Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29323 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Saturday, March 28, 2020 | |
Setter
Slightly Bad Dog (Paul Bringloe) | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29323 – Hints]Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29323 – 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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There are two postings related to this puzzle on Big Dave's Crossword Blog — one supplying hints for selected clues and a second providing a full review. Most of the comments from readers are attached to the "hints" posting with a lesser — though greater than customary — number accompanying the full review.
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Introduction
Coinciding with the publication of this puzzle, Daily Telegraph prize puzzles were suspended indefinitely due to measures taken to deal with the COVID-19 situation. There are still two postings related to this puzzle on Big Dave's Crossword Blog — the usual hints for selected clues as well as a full review. However, the review was posted on the puzzle's date of publication rather than being delayed until the following Friday — as had been the former practice. While most of the reader comments are attached to the hints posting, there are also a larger than normal number of comments accompanying the full review.As it was for many who left comments on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, it was the southwest quadrant that held out the longest against my solving efforts.
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 | Selecting players /for/ hurling (7) |
Scratching the Surface
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| Hurling[5] is an Irish game resembling [field] hockey, played with a shorter stick with a broader oval blade. It is the national game of Ireland and may date back to the 2nd millennium BC. |
| 5a | Mum's vehicle about to start -- // will it run? (7) |
Although somewhat obtuse, I would say the definition is a cryptic way of expressing "something that might run". In cryptic crosswords, question marks are used to atone for a multitude of sins.
| 9a | Swallow one // gin cocktail (7) |
The martin[5] is a swift-flying insectivorous songbird of the swallow family, typically having a less strongly forked tail than a swallow.
| 10a | Fantastical riches: husband /finds/ treasure (7) |
| 11a | Painter a liability? Partly, // among other things (5,4) |
| 12a | Glower // from club user initially barred (5) |
Here, "glower" is used in the whimsical cryptic crossword sense of something that glows ..
| 13a | Old number // three fouled (5) |
... and "number" is used in the whimsical cryptic crossword sense of something that numbs.
| 15a | In which all men are brothers? (9) |
| 17a | Two scholars placed in reform // school (4,5) |
| 19a | Relative/'s/ oddly naive before church (5) |
"church " = CE [Church of England]
The Church of England[10] (abbreviation CE[10]) is the reformed established state Church in England, Catholic in order and basic doctrine, with the Sovereign as its temporal head.
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The Church of England[10] (abbreviation CE[10]) is the reformed established state Church in England, Catholic in order and basic doctrine, with the Sovereign as its temporal head.
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| 22a | Asian city /or/ Greek one without parking (5) |
Delhi[5] (also known as Old Delhi*) is a walled city on the River Jumna in north central India, which was made the capital of the Mogul empire in 1638 by Shah Jahan (1592–1666).
* Delhi is not to be confused with New Delhi[5], the capital of India, a city in north central India built 1912–29 to replace Calcutta (now Kolkata) as the capital of British India. With Delhi, it is part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi.
The modern town of Delphi[7] is situated immediately west of the archaeological site of the same name*, and hence is a popular tourist destination. Delphi is also the name of the modern-day municipality in which the town of Delphi is situated. The city of Delphi was named after the Oracle of Delphi, who supposedly foretold the future.
* Delphi[5] was one of the most important religious sanctuaries of the ancient Greek world, dedicated to Apollo and situated on the lower southern slopes of Mount Parnassus above the Gulf of Corinth. It was the seat of the Delphic Oracle, whose riddling responses to a wide range of questions were delivered by the Pythia[5], the priestess of Apollo at Delphi in ancient Greece.
| 23a | Facetious talk about right // presentation prop (4,5) |
| 25a | Not settled // round greenery, second rook departs (7) |
R[5] is an abbreviation for rook that is used in recording moves in chess. (show more )
A rook[5] (also known by the informal, old-fashioned term castle*[5]) is a chess piece, typically with its top in the shape of a battlement, that can move (if not obstructed by another chess piece or pawn) any number of spaces in any direction along a rank or file on which it stands. Each player starts the game with two rooks at opposite ends of the first rank.
* I have learned from discussions on Big Dave's Crossword Blog that chess purists hold that the proper name for this piece is a rook and that under no circumstances whatsoever is it ever to be referred to as a castle. Furthermore, they take great umbrage should those of us less attuned to the niceties of the "game of kings" happen to commit this cardinal sin.
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A rook[5] (also known by the informal, old-fashioned term castle*[5]) is a chess piece, typically with its top in the shape of a battlement, that can move (if not obstructed by another chess piece or pawn) any number of spaces in any direction along a rank or file on which it stands. Each player starts the game with two rooks at opposite ends of the first rank.
* I have learned from discussions on Big Dave's Crossword Blog that chess purists hold that the proper name for this piece is a rook and that under no circumstances whatsoever is it ever to be referred to as a castle. Furthermore, they take great umbrage should those of us less attuned to the niceties of the "game of kings" happen to commit this cardinal sin.
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| 26a | With which court proceedings ensue? (7) |
A court such as might be found at Wimbledon.
| 27a | Time to reflect in shed // with fleece removed (7) |
| 28a | Believe /to be/ dodgy (7) |
Down
| 1d | Groom and lovely female going // to marry (7) |
| 2d | Slight wound /is/ no handicap (7) |
In golf, scratch[5] denotes a handicap of zero, indicating that a player is good enough to achieve par on a course ⇒
I aim to get my handicap down to scratch by the end of next year.
Post Mortem
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| My answer to this clue was STRETCH which I thought might fit the first definition. I must admit I failed to find a dictionary entry for the word used as a noun in this sense; however, as a verb, stretch[10] means to injure (a muscle, tendon, ligament, etc) by means of a strain or sprain. Unable to figure out the second definition, I turned to crypticsue's review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog for enlightenment. |
| 3d | Here in Paris, Queen /is/ more aloof (5) |
The French word for 'here' is ici[8].
"Queen " = ER [regnal cipher of Queen Elizabeth]
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 Queen Elizabeth is ER[5] — from the Latin Elizabetha Regina.
* A cipher[5] (also cypher) is a monogram[5] or motif of two or more interwoven letters, typically a person's initials, used to identify a personal possession or as a logo.
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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 Queen Elizabeth is ER[5] — from the Latin Elizabetha Regina.
* A cipher[5] (also cypher) is a monogram[5] or motif of two or more interwoven letters, typically a person's initials, used to identify a personal possession or as a logo.
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| 4d | Diver/'s/ shame, eating most of fruit (9) |
The guillemot[5] is an auk (seabird) with a narrow pointed bill, typically nesting on cliff ledges.
| 5d | Instant tea /and/ dark brown coffee (5) |
"instant " = MO
Mo (abbreviation for moment) is an informal term* for a short period of time ⇒
* Identified by several British dictionaries as being a British[5,14], chiefly British[2,4], or mainly British[10] term. However, one British and two US dictionaries do not specify that it is British[1,11,12]. This meaning of the word "mo" is not found in my third US dictionary, the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language[3].
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Mo (abbreviation for moment) is an informal term* for a short period of time ⇒
hang on a mo!.
* Identified by several British dictionaries as being a British[5,14], chiefly British[2,4], or mainly British[10] term. However, one British and two US dictionaries do not specify that it is British[1,11,12]. This meaning of the word "mo" is not found in my third US dictionary, the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language[3].
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Cha (also chai) is a variant spelling of char[5], a British informal name for tea [in the sense of a drink].
Mocha[5] is a type of fine-quality coffee.
Origin: named after Mocha, a port in Yemen on the Red Sea, from where the coffee was first shipped
Mocha[5] is also a dark brown colour ⇒
the eyeliner is available in soft mocha and soft charcoal.
| 6d | Good person with just the same name /as/ writer (9) |
Robert Louis Stevenson[5]
(1850–1894) was a Scottish novelist, poet, and travel writer. (show more )
Stevenson made his name with the adventure story Treasure Island (1883). Other notable works: The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Kidnapped (both 1886).
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Stevenson made his name with the adventure story Treasure Island (1883). Other notable works: The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Kidnapped (both 1886).
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| 7d | Amelia B strangely // approachable (7) |
| 8d | Smoker's item // lost around hospital (7) |
| 14d | Rest // survive communist uprising (9) |
| 16d | Cuss -- rains damaged // flower (9) |
| 17d | Tough // resistance with pair in Australia (7) |
"resistance " = R [symbol used in physics]
| 18d | One who wrote // less about truth, might we infer? (7) |
Molière[5]
(1622–1673) was a French dramatist; pseudonym of Jean-Baptiste Poquelin. (show more )
Molière wrote more than twenty comic plays about contemporary France, developing stock characters from Italian commedia dell’arte. Notable works: Tartuffe (1664), Le Misanthrope (1666), and Le Bourgeois gentilhomme (1670).
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Molière wrote more than twenty comic plays about contemporary France, developing stock characters from Italian commedia dell’arte. Notable works: Tartuffe (1664), Le Misanthrope (1666), and Le Bourgeois gentilhomme (1670).
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| 20d | Study /what was/ formerly a bomb? (7) |
| 21d | Some in Jobcentre attended // to request (7) |
Scratching the Surface
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| In the UK, a jobcentre[5] is a government office in a town displaying information and giving advice about available jobs and being involved in the administration of benefits to unemployed people. |
| 23d | Father due to turn up /for/ psychiatrist (5) |
Austrian neurologist and psychotherapist Sigmund Freud[5] (1856–1939) was the founder of psychoanalysis
as both a theory of personality and a therapeutic practice. (show more )
He was the first to emphasize the significance of unconscious processes in normal and neurotic behaviour. He proposed the existence of an unconscious element in the mind which influences consciousness, and of conflicts in it between various sets of forces. Freud also stated the importance of a child's semi-consciousness of sex as a factor in mental development; his theory of the sexual origin of neuroses aroused great controversy.
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He was the first to emphasize the significance of unconscious processes in normal and neurotic behaviour. He proposed the existence of an unconscious element in the mind which influences consciousness, and of conflicts in it between various sets of forces. Freud also stated the importance of a child's semi-consciousness of sex as a factor in mental development; his theory of the sexual origin of neuroses aroused great controversy.
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| 24d | Soldiers /and/ police surrounding king (5) |
"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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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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