Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29357 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Thursday, May 7, 2020 | |
Setter
Unknown | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29357]
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Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
Miffypops | |
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
While not overly difficult, the puzzle does contain a few words that are new to me. Fortunately, I was able to get most of them through the wordplay. With all the checking letters in place for 1a, I was even able to arrange the remaining letters in the correct formation on my first attempt.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 | Bitter moan about // plant in garden (10) |
Montbretia[5] is a plant of the iris family with bright orange-yellow trumpet-shaped flowers.
| 6a | Posed outside back of shop /in/ row (4) |
| 9a | Abandon girl /in/ shrub (6,4) |
I discovered there are two plants going by the name desert rose[5]:
- a succulent plant with pink tubular flowers and a woody stem containing toxic milky sap, native to East Africa and Arabia
- (also Sturt's desert rose) a dense shrub with pinkish-lilac flowers and black spotted leaves and fruit, native to arid regions of Australia
| 10a | American native /given/ greeting outside work (4) |
"work " = OP [opus]
In music, an opus[5] (Latin 'work', plural opuses or opera) is a separate composition or set of compositions.
The abbreviation Op.[5] (also op.), denoting opus, is used before a number given to each work of a particular composer, usually indicating the order of publication. The plural form of Op. is Opp..
Opus[5] can also be used in other contexts to denote an artistic work, especially one on a large scale ⇒
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In music, an opus[5] (Latin 'work', plural opuses or opera) is a separate composition or set of compositions.
The abbreviation Op.[5] (also op.), denoting opus, is used before a number given to each work of a particular composer, usually indicating the order of publication. The plural form of Op. is Opp..
Opus[5] can also be used in other contexts to denote an artistic work, especially one on a large scale ⇒
he was writing an opus on Mexico.
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The Hopi[10] are a Native American people of northeastern Arizona.
| 12a | In middle of lesson get unfriendly // rebukes (6) |
| 13a | Awful trouble with EU showing no love /for/ diehard Tory? (4,4) |
"love " = O [nil score in tennis]
In tennis, squash, and some other sports, love[5] is a score of zero or nil ⇒
Although folk etymology has connected the word with French l'oeuf 'egg', from the resemblance in shape between an egg and a zero, the term apparently comes from the phrase play for love (i.e. the love of the game, not for money).
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In tennis, squash, and some other sports, love[5] is a score of zero or nil ⇒
love fifteen. The resemblance of a zero written as a numeral (0) to the letter O leads to the cryptic crossword convention of the word "love" being used to clue this letter.
Although folk etymology has connected the word with French l'oeuf 'egg', from the resemblance in shape between an egg and a zero, the term apparently comes from the phrase play for love (i.e. the love of the game, not for money).
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In the UK, the term true-blue[5] (also true blue) denotes a staunchly loyal supporter of the Conservative Party.
| 15a | Special collection /of/ least well-regarded artist? (6,6) |
Bottom drawer[5] is a dated British* term for household linen stored by a woman in preparation for her marriage.
* the equivalent North American term is hope chest
| 18a | Buffoonery /of/ liar had Queen troubled (12) |
| 21a | Exercises to get bit of money by bankrupt // college (8) |
Pembroke College[7] is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1624 by King James I of England and was named after William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, Lord Chamberlain and then-Chancellor of the University.
| 22a | German fellow/'s/ regimen accepted with bit of hesitation (6) |
Dieter[7] is a German given name, a short form of Dietrich.
| 24a | Emotion /reated by/ speed getting heart going (4) |
| 25a | Prisoner on top level said /to be/ hiding away (10) |
| 26a | Gait /of/ the old man going to church (4) |
"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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| 27a | Determined // little girl, ten, saucy on the outside (10) |
Down
| 1d | Way holy person /is/ unassuming (6) |
| 2d | Small numbers -- in what way // is that something bothering restaurant? (2-4) |
I had a bit of difficulty finding a role for the word "that" in the clue. I first considered — and rejected — making it part of the wordplay with the phrase "in what way is that" cluing the word HOW. My second attempt was to make it part of a link phrase "is that" but ended up tossing out that idea as well. I finally concluded that the definition is being presented in the form of a question which one could interpret to mean "something that might be of concern to a restaurant".
| 3d | Like a drippy type showing no interest whatever? (5,2,5) |
Drippy[5] is an informal term meaning weak, ineffectual, or sloppily sentimental.
Surely the solution to the clue would be more accurately applied to those dealing with the "drippy type" than to the "drippy type" themself or itself. I think Collins COBUILD explains the word drippy[14] well: "If you describe someone as drippy, you mean that they are rather stupid and weak. If you describe something such as a book or a type of music as drippy, you mean that you think it is rather stupid, dull, and sentimental".
| 4d | They hear // corny things (4) |
| 5d | What may be played // in tents that's naughty and full of spirit (10) |
| 7d | Bad legislation? // Such would supposedly help the needy (4,4) |
Historically in the UK, a poor law[5,10] was a law providing for the relief or support of the poor from public funds. Originally the responsibility of the parish, the relief and employment of the poor passed over to the workhouses in 1834. In the early 20th century the Poor Law* was replaced by schemes of social security ⇒
The Poor Laws passed during the reign of Elizabeth I played a critical role in the country's welfare.
* A workhouse[5] was a public institution in which the destitute of a parish received board and lodging in return for work.
| 8d | Attempt to get hold of liquid, out-of-this-world // bathroom item (8) |
ET[5] is the abbreviation for extraterrestrial.
| 11d | Naval officers // raised alarm at sea after first sign of rocks (4,8) |
Rear admiral[5] is a rank of naval officer, above commodore and below vice admiral.
| 14d | Attacked dwelling /and/ was effective (6,4) |
| 16d | Quickly /providing/ two portions of meat (4-4) |
Chop-chop[5] (or chop chop[2,10]) is slang from pidgin English meaning quickly or hurry up ⇒
they decided that pictures were needed, and chop-chop.
| 17d | A passionate knight going out /is/ fragrant (8) |
"knight " = N [chess notation]
A knight[5] is a chess piece, typically with its top shaped like a horse’s head, that moves by jumping to the opposite corner of a rectangle two squares by three. Each player starts the game with two knights.
N[5] is the abbreviation for knight used in recording moves in chess [representing the pronunciation of kn-, since the initial letter k- represents 'king'].
As an aside, it is interesting to note that the Chambers 21st Century Dictionary defines:
On the other hand, both The Chambers Dictionary and the Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary list K or K.[1,11] as an abbreviation for knight without specifying the specific context in which this abbreviation is used. However, the context may well be in an honours list rather than in a game of chess. In the UK, for instance, KBE[5] stands for Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
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A knight[5] is a chess piece, typically with its top shaped like a horse’s head, that moves by jumping to the opposite corner of a rectangle two squares by three. Each player starts the game with two knights.
N[5] is the abbreviation for knight used in recording moves in chess [representing the pronunciation of kn-, since the initial letter k- represents 'king'].
As an aside, it is interesting to note that the Chambers 21st Century Dictionary defines:
- K[2] as an abbreviation used in chess for knight.
- K[2] is a symbol used in chess to represent a king.
- N[2] is a symbol used in chess to represent a knight.
On the other hand, both The Chambers Dictionary and the Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary list K or K.[1,11] as an abbreviation for knight without specifying the specific context in which this abbreviation is used. However, the context may well be in an honours list rather than in a game of chess. In the UK, for instance, KBE[5] stands for Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
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| 19d | Street on fire -- terrible // conflict (6) |
The clue published in the National Post is the one which appeared in the print edition of The Daily Telegraph and on the Telegraph Puzzles website in the UK (see the box below for a discussion of the various platforms on which the puzzle appears in Britain).
As reported on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, a second version of this clue appeared in the online version of The Daily Telegraph:
- Conflict? // It’s upset ref badly (6)
It boggles the mind why a correct clue would be changed to an incorrect one, and then on only one of the several platforms on which the puzzle appears.
How do I reach thee ... Let me count the ways
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The Daily Telegraph puzzles are available via several platforms in the UK:
The National Post carries the syndicated version of the puzzle. Although we are currently seeing the puzzles in Canada nearly nine months after they first appeared in the UK, I believe the syndicated puzzle is actually distributed to newspapers prior to its publication in the UK. Unless a change is made in the puzzle following its distribution in syndication and before The Daily Telegraph goes to press, the syndicated version will be identical to the printed version in the UK — barring a production error by the National Post. |
| 20d | Traditional manufacturer /needs/ entitlement to be heard (6) |
| 23d | Stars // in disgrace sometimes (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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