Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29354 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Monday, May 4, 2020 | |
Setter
Campbell (Allan Scott) | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29354]
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Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
Falcon | |
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, December 26, 2020 edition of the National Post. | |
Introduction
For a change, I recognized this puzzle that I had reviewed on Big Dave's Crossword Blog back in May when it appeared in The Daily Telegraph.I do see that I made a rather glaring error in my intro to that review. The tulip bulbs are not a gift from the people of the Netherlands in appreciation for Canada's role in their liberation but a gift from the Dutch royal family in gratitude for Canadians having sheltered the future Queen Juliana and her family for three years during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands in the Second World War.
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
| 5a | We must leave raunchy actress, right old // genius (7) |
Mae West[5] (1892–1980) was an American actress and dramatist. She made her name on Broadway in her own comedies Sex (1926) and Diamond Lil (1928), memorable for their spirited approach to sexual matters*, before embarking on her successful Hollywood career in the 1930s.
* Mae West is renowned for having delivered lines such as as ?
Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me?— although the precise circumstances surrounding this quote are unclear and the premise of the joke dates as far back as the ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes (Quote Investigator).
"old " = O [linguistics]
In linguistics, O[12] is the abbreviation for Old ? (i)
However, a second entry from this same source shows o (lower case) meaning old (not capitalized) suggesting that the use of this abbreviation may not necessarily be confined to the field of linguistics.
Another possibility arises from the British abbreviation OAP[5] standing for old-age pensioner.
hide
In linguistics, O[12] is the abbreviation for Old ? (i)
OFr[Old French]; (ii)
OE[Old English].
However, a second entry from this same source shows o (lower case) meaning old (not capitalized) suggesting that the use of this abbreviation may not necessarily be confined to the field of linguistics.
Another possibility arises from the British abbreviation OAP[5] standing for old-age pensioner.
hide
| 7a | Saw // a daughter mature (5) |
| 9a | What sounds like standard // piece of artillery? (6) |
A canon[5] is a general law, rule, principle, or criterion by which something is judged ?
the appointment violated the canons of fair play and equal opportunity.
| 10a | Drink // provided by pirate at sea (8) |
| 11a | Important monk, // one exercising oppressive control (3,7) |
| 13a | New organ /in/ local (4) |
Scratching the Surface
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In the surface reading, local[5] is used in an informal British sense meaning a pub convenient to a person’s home ? had a pint in the local. |
| 14a | Nerve shown by female downing pint /in/ party game (4-3-6) |
Bottle[5] is an informal British term denoting the courage or confidence needed to do something difficult or dangerous ?
I lost my bottle completely and ran.
| 16a | Girl, /in/ fact, needing no introduction (4) |
| 17a | Amazing stories about eating one /in/ restaurant (10) |
A rotisserie[5] is a restaurant specializing in roasted or barbecued meat.
| 19a | Take part in a seaside activity /and/ risk a wet undoing? (5-3) |
| 20a | Short // article, very dry, about opening of parliament (6) |
Brut[5] (an adjective used to describe sparkling wine) means unsweetened; very dry*.
| 22a | Rewrite // part of poem, 'Endymion' (5) |
Scratching the Surface
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Endymion[7] is a poem by English Romantic poet John Keats first published in 1818. The poem begins with the line A thing of beauty is a joy for ever. Keats based the poem on the Greek myth of Endymion, the shepherd beloved of the moon goddess Selene (although he does take some significant liberties with the story). |
| 23a | Balcony // largely in need of repair (7) |
Down
| 1d | University official, // American, in study (4) |
Dean could denote a university official in a couple of senses of the word:
- A dean[5] is the head of a university faculty or department or of a medical school.
- In a college or university (especially Oxford or Cambridge), a dean[5] is a senior member of a college, with disciplinary and advisory functions.
| 2d | Be conspicuous /in/ booth in the open (5,3) |
| 3d | Occupation /of/ attendant conserving energy (6) |
| 4d | Puppet, // one captured by surrealist painter, with end of leg missing (10) |
René Magritte[7] (1898–1967) was a Belgian surrealist artist. He became well known for a number of witty and thought-provoking images that fall under the umbrella of surrealism. His work is known for challenging observers' preconditioned perceptions of reality.
| 5d | End up on motorway /leaving/ a resort on Biscayne Bay (5) |
The M1[7] is a north–south motorway* in England connecting London to Leeds.
* Motorway[2,5] (abbreviation M[5]) is a British, Australian, and New Zealand term for a dual-carriageway road [divided highway] designed for fast-moving traffic, especially one with three lanes per carriageway [direction of travel] and limited access and exit points [controlled access].
Biscayne Bay[7] is a lagoon located on the Atlantic coast of South Florida. The City of Miami[7] is located at its northern end.
| 6d | With a limited amount of money, // things are soon tight (2,1,10) |
As an anagram indicator, tight[5] is used in the informal sense of drunk ?
he got tight on brandy.
| 8d | Leave country without head of great // Arab territory (7) |
An emirate[10] is the government, jurisdiction, or territory of an emir*.
| 12d | OK following cheerful European // song (6,4) |
"European " = E [as in E number]
E[1,2] is the abbreviation for European (as in E number*).
* An E number[1,4,10,14] (or E-number[2,5]) is any of various identification codes required by EU law, consisting of the letter E (for European) followed by a number, that are used to denote food additives such as colourings and preservatives (but excluding flavourings) that have been approved by the European Union.
hide
E[1,2] is the abbreviation for European (as in E number*).
* An E number[1,4,10,14] (or E-number[2,5]) is any of various identification codes required by EU law, consisting of the letter E (for European) followed by a number, that are used to denote food additives such as colourings and preservatives (but excluding flavourings) that have been approved by the European Union.
hide
"Bright Eyes"[7] is a song performed by Art Garfunkel featured on the soundtrack of the 1978 British animated adventure drama film Watership Down. Rearranged as a pop song from its original form in the film, the track appears on British and European versions of Garfunkel's 1979 Fate for Breakfast and on the US versions of his 1981 album Scissors Cut. It was the biggest-selling single of 1979 in the UK, remaining at number one for six weeks and selling over a million copies there.
| 14d | Wienie, perhaps /from/ America, devoured by expert (7) |
When this puzzle appeared in the UK, I recall the Brits being unfamiliar with the term wienie[10] which, from a British perspective, is an informal US and Canadian name for a wiener sausage.
| 15d | Joint endlessly screening musical up /in/ bar (8) |
CATS[7] is a musical by English composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by American-born British writer T. S. Eliot (1888–1965) and produced by British theatrical producer Cameron Mackintosh. It premiered in London in 1981 and on Broadway in 1982.
| 17d | Live /with/ uncontrollable desire (6) |
| 18d | Suggest // just ignoring son (5) |
| 21d | Scottish dance? // Authentic, we hear (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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