Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29409 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Tuesday, July 7, 2020 | |
Setter
Unknown | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29409]
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Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
Mr K | |
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
There's lots of interesting wordplay in today's puzzle that turns out not to be as it first appears.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
| 9a | One in transport mum uses /getting/ dad to Paris (5) |
Pram[5] is a British term for a four-wheeled carriage for a baby, pushed by a person [typically mum] on foot.
In Greek mythology, Priam[5] is the king of Troy at the time of its destruction by the Greeks under Agamemnon. The father of Paris and Hector and husband of Hecuba, he was slain by Neoptolemus, son of Achilles.
| 10a | Director // Jack with opposite number (9) |
The entry for jack in The Chambers Dictionary would fill a page if it were not spread over parts of two pages. Among the definitions, one finds jack[1] defined as (often with capital) a sailor.
Tar[5] is an informal, dated nickname for a sailor. The term came into use in the mid 17th century and is perhaps an abbreviation of tarpaulin, also used as a nickname for a sailor at that time.
Quentin Tarantino[5] is a US film director, screenwriter, and actor. He came to sudden prominence with Reservoir Dogs (1992), followed in 1994 by Pulp Fiction. Both aroused controversy for their amorality and violence but also won admiration for their wit and style.
| 11a | Light making one darker? (7) |
| 12a | Bird // died exiting dilapidated old attic (4,3) |
The coal tit[5] (also cole tit) is a small Eurasian and North African tit (songbird) with a grey back, black cap and throat, and white cheeks.
| 13a | Area near steamship // that's very deep (5) |
"steamship" = SS (show explanation )
| 14a | Unaccompanied singing /in/ palace -- with lap dancing! (1,8) |
| 16a | Remind coalition about // covering all the angles (15) |
| 19a | Order // CID back after Italian club trashed at front (9) |
Football Club Internazionale Milano S.p.A., commonly referred to as Internazionale or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan[7] outside of Italy, is a professional Italian football [soccer] club based in Milan, Lombardy, Italy that plays in Serie A, the top division of the Italian football league system.
Scratching the Surface
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The Criminal Investigation Department (seemingly better known by its abbreviation CID[2]) is the detective branch of a British police force. |
| 21a | Labour man /in/ street naked (5) |
Jack Straw[7] is a British Labour Party politician who sat as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1979 to 2015. He served in the Cabinet from 1997 to 2010 under the governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
| 23a | Excitement /where/ party drops leader (7) |
| 25a | Her veal needs cooking /in/ port (2,5) |
Le Havre[5] is a port in northern France, on the English Channel at the mouth of the Seine.
| 27a | At that point in lead /gets/ beaten (9) |
| 28a | Fabric /in/ car departing Cumbrian city (5) |
Carlisle[5] is a city in northwestern England, the county town of Cumbria.
Lisle[5,10] is a fine, smooth cotton thread or fabric used especially for stockings.
Down
| 1d | Drink nothing having turned up /for/ work (4) |
"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
In music, an opus[5] (Latin 'work', plural opuses or opera) is a separate composition or set of compositions. Opus[5] can also be used in other contexts to denote an artistic work, especially one on a large scale ⇒
he was writing an opus on Mexico.
| 2d | Iodine oddly found in vital // organ (6) |
| 3d | Mossad in tangle with Arab // diplomat (10) |
Scratching the Surface
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| Mossad[5] (Supreme Institution for Intelligence and Special Assignments) is the principal secret intelligence service of the state of Israel, founded in 1951. |
| 4d | Ideal society // finest one featured in posh article (6) |
"posh " = U [upper class]
In Britain, U[5] is used informally as an adjective (in respect to language or social behaviour) meaning characteristic of or appropriate to the upper social classes ⇒
The term, an abbreviation of upper class, was coined in 1954 by Alan S. C. Ross, professor of linguistics, and popularized by its use in Nancy Mitford's Noblesse Oblige (1956).
In Crosswordland, the letter U is frequently clued by words denoting "characteristic of the upper class" (such as posh or superior) or "appropriate to the upper class" (such as acceptable).
hide
In Britain, U[5] is used informally as an adjective (in respect to language or social behaviour) meaning characteristic of or appropriate to the upper social classes ⇒
U manners.
The term, an abbreviation of upper class, was coined in 1954 by Alan S. C. Ross, professor of linguistics, and popularized by its use in Nancy Mitford's Noblesse Oblige (1956).
In Crosswordland, the letter U is frequently clued by words denoting "characteristic of the upper class" (such as posh or superior) or "appropriate to the upper class" (such as acceptable).
hide
Utopia[5] is an imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect ⇒
misplaced faith in political utopias has led to ruin
a romantic vision of Utopia
Origin: the word first appeared in the book Utopia (1516) by Sir Thomas More.
| 5d | Like poet's feet // caught in crashing chariot (8) |
"caught " = C [cricket notation]
The adjective trochaic[5] means consisting of or featuring trochees*.
* In poetry, a trochee[5] is a metrical foot consisting of one long or stressed syllable followed by one short or unstressed syllable.
| 6d | Long-dead people -- // some reincarnated (4) |
The Inca[2] were an indigenous South American people living in Peru before the Spanish conquest in the 16th century, who had a complex civilization and empire.
| 7d | Sports event /in/ large Irish town neither completed (8) |
Athlone[7] is a town located near the geographical centre of Ireland on the border of County Roscommon and County Westmeath.
The biathlon[5] is a Nordic skiing event in which the competitors combine cross-country skiing and rifle shooting.
| 8d | Traffic system // continued with fliers close to ground (10) |
Contraflow[5,10] is a British term for a temporary arrangement where traffic on a motorway [divided highway] is transferred from its usual side to share the other side with traffic moving in the opposite direction, especially to allow maintenance work to be carried out or an accident to be cleared.
| 13d | Snowman could be so // abhorrent! (10) |
The Abominable Snowman[5] (also called yeti[5]) is a large hairy creature resembling a human or bear, said to live in the highest part of the Himalayas.
| 15d | Tories help building // secret chamber (6,4) |
Priest hole (also priest's hole[5]) is a historical term for a hiding place for a Roman Catholic priest during times of religious persecution.
| 17d | Race generating more than local interest? (8) |
The National[5] is short for Grand National[5], an annual horse race established in 1839, a steeplechase run over a course of 4 miles 856 yards (about 7,200 metres) with thirty jumps, at Aintree, Liverpool, England in late March or early April.
| 18d | Topless characters felt line /should be/ banter (8) |
| 20d | Fuss about the French in Spanish location (6) |
"the French " = LE [French definite article]
Toledo[5] is a city in central Spain on the River Tagus, capital of Castilla-La Mancha region. It was a pre-eminent city and cultural centre of Castile. Toledan steel and sword blades have been famous since the first century BC.
| 22d | Spots six brought inside // to delight (6) |
| 24d | Very hot round // West End area (4) |
Soho[7]
is an area of the City of Westminster and part of the West End of
London. (show more )
Long established as an entertainment district, for much of the 20th century Soho had a reputation for sex shops as well as night life and film industry. Since the early 1980s, the area has undergone considerable transformation. It now is predominantly a fashionable district of upmarket restaurants and media offices, with only a small remnant of sex industry venues.
hide
Long established as an entertainment district, for much of the 20th century Soho had a reputation for sex shops as well as night life and film industry. Since the early 1980s, the area has undergone considerable transformation. It now is predominantly a fashionable district of upmarket restaurants and media offices, with only a small remnant of sex industry venues.
hide
Origin: The name Soho[5] dates to the mid 17th century and probably derives from the old word 'soho', used as a hunting cry: the area was a royal park in Tudor times.
| 26d | Remove lid to drain // jug (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)
[15] - CollinsDictionary.com (Penguin Random House LLC/HarperCollins Publishers Ltd )
Signing off for today — Falcon
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