Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29406 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Friday, July 3, 2020 | |
Setter
Zandio | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29406]
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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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Notes
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This puzzle appears on the Monday Diversions page in the Saturday, March 6, 2021 edition of the National Post. | |
Introduction
The word that seems to appear most frequently today in the comments on Big Dave's Crossword Blog is "struggled". That word certainly sums up my experience, especially in the bottom half of the puzzle. There were several cases where even after arriving at the solution, I had trouble parsing the clue. And, in a couple of instances, although I can see some vague, tenuous relationship with the definition, I am not confident that I fully understand the solution.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 | Shout // 'Vamoose!' -- coyote's tail gets trapped (6) |
| 5a | Passions /and/ affairs covered by Eastern Echo? On the contrary (8) |
Contrarian Convention
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| The phrase "on the contrary" tells the solver to reverse the logic or meaning of the statement immediately preceding it. Doing so leads one to reinterpret the wordplay to read "Eastern Echo covered by affairs". |
| 9a | The deep connection between Italy and Libya? (13) |
The deep[5] is a literary term for the sea ⇒
denizens of the deep.
| 10a | Attackers // battle to block river crossings (8) |
A forward[5] is an attacking player in football [soccer], hockey*, or other sports ⇒
Hockey should follow suit with special coaches for goalkeepers, defenders, halfbacks and forwards.
* This being a British dictionary, 'hockey' refers to 'field hockey'; otherwise, the editors would have specified 'ice hockey'. However, forwards are found in both versions of hockey.
| 11a | Payment I rejected, in part /or/ whole (6) |
| 12a | Taking turns, watch in raft, an all-round // vast place (6) |
| 14a | Doctor cycles about area, runs // hardly at all (8) |
"runs " = R [cricket notation]
| 16a | Soldiers on // street -- sister and agent heading back (8) |
| 19a | Canadian ready // to knock over everyone in bar (6) |
Ready*[5,10] is an informal British term for ready money*[5,10], funds for immediate use or, in other words, available money or cash ⇒
Because I haven't got the readies to hand, I could offer a pittance now and promise to pay the rest at a date more to my convenience.
* Ready[5,10] (also called readies) is also known as the ready[10] (also called the readies); ready money[5,10] also goes by the name ready cash.
| 21a | Charm /of/ spoken prayers (6) |
The Missing Video
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| Here is the missing video from Deep Threat's review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog: |
| 23a | Answer corresponded with 500 brought forward // enough (8) |
| 25a | Telling shifts /in/ human interactions (13) |
In the wordplay, telling is used as a gerund, a verb form which functions as noun.
| 26a | University town's /giving/ Bill openings (8) |
I solved this clue on the basis of the university town but failed to twig to the parliamentary connotation of the definition.
The University of Reading[7]is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 1926 by royal charter from King George V.
A reading[5] is a stage of debate in parliament through which a Bill must pass before it can become law ⇒
the Bill returns to the House for its final reading next week.
I'm really not sure what the setter is getting at with the word "openings". Is it referring to first reading, the stage at which the Bill is introduced to Parliament? Or is it alluding to a reading being an "opening" because it is something through which a Bill must pass?
| 27a | Bacon // and his bust (6) |
Apparently Denmark has long been a major hog producer and exporter of bacon. Danish Bacon[7] was a brand under which Danish bacon was sold in the United Kingdom*. The product had "Danish" stamped on the rind between wavy lines.
* Perhaps, like "hoover" for vacuum cleaners, "danish" even became a synonym for bacon in the UK. Who knows? In reference to bacon, Weekend Wanda writes at Comment #42 on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, "With regard to Danish as a child my mother always considered this the best, along with Danish butter. Now I think people associate Danish with pastries. How things change.".
Delving Deeper
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Danish pig exports started to the UK in the mid-19th century when exporting to Germany became difficult and have grown ever since despite attempts by UK domestic producers and other importers to compete. They have not been able to keep pace with Danish modernisation of the curing process and increasing centralisation. Denmark now concentrates on pig production and has moved bacon curing and packing to other countries. Such bacon is sold as Danish, somewhat controversially, even within Denmark itself. |
Down
| 2d | Work out // exit (4,3) |
In the first definition, come off[5] is being used in the sense (said of an action) to succeed or be accomplished ⇒
this was a bold experiment which did not come off.
In the second definition, come off could be referring to the process of disembarking from an ocean liner or an airliner. In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Deep Threat envisions the term in a theatrical setting.
| 3d | Award // goal -- that hurts! (5) |
| 4d | Mum retails recycled // stuff builder needs? (9) |
| 5d | Places fostering growth // of revolutionary lies (7) |
| 6d | Cancel // Times (electronic) (5) |
Scratching the Surface
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The Times[7]
is a British daily national newspaper based in London. (show more )
The paper began in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register and became The Times on 1 January 1788. The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times (founded in 1821) are published by Times Newspapers, since 1981 a subsidiary of News UK, in turn wholly owned by News Corp. (headed by Australian-born American publisher and media entrepreneur Rupert Murdoch). The Times and The Sunday Times do not share editorial staff, were founded independently and have only had common ownership since 1966. hide |
| 7d | Twin, // one with incoherent dialect found around north (9) |
| 8d | Soldier, // 17, in mess (7) |
The
numeral "17" is a cross
reference indicator pointing to clue 17d (show more ).
To complete the clue, a solver must replace the cross reference indicator with the solution to the clue starting in the light* identified by the cross reference indicator.
The cross reference indicator may include a directional indicator but this is customarily done only in situations where there are both Across and Down clues originating in the light that is being referenced.
* light-coloured cell in the grid
hide
To complete the clue, a solver must replace the cross reference indicator with the solution to the clue starting in the light* identified by the cross reference indicator.
The cross reference indicator may include a directional indicator but this is customarily done only in situations where there are both Across and Down clues originating in the light that is being referenced.
* light-coloured cell in the grid
hide
| 13d | During delay, journalist /must be/ located (9) |
| 15d | Put on afters -- served up, disregarding time /as/ directed (9) |
Afters[5] is an informal British term for dessert ⇒
there was apple pie for afters.
What did he say?
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In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Deep Threat suggests we look forWhereas in North America, the term pudding[5] denotes specifically a dessert with a soft or creamy consistency, in Britain the term pudding refers to either:another word for ‘afters’ or ‘pudding’.
What’s for pudding?could well be Apple pie. |
| 17d | When erected, integral nest boxes // expand (7) |
| 18d | Old guitar group // tracks (7) |
The Shadows[7] (originally known as the Drifters) were an English instrumental rock group. They were English musician Cliff Richard's backing band from 1958 to 1968 and on numerous reunion tours.
Lest There Be Any Doubt
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| Although one would think that the miscue in Deep Threat's hint for this clue should be obvious, I actually had to think about it for a moment before I realized it was a typo. The Shadows are, of course, a band and not a bank. |
The Missing Video
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| Here is the missing video from Deep Threat's review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog: |
| 20d | Confirms // visiting cricket matches (7) |
Test[5] (short for Test match[5]) denotes an international cricket or rugby match, typically one of a series, played between teams representing two different countries ⇒
the Test match between Pakistan and the West Indies.
| 22d | Hammered after failing to get first bit // bolted down (5) |
| 24d | College certainly not over /for/ some workers (5) |
Uni[5] is an informal (originally Australian) abbreviation for university ⇒
he planned to go to uni.
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)
[15] - CollinsDictionary.com (Penguin Random House LLC/HarperCollins Publishers Ltd )
Signing off for today — Falcon
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