Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29372 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Monday, May 25, 2020 | |
Setter
Campbell (Allan Scott) | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29372]
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Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
pommers | |
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
Apart from the error in 5d, this seems like a rather untaxing mental workout. Like many — if not most — of those who commented on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, I failed to notice that all answers to across clues shared a common starting letter.I invite you to leave a comment to let us know how you fared with the puzzle.
Error in Today's Puzzle
As was the case with the puzzle published in the print edition of The Daily Telegraph in Britain, clue 5d in the puzzle appearing in the National Post contains an error:- 5d Colourful scholar entertaining lad in apartment (10)
- 5d Colourful bloke entertaining lad in apartment (10)
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
| 7a | Instrument /produced by/ gypsy chap cutting steak (8) |
A Rom[10] is a male Roma gypsy.
| 9a | One who informs // bank worker (6) |
| 10a | Tense victory /secures/ double (4) |
| 11a | What we're called during explosive // competition (10) |
| 12a | Sensitive // offer (6) |
| 14a | Reptile /in/ store -- it desperately gulps oxygen (8) |
The symbol for the chemical element oxygen is O[5].
| 15a | Two sons leaving corks /for/ hat (6) |
Topper[5] is an informal name for a top hat ⇒
he raised his topper to her.
| 17a | Absolute ruler/'s/ angry tirade after Troy gutted (6) |
Scratching the Surface
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In Homeric legend, Troy[5]
(also called Ilium) is the city of King Priam, besieged for ten years by the Greeks during
the Trojan War. (show more )
Troy was regarded as having been a purely legendary city until Heinrich Schliemann identified the mound of Hissarlik on the northeastern Aegean coast of Turkey as the site of Troy. The city was apparently sacked and destroyed by fire in the mid 13th century BC, a period coinciding with the Mycenaean civilization of Greece. hide |
| 20a | Easy shot bagging stray // animal (8) |
In various sports, a tap-in[5] is a relatively easy close-range shot or putt that scores a goal or holes the ball.
Terrapin[5] is the British name* for a freshwater turtle, especially one of the smaller kinds of the Old World.
* Known generally in North America simply as a turtle. One North American species (Malaclemys terrapin), a small edible turtle with lozenge-shaped markings on its shell, found in coastal marshes of the eastern US, does go by the name terrapin (also diamondback terrapin).
| 22a | Display // tawdry items also (6) |
Tat[5] is an informal British term for tasteless or shoddy clothes, jewellery, or ornaments ⇒
the place was decorated with all manner of gaudy tat.
Tattoo[5] is a British term*[5,11,12] for an entertainment consisting of music, marching, and the performance of displays and exercises by military personnel.
* However, at least one tattoo has been staged in Canada. The Canadian Armed Forces Tattoo 1967[7] was a series of military tattoos or displays performed by members of the Canadian military portraying more than three hundred years of Canada's military history. The Tattoo, which was the Canadian military's contribution to Canada's centennial year celebrations in 1967, toured the country from coast to coast. This was the largest such event in the history of the Canadian military. It seems to have been a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence that has never been repeated.
| 23a | Later on, I worried about member/'s/ gymnastic apparatus (10) |
"member " = MP
In Britain (as in Canada), a politician elected to the House of Commons is known as a Member of Parliament[10] (abbreviation MP[5]) or, informally, as a member[5].
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In Britain (as in Canada), a politician elected to the House of Commons is known as a Member of Parliament[10] (abbreviation MP[5]) or, informally, as a member[5].
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| 24a | Helpful hint involving end of pier // ride (4) |
| 25a | Spell /and/ sign name inside (6) |
| 26a | Go and film // defector (8) |
Down
| 1d | Bully // put away after quarrel in B&B (8) |
| 2d | Old soldiers /pointing to/ sign (4) |
"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
| 3d | Notice /in/ job centre in Beverley (6) |
Scratching the Surface
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| Beverley[7] is the county town of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. |
| 4d | Mean to consume mostly fresh // fish (8) |
| 5d | Colourful // scholar entertaining lad in apartment (10) |
Following publication in The Daily Telegraph, an error was discovered in this clue and it was changed on the Telegraph Puzzles website to read:
- 5d Colourful // bloke entertaining lad in apartment (10)
While flat[5] is the common British term for what would be called an apartment[5] in North America, the term apartment is used in Britain, but seemingly in a more restricted sense than in North America, applying to either temporary or upscale accommodation.
As Lexico (formerly Oxford Dictionaries Online) puts it, an apartment[5] is:
- (British) a flat, typically one that is well appointed or used for holidays [vacations] ⇒
self-catering holiday apartments
- (North American) any flat ⇒
the family lived in a rented apartment
| 6d | Collection round pub raised /for/ sport (6) |
| 8d | Fair play /from/ English, somewhat reduced before close of play (6) |
| 13d | Leave time to include guys /in/ office (10) |
| 16d | Working MO, deeply // involved (8) |
Scratching the Surface
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| In the surface reading, MO[5] is likely the abbreviation for medical officer[5], a doctor in charge of the health services of a civilian or military authority or other organization. |
| 18d | Very hot // current across river (8) |
| 19d | Court giving support to current policeman/'s/ charge (6) |
"policeman " = DI [detective inspector]
A detective inspector (abbrevation DI[5]) is a senior police officer in the UK. Within the British police, inspector[7] is the second supervisory rank. It is senior to that of sergeant, but junior to that of chief inspector. Plain-clothes detective inspectors are equal in rank to their uniformed counterparts, the prefix 'detective' identifying them as having been trained in criminal investigation and being part of or attached to their force's Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
hide
A detective inspector (abbrevation DI[5]) is a senior police officer in the UK. Within the British police, inspector[7] is the second supervisory rank. It is senior to that of sergeant, but junior to that of chief inspector. Plain-clothes detective inspectors are equal in rank to their uniformed counterparts, the prefix 'detective' identifying them as having been trained in criminal investigation and being part of or attached to their force's Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
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| 21d | Faux pas /made by/ troublesome children heading off (6) |
| 22d | The man taken in by Conservative/'s/ surmise (6) |
"Conservative " = TORY [member of British political party]
The abbreviation for Conservative may be either C.[10] or Con.[10].
The Conservative Party[5] is a major right of centre British political party promoting free enterprise and private ownership that emerged from the old Tory Party* under Sir Robert Peel in the 1830s and 1840s.
* Historically, a Tory[10] was a member of the English political party that opposed the exclusion of James, Duke of York from the royal succession (1679–80). Tory remained the label for subsequent major conservative interests until they gave birth to the Conservative Party in the 1830s.
hide
The abbreviation for Conservative may be either C.[10] or Con.[10].
The Conservative Party[5] is a major right of centre British political party promoting free enterprise and private ownership that emerged from the old Tory Party* under Sir Robert Peel in the 1830s and 1840s.
* Historically, a Tory[10] was a member of the English political party that opposed the exclusion of James, Duke of York from the royal succession (1679–80). Tory remained the label for subsequent major conservative interests until they gave birth to the Conservative Party in the 1830s.
hide
| 24d | Instant // credit (4) |
Tick[5] is an informal British term for a moment ⇒ (i)
I shan’t be a tick; (ii)
I’ll be with you in a tick.
Tick[5] (used in the phrase on tick) is an informal British term meaning credit ⇒
the printer agreed to send the brochures out on tick.
Origin: The term apparently originates as a short form for ticket in the phrase on the ticket, referring to an IOU or promise to pay.
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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