Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29368 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Wednesday, May 20, 2020 | |
Setter
Jay (Jeremy Mutch) | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29368]
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Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
2Kiwis | |
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
Jay salutes our Kiwi bloggers with a couple of references to New Zealand in today's fairly gentle workout.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 | Engineers more recent track // studies (9,6) |
"Engineers " = RE [Royal Engineers]
The Corps of Royal Engineers[7], usually just called the Royal Engineers (abbreviation RE), and commonly known as the Sappers[7], is a corps of the British Army that provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces.
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The Corps of Royal Engineers[7], usually just called the Royal Engineers (abbreviation RE), and commonly known as the Sappers[7], is a corps of the British Army that provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces.
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| 9a | Family (and the rest) must adopt current // type of energy (7) |
| 10a | In repeats, an actor returned /for/ game (7) |
Canasta[5] is a card game resembling rummy, using two packs. It is usually played by two pairs of partners, and the aim is to collect sets (or melds) of cards.
| 11a | Description of curriculum should include British // sweets (9) |
In British usage, syllabus[10] can denote either:
- the subjects studied for a particular course
- a document which lists these subjects and states how the course will be assessed
Sweet[5] is used in a British sense meaning dessert.
Syllabub[5] is a whipped cream dessert, typically flavoured with white wine or sherry.
| 12a | Clip // youngster crossing river (4) |
| 13a | Relative // cut applied to rejected writer (6) |
"writer " = PEN [writing implement]
The use of the word "writer" to clue PEN is likely to be slightly more cryptic to the Brits than it is to us on this side of the pond. British solvers will see "pen" as being a writing implement rather than the person wielding that implement.
In addition to defining pen[3,11] as a writing implement, North American dictionaries also define it as a writer or an author ⇒
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The use of the word "writer" to clue PEN is likely to be slightly more cryptic to the Brits than it is to us on this side of the pond. British solvers will see "pen" as being a writing implement rather than the person wielding that implement.
In addition to defining pen[3,11] as a writing implement, North American dictionaries also define it as a writer or an author ⇒
a hired pen, British dictionaries do not list this meaning although they do show pen[2,4] (or the pen[5,10]) as symbolically representing writing as an occupation (a sense of the word not found in US dictionaries).
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| 15a | With no time tips load off across right // part of motorway (4,4) |
Motorway[2,5] 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].
Slip road[5] is the British name for a road entering or leaving a motorway or dual carriageway⇒
An acoustic fence [noise barrier or sound barrier] will also be built between Ashfield Lane and the motorway slip road.
North American term: ramp[5] (this does specifically denote "an inclined slip road", although I expect it might still be called a ramp even in the rare circumstance where it happened not to be inclined)
Scratching the Surface
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| Tip[10] is used in a British sense meaning to dump (rubbish, etc.). |
| 18a | Chutzpah mainly precedes row /in/ border (8) |
Chutzpah[5] (also chutzpa, hutzpah or hutzpa) is an informal term (of Yiddish origin) denoting extreme self-confidence or audacity.
According to one US dictionary, a rare meaning of the word front[12] is impudence or effrontery. This sense of the word certainly is rarely found in US dictionaries but is common in British dictionaries.
| 19a | District // excluding the majority of public disorder (6) |
A barrio[5] is a district of a town in Spain and Spanish-speaking countries.
| 22a | Boy pinching one // set (4) |
| 23a | Container /used for/ river grass? (9) |
Flower is being used in the whimsical cryptic crossword sense of something that flows — in other words, a river.
Grass[3] is slang for marijuana.
The Story Behind the Picture
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| The 2Kiwis illustrate their review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog with a picture showing the principal characters from the Flower Pot Men[7], a British children's programme, produced by BBC television, first
transmitted in 1952, and repeated regularly for more than twenty years.
The show told the story of Bill and Ben, two little men made of flower
pots who lived at the bottom of an English suburban garden. The programme always took place in a garden, behind a potting shed. The third character was Little Weed, of indeterminate species, somewhat resembling a sunflower or dandelion with a smiling face, growing between two large flowerpots. |
| 26a | Sign discovered in form of Maori // art (7) |
The setter uses "discovered" to indicate that the solver must strip away the outer letters of the word [
Scratching the Surface
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The Maori[5]
are the aboriginal people of New Zealand. (show more )
They arrived in New Zealand as part of a series of waves of migration from Tahiti, probably from the 9th century onwards. They lost large amounts of land in the colonization of New Zealand by the British, and now number about 280,000. hide |
| 27a | Laugh /and/ talk intermittently during task (7) |
| 28a | Pay for dance after dream // sporting competition (7,8) |
Fantasy football[5] is a competition in which participants select imaginary teams from among the players in a league and score points according to the actual performance of their players. Of course, such competitions are not confined to football (which, in a British context, is soccer).
Down
| 1d | Makes a lot /from/ crime to support playboy (5,2) |
| 2d | A bit of belief in a league // game (5) |
| 3d | Outgoing // text sent off about partygoer (9) |
A raver is an attendee at a rave*.
* Although many British dictionaries consider the term 'rave' to be British slang, the term has clearly crossed the pond to North America. One American dictionary puts it best, defining a rave[12] as a kind of loosely organized dance party, lasting through the night, that originated in Britain in the 1980s: a rave features techno music and typically includes the use of psychedelic drugs.
Extravert is a variant spelling of extrovert[5].
| 4d | Slight problem /with/ award after chick goes naked (6) |
| 5d | Seasoning // sailor from Gibraltar? (4,4) |
The Rock[5] is an informal name for Gibraltar[5], a British overseas territory near the southern tip of the Iberian peninsula, at the eastern end of the Strait of Gibraltar (show more ).
Occupying a site of great strategic importance, Gibraltar consists of a fortified town and military base at the foot of a rocky headland, the Rock of Gibraltar. Britain captured it during the War of the Spanish Succession in 1704 and is responsible for its defence, external affairs, and internal security.
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Occupying a site of great strategic importance, Gibraltar consists of a fortified town and military base at the foot of a rocky headland, the Rock of Gibraltar. Britain captured it during the War of the Spanish Succession in 1704 and is responsible for its defence, external affairs, and internal security.
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| 6d | Grunt // name adopted by yokel (4) |
Oik[5] is an informal British term for an uncouth or obnoxious person.
| 7d | Most of detachment love Irish // tank (9) |
"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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| 8d | Praised // former lover and stopped missing head (7) |
| 14d | Supply // argument in favour of dream (9) |
| 16d | Look sulky about bad delay, // exhausted (6,3) |
| 17d | Spy left in a panic, holding Independent /showing/ such feeling (4-4) |
"Independent " = I [politician with no party affiliation]
I[1] is the abbreviation for independent, in all likelihood in the sense of a politician with no party affiliation.
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I[1] is the abbreviation for independent, in all likelihood in the sense of a politician with no party affiliation.
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| 18d | Decline /sees/ everything cancelled after fine (4,3) |
| 20d | Love a duck eating last of cream /and/ porridge (7) |
There's a lot of love being shown in today's puzzle (see 7d).
The teal[5] is a small freshwater duck, typically with a greenish band on the wing that is most prominent in flight.
| 21d | Weapon choice should incorporate // cover for the body (6) |
| 24d | Prime minister once having answer /for/ bread (5) |
William Pitt[5] (1759–1806), known as Pitt the Younger, was Prime Minister of Britain 1783–1801 and 1804-6, The youngest-ever Prime Minister, he introduced reforms to reduce the national debt. He was the son of William Pitt[5], 1st Earl of Chatham (1708–1778) who was known as Pitt the Elder. As Secretary of State (effectively Prime Minister), the elder Pitt headed coalition governments 1756–61 and 1766-8. He brought the Seven Years War to an end in 1763 and also masterminded the conquest of French possessions overseas, particularly in Canada and India.
Pitta[5] (also pitta bread) is the British spelling for pita (bread), a flat, hollow, slightly leavened bread which can be split open to hold a filling ⇒ (i)
low-calorie starters include tzatziki with a little pitta; (ii)
flat pitta breads make perfect sandwiches.
| 25d | Hotel also known as // a dance (4) |
"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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The haka[5] is a Maori ceremonial war dance involving chanting, an imitation of which is performed by New Zealand rugby teams before a match* ⇒
Sport, show business and ethnic culture seamlessly blend in New Zealand's favourite sport, rugby, with the haka preceding every test match.
* I'm sure if a North American team were to do this, it would be roundly censured for "cultural appropriation".
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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