Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29375 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Thursday, May 28, 2020 | |
Setter
RayT (Ray Terrell) | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29375]
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Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
Kath | |
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
I got into a real muddle in the northeast corner with four interlocking clues that utterly baffled me. In fact, this corner likely took as long to solve as the entire remainder of the puzzle -- and then only with a bit of electronic assistance. Once I had solutions for the two horizontal clues, the answers to the two vertical clues were pretty obvious.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 | Vertebrae keeping you reportedly // horizontal (6) |
| 4a | Cheers holding in extravagant rolling // rear (8) |
Buck[5] (as in buck someone up or buck up) is used in an informal sense meaning to make or become more cheerful ⇒
buck up, kid, it's not the end of the game.
"extravagant " = OTT
| 9a | Deny // detective's private (6) |
"detective " = 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).
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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
| 10a | Clash // pressing sweetheart about sink (8) |
"sweetheart " = E
A common cryptic crossword construct is to use the word "sweetheart" to clue the letter 'E', the middle letter (heart) of the word 'swEet'.
hide
A common cryptic crossword construct is to use the word "sweetheart" to clue the letter 'E', the middle letter (heart) of the word 'swEet'.
hide
| 11a | Twisting a lever to // lift (8) |
Lift[10] is the British* name for an elevator[10].
* However, the setter obviously expects his British audience to be familiar with the North American name for this device. Nevertheless, resident pedant Rabbit Dave on Big Dave's Crossword Blog is quick to highlight that elevator is an Americanism.
| 13a | Psalm // spoken by Church (6) |
Psalm[10] is used in the sense of any sacred song or hymn rather than in its more common use of any of the 150 sacred songs, lyric poems, and prayers that together constitute a book (Psalms) of the Old Testament.
A choral (variant spelling of chorale[10]) is a slow stately hymn tune, especially of the Lutheran Church.
| 15a | Special tonic pacifies // condition (13) |
| 18a | View // daring nudes, not dancing, removing nothing! (13) |
| 22a | Hard part's admitting addict's head /for/ addictions (6) |
| 24a | Labour's opening with brilliant tax // cut (8) |
Scratching the Surface
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The Labour Party[5] is a left-of-centre political party in Britain. (show more )
The party was formed to represent the interests of ordinary working people that since the Second World War has been in power 1945–51, 1964–70, 1974-9, and 1997–2010. Arising from the trade union movement at the end of the 19th century, it replaced the Liberals as the country’s second party after the First World War. hide |
| 26a | Lesson /of/ love in practice following you French (8) |
"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).
hide
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).
hide
In French, tu[8] is the second person singular pronoun meaning 'you'.
| 27a | Case ignores hip // position (6) |
| 28a | Really // sharpens ends of tool facing yard (8) |
| 29a | Pressure put on /to get/ stuffed! (6) |
Down
| 1d | Wet // turf covers hole (6) |
| 2d | Group's on speed, occasionally // crazy (9) |
As Kath puts it in her review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, this group is perhaps best known "seen on horseback chasing the baddies in a Western film". However, this term apparently has a more modern usage (although I suspect this may be a British thing) in which posse[5] is used in an informal sense to denote a group of people who have a common characteristic or occupation ⇒
tea was handed round by a posse of mothersor (more apropos to the surface reading of the clue) a group of young people who socialize together, especially to go to clubs or raves ⇒
Across the room a posse of young men, fresh from a football match, amused themselves by downing pints of lager in rapid succession and groping any woman who passed by.
| 3d | Deny going round women's // prison (7) |
The abbreviation for women or women's is W[2]. The latter designates a clothing size while the former might be seen on the door to the ladies' room.
I have chosen to parse the clue with the W being clued by "women's". If you prefer the W to be clued by "women", the clue would parse as:
- Deny going round women/'s/ prison (7)
Newgate[5] was a former London prison whose unsanitary conditions became notorious in the 18th century before the building was burnt down in the Gordon Riots of 1780. A new edifice was erected on the same spot but was demolished in 1902 to make way for the Central Criminal Court.
| 5d | One /is/ out of shape lacking force (4) |
| 6d | Pain in mouth cut // windpipe (7) |
| 7d | One European sacked from job /as/ health worker (5) |
"European " = E [as in E number]
E[1,2] is the abbreviation for European (as in E number*).
* An E number[1,4,10,14] (or E-number[2,5]) is any of various identification codes required by EU law, consisting of the letter E (for European) followed by a number, that are used to denote food additives such as colourings and preservatives (but excluding flavourings) that have been approved by the European Union.
hide
E[1,2] is the abbreviation for European (as in E number*).
* An E number[1,4,10,14] (or E-number[2,5]) is any of various identification codes required by EU law, consisting of the letter E (for European) followed by a number, that are used to denote food additives such as colourings and preservatives (but excluding flavourings) that have been approved by the European Union.
hide
| 8d | Pure // polyester lingerie clothes (8) |
| 12d | Old private detective consumed // narcotic (6) |
"old " = O
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
PI[5] is the abbreviation for private investigator (another name for private detective[5]), a freelance detective who carries out covert investigations on behalf of private clients.
| 14d | Colour /of/ Queen one's turned over (6) |
Anne[7] (1665–1714) was Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland from 1702 to
1707 and Queen of Great
Britain and Ireland from 1707 until her death. (show more )
She became Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702. On 1 May 1707, under the Acts of Union, two of her realms, the kingdoms of England and Scotland, united as a single sovereign state, the United Kingdom of Great Britain. She continued to reign as Queen of Great Britain and Ireland until her death.
Anne was plagued by ill health throughout her life, and from her thirties, she grew increasingly ill and obese. Despite seventeen pregnancies she died without surviving issue and was the last monarch of the House of Stuart.
hide
She became Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702. On 1 May 1707, under the Acts of Union, two of her realms, the kingdoms of England and Scotland, united as a single sovereign state, the United Kingdom of Great Britain. She continued to reign as Queen of Great Britain and Ireland until her death.
Anne was plagued by ill health throughout her life, and from her thirties, she grew increasingly ill and obese. Despite seventeen pregnancies she died without surviving issue and was the last monarch of the House of Stuart.
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Sienna[5] is a yellowish- or deep-reddish brown colour.
| 16d | Stuck // at home reading novel (9) |
Ingrained[5] (said of a habit, belief, or attitude) denotes firmly fixed or established; in other words, difficult to change.
| 17d | Teachers incubate // bird (8) |
In the UK, the National Union of Teachers is commonly known by the acronym NUT*[5].
* much to the delight of their pupils, I am sure
The nuthatch[5] is a small songbird with a stiffened tail, which climbs up and down tree trunks and feeds on nuts, seeds, and insects. Members of the nuthatch[7] family are found in most of North America, Europe and Asia but are only sparsely represented in Africa.
| 19d | Counters /and/ equipment found in laboratory (7) |
A retort[5] is a glass container with a long neck, used in distilling liquids and other chemical operations.
| 20d | Top ten single Queen's penned promoted // stillness (7) |
"Queen " = R [regina]
Queen may be abbreviated as Q, Qu. or R.
Q[5] is an abbreviation for queen that is used especially in describing play in card games and recording moves in chess.
Qu.[2] is another common abbreviation for Queen.
In the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms*, Regina[5] (abbreviation R[5]) [Latin for queen] denotes the reigning queen, used following a name (e.g. Elizabetha Regina, Queen Elizabeth — often shortened to ER) or in the titles of lawsuits (e.g. Regina v. Jones, the Crown versus Jones — often shortened to R. v. Jones).
* A Commonwealth realm[7] is a sovereign state that is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and shares the same person, currently Elizabeth II, as its head of state and reigning constitutional monarch, but retains a crown legally distinct from the other realms. There are currently sixteen Commonwealth realms, the largest being Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom with the remainder being smaller Caribbean and Pacific island nations.
Thus Queen Elizabeth signs her name as 'Elizabeth R' as seen here on Canada's paint-stained constitution[7].
hide
Queen may be abbreviated as Q, Qu. or R.
Q[5] is an abbreviation for queen that is used especially in describing play in card games and recording moves in chess.
Qu.[2] is another common abbreviation for Queen.
In the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms*, Regina[5] (abbreviation R[5]) [Latin for queen] denotes the reigning queen, used following a name (e.g. Elizabetha Regina, Queen Elizabeth — often shortened to ER) or in the titles of lawsuits (e.g. Regina v. Jones, the Crown versus Jones — often shortened to R. v. Jones).
* A Commonwealth realm[7] is a sovereign state that is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and shares the same person, currently Elizabeth II, as its head of state and reigning constitutional monarch, but retains a crown legally distinct from the other realms. There are currently sixteen Commonwealth realms, the largest being Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom with the remainder being smaller Caribbean and Pacific island nations.
Thus Queen Elizabeth signs her name as 'Elizabeth R' as seen here on Canada's paint-stained constitution[7].
hide
| 21d | Stage conclusion /for/ story (6) |
| 23d | Club /giving/ order for man facing bowler? (5) |
Split (3,2), the solution refers to a circumstance that can arise during the play of a cricket match.
In cricket, a team continues to bat until ten of the eleven players on the team have been dismissed* unless the captain of a batting team declares the innings closed prematurely [the rationale for doing so is explained below]. In the event that the captain declares the innings closed, his team takes the field and the opposing team bats.
* batsmen always appear in pairs and once ten players have been dismissed there are not enough players left to form a pair
The primary objective of each team in cricket[7] is to score more runs than the opposing team. However, in Test cricket (a match between national teams), it is not only necessary to score the most runs but also to dismiss the opposition twice in order to win the match, which would otherwise be drawn. Therefore, the captain of a batting team which has built up a large lead may declare the innings closed prematurely in order to allow the opposition to bat (and thus gain an opportunity to dismiss them). As a captain, the key to victory is picking the right time to declare. Should he declare too early, the other team may score more runs than his team has amassed and thereby win. On the other hand, if he were to declare too late, the match may end before his team can dismiss the other team resulting in a draw, even though his team may have a substantial lead in runs.
Thus a batsman ("man facing bowler") may look to his captain for a signal to either "bat on" or lay down his bat and take the field.
| 25d | Criminal upset getting old inside // prison (4) |
Lag[5] is an informal British term for a person who has been frequently convicted and sent to prison ⇒
both old lags were sentenced to ten years' imprisonment.
The word "old" reprises its role from 12d.
Gaol[10] is a British variant spelling of jail.
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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