from Tibet through Kashmir and Pakistan to the Arabian Sea. Along its valley an early civilization flourished from circa 2600 to 1760 BC.
Industrial estate[5] is a British term for an area of land developed as a site for factories and other industrial businesses. Also called industrial park [and the term by which it is known in North America].
| 5d | Writer set up one game /and/ another (5) |
The definition is partially implied as the reader infers the clue to read:
- Writer set up one game /and/ another [game] (5)
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| Go is played on a grid of black lines |
| (usually 19×19). Game pieces, called stones, |
| are played on the lines' intersections. |
From China the game spread, first to Korea and Japan, and eventually worldwide. Despite its relatively simple rules, Go is very complex. Compared to chess, Go has both a larger board with more scope for play and longer games, and, on average, many more alternatives to consider per move. In a simple and anecdotal way of explaining the rules of Go, a teacher simply says to a student "you may place your stone (playing piece) on any point on the board, but if I surround that stone, I may remove it." The name Go is derived from the Japanese name of the game "igo".
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| 6d | Newly fitted up pad with recliner -- // in which one won't be this! (13) |
In interpreting the definition, the relative pronoun 'which' must be replaced by its antecedent 'recliner'.
Scratching the Surface
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Pad[5] is used in an informal sense meaning a person's home ⇒ the police raided my pad. |
| 8d | More than one detective // hustles around (7) |
| 12d | Four daring to go wild /in/ place of entertainment (10) |
| 14d | Dirty // location near Heathrow almost changed finally (7) |
Heathrow Airport[7] is a major international airport in London, England. It is located three miles north-east of the town of Staines-upon-Thames [which I am sure, in everyday use, would be shortened to just Staines].
| 15d | Provide machinery /for/ chum getting under car (8) |
What did he say?
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In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Miffypops indicates that the vehicle to which the final word in the clue refers isAnother surprising statement from Miffypops? Well, not entirely.a type of car with self-changing gears. While I found no evidence that Brits use auto as short for automatic (in the sense of a vehicle), they do use auto[5] as short for automatic in the sense of a mode of operation in which a particular function of a piece of equipment is performed automatically rather than manually ⇒ (i) the camera requires a lot of light to get good photos and videos in auto; (ii) the majority of users of this type of camera will shoot in automatic. However, Brits also apparently do not use auto as a short form for automobile. According to British dictionaries, auto[5,10] is an informal US and Canadian term for a car (short for automobile). |
| 17d | Mother comes with a // loaf of bread (6) |
From the comments on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, there seems to be some confusion regarding the parsing of the wordplay in this clue which is DAM (mother) + (with) PER (a;
she recalled when strawberries could be had for fifty cents a quart).
Damper[5] is an Australian and New Zealand term for an unleavened loaf or cake of flour and water baked in wood ashes.
| 18d | Singer // sounding note (5) |
Tenner[5] is an informal British name for a ten-pound note.
| 21d | Most significant // European river (4) |
The Main[5] is a river of south-western Germany which rises in northern Bavaria and flows 500 km (310 miles) westwards, through Frankfurt, to meet the River Rhine at Mainz.
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] - Lexico (formerly Oxford Dictionaries Online) (Oxford Dictionary of English)
[6] - Lexico (formerly Oxford Dictionaries Online) (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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