Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29373 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Tuesday, May 26, 2020 | |
Setter
Unknown | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29373]
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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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Introduction
A month after Christmas, this puzzle does not seem too much out of place. However, it must have appeared rather out of season when it appeared in The Daily Telegraph back in May.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 | Suddenly // dropping from sky? (3,2,3,4) |
The latter part of the clue (which I have marked with a dotted underline) is a literal interpretation of the solution.
| 9a | One's amusing // letter (9) |
| 10a | Seasonal visitor, // hill-dweller in South Africa (5) |
| 11a | Lack of concern /with/ route passing through outskirts of Aylesbury (6) |
Scratching the Surface
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| Aylesbury[5] is a town in south central England, the county town of Buckinghamshire. |
| 12a | Ten hours travelling /in/ one direction (8) |
| 13a | Perturbation /with/ doctrine in time (6) |
| 15a | Ruby, perhaps // unexpectedly, gets on with me (8) |
| 18a | Remarkable, // refusing to work (8) |
| 19a | Illegal act on a // European peninsula (6) |
According to Lexico (Oxford Dictionaries), Crimea[5] (usually the Crimea) is a peninsula of Ukraine* lying between the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. It was the scene of the Crimean War in the 1850s. The majority of the population is Russian.
* Nary a mention of the fact that Russia invaded and annexed Crimea[7] in 2014 — an action that is considered illegal by most other countries who continue to recognize it as Ukrainian territory.
| 21a | Performances // awful it's clear (8) |
| 23a | Conclude // ready to cook? (3,3) |
The solution could be a cryptic way of describing the first step one might take in preparing to cook.
| 26a | Cut off // silly person (5) |
I found a wide variety of definitions for prune, all of them derogatory:
- The Chambers Dictionary —[1] informal a despised or silly person[1]
- Chambers 21st Century Dictionary — colloquial a silly foolish person[2]
- American Heritage Dictionary — slang an ill-tempered, stupid, or incompetent person[3]
- Collins English Dictionary, 12th Edition — slang chiefly British a dull, uninteresting, or foolish person[4]
- Lexico (Oxford Dictionaries) — informal, derogatory an unpleasant or disagreeable person[5]
- Collins English Dictionary — slang, mainly British a dull, uninteresting, or foolish person[10]
- Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition — US, slang a dull or otherwise unpleasant person[12]
| 27a | Unpleasant behaviour // as tennis star's beginning to flip (9) |
Scratching the Surface
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| This clue brought to mind Romanian tennis star Ilie Năstase[7] whose erratic temperament earned him the nickname Nasty Năstase (although this is not specifically mentioned in the Wikipedia article). |
| 28a | Everyone attending event after jumping // barrier on racecourse (8,4) |
Down
| 1d | Where fruit grows, // or variety of beet (7) |
I know this green is a member of the beet family but I have never actually thought of it as a beet.
Chard[5] (also Swiss chard) is a beet of a variety with broad edible white leaf stalks and green blades.
| 2d | Crown, // one stolen by a knave, turned over (5) |
| 3d | Film memory /of/ flamboyant defender (9) |
A back[5] is a player in a team game who plays in a defensive position* behind the forwards ⇒
their backs showed some impressive running and passing.
* except, of course, in North American football where there are both offensive backs and defensive backs
The definition is a terse way of describing the cinematic device used by a filmmaker to portray a past event during the course of a film narrative.
| 4d | African // shelter on base of plateau (4) |
A Hutu[5] is a member of a Bantu-speaking people forming the majority population in Rwanda and Burundi. (show more )
They are traditionally a farming people, and were historically dominated by the Tutsi people; the antagonism between the peoples led in 1994 to large-scale ethnic violence, especially in Rwanda.
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They are traditionally a farming people, and were historically dominated by the Tutsi people; the antagonism between the peoples led in 1994 to large-scale ethnic violence, especially in Rwanda.
hide
| 5d | Far from excited about line // taken temporarily (8) |
| 6d | Surprising result, // winning series (5) |
| 7d | Where one waits /to see/ North African volcano from below (8) |
Mount Etna[5] is a volcano in eastern Sicily, rising to 3,323 m (10,902 ft). It is the highest and most active volcano in Europe.
| 8d | Snack // stuffed in ears! (6) |
Sarnie[5] is an informal British term for a sandwich.
| 14d | Tidy // Christmas tree erected? (6,2) |
| 16d | Best people in chant // making a lot of noise (9) |
| 17d | A joke -- // monorail? (3-5) |
| 18d | Ready to support street // band (6) |
| 20d | Player // at rest, I gathered (7) |
| 22d | Lifting action, // newspaper? (5) |
The Financial Times[7] (abbreviation FT) is a British international business newspaper that is printed on conspicuous salmon pink newsprint.
| 24d | Athenian letter, // old and great (5) |
"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
Mega[5] could be a synonym of great in at least a couple of senses:
- (adjective) very large or huge ⇒
he has signed a mega deal to make five movies
- (adjective) excellent ⇒
it will be a mega film
Omega[5] is the last letter of the Greek alphabet (Ω, ω).
| 25d | Wine, // some infanta's tipple (4) |
Asti[7] (formerly known as Asti Spumante)
is a sparkling white Italian wine (show more ).
Asti is produced throughout southeastern Piedmont but production is particularly focused around the towns of Asti and Alba. Since 1993 the wine has been classified as a Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) and as of 2004 was Italy's largest producing appellation.
Hide
Asti is produced throughout southeastern Piedmont but production is particularly focused around the towns of Asti and Alba. Since 1993 the wine has been classified as a Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) and as of 2004 was Italy's largest producing appellation.
Hide
Scratching the Surface
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| Infanta[5] is a historical term denoting a daughter of the ruling monarch of Spain or Portugal, especially the eldest daughter who was not heir to the throne. |
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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