Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29402 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Monday, June 29, 2020 | |
Setter
Campbell (Allan Scott) | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29402]
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Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
Falcon | |
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
Although this puzzle is certainly near the easier end of Campbell's customarily gentle difficulty scale, it is nevertheless positioned high on the enjoyment range.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 | Witty // colonel drinking mineral (7) |
Scratching the Surface
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Mineral[10] is a British name for a carbonated soft drink ? ‘We weren't allowed to serve alcohol so it was all minerals and tea,’ says Brendan. |
| 5a | Eccentric // learner driver, a Parisian with a twitch (7) |
"learner driver " = L [driver under instruction]
The cryptic crossword convention of L meaning learner or student arises from the L-plate[7], a square plate bearing a sans-serif letter L, for learner, which must be affixed to the front and back of a vehicle in various jurisdictions (including the UK) if its driver is a learner under instruction.
hide
The cryptic crossword convention of L meaning learner or student arises from the L-plate[7], a square plate bearing a sans-serif letter L, for learner, which must be affixed to the front and back of a vehicle in various jurisdictions (including the UK) if its driver is a learner under instruction.
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| Automobile displaying an L-plate |
hide
"a Parisian " = UN
| 9a | Cranky duke, led on, wrongly // imprisoned (5,4,3,3) |
Scratching the Surface
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| A duke[5] (abbreviation D.[10]) is a male holding the highest hereditary title in the British and certain other peerages*. * The peerage[5] is the nobility in Britain or Ireland as a class, comprising the ranks of duke, marquess, earl, viscount, and baron. |
| 10a | When young woman briefly returned /for/ a dance (5) |
The salsa[5] is a type of Latin American dance performed to music incorporating elements of jazz and rock.
| 11a | Service // his curate arranged (9) |
Eucharist[5] is the Christian service, ceremony, or sacrament commemorating the Last Supper, in which bread and wine are consecrated and consumed. The service of worship is also called Holy Communion or (chiefly in the Protestant tradition) the Lord’s Supper or (chiefly in the Catholic tradition) the Mass.
Scratching the Surface
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| In the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches, a curate[5,7] is member of the clergy engaged as assistant to a vicar, rector, or parish priest. |
| 12a | At the moment, assume one is in South American // national park (9) |
Assume[5] is used in the sense of don or put on. While the word can be a synonym for don in a figurative sense meaning to take on or adopt (a manner or identity), sometimes falsely ? (i)
Oliver assumed an expression of penitence; (ii)
she puts on a disguise, assumes a different persona, and cruises the squalid bars on the bad side of town, assume[3] can also literally mean* to clothe oneself in or don ?
The queen assumed a velvet robe.
* I did not find this meaning in any dictionary other than the American Heritage Dictionary and, although not identified as such, I suspect it may be an archaic usage
A Fine Point (or Picking Nits)
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| It is apparently a convention that all definitions, abbreviations and spellings used in The Daily Telegraph puzzles must be in accordance with those found in The Chambers Dictionary (affectionately known as the Big Red Book or BRB on Big Dave's Crossword Blog). Although the BRB lists SA as an abbreviation for South America, it does not show it as an abbreviation for South American. Therefore, in strict adherence to this convention, we must consider the letters separately with S being an abbreviation for South and A an abbreviation for American, both of which are listed. |
Snowdonia National Park[7] is located in the mountainous Snowdonia region in northwestern Wales. Its highest peak, Snowdon[5], rises to 1,085 m (3,560 ft), making it is the highest mountain in Wales and the highest mountain in the UK outside of Scotland.
| 14a | Lower // hood after onset of shower (5) |
Lower[5] is used in the sense of an angry or sullen look.
| 15a | Put off // head of team feeding animals (5) |
| 16a | Would-be poet // met merry with sherry! (9) |
As an anagram indicator, merry[5,10] is used in an informal British sense meaning slightly and good-humouredly drunk* ?
after the third beer he began to feel quite merry.
* In Canada, someone in this state would likely be described as
feeling happy.
| 18a | Innocent mistake // concerning vision (9) |
Over[10] is used in the sense of on the subject of or about ?
an argument over nothing.
| 21a | Secure, /having/ connection at university (3,2) |
In Britain, up[5] means at or to a university, especially Oxford or Cambridge ?
they were up at Cambridge about the same time.
| 22a | Imitate Cockney // at speech indoors, badly (4,4,7) |
Cockneys[5,10], the natives of that part of East London known as the East End[5], speak a dialect (also known as cockney) that is characterised by dropping the aitch (H) from the beginning of words.
| 23a | Tiresomely long // finish, not so great (7) |
| 24a | Set out /from/ Scottish island, gillie initially heading for England (7) |
Arran[5] is an island in the Firth of Clyde, in the west of Scotland.
Scratching the Surface
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| In Scotland, a gillie[5] (also ghillie) is a man or boy who attends someone on a hunting or fishing expedition. |
Down
| 1d | Disasters involving upper-class // holidays at sea (7) |
"upper-class " = 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
| 2d | Brave person, a Democrat, following heart -- frequently // moderate, politically? (6-2-3-4) |
"Democrat " = D [member or supporter of US political party]
| 3d | Messenger, out of uniform, going round with // culinary herb (9) |
| 4d | Unattached // miss holding ring (5) |
| 5d | Enjoy nuts // greatly (4,5) |
| 6d | Martial art expert/'s/ home in New Jersey area (5) |
| 7d | Suffer defeat stoically, // as most boxers do? (4,2,2,3,4) |
The latter part of the clue involves a literal interpretation of the phrase providing the solution.
| 8d | Items of cut glass? // Shed tears, booth having only one left (7) |
| 13d | Song, // for example, right to be included by tenors performing (2,7) |
"No Regrets"[7] is the title of numerous songs. As I wrote in my review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog "I was overwhelmed by choice here as this is an extremely popular song title — I found more than a dozen different songs from different genres with this name. These included songs by Bon Jovi, Eminem, Canadian rocker Tom Cochrane, Tom Rush, and even a famous Edith Piaf piece whose title is often translated into English as this".
| 14d | One watches // Wall of Sound producer tackling a tango (9) |
Phil Spector[7] (1939–2021)* was an American record producer, musician, and songwriter known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s, followed decades later by his trial and conviction for murder in the 2000s. Spector developed the Wall of Sound, a music production formula he described as a Wagnerian approach to rock and roll.
* Spector, who died in January of this year, was still living at the time of my review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog
| 15d | Desperately determined /in/ entrance and exit (2-2-3) |
| 17d | Letter I posted contains // quick and clever reply (7) |
| 19d | Twenty, // the full total (5) |
| 20d | Jewellery item, // article collected by rising Italian artist (5) |
"Italian " = IT [in reference to either the language or the vermouth]
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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