Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29352 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Friday, May 1, 2020 | |
Setter
Unknown | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29352]
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Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
Deep Threat | |
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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Introduction
The style of this puzzle feels very unfamiliar to me so I wonder if it might have been the work a new setter. I solved several clues from the definitions and/or checking letters and then worked out the wordplay from the solutions.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 | Facial expression // noble Anne changed before church (11) |
A count[5] is a foreign [from a British perspective*] nobleman whose rank corresponds to that of a British earl.
* from a Canadian perspective, all nobles are foreign
"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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| 7a | Hotel losing all contents: utter thief uncordial /and/ nasty (7) |
"Hotel " = H [NATO Phonetic Alphabet]
In what is commonly known as the NATO Phonetic Alphabet[7]*, Hotel[5] is a code word representing the letter H.
* officially the International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet
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In what is commonly known as the NATO Phonetic Alphabet[7]*, Hotel[5] is a code word representing the letter H.
* officially the International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet
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There is a rule in cryptic crosswords that one should ignore punctuation — except when it should not be ignored. Perhaps the colon in this clue is not essential, but it is at least very helpful.
| 8a | Cutting // back on beer in bar (7) |
| 10a | Marked // lack of cuddling partner (5) |
It took a long time for the penny to drop but, when it finally did, I actually chuckled out loud.
| 11a | American // willing for piano to be completely stripped (9) |
| 12a | African native/'s/ wife painting house close to Johannesburg (7) |
Scratching the Surface
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| Johannesburg[5] is a city in South Africa, the capital of the province of Gauteng. |
| 14a | Warrior // spirit reflected in development of Asia (7) |
A samurai[5] (plural samurai or samurais) was a member of a powerful military caste in feudal Japan ⇒
samurai warriors.
| 15a | Intern cleared out skip // coming to us (7) |
| 18a | Young beast // bit German neighbour (7) |
| 20a | Characteristic // rush to return eastern currency no longer in use (9) |
Prior to the introduction of the euro in 2002, the mark[5] (also Deutschmark or Deutsch Mark) was the basic monetary unit of Germany, equal to 100 pfennig.
| 21a | Little bit // odd in empty catacomb (5) |
Rum[5] is a dated informal British term meaning odd or peculiar ⇒
it’s a rum business, certainly.
| 22a | Approaching // rogue in anger (7) |
| 23a | Bird/'s/ right din on far side of mineral spring (7) |
| 24a | Officers /from/ university caught in fib by those renting (11) |
Down
| 1d | Dog on a hill, // one overseeing museum (7) |
"hill " = TOR
A tor[7] is a large, free-standing rock outcrop that rises abruptly from the surrounding smooth and gentle slopes of a rounded hill summit or ridge crest. In the South West of England, the term is commonly also used for the hills themselves – particularly the high points of Dartmoor in Devon and Bodmin Moor in Cornwall.
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A tor[7] is a large, free-standing rock outcrop that rises abruptly from the surrounding smooth and gentle slopes of a rounded hill summit or ridge crest. In the South West of England, the term is commonly also used for the hills themselves – particularly the high points of Dartmoor in Devon and Bodmin Moor in Cornwall.
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| 2d | Empty // fund, excited to acquire house finally (5) |
| 3d | Meaningful // narration (7) |
| 4d | Noticed about ladder at regular points going up /in/ sewers (7) |
| 5d | Given pseudonym /that's/ appropriate upset male journalist (9) |
Nick[5] is an informal British term meaning to steal ⇒
he'd had his car nicked by joyriders.
| 6d | Bodily organ with another, heart excised // previously (7) |
| 7d | Engineer drew that inn // using pen, perhaps (11) |
| 9d | Player's problem // intense playing with large fiddlestick (6,5) |
Fiddlestick[5] is an informal term for a violin bow.
| 13d | Rodents // metres below river covered in hard frozen water (5,4) |
The River Ouse[5] (rhymes with booze rather than mouse)
is a river of northeastern England, formed at the confluence of the Ure
and Swale in North Yorkshire and flowing 92 km (57 miles)
south-eastwards through York to the Humber estuary. There are also
severalother rivers in England having the same or similar name.
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- a river of southeastern England, which rises in the Weald of West Sussex and flows 48 km (30 miles) south-eastwards to the English Channel
- (also Great Ouse) a river of eastern England, which rises in Northamptonshire and flows 257 km (160 miles) eastwards then northwards through East Anglia to the Wash near King’s Lynn
- (also Little Ouse) a river of East Anglia, which forms a tributary of the Great Ouse
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| 16d | Tool /and/ plug put in scrap (7) |
A bradawl[5] is a tool for boring holes, resembling a small, sharpened screwdriver.
| 17d | Current of air // upended the short beefeater? (7) |
A beefeater[2] (or Beefeater) is a Yeoman of the Guard or a Yeoman Warder at the Tower of London, both of whom wear the same* Tudor-style uniform.
- A Yeoman of the Guard[5] is a member of the British sovereign's bodyguard, first established by Henry VII, now having only ceremonial duties.
- A Yeoman Warder[5]
is a warder [prison guard]
at the Tower of London, a fortress once used as a state prison that is
now open to the public as a repository of ancient armor and weapons, and
of the Crown Jewels.
* Actually, there is a slight difference in the uniform. The Yeoman of the Guard uniform has a diagonal belt across the chest (as can be seen in the photo on the left below). [Note: Athough the uniforms appear to be different shades of red, I believe that is merely the result of poor colour rendition in the photos.]
 Yeoman of the Guard |
 Yeoman Warder |
Draught is the British spelling of the word that is spelled draft in the US. I think in Canada we tend to use either spelling — or both spellings. For myself personally, I drink draught but feel a draft.
| 18d | Opinion lad // adopts (5,2) |
| 19d | Works ever so frantically outside for all to see (7) |
"for all to see " = U [British film classification]
Under the British system of film classification[7] a U (for 'universal') rating indicates that a film is suitable "for all the family" — or, at any rate, for those members over 4 years of age.
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Under the British system of film classification[7] a U (for 'universal') rating indicates that a film is suitable "for all the family" — or, at any rate, for those members over 4 years of age.
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| 21d | Secure // area to the north in Asian country (5) |
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
I found this very difficult in places and needed help to parse the answers
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas, Falcon!
ReplyDeleteI hope we will still have a strong relationship in the many years to come!
I share your wish. It's nice to see that the small group who comment regularly is slowly growing. It's a shame we no longer hear from people like Carola who once was a regular. I often wonder what has become of them.
Delete