Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29365 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Saturday, May 16, 2020 | |
Setter
Unknown | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29365]
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Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
Big Dave | |
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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Notes
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As of March 28, 2020, The Daily Telegraph suspended the contests associated with its Saturday (and Sunday) puzzles due to logistical issues created by the COVID-19 situation. As a result, effective with the April 4, 2020 puzzle (published in the National Post on November 30, 2020) and continuing until such time as the contests are reinstated, you will find only a single post on Big Dave's Crossword Blog related to the Saturday puzzle. During this period, the post for the Saturday puzzle will be a full review in the same format as the posts for weekday puzzles.
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Introduction
Big Dave himself makes an appearance in the blogger's chair on Big Dave's Crossword Blog for this one and he certainly pulls no punches in his assessment of this offering.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 | Notice one in tirade // incandescent (7) |
| 5a | Long cushion /giving/ help (7) |
| 9a | Overwhelming surprise /for/ attractive blonde (9) |
While the original meaning of bombshell[5,10] as a bomb or artillery shell is deemed to be dated, the metaphorical uses employed in this clue apparently are not. However, it's been a long time since I've heard a woman referred to as a blonde bombshell. And, it seems that it was always blondes who were described thus — prossibly due to the alliteration.
| 10a | Provide student with place /and/ grant (5) |
| 11a | Almost axe Irish // singing group (5) |
| 12a | One has agents // sorting out party mess (9) |
| 13a | Name novel bar changed // beyond words? (3-6) |
| 16a | From here one may observe // second-rate flat (5) |
| 17a | Some fellahin go to // bar (5) |
Scratching the Surface
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| Fellahin (also fellahs or fellaheen) is a plural form of fellah[10], a peasant in Arab countries. |
| 18a | Number puzzle /that's/ easy (2,7) |
| 20a | Latin poet breaking // promise (9) |
| 23a | Loves /making/ love? (5) |
In tennis, squash, and some other sports, love[5] is a score of zero or nil ⇒
love fifteen.
In cricket, a duck[5] (short for duck's egg) is a batsman’s score of nought [zero] ⇒
he was out for a duck. This is similar to the North American expression goose egg[5] meaning a zero score in a game.
Ducks (also duck[5]) is an informal British term for dear or darling (used as an informal or affectionate form of address, especially among cockneys*).
| 25a | Round tin Popeye finally dropped in // sea (5) |
Scratching the Surface
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| Popeye the Sailor[7] is a fictional muscular American cartoon character who first appeared in the daily comic strip Thimble Theatre in 1929. The strip was renamed Popeye in later years. While new editions of the Sunday strip continue to be produced, the daily strips have been reruns since 1994. |
| 26a | Shelter for poor // soul has me troubled (9) |
Almshouse[5,10,12] (also known as poorhouse) is a historical British term for a house founded by charity, offering accommodation for poor people.
| 27a | Man // on the lookout when old boy leaves (7) |
"old boy " = OB
In Britain, an old boy[5] (abbreviation OB[2]) is:
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In Britain, an old boy[5] (abbreviation OB[2]) is:
- a former male student of a school or college ⇒
an old boy of Banbury County School
- a former male member of a sports team or company ⇒
the White Hart Lane old boy squared the ball to present an easy chance from 12 yards
‘Look here, old boy,’ he said.
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Man[5] is a dated term for a manservant or valet ⇒
get me a cocktail, my man.
| 28a | All this worker makes going on the horses? (7) |
Down
| 1d | Polish trick to restrict current /in/ ancient river (7) |
The Rubicon[5,10] is a stream in north-eastern Italy that marked the ancient boundary between Italy and Cisalpine Gaul. By leading his army across it into Italy in 49 BC, Julius Caesar broke the law that forbid a general from leading an army out of the province to which he was posted and so committed himself to war against the Senate and Pompey. The ensuing civil war resulted in victory for Caesar after three years.
| 2d | Nothing shown after silent // film (5) |
Dumbo[7] is a 1941 American animated film produced by Walt Disney.
| 3d | Taking it all in /having/ gone round planet? (9) |
| 4d | Something of a shock -- // tension initially relieved (5) |
Thinking that the T came from the initial letter of Tension, I delayed writing in the obvious answer. I can't believe how long I spent looking for a four-letter word meaning "relieved" that would match the checking letters.
| 5d | Corporation to fail -- // botched entry from board? (5,4) |
Corporation[5] is a dated humorous term for a paunch.
| 6d | Fools seen within the French // city (5) |
Has[5] is used in the sense of cheats or deceives (someone) ⇒
I realized I'd been had.
Lhasa[5] is the capital of Tibet. (show more )
It is situated in the northern Himalayas at an altitude of 3,600 m (circa 11,800 ft), on a tributary of the Brahmaputra. Its inaccessibility and the unwillingness of the Tibetan Buddhist priests to receive foreign visitors—to whom Lhasa was closed until the 20th century—earned it the title of the Forbidden City. The spiritual centre of Tibetan Buddhism, Lhasa was the seat of the Dalai Lama until 1959, when direct Chinese administration was imposed on the city.
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It is situated in the northern Himalayas at an altitude of 3,600 m (circa 11,800 ft), on a tributary of the Brahmaputra. Its inaccessibility and the unwillingness of the Tibetan Buddhist priests to receive foreign visitors—to whom Lhasa was closed until the 20th century—earned it the title of the Forbidden City. The spiritual centre of Tibetan Buddhism, Lhasa was the seat of the Dalai Lama until 1959, when direct Chinese administration was imposed on the city.
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| 7d | Watch one's opponent in this event? (4,5) |
A cryptic definition of a race against the clock — or, in this case, a (stop)watch.
| 8d | Reversed role with sailor /as/ pest controller (3,4) |
| 14d | Clothing // range with buckles (9) |
| 15d | Hedonist // tense after exam in German city (3,6) |
Viva voce[5] (often shortened to viva[5]) is a British term for an oral examination, typically for an academic qualification ⇒ (i)
candidates may be called for a viva voce; (ii)
assessment of the PhD is by thesis and viva voce.
Bonn[5] is
a city in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. From 1949
until the reunification of Germany in 1990 Bonn was the capital of the
Federal Republic of Germany.
| 16d | Keeping quiet, initiated /in/ slaughter (9) |
Blood[5] (appearing here in the past tense blooded) is used in a British sense meaning to initiate (someone) in a particular activity ⇒
clubs are too slow to blood young players.
Origin: I would hazard a guess that this term comes from the "blood sport" of fox hunting where the term is used in the following senses:
- to smear the face of (a novice [hunter]) with the blood of the kill ⇒
I remember the farmer coming back from a hunt with his daughter, bragging that she had been blooded for witnessing her first fox being ripped apart, blood all over her face.
- to give (a hound) a first taste of blood ⇒
This relates to the practice of blooding young hounds on fox cubs to whet their appetite for hunting.
| 17d | Wicked // Zulu warriors going over house contents? (7) |
The Zulu[5] are a South African people traditionally living mainly in KwaZulu-Natal province. The Zulus formed a powerful military empire in southern Africa during the 19th century before being defeated in a series of engagements with Afrikaner and British settlers.
A band of Zulu warriors is known as an impi[5].
| 19d | Erasmus dressed /as/ Rubber Man? (7) |
Scratching the Surface
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| Desiderius Erasmus[5] (circa 1469–1536) was a Dutch humanist and scholar; Dutch name Gerhard Gerhards. He was the foremost Renaissance scholar of northern Europe, paving the way for the Reformation with his satires on the Church, including the Colloquia Familiaria (1518). However, he opposed the violence of the Reformation and condemned Luther in De Libero Arbitrio (1523). |
| 21d | Trained assassin // captured by American in Jamaica (5) |
A ninja[3] was a member of a class of medieval Japanese mercenary agents who were trained in the martial arts and hired for covert operations such as assassination and sabotage.
| 22d | Fruit // held up by Burmese military (5) |
| 24d | Ruthless // Conservative line taken without regret (5) |
"Conservative " = C [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.
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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.
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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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