Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29319 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Tuesday, March 24, 2020 | |
Setter
Unknown | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29319]
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Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
Mr K | |
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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This puzzle appears on the Monday Diversions page in the Saturday, November 14, 2020 edition of the National Post. | |
Introduction
A relatively easy puzzle to start the week. I hope everyone remembered the tree in 27a. That clue also gave me my biggest smile with Mr. K's reference to "the geological abbreviation for married" in his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog. I guess those are marriages with rock-solid foundations.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 | After exercises, longs /for/ fruit (7) |
| 5a | Aloof before daughter // proposed (7) |
| 9a | Fool // China and Portugal (5) |
In Britain, china[5] is an informal term for a friend (or, as the Brits would say, a mate*). This meaning comes from cockney rhyming slang (show explanation ), where china is the shortened form of china plate which rhymes with 'mate'.
Rhyming slang[5] is a type of slang that replaces words with rhyming words or phrases, typically with the rhyming element omitted. For example, butcher’s, short for butcher’s hook, means ‘look’ in cockney rhyming slang.
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* In Britain, mate[5] — in addition to being a person’s husband, wife, or other sexual partner — is an informal term for a friend or companion ⇒
Rhyming slang[5] is a type of slang that replaces words with rhyming words or phrases, typically with the rhyming element omitted. For example, butcher’s, short for butcher’s hook, means ‘look’ in cockney rhyming slang.
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* In Britain, mate[5] — in addition to being a person’s husband, wife, or other sexual partner — is an informal term for a friend or companion ⇒
my best mate Steve.
By the way, if you read through the thread at Comment #14 on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, you will see that even some Brits are flummoxed by Cockney rhyming slang (let alone double rhyming slang).
| 10a | Bump into // worktop after being oddly absent (9) |
| 11a | One resisted keeping biblical books, I // discovered (10) |
"biblical books " = NT [New Testament]
In Crosswordland, the term "books" — or related phrases such as today's "biblical books" — is commonly used to clue either the Old Testament (OT) or the New Testament (NT). Today, as is often the case, the clue provides no indication whether the reference is to the former or the latter.
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In Crosswordland, the term "books" — or related phrases such as today's "biblical books" — is commonly used to clue either the Old Testament (OT) or the New Testament (NT). Today, as is often the case, the clue provides no indication whether the reference is to the former or the latter.
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| 12a | Diamonds removed from ostentatious // relative (4) |
Gran[5] is an informal British term for one's grandmother ⇒ (i)
I'm not your gran, am I?; (ii)
you know how Gran looks forward to seeing us.
| 14a | New vessel there at sea, // still (12) |
| 18a | Worried in case icing preserves female/'s/ weight (12) |
As a containment indicator, preserves is used in the sense of protects.
| 21a | It smooths over // part of minor incident, on reflection (4) |
| 22a | Doctor sits and chats -- it doesn't include hospital // data (10) |
| 25a | Left // a group working with editor (9) |
| 26a | Current price? // Mad (5) |
| 27a | Radical // former lover married inside plane, perhaps (7) |
The plane[5] (also plane tree) is a tall spreading tree of the genus Platanus of the northern hemisphere, with maple-like leaves and bark which peels in uneven patches.
| 28a | Greatest // hunger is in Paris (7) |
"is in Paris " = EST
Down
| 1d | Piece of cake -- // it's eaten outside (6) |
While the first definition itself is commonly used in either the affirmative ("It was a piece of cake") or negative ("It was no piece of cake"), the solution is almost invariably seen in the negative.
| 2d | Tickled // in the morning and taken advantage of (6) |
| 3d | New shoes? Pity to support husband/'s/ belief (10) |
| 4d | Novel left on fine // mantelpiece (5) |
She[7], subtitled A History of Adventure, is a novel by English writer Henry Rider Haggard (1856–1925) — and possibly the most popular book in Crosswordland. (read more )
Sir Henry Rider Haggard[5] (1856–1925) was an English novelist. Published under the name H. Rider Haggard, he is famous for adventure novels such as King Solomon’s Mines (1885) and She (1889).
She, first serialized in The Graphic magazine from October 1886 to January 1887, is one of the classics of imaginative literature, and as of 1965 with over 83 million copies sold in 44 different languages, one of the best-selling books of all time. Extraordinarily popular upon its release, She has never been out of print.
The story is a first-person narrative that follows the journey of Horace Holly and his ward Leo Vincey to a lost kingdom in the African interior. There they encounter a primitive race of natives and a mysterious white queen named Ayesha who reigns as the all-powerful "She", or "She-who-must-be-obeyed". In this work, Rider Haggard developed the conventions of the Lost World subgenre, which many later authors emulated.
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Sir Henry Rider Haggard[5] (1856–1925) was an English novelist. Published under the name H. Rider Haggard, he is famous for adventure novels such as King Solomon’s Mines (1885) and She (1889).
She, first serialized in The Graphic magazine from October 1886 to January 1887, is one of the classics of imaginative literature, and as of 1965 with over 83 million copies sold in 44 different languages, one of the best-selling books of all time. Extraordinarily popular upon its release, She has never been out of print.
The story is a first-person narrative that follows the journey of Horace Holly and his ward Leo Vincey to a lost kingdom in the African interior. There they encounter a primitive race of natives and a mysterious white queen named Ayesha who reigns as the all-powerful "She", or "She-who-must-be-obeyed". In this work, Rider Haggard developed the conventions of the Lost World subgenre, which many later authors emulated.
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| 5d | Outside clubs, the roars upset // group of musicians (9) |
| 6d | Disgusting // chicken, by the sound of it? (4) |
| 7d | Concerned with change, Edward // responded (8) |
To change like the autumn leaves.
| 8d | Gloom // beginning to descend on boat by cape (8) |
Ark[5] is an archaic name for a ship or boat. The best known example is undoubtedly Noah's ark[5], the ship in which Noah, his family, and the animals were saved from the Flood, according to the biblical account (Genesis 6–8).
| 13d | Players striking? (10) |
| 15d | Being // sixteen, excited by church (9) |
"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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| 16d | Somewhat dishonest, I'm a terrible // judge (8) |
| 17d | I admit keeping negative /is/ dumb (8) |
| 19d | Illegally copy // page 26 (6) |
The
numeral "26" is a cross
reference indicator to clue 26a (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
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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
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| 20d | Body of followers beginning to leave after snake/'s/ appearance (6) |
Asp is a name applied to at least four different species of snakes (show more ):
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- the European asp[7], a small southern European viper (Vipera aspis) with an upturned snout.
- the Egyptian cobra[7] (Naja haje), one of the largest cobra species native to Africa, second to the forest cobra (Naja melanoleuca).
- the Saharan horned viper[7] (Cerastes cerastes), a venomous viper species native to the deserts of Northern Africa and parts of the Middle East.
- the Saharan sand viper[7] (Cerastes vipera), also known as the Egyptian asp or Cleopatra's asp, a venomous viper species endemic to the deserts of North Africa and the Sinai Peninsula.
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| 23d | It describes movement, in the main (5) |
The main[5] is an archaic or literary term for the open ocean.
| 24d | Border // feuds grew on a regular basis (4) |
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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