Puzzle at a Glance
| |
|---|---|
Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29318 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Monday, March 23, 2020 | |
Setter
Campbell (Allan Scott) | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29318]
| |
Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
Falcon | |
BD rating
| |
| 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
| |
|
Notes
| |
The National Post has skipped DT 29316 and DT 29317 which were published in The Daily Telegraph on Friday, March 20, 2020 and Saturday, March 21, 2020 respectively.
| |
Introduction
Just when I thought I was not only caught up on my blogging but actually a step ahead of the game, the editors at the National Post have thrown a spanner into the works by skipping a couple of puzzles (something they haven't done in a very long time).The publication of this puzzle in The Daily Telegraph back in March coincided with my return to blogging following several months in hospital and subsequent convalescing at home. It also marked the completion of a game of musical chairs among bloggers on Big Dave's Crossword Blog triggered by my return to duty — with Miffypops moving from Monday to Thursday and pommers vacating his Thursday slot to share Monday blogging duties with me.
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 | |
|
|
| Click here for further explanation and usage examples of markup conventions used on this blog. | |
Across
| 1a | Scare // king during crusade (6) |
"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.
hide
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.
hide
| 4a | Just right // for salesman retiring (6) |
| 8a | Household servant /having/ row in private (8) |
I show the clue above as I originally marked it on Big Dave's Crossword Blog
It was pointed out in at least one comment that a domestic (a row, usually in the home, between members of a household unit) does not necessarily happen behind closed doors. Others saw the clue as a triple definition; in fact, one might even make the case that it is a quadruple definition.
- Household // servant /having/ row /in/ private (8)
- domestic[2] (noun) ? household servant
- domestic[2] (noun) ? row in private (dispute between household members)
- domestic[2a] (adjective) ? household (belonging or relating to the home, the family or private life)
- domestic[2a] (noun) ? servant
- domestic[2] (noun) ? row (dispute between household members)
- domestic[2a] (adjective) ? private
[2a] Chambers Thesaurus
| 10a | Gaudy // trim, not new (6) |
| 11a | Couple, almost // an item (4) |
| 12a | Together, // also being dealt with by hospital (4,2,4) |
| 13a | Strangely, three sevens divided by 50 /could be/ just the same (12) |
| 16a | Form of psychiatric treatment one can't receive? (5,7) |
| 20a | Common // vegetables area produces (10) |
Greensward[10] is an archaic or literary term for fresh green turf or an area of such turf.
| 21a | Jack, perhaps /taken from/ vehicle by daughter (4) |
| 22a | Power: film // actor (6) |
| 23a | Difficult to understand, // man behind English boozer (8) |
| 24a | Caddie initially glued broken // club (6) |
| 25a | Lean // film, name unknown (6) |
"unknown " = Y [algebraic notation]
Scratching the Surface
| |
|---|---|
| Sir David Lean[5] (1908 – 1991) was an English film director. He made many notable films, including Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Doctor Zhivago (1965), and A Passage to India (1984). |
Down
| 1d | Fish /from/ lake caught by father (8) |
| 2d | Awkward // writer turned up in it (5) |
The
use of the word "writer" to clue PEN is likely to be slightly more
cryptic to the Brits than it is to us on this side of the pond. British
solvers will see "pen" as being a writing implement rather than the person wielding that implement. (show more )
In addition to defining pen[3,11] as a writing implement, North American dictionaries also define it as a writer or an author ?
hide
In addition to defining pen[3,11] as a writing implement, North American dictionaries also define it as a writer or an author ?
a hired pen, British dictionaries do not list this meaning although they do show pen[2,4] (or the pen[5,10]) as symbolically representing writing as an occupation (a sense of the word not found in US dictionaries).
hide
| 3d | Important person /in/ recently taken photograph (7) |
| 5d | I'm great playing // Scott Joplin music (7) |
Scott Joplin[7] (c. 1867/1868 – 1917) was an African-American composer and pianist. Joplin achieved fame for his ragtime compositions, and was later titled The King of Ragtime. During his brief career, he wrote 44 original ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two operas. One of his first pieces, the Maple Leaf Rag, became ragtime's first and most influential hit, and has been recognized as the archetypal rag.
| 6d | One buying // almost flawless jumper (9) |
A chaser[5] is a horse for steeplechasing*.
* A steeplechase[5] is a horse race run on a racecourse having ditches and hedges as jumps. The modern version of the race evolved from a cross country race in which a steeple marked the finishing point.
Here and There
| |
|---|---|
Brits and North Americans will likely both see the surface reading as
describing someone shopping for an article of clothing. However, the
article of clothing envisioned will vary dramatically from one side of
the Atlantic to the other. In North American, it will be a dress,
whereas in Britain, it will be a sweater. (show more )
In Britain, a jumper[5] is a knitted garment typically with long sleeves, worn over the upper body (in other words, a sweater). The dress that North Americans call a jumper[5] is known to the Brits as a pinafore[5] — defined as a collarless sleeveless dress worn over a blouse or jumper [sweater]. Thus, if a British lass were to wear a pinafore over her jumper and a North American gal were to wear a jumper over her sweater, they would be dressed identically. hide |
| 7d | Feel bitter about // gift head disposed of (6) |
Scratching the Surface
| |
|---|---|
| Head[5] could refer to the director or leader of any group or organization, However, in Britain, I would suspect that head[5] is particularly likely to be seen as short for headmaster, headmistress, or head teacher. |
| 9d | Chapter on model /may make one/ think (11) |
| 14d | A delight, the old being entertained by editor // quick to notice things (5-4) |
Glee[5] is used in the sense of great delight, especially from one's own good fortune or another's misfortune ?
his face lit up with impish glee.
Ye[5] is a pseudo-archaic term for the ?
The word 'ye' in this sense was originally a graphic variant of 'the' rather than an alternative spelling.
Thorn[5] is an Old English and Icelandic runic letter, þ or Þ, representing the dental fricatives ð and ?. In English it was eventually superseded by the digraph th — and thus þe (the old spelling of 'the') became the modern spelling 'the'.
In late Middle English þ (thorn) came to be written identically with y, resulting in þe (the) being written ye. This spelling (usually ye*) was kept as a convenient abbreviation in handwriting down to the 19th century, and in printers' types during the 15th and 16th centuries. It was never pronounced as ‘yee’ in the past, but this is the pronunciation used today.
* I interpret the phrase "usually ye" to mean that the word was customarily not capitalized because the character "y" is not being used to represent the letter "y" in the modern English alphabet but rather as a graphic variant of thorn. Thus, in bygone days, the name of the drinking establishment above would presumably have been written
hide
Ye Olde Cock Tavern. The character "y" in this word was originally not the letter "y" in the modern English alphabet but a variant representation of the Old English and Icelandic letter thorn (þ or Þ). (show more )
The word 'ye' in this sense was originally a graphic variant of 'the' rather than an alternative spelling.
Thorn[5] is an Old English and Icelandic runic letter, þ or Þ, representing the dental fricatives ð and ?. In English it was eventually superseded by the digraph th — and thus þe (the old spelling of 'the') became the modern spelling 'the'.
In late Middle English þ (thorn) came to be written identically with y, resulting in þe (the) being written ye. This spelling (usually ye*) was kept as a convenient abbreviation in handwriting down to the 19th century, and in printers' types during the 15th and 16th centuries. It was never pronounced as ‘yee’ in the past, but this is the pronunciation used today.
* I interpret the phrase "usually ye" to mean that the word was customarily not capitalized because the character "y" is not being used to represent the letter "y" in the modern English alphabet but rather as a graphic variant of thorn. Thus, in bygone days, the name of the drinking establishment above would presumably have been written
ye Olde Cock Tavern(and pronounced "the old cock tavern").
hide
| 15d | Scantiness /may suggest/ strip, say, in resort (8) |
As an anagram indicator, resort[1] (spelled re-sort[5] by Lexico*) is used in the sense of to sort (something) again or differently ?
children find pleasure in sorting and re-sorting boxes of buttons.
* formerly Oxford Dictionaries Online
| 17d | Watch // old boy start a game of tennis? (7) |
"old boy " = OB
In Britain, an old boy[5] (abbreviation OB[2]) is:
hide
In Britain, an old boy[5] (abbreviation OB[2]) is:
- a former male student of a school or college ?
an old boy of Banbury County School
- a former male member of a sports team or company ?
the White Hart Lane old boy squared the ball to present an easy chance from 12 yards
‘Look here, old boy,’ he said.
hide
| 18d | They may be caught at sea /and/ obtained on wharf (7) |
| 19d | Student, one wearing short dress /for/ a prank (6) |
"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.
hide
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.
 |
| Automobile displaying an L-plate |
hide
Frolic[2] is used in the sense of something silly done as a joke; in other words, a prank.
| 21d | Innocent, // the Parisian in jail (5) |
"the Parisian " = LE [French definite article]
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
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.