Puzzle at a Glance
| |
|---|---|
Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29385 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Tuesday, June 9, 2020 | |
Setter
Chris Lancaster (Telegraph Puzzles Editor)
| |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29385]
| |
Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
Mr K | |
BD rating
| |
| Difficulty - ★★★ | Enjoyment - ★★★★ |
Falcon's experience
┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐
███████████████████████████████████ └────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘ | |
|
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
| |
Introduction
A very entertaining and still topical puzzle from Chris Lancaster, the puzzles editor at The Daily Telegraph, who also is often referred to as Mister Ron or Mr Ed.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 | |
|
|
| Click here for further explanation and usage examples of markup conventions used on this blog. | |
Across
| 1a | See 17a (10) |
| 6a | Fake // priest will ignore article (4) |
A shaman[5] is a priest of shamanism[5], the religion of certain peoples of northern Asia, based on the belief that the world is pervaded by good and evil spirits who can be influenced or controlled only by the shamans.
| 9a | Tin with one very strong // smell (5) |
The symbol for the chemical element tin is Sn[5] (from late Latin stannum).
"very strong " = FF [musical direction]
Fortissimo[5] (abbreviation ff[5]) is a direction used in music to mean either (as an adjective) very loud or (as an adverb) very loudly.
hide
Fortissimo[5] (abbreviation ff[5]) is a direction used in music to mean either (as an adjective) very loud or (as an adverb) very loudly.
hide
| 10a | An insect's awfully // persistent (9) |
| 12a | Early intelligence // for English king: northern flier approaching border (13) |
| 14a | Put down post /for/ tourist landmark (5,3) |
Post[5] is a chiefly British* term for mail[5] as either a noun (i.e., letters and parcels sent or received) or a verb (i.e., to send letters and parcels).
* In an ironic twist, the post in Britain is delivered by the Royal Mail while, in Canada, the mail is delivered by Canada Post.
Land's End[5] is a rocky promontory in southwestern Cornwall, which forms the westernmost point of England.
| 15a | One man in a boat turned back /to find/ old address (6) |
Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)[7], published in 1889, is a humorous account by English writer Jerome K. Jerome of a two-week boating holiday on the River Thames from Kingston upon Thames to Oxford and back to Kingston. The party making the trip consists of Jerome (a fictionalized version of the author himself), George, Harris and Jerome's dog Montmorency.
Sirrah[7] is an archaic term of address for a man or boy, especially one younger or of lower status than the speaker ⇒
you are foolish as well as insolent, sirrah.
Post Mortem
| |
|---|---|
| I'm sure I spent as much time on this clue as I did on the entire remainder of the puzzle. With the rest of puzzle complete, and after staring at the empty lights for what seemed like an eternity, I resorted to a wordfinder program to identify the solution. However, the parsing totally eluded me. My efforts at deciphering the clue were focused around the possibility that the "one" in the clue might account for either the I or the A and that the "man" might be a chess piece (specifically a rook) which would account for one of the two Rs. I was about to throw in the towel and look at Mr K's hint when I noticed that the solution was a reversal of the name Harris. A not inconsiderable amount of further sleuthing eventually led me to the correct parsing. |
| 17a & 1a | Clan dissociating, sadly -- to observe this? (6) |
Eight months later and the clue is just as relevant as it was last June.
| 19a | Refined // revolutionary plot being broadcast (8) |
| 21a | Jacks lost after playing bowls? (7,6) |
Bowls[5] (known in North America as lawn bowling[5]) is a game played with heavy balls (called bowls*), the object of which is to propel one’s bowl so that it comes to rest as close as possible to a previously bowled small ball (the jack). Bowls is played chiefly out of doors (though indoor bowls is also popular) on a closely trimmed lawn called a green.
* A bowl[5] is a wooden or hard rubber ball, slightly asymmetrical so that it runs on a curved course.
The clue alludes to an incident involving English sailor and explorer Sir Francis Drake[5] (circa 1540–1596). In addition to being the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe (1577–80), in his ship the Golden Hind, Drake also played an important part in the defeat of the Spanish Armada.
The most famous (but probably apocryphal) anecdote about Drake relates that, prior to the battle with the Spanish, he was playing a game of bowls on Plymouth Hoe*. On being warned of the approach of the Spanish fleet, Drake is said to have remarked that there was plenty of time to finish the game and still beat the Spaniards. There is no known eyewitness account of this incident and the earliest retelling of it was printed 37 years later. Adverse winds and currents caused some delay in the launching of the English fleet as the Spanish drew nearer, perhaps prompting a popular myth of Drake's cavalier attitude to the Spanish threat.[7]
* Plymouth Hoe[7] (referred to locally as the Hoe) is a large south facing open public space in the English coastal city of Plymouth. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon word Hoe, a sloping ridge shaped like an inverted foot and heel.
In the cryptic definition, jack[1] is used as an informal term for a sailor.
| 24a | Almost get rid of church // carpet (9) |
From a spelling perspective, a British axe[5] is a heftier tool than an American ax. This equally applies to the act of wielding one. I expect either spelling can be encountered in Canada.
Minster[5] is a British term for a large or important church, typically one of cathedral status in the north of England that was built as part of a monastery ⇒
York Minster.
Axminster[5] (also Axminster carpet) is a kind of machine-woven patterned carpet with a cut pile.
Origin: Early 19th century named after the town of Axminster in southern England, noted since the 18th century for the production of carpets.
| 25a | Six-footer not about /to be/ small figure? (5) |
While arachnids such as spiders and ticks (each of which have eight legs) as well as other creatures such as centipedes (which can have from 30 to 354 legs) are often loosely called insects, a true insect[10] is a small air-breathing arthropod of the class Insecta having a body divided into head, thorax, and abdomen, three pairs of legs [and thus six feet], and (in most species) two pairs of wings. Insects comprise about five sixths of all known animal species, with a total of over one million named species.
| 26a | Upset real // toff (4) |
Toff[5] is a derogatory, British informal term for a rich or upper-class person.
An earl[5] is a British nobleman ranking above a viscount and below a marquess [in other words, the third highest of the five ranks of British nobility — duke, marquess, earl, viscount, and baron].
| 27a | Christmas, // now! (7,3) |
Double definition, with the first one being rather whimsical.
Down
| 1d | Smut /in/ Springfield not unknown? (4) |
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (1939–1999), professionally known as Dusty Springfield[7], was an English pop singer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s.
"unknown " = Y [algebraic notation]
In mathematics (algebra, in particular), an unknown[10] is a variable, or the quantity it represents, the value of which is to be discovered by solving an equation ⇒
In mathematical formulae, unknowns are typically represented symbolically by the letters x, y and z.
hide
In mathematics (algebra, in particular), an unknown[10] is a variable, or the quantity it represents, the value of which is to be discovered by solving an equation ⇒
3y = 4x + 5 is an equation in two unknowns.
In mathematical formulae, unknowns are typically represented symbolically by the letters x, y and z.
hide
Smut[5] is used in the sense of a small flake of soot or other dirt or a mark left by one ⇒
all those black smuts from the engine.
| 2d | Lovers' tiff ending, somewhat // tense (7) |
| 3d | Covering with wood, // temperature in damaged roof ain't safe (13) |
| 4d | Barbie's partner wears fashionable second // layers (8) |
Barbie[7] (full name Barbara Millicent Roberts) is a fashion doll manufactured by the American toy company Mattel, Inc. and launched in March 1959. Her boyfriend, Ken[7] (full name Kenneth Sean Carson) is two years her younger, having been introduced in 1961.
| 5d | From kitchen, a choice // snack (5) |
| 7d | Selfish person? // More difficult to keep nothing (7) |
| 8d | Peak /of/ affair -- one might blow it (10) |
The Matterhorn[5] is a mountain in the Alps, on the border between Switzerland and Italy. Rising to 4,477 m (14,688 ft), it was first climbed in 1865 by the English mountaineer Edward Whymper.
| 11d | I'll sit on sofa going crazy, accepting SAGE's ultimate // protective measure (4-9) |
Scratching the Surface
| |
|---|---|
| The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies[7] (SAGE) is a British Government advisory body that advises central government in emergencies. Specialists from academia and industry, along with experts from within government make up the participation, which will vary depending on the emergency. SAGE gained public prominence for its role in tackling the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. |
| 13d | Lucky escape /as/ criminal chases love (5,5) |
| 16d | Carry weapons /with/ sleeves rolled up, reportedly (4,4) |
| 18d | Church member meeting Queen // a hit with the ladies? (7) |
"Queen " = ER [regnal cipher of Queen Elizabeth]
The regnal ciphers (monograms) of British monarchs are initials formed from the Latin version of their first name followed by either Rex or Regina (Latin for king or queen, respectively). Thus, the regnal cipher of Queen Elizabeth is ER[5] — from the Latin Elizabetha Regina.
* A cipher[5] (also cypher) is a monogram[5] or motif of two or more interwoven letters, typically a person's initials, used to identify a personal possession or as a logo.
hide
The regnal ciphers (monograms) of British monarchs are initials formed from the Latin version of their first name followed by either Rex or Regina (Latin for king or queen, respectively). Thus, the regnal cipher of Queen Elizabeth is ER[5] — from the Latin Elizabetha Regina.
* A cipher[5] (also cypher) is a monogram[5] or motif of two or more interwoven letters, typically a person's initials, used to identify a personal possession or as a logo.
hide
| 20d | Body found in A&E ward finally // collected (7) |
Scratching the Surface
| |
|---|---|
A & E[5] is the abbreviation for accident and emergency[5] (also known as casualty department[5] or casualty ward), a hospital department concerned with the provision of immediate treatment to people who are seriously injured in an accident or who are suddenly taken seriously ill ⇒ (i) a nurse at work told me I should go to A & E; (ii) an A & E department. |
| 22d | One loathes // half-hearted madman? (5) |
The Hatter[7] (called Hatta in Through the Looking-Glass) is a fictional character in English writer Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and the story's sequel Through the Looking-Glass (1871). He is often referred to as the Mad Hatter, though this term was never used by Carroll. The phrase "mad as a hatter" pre-dates Carroll's works and the characters the Hatter and the March Hare are initially referred to as "both mad" by the Cheshire Cat, with both first appearing in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, in the seventh chapter titled "A Mad Tea-Party".
| 23d | Support // Remain (4) |
Scratching the Surface
| |
|---|---|
| I believe the setter has capitalized the word "Remain" to indicate that it alludes to one of the two options available to voters in the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum — namely, "Remain [a member of the European Union]". |
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
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.