Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29293 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Saturday, February 22, 2020 | |
Setter
Unknown | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29293 – Hints]Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29293 – Review] | |
Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
Big Dave (Hints)crypticsue (Review) | |
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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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
Like many who commented on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, it was the interlinked 6a and 8d in the northeast corner that proved to be the major impediments in this puzzle.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 | Union supporter // surprisingly is left outside backing a communist (10) |
A federalist[5] is a person who advocates or supports a system of government in which several states unite under a central authority ⇒
the ideas of the European federalists.
| 6a | Theatrical // party (4) |
Post Mortem
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| I initially thought the solution might be CAST where party[5] is used in the sense of a group of people involved in a certain activity together. However, once 8d provided the final letter, the correct solution became pretty obvious. |
| 9a | Tangle with international // footballer (5) |
In Britain, a footballer[5] is a soccer player. Lionel Messi[7] is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains both Spanish club Barcelona and the Argentina national team. He is often considered the best player in the world and widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time.
| 10a | Right to vote // of a man in European country (9) |
| 12a | Award // one successful with first clue! (8,5) |
The Victoria Cross[5] is a decoration awarded for conspicuous bravery in the Commonwealth armed services, instituted by Queen Victoria in 1856.
| 14a | Crudely looks back on fresh // depiction of recent events (8) |
| 15a | Lower status /of/ church dignitary around Middle East (6) |
A dean[7], in a religious context, is a cleric holding certain positions of authority within a religious hierarchy. The title is used mainly in the Anglican Communion*, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Lutheran Church.
* In the Church of England and elsewhere in the Anglican Communion, the dean is the chief resident cleric of a cathedral or other collegiate church and the head of the chapter of canons. If the cathedral or collegiate church has its own parish, the dean is usually also rector of the parish.
| 17a | Cheerful // pub to get drunk and have a meal (6) |
| 19a | Product of Seagrams, // one may relieve stress (8) |
Down the Drain
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| Seagram Company Ltd.[7] (formerly traded as Seagram's) was a Canadian multinational conglomerate formerly headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. Originally a distiller of Canadian whisky based in Waterloo, Ontario, it was once (in the 1990s) the largest owner of alcoholic beverage lines in the world. The company has been defunct since 2000 when losses incurred through a series of ill-fated ventures by CEO Edgar Bronfman, Jr. to get into the film and electronic media business led to the company being broken up with the parts being acquired by various other multinational corporations. |
| 21a | Biblical character -- // I put in 'apostle' erroneously (7,6) |
Pontius Pilate[5] (died circa 36 AD) was a Roman procurator of Judaea circa 26-circa 36. He is remembered for presiding at the trial of Jesus Christ and authorizing his crucifixion.
| 24a | Supporter at home was hard // to indoctrinate (9) |
| 25a | Head off arm-in-arm // showing tattoos (5) |
| 26a | Dash // around during vernal equinox (4) |
| 27a | Inexperienced people // guided head of government in affairs (10) |
Down
| 1d | Celebrity /makes/ a couple of notes (4) |
"note " = ME
British dictionaries are split on whether the musical note should be spelled mi or me. On the other hand, American dictionaries come down firmly on the side of mi.
In sol-fa notation, me*[1,2,5,10] (or mi*[1,2,3,5,10,11]) is the third note of a major scale.
* With respect to spelling, two British dictionaries show me[2,5] as the principal spelling with mi as a variant[2] or US[5] spelling. However, two other British dictionaries take the contrary position, listing mi[1,10] as the principal spelling with me as a variant[10] or anglicized[1] spelling. Two US dictionaries list only one spelling — mi[3,11].
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British dictionaries are split on whether the musical note should be spelled mi or me. On the other hand, American dictionaries come down firmly on the side of mi.
In sol-fa notation, me*[1,2,5,10] (or mi*[1,2,3,5,10,11]) is the third note of a major scale.
* With respect to spelling, two British dictionaries show me[2,5] as the principal spelling with mi as a variant[2] or US[5] spelling. However, two other British dictionaries take the contrary position, listing mi[1,10] as the principal spelling with me as a variant[10] or anglicized[1] spelling. Two US dictionaries list only one spelling — mi[3,11].
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| 2d | Deny // Ovid was involved in Metamorphoses (7) |
Scratching the Surface
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| Ovid[5]
(43 BC–c.17 AD) was a Roman poet; full name Publius Ovidius Naso. He is particularly known for his elegiac love poems (such as the Amores and the Ars Amatoria) and for the Metamorphoses, a hexametric epic which retells Greek and Roman myths. |
| 3d | Making a comeback, /getting/ about in the pink? (13) |
A pink[5] is a herbaceous Eurasian plant with sweet-smelling pink or white flowers and slender, typically grey-green leaves. The pink family (Caryophyllaceae) includes the campions, chickweeds, stitchworts, and the cultivated carnations. Clove pink[5] is a clove-scented pink which is the original type from which the carnation and other double pinks have been bred.
A carnation[5] is a double-flowered cultivated variety of clove pink, with grey-green leaves and showy pink, white, or red flowers.
| 4d | Spare /from/ socialist excess (8) |
| 5d | Posh part of London holding a mass /for/ teacher (5) |
The SW (South Western and Battersea) postcode area[7], also known as the London SW postcode area, is a group of postcode districts covering part of southwest London, England. The SW postcode area is subdivided into 29 postcode districts, one of them being SW1 which serves most of the City of Westminster as well as parts of Kensington and Chelsea. Westminster is the location of Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament and Whitehall, recognised as the centre of the Government of the United Kingdom and the site of numerous departments and ministries, including the Ministry of Defence and the Cabinet Office. The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC), immediately west of the City of Westminster, contains many of the most expensive residential properties in the world.
A swami[5] is a Hindu male religious teacher.
| 7d | Swim over sea back to front, // being fat (7) |
| 8d | Lower orders comprehending students /making/ fatuous remark (10) |
"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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I fully concur with several comments on Big Dave's Crossword Blog suggesting the clue should specify only a single student rather than multiple students as well as those questioning whether a pleasantry is a "fatuous remark".
| 11d | One to welcome dawn crossing bridge with one/'s/ dog (6,7) |
A cockerel[5] is a young domestic cock.
| 13d | Alpine club disbanded /is/ not to blame (10) |
| 16d | Seized // area captured by whirling Dervish (8) |
Scratching the Surface
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| A dervish[10] is a member of any of various Muslim orders of ascetics, some of which ( whirling dervishes) are noted for a frenzied, ecstatic, whirling dance. |
| 18d | Headgear /of/ daughter taken by one in hand (7) |
A hand[5] is a bunch of bananas ⇒
mottled hands of bananas.
| 20d | Good family will take her /to find/ London landmark (7) |
| 22d | Will // Shakespeare's first grand house (5) |
Hall[5] is a British term for a large country house, especially one with a landed estate ⇒
Darlington Hall.
| 23d | Misdeeds regularly ignored /in/ certain days in Rome (4) |
In the ancient Roman calendar, ides[5] was a day falling roughly in the middle of each month (the 15th day of March, May, July, and October, and the 13th of other months) from which other dates were calculated.
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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