Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29311 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Saturday, March 14, 2020 | |
Setter
Unknown | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29311 – Hints]Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29311 – 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
I found today's puzzle to be an easier exercise than the past couple of days. Very early in the solving process, I recognized that the puzzle might be shaping up to be a pangram (in fact, this thought hit me when the first word entered in the grid contained a Q). And, for a change, this knowledge actually helped as I was down to one clue remaining unsolved and had yet to use an X.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 | Less familiar // way to meet worker in park (8) |
| 6a | Jar /for/ this berry? (4) |
Jar[10] is used in the sense of to make or cause to make a harsh discordant sound.
| 9a | Unusual question -- not to // one that sparkles? (6) |
When composing her review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, crypticsue must have been blinded by the sparkles. She shows only one letter being removed — and it is not one of the two that should be removed.
| 10a | Star perhaps /in/ top window (8) |
| 11a | Did not forget /and/ picked up again (11) |
In her review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, crypticsue says
With a hyphen after the RE, this would mean picked up again. However, Lexico (formerly Oxford Dictionaries Online) shows the word recollect[5] (without a hyphen) to be a rarely used term meaning to collect or gather together again. On that basis, I have marked the clue as being a double definition.
| 14a | Factory // still dry i.e. peculiar! (10) |
| 15a | Dickens will accept article /for/ Ruth's husband (4) |
Boz[5] is the pseudonym used by English novelist Charles Dickens (1812 – 1870) in Sketches by Boz* (1836) and his novel The Pickwick Papers (1836-37).
* a collection of short pieces originally published in various newspapers and other periodicals
From the Bible, Boaz[10] was a kinsman of Naomi, who married her daughter-in-law Ruth (Ruth 2–4); one of David's ancestors.
| 16a | 10, // say, entering Virginia (4) |
The
numeral "10" is a cross
reference indicator to clue 10a (show more ).
To complete the clue, a solver must replace the cross reference indicator with the solution to the clue starting in the light* identified by the cross reference indicator.
The cross reference indicator may include a directional indicator but this is customarily done only in situations where there are both Across and Down clues originating in the light that is being referenced.
* light-coloured cell in the grid
hide
To complete the clue, a solver must replace the cross reference indicator with the solution to the clue starting in the light* identified by the cross reference indicator.
The cross reference indicator may include a directional indicator but this is customarily done only in situations where there are both Across and Down clues originating in the light that is being referenced.
* light-coloured cell in the grid
hide
I have to wonder if this is really a proper use of a cross-reference. The reference should be to an element in the wordplay of the cross-referenced clue (star) and not to the solution to the cross-referenced clue (skylight). A skylight is not a star; whimsically, a 'sky light' might be a star but that is not the solution to the clue — simply the wordplay. However, none of the many usually vocal pedants on Big Dave's Crossword Blog expressed any concern, so it seems I find myself a minority of one on this point.
Vega[10] is the brightest star in the constellation Lyra and one of the most conspicuous in the northern hemisphere. It is part of an optical double star having a faint companion.
| 17a | Boring bird? (10) |
| 19a | Connoisseurs, // one hundred with terrible congestion (11) |
| 22a | Advantage facing high ground /in/ Civil War battle (8) |
The Battle of Edgehill[5] was the first pitched battle of the English Civil War (1642), fought at the village of Edgehill in the west Midlands. The Parliamentary army attempted to halt the Royalist army's march on London; the battle ended with no clear winner and with heavy losses on both sides.
| 23a | Flexible // western dropout? (6) |
In July 1967, Time magazine featured a cover story entitled, "The Hippies: The Philosophy of a Subculture."[7] The article described the guidelines of the hippie code[7]: "Do your own thing, wherever you have to do it and whenever you want. Drop out. Leave society as you have known it. Leave it utterly. Blow the mind of every straight person you can reach. Turn them on, if not to drugs, then to beauty, love, honesty, fun."
| 24a | Good person -- and a good // party (4) |
"good person " = ST [saint]
| 25a | Coward's work // that could make one sniffy (3,5) |
Hay Fever[7] is a comic play written by Noël Coward in 1924 and first produced in 1925.
Down
| 2d | United // drew (4) |
Scratching the Surface
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| Manchester United Football Club[7], commonly known as Man United or simply United*, is an English professional football [soccer] club, based in Old Trafford,
Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League (the top level in
the English football league system). * Although, in Britain, the word United[5] is commonly used in the names of soccer and other sports teams formed by amalgamation, it would seem that the name United in the absence of other context would customarily be assumed to be a reference to Manchester United. |
| 3d | Come up against // an objection (4) |
| 4d | Refined // chap, slippery type (7) |
"chap " = GENT
Chap[3,4,11] is an informal British[5] or chiefly British[3] term for a man or boy — although a term that is certainly not uncommon in Canada. It is a shortened form of chapman[3,4,11], an archaic term for a trader, especially an itinerant pedlar[a,b].
[a] Pedlar is the modern British spelling of peddler[14] which, in most senses, is considered by the Brits to be a US or old-fashioned British spelling. The exception is in the sense of a dealer in illegal drugs which the Brits spell as drug peddler.
[b] The current meaning of chap[2] dates from the 18th century. In the 16th century, chap meant 'a customer'. The dictionaries do not explain how a shortened form of 'chapman' (pedlar) came to mean 'customer'.
hide
Chap[3,4,11] is an informal British[5] or chiefly British[3] term for a man or boy — although a term that is certainly not uncommon in Canada. It is a shortened form of chapman[3,4,11], an archaic term for a trader, especially an itinerant pedlar[a,b].
[a] Pedlar is the modern British spelling of peddler[14] which, in most senses, is considered by the Brits to be a US or old-fashioned British spelling. The exception is in the sense of a dealer in illegal drugs which the Brits spell as drug peddler.
[b] The current meaning of chap[2] dates from the 18th century. In the 16th century, chap meant 'a customer'. The dictionaries do not explain how a shortened form of 'chapman' (pedlar) came to mean 'customer'.
hide
| 5d | Cure // the heart-sore lot suffering (7,2,6) |
| 6d | Princely payment? (7) |
| 7d | Turn on or off, then reverse /to find/ railway (10) |
Here and There
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| The term switchback would appear to have quite a different meaning in Britain than it does in North America. Across the pond, the term refers to a series of changes in elevation whereas, over here, it denotes a change in direction. In Britain, a switchback[5] is a road, path, or railway with alternate sharp ascents and descents ⇒ the path was a switchback of hills and wooded dales. In North America, on the other hand, a switchback[5] is a 180° bend* in a road or path, especially one leading up the side of a mountain ⇒ the trail soon leads robustly straight up, with few switchbacks. |
The Story Behind the Picture
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| Why does Big Dave illustrate his hint with a picture of a fairground ride? Well, in Britain, switchback[5] is another name for a roller coaster. |
| 8d | One who is working at last (9) |
A last[5] is a shoemaker’s model [of the foot] for shaping or repairing a shoe or boot.
| 12d | Type of betting // established inequality (5,4) |
The odds[5] denotes the balance of advantage; in other words, superiority in strength, power, or resources ⇒
she clung to the lead against all the odds.
The term fixed odds[5] denotes odds in betting (especially on soccer results) that are predetermined, as opposed to a pool system or a starting price*.
* In a pool system (such as pari-mutuel betting[5]), the winning bettors divide the losers' stakes (less the operator's commission).
In betting on horse races, the starting price[7] is the odds prevailing on a particular horse at the time a race begins. Generally, it is set by consensus of an appointed panel on the basis of their observations of the fluctuation in prices at the racetrack.To a first order approximation, it is the average of the fixed odds being offered by all bookmakers at the start of the race. When placing a wager, bettors have the option of taking fixed odds or starting price odds.
Course Correction
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| Like Andy at Comment #1 in the review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, I initially had GIVEN ODDS. However, I abandoned this approach when I failed to find the term in the dictionary. |
| 13d | Acquisition // of rough mat in a tent (10) |
| 17d | Witty fellow covering part of leg /for/ cleaning (7) |
| 18d | Course not to be taken by drivers (7) |
| 20d | About four, I, in France, // dance (4) |
The French pronoun je[8] means 'I'.
| 21d | Another pew seating elder initially /in/ part of church (4) |
An apse[5] is a large semicircular or polygonal recess in a church, arched or with a domed roof and typically at the church's eastern end.
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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