Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29376 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Friday, May 29, 2020 | |
Setter
proXimal (Steve Bartlett) | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29376]
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Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
Deep Threat | |
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 find that proXimal always delivers a challenging — though ever enjoyable workout. And I was pleased to have cottoned on to the possibility of a pangram (or, in this case, near-pangram) early in the game.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 | Stops // minor that's brought back drink (5,2) |
"drink " = SUP
As a verb, sup[5] is a dated or Northern English term meaning to take (drink or liquid food) by sips or spoonfuls ⇒ (i)
As a noun, sup[5] means
As a verb, sup[5] is a dated or Northern English term meaning to take (drink or liquid food) by sips or spoonfuls ⇒ (i)
she supped up her soup delightedly; (ii)
he was supping straight from the bottle.
As a noun, sup[5] means
- a sip of liquid ⇒
he took another sup of wine
- (in Northern England or Ireland) an alcoholic drink ⇒
the latest sup from those blokes at the brewery
| 5a | Provide workers /to/ others, a fine firm's leader (7) |
| 9a | Beware entertaining Romeo/'s/ desire (5) |
Cave[5] (pronounced KAY-vee ) is a dated, informal British exclamation (among children) meaning look out!.
Origin: Latin, imperative of cavere ‘beware’.
True Confessions
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| In the thread originating at Comment #3 on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Daisygirl writes "Cave is Latin and we used to shout it if we were up to mischief and a prefect* came along. Many many years ago!". To which, Steve Cowling replies "There was always a lookout and those of us up to nefarious acts would
keep quiet, ready to flee if we heard a sotto voce 'Caveeee!'". * In some British schools, a prefect[5] is a senior pupil who is authorized to enforce discipline. You may recall the term from The Hollies song "Carrie Anne": When we were at school our games were simple |
"Romeo " = R [NATO Phonetic Alphabet]
In what is commonly known as the NATO Phonetic Alphabet[7]*, Romeo[5] is a code word representing the letter R.
* officially the International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet
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In what is commonly known as the NATO Phonetic Alphabet[7]*, Romeo[5] is a code word representing the letter R.
* officially the International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet
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| 10a | Shoe part/'s/ one in pack Helena ordered (5,4) |
A Cuban heel[5] is a moderately high straight-sided heel on a shoe or boot.
| 11a | Great // home, inspector having decorated outside (10) |
"inspector " = 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).
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| 12a | Called /and/ spoke (4) |
Spoke[10] is another name for a rung of a ladder.
| 14a | Casually // left inside nanny with cloth and a potty (12) |
As an anagram indicator, potty[5] is used in an informal British sense meaning mad or crazy ⇒
he's driving me potty.
| 18a | Romance // story's trendy (12) |
| 21a | Gollum losing ring alongside lake /becoming/ sad (4) |
On the Telegraph Puzzles website, this clue was modified to read:
- Gollum losing ring left // sad (4)
Scratching the Surface
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| Gollum[7]
is a fictional character from English writer J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He was introduced in the 1937 fantasy novel The Hobbit, and became important in its sequel, The Lord of the Rings. In The Hobbit, Gollum loses the Ring and The Lord of the Rings tells of his efforts to find and recover it. |
| 22a | Trader/'s/ quiet with little time to keep in touch (10) |
"moment " = MO
Mo (abbreviation for moment) is an informal term* for a short period of time ⇒
* Identified by several British dictionaries as being a British[5,14], chiefly British[2,4], or mainly British[10] term. However, one British and two US dictionaries do not specify that it is British[1,11,12]. This meaning of the word "mo" is not found in my third US dictionary, the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language[3].
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Mo (abbreviation for moment) is an informal term* for a short period of time ⇒
hang on a mo!.
* Identified by several British dictionaries as being a British[5,14], chiefly British[2,4], or mainly British[10] term. However, one British and two US dictionaries do not specify that it is British[1,11,12]. This meaning of the word "mo" is not found in my third US dictionary, the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language[3].
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Fishmonger[10] is a mainly British term for a retailer of fish.
| 25a | Focus! // Impressive starter not totally finished (9) |
Here and There
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| In the US and Canada, an entrée[2,10] is the main course of a meal. Most UK dictionaries, define entrée[2,10] as a dish served before a main course; in particular, a small dish served after the fish course and before the main course at a formal dinner. Strangely, the primary entry in Lexico (formerly Oxford Dictionaries Online) defines entrée[5] in the North American fashion as being the main course of a meal. Does this indicate that the North American usage is beginning to take hold in the UK? |
| 26a | Divine images // one sold fraudulently (5) |
As it was for many visitors to Big Dave's Crossword Blog, my first thought was ICONS but unlike them I didn't write it into the grid due to the grammatical tense mismatch.
| 27a | Pitcher // starts to tip, hampering one moving vessel (7) |
| 28a | Excellent, fast to accept male/'s/ complaint (7) |
Down
| 1d | Cheating // of French clubs, couple from the south (6) |
| 2d | A fellow taking in Australia going up // river (6) |
Oz[5] is an informal Australian and New Zealand term for:
- (noun) Australia ⇒
he spent the last few years in Oz
- (noun) a person from Australia ⇒
it was enough to make a red-blooded Oz choke on his meat pie
- (adjective) Australian ⇒
Oz hospitality
The Amazon[5]
is a river in South America, flowing over 6,683 km (4,150 miles)
through Peru, Colombia, and Brazil into the Atlantic Ocean. It drains
two fifths of the continent and in terms of water flow it is the largest
river in the world — and some claim it to also be the longest (show more ).
There are many factors, such as the source, the identification or the definition of the mouth, and the scale of measurement of the river length between source and mouth, that determine the precise meaning of "river length"[7]. As a result, the length measurements of many rivers are only approximations. In particular, there has long been disagreement as to whether the Nile or the Amazon is the world's longest river. The Nile has traditionally been considered longer, but in recent years some Brazilian and Peruvian studies have suggested that the Amazon is longer by measuring the river plus the adjacent Pará estuary and the longest connecting tidal canal.
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There are many factors, such as the source, the identification or the definition of the mouth, and the scale of measurement of the river length between source and mouth, that determine the precise meaning of "river length"[7]. As a result, the length measurements of many rivers are only approximations. In particular, there has long been disagreement as to whether the Nile or the Amazon is the world's longest river. The Nile has traditionally been considered longer, but in recent years some Brazilian and Peruvian studies have suggested that the Amazon is longer by measuring the river plus the adjacent Pará estuary and the longest connecting tidal canal.
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Origin: The river bore various names after it was first encountered by Europeans in 1500 and was finally called Amazon after a legendary race of female warriors believed to live on its banks.
| 3d | Depot's base redeployed /to create/ crafts (10) |
I would say there is a spelling error in the clue as the plural of craft (in the sense in which the word is being used) is craft (without an "s").
Craft[10]. can mean:
- a single vessel, aircraft, or spacecraft
- (functioning as plural) ships, boats, aircraft, or spacecraft collectively
| 4d | Shelled open, container /for/ nut (5) |
| 5d | Refutations // about Capone, maybe, intercepting gun parts (9) |
Al Capone[5]
(1899–1947), nicknamed Scarface (show more ), was an American gangster of Italian descent. He dominated
organized crime in Chicago in the 1920s and was indirectly responsible
for many murders, including the St Valentine’s Day Massacre* .
* The St Valentine's Day Massacre[5] was the shooting on 14th February 1929 of seven members of the rival ‘Bugsy’ Moran's gang by some of Al Capone's men disguised as policemen.
Capone[7] was born in Brooklyn (New York) and began his life of crime in New York City before moving to Chicago. Capone inadvertently insulted a woman while working the door at a Brooklyn night club and was slashed by her brother Frank Gallucio. The wounds led to the nickname that Capone loathed: "Scarface". Capone's boss, racketeer Frankie Yale, insisted that Capone apologize to Gallucio, and later Capone hired him as a bodyguard. When photographed, Capone hid the scarred left side of his face, saying that the injuries were war wounds. Capone was called "Snorky", a term for a sharp dresser, by his closest friends.
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* The St Valentine's Day Massacre[5] was the shooting on 14th February 1929 of seven members of the rival ‘Bugsy’ Moran's gang by some of Al Capone's men disguised as policemen.
Capone[7] was born in Brooklyn (New York) and began his life of crime in New York City before moving to Chicago. Capone inadvertently insulted a woman while working the door at a Brooklyn night club and was slashed by her brother Frank Gallucio. The wounds led to the nickname that Capone loathed: "Scarface". Capone's boss, racketeer Frankie Yale, insisted that Capone apologize to Gallucio, and later Capone hired him as a bodyguard. When photographed, Capone hid the scarred left side of his face, saying that the injuries were war wounds. Capone was called "Snorky", a term for a sharp dresser, by his closest friends.
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| 6d | Give // son something to write with (4) |
| 7d | Correspond after a fourth letter? // OK (8) |
| 8d | Dupes // men with no exception -- female being superior (4,4) |
Alarm Bells Sounding?
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| Will the Americanism alerts activate on Big Dave's Crossword Blog today? From a British perspective, fall guy[5] is an informal North American term for a scapegoat. |
| 13d | Cleaning /from/ New Year's Day to year's end, it all gets scrubbed regularly (10) |
If. like me, you initially have trouble reconciling the synonym, consider that "janitorial staff" might otherwise be called "cleaning staff".
Second Alarm
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| From a British perspective, janitor[5,10] is a North American term (as is the derived adjective janitorial[5,10]) for a caretaker or doorkeeper of a building. However, Collins English Dictionary does additionally define janitor[10] as a Scottish, US and Canadian term for the caretaker of a building, especially a school. Regarding my comment at 9a concerning the appearance of the word "janitor" in the lyrics of "Carrie Anne", the Hollies hailed from Northern England so perhaps the use of the term extends beyond the Scottish border and is also part of Northern English dialect. I am surprised to see that Rabbit Dave, who seems to possess the keenest Americanism detection sense on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, picked this as one of his top clues! |
| 15d | Rich sort prepared to host English // singer (9) |
| 16d | Split up // following business meeting to cut tenancy cost (8) |
Here and There
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| AGM[5,10] is the abbreviation for annual general meeting[5,10], a British* term for a yearly meeting of the members or shareholders of a club, company, or other organization, especially for holding elections and reporting on the year's events.
* The two British dictionaries cited consider this term to be British and I did not find it in any of my US dictionaries (although I know for a fact that Canadian organizations certainly hold annual general meetings). I did find the abbreviation AGM[12]. in one US dictionary — with the meaning air-to-ground missile. |
| 17d | Processed crude oil /becomes/ more murky (8) |
| 19d | Take no notice of // some hanger-on, giving up (6) |
| 20d | Name missing from gift // organised in advance (6) |
| 23d | Scavenger // hunt's beginning with the old rejected article (5) |
Ye[5] is a pseudo-archaic term for the ⇒
The word 'ye' in this sense was originally a graphic variant of 'the' rather than an alternative spelling.
Thorn[5] is an Old English and Icelandic runic letter, þ or Þ, representing the dental fricatives ð and θ. In English it was eventually superseded by the digraph th — and thus þe (the old spelling of 'the') became the modern spelling 'the'.
In late Middle English þ (thorn) came to be written identically with y, resulting in þe (the) being written ye. This spelling (usually ye*) was kept as a convenient abbreviation in handwriting down to the 19th century, and in printers' types during the 15th and 16th centuries. It was never pronounced as ‘yee’ in the past, but this is the pronunciation used today.
* I interpret the phrase "usually ye" to mean that the word was customarily not capitalized because the character "y" is not being used to represent the letter "y" in the modern English alphabet but rather as a graphic variant of thorn. Thus, in bygone days, the name of the drinking establishment above would presumably have been written
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Ye Olde Cock Tavern. The character "y" in this word was originally not the letter "y" in the modern English alphabet but a variant representation of the Old English and Icelandic letter thorn (þ or Þ). (show more )
The word 'ye' in this sense was originally a graphic variant of 'the' rather than an alternative spelling.
Thorn[5] is an Old English and Icelandic runic letter, þ or Þ, representing the dental fricatives ð and θ. In English it was eventually superseded by the digraph th — and thus þe (the old spelling of 'the') became the modern spelling 'the'.
In late Middle English þ (thorn) came to be written identically with y, resulting in þe (the) being written ye. This spelling (usually ye*) was kept as a convenient abbreviation in handwriting down to the 19th century, and in printers' types during the 15th and 16th centuries. It was never pronounced as ‘yee’ in the past, but this is the pronunciation used today.
* I interpret the phrase "usually ye" to mean that the word was customarily not capitalized because the character "y" is not being used to represent the letter "y" in the modern English alphabet but rather as a graphic variant of thorn. Thus, in bygone days, the name of the drinking establishment above would presumably have been written
ye Olde Cock Tavern(and pronounced "the old cock tavern").
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| 24d | Beastly cry /from/ yours truly: 'That hurt!' (4) |
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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