Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29423 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Thursday, July 23, 2020 | |
Setter
RayT (Ray Terrell)
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Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29423]
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Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
Kath | |
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
After several days of rather gentle workouts, today's puzzle from RayT provides a more substantial challenge.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 | Jerks taking on work // issues (6) |
"work " = OP [opus]
In music, an opus[5] (Latin 'work', plural opuses or opera) is a separate composition or set of compositions.
The abbreviation Op.[5] (also op.), denoting opus, is used before a number given to each work of a particular composer, usually indicating the order of publication. The plural form of Op. is Opp..
Opus[5] can also be used in other contexts to denote an artistic work, especially one on a large scale ⇒
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In music, an opus[5] (Latin 'work', plural opuses or opera) is a separate composition or set of compositions.
The abbreviation Op.[5] (also op.), denoting opus, is used before a number given to each work of a particular composer, usually indicating the order of publication. The plural form of Op. is Opp..
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.
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| 4a | Stock controller? (8) |
| 9a | Hand turned around sleeve's end, touching // arm (6) |
| 10a | Lets cats out /being/ unfeeling (8) |
| 12a | Domestic // trainee prepared to face Queen (8) |
"Queen " = R [regina]
Queen may be abbreviated as Q, Qu. or R.
Q[5] is an abbreviation for queen that is used especially in describing play in card games and recording moves in chess.
Qu.[2] is another common abbreviation for Queen.
In the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms*, Regina[5] (abbreviation R[5]) [Latin for queen] denotes the reigning queen, used following a name (e.g. Elizabetha Regina, Queen Elizabeth — often shortened to ER) or in the titles of lawsuits (e.g. Regina v. Jones, the Crown versus Jones — often shortened to R. v. Jones).
* A Commonwealth realm[7] is a sovereign state that is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and shares the same person, currently Elizabeth II, as its head of state and reigning constitutional monarch, but retains a crown legally distinct from the other realms. There are currently sixteen Commonwealth realms, the largest being Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom with the remainder being smaller Caribbean and Pacific island nations.
Thus Queen Elizabeth signs her name as 'Elizabeth R' as seen here on Canada's paint-stained constitution[7].
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Queen may be abbreviated as Q, Qu. or R.
Q[5] is an abbreviation for queen that is used especially in describing play in card games and recording moves in chess.
Qu.[2] is another common abbreviation for Queen.
In the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms*, Regina[5] (abbreviation R[5]) [Latin for queen] denotes the reigning queen, used following a name (e.g. Elizabetha Regina, Queen Elizabeth — often shortened to ER) or in the titles of lawsuits (e.g. Regina v. Jones, the Crown versus Jones — often shortened to R. v. Jones).
* A Commonwealth realm[7] is a sovereign state that is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and shares the same person, currently Elizabeth II, as its head of state and reigning constitutional monarch, but retains a crown legally distinct from the other realms. There are currently sixteen Commonwealth realms, the largest being Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom with the remainder being smaller Caribbean and Pacific island nations.
Thus Queen Elizabeth signs her name as 'Elizabeth R' as seen here on Canada's paint-stained constitution[7].
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A retainer[5] is a servant, especially one who has worked for a person or family for a long time.
| 13a | Keep // Labour's leader constrained by social class (6) |
A keep[5] is the strongest or central tower of a castle, acting as a final refuge.
Scratching the Surface
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The Labour Party[5] is a left-of-centre political party in Britain. (show more )
The party was formed to represent the interests of ordinary working people that since the Second World War has been in power 1945–51, 1964–70, 1974-9, and 1997–2010. Arising from the trade union movement at the end of the 19th century, it replaced the Liberals as the country’s second party after the First World War. hide |
| 15a | Creating coal // fire and our bacon's cooking (13) |
| 18a | Wrongly see // nudism as trend to reform (13) |
| 22a | Expert going on about // unexpected rejection (6) |
| 24a | Wine // drunk neat? Sure (8) |
According to The Chambers Dictionary, Sauterne (or Sauternes)* is a sweet white wine produced at Sauternes in the Gironde, France [specifically, in the Bordeaux region of Gironde].
* Other dictionaries show the spelling of the French wine as Sauternes[5,10] (or sauternes[10]) with sauterne[10] being a sweet to semi-dry Californian white wine blended from several kinds of grapes.
If you look carefully, you will see that the wine bottle in the illustration used by Kath in her review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog is labelled "Sauternes".
| 26a | The vacant Republican without // limit (8) |
Scratching the Surface
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"Republican " = R [member or supporter of US political party]
A Republican[5] (abbreviation R[5] or Rep.[5]) is a member or supporter of the Republican Party[5], one of the two main US political parties*, favouring a right-wing stance, limited central government, and tough, interventionist foreign policy. It was formed in 1854 in support of the anti-slavery movement preceding the Civil War. * the other being the Democratic Party Although, in the UK, republican[5] can refer to an advocate of a united Ireland, the abbreviation does not appear to apply to that usage. hide |
| 27a | Supplies // online jokes? (6) |
Double definition; the second being whimsical.
| 28a | Stagger /from/ drink increase round mid-afternoon (8) |
"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
"mid-afternoon" = R (show explanation )
A common cryptic crossword construct is to use the prefix "mid-" to designate the middle letter of the remainder of the word in which it occurs. Thus "mid-afternoon" clues the letter 'R', the middle letter of 'afteRnoon'.
hide explanation
A common cryptic crossword construct is to use the prefix "mid-" to designate the middle letter of the remainder of the word in which it occurs. Thus "mid-afternoon" clues the letter 'R', the middle letter of 'afteRnoon'.
hide explanation
| 29a | Playing // part of lovers, uselessly (6) |
Down
| 1d | Tasteless // cheers, prohibitionist drinking whisky (6) |
Cheers[5] is an informal British expression of gratitude or acknowledgement for something ⇒
Billy tossed him the key. ‘Cheers, pal.’.
Ta[5] is an informal British exclamation signifying thank you ⇒
‘Ta,’ said Willie gratefully.
In what is commonly known as the NATO Phonetic Alphabet[7]*, Whisky[2], Whiskey[1,4,10] or whiskey[1,5] is a code word representing the letter W.
* officially the International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet
Whisky or Whiskey
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| Although the setter has presented us with Scotch (whisky) in the clue, should he perhaps have served up Irish whiskey? I certainly found far more support for the US/Irish spelling than for the British spelling for this code word representing the letter W in international radio communication. The Chambers Dictionary, Lexico (Oxford Dictionary of English) and Collins English Dictionary all show Whiskey[1,4,10] or whiskey[1,5] as the spelling. On the other hand, Chambers 21st Century Dictionary specifies the spelling as Whisky[2]. According to Wikipedia, the NATO phonetic alphabet*[7] is the most widely used radiotelephone spelling alphabet. The Wikipedia article uses the Whiskey spelling throughout with the exception of entries in two tables. In the section dealing with International aviation[7], a table shows the ICAO spelling as Whiskey prior to 1956 and Whisky from 1956 onward and in the section covering the International maritime mobile service[7], a table shows the spelling as Whisky beginning in 1965 (prior to which time the code word had been Washington). However, I would not entirely trust Wikipedia on this point but I was unable to find conclusive evidence to either confirm or refute it. * officially the International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet, and also commonly known as the ICAO phonetic alphabet, and in a variation also known officially as the ITU phonetic alphabet and figure code  |
| 2d | Customs // charges impounding fake (9) |
| 3d | Crook /is/ more hopeful after crime's beginning (7) |
| 5d | Mend // part of shoe soundly (4) |
| 6d | Servant carrying uncalled-for // soup (7) |
"uncalled-for " = OTT
| 7d | Upstanding // before court (5) |
| 8d | Dole out // some coppers, some coppers reportedly (8) |
"some coppers " = DIS [detective inspectors]
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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Pence[5] is a plural* form of penny[5],
a British bronze coin and monetary unit. (show more ).
* Both pence and pennies have existed as plural forms of penny since at least the 16th century. The two forms now tend to be used for different purposes: pence refers to sums of money (five pounds and sixty-nine pence) while pennies refers to the coins themselves (I left two pennies on the table). The use of pence rather than penny as a singular (the chancellor will put one pence on income tax) is not regarded as correct in standard English.
Today, a penny is equal to one hundredth of a pound and is the smallest denomination in Britain's modern decimal currency system introduced in 1971. The abbreviation for the modern penny or pence is p[5].
In the British currency system used prior to 1971, a penny[5] (abbreviation d[5] [for denarius]) was a coin or monetary unit equal to one twelfth of a shilling or 240th of a pound.
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* Both pence and pennies have existed as plural forms of penny since at least the 16th century. The two forms now tend to be used for different purposes: pence refers to sums of money (five pounds and sixty-nine pence) while pennies refers to the coins themselves (I left two pennies on the table). The use of pence rather than penny as a singular (the chancellor will put one pence on income tax) is not regarded as correct in standard English.
Today, a penny is equal to one hundredth of a pound and is the smallest denomination in Britain's modern decimal currency system introduced in 1971. The abbreviation for the modern penny or pence is p[5].
In the British currency system used prior to 1971, a penny[5] (abbreviation d[5] [for denarius]) was a coin or monetary unit equal to one twelfth of a shilling or 240th of a pound.
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| 11d | Sweetheart // left almost finished in sack (7) |
| 14d | Missile's point raised /creating/ noxious vapours (7) |
SAM[5] is an acronym for surface-to-air missile.
| 16d | Hospital attendants // repose in groups (9) |
An order[5] (also Order) is a society of monks, nuns, or friars living under the same religious, moral, and social regulations and discipline ⇒
the Franciscan Order.
In her review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Kath seemingly takes a scientific rather than religious perspective seeing (I believe) order[5] being used in the sense of a principal taxonomic category that ranks below class and above family.
| 17d | Goes abroad missing grand // airline (8) |
G as an abbreviation for grand is one North American usage that the Brits would appear to have embraced (show more ).
While the abbreviation G for "grand" is deemed by British dictionaries to be an Americanism, it seems to be one that is well known to Brits — undoubtedly from American gangster films. It is frequently seen in British crossword puzzles and never seems to garner the abuse that usually greets the appearance of American terms.
Grand[5] is an informal term for a thousand dollars or pounds ⇒
G is defined in various British dictionaries as follows:
While the abbreviation G for "grand" is deemed by British dictionaries to be an Americanism, it seems to be one that is well known to Brits — undoubtedly from American gangster films. It is frequently seen in British crossword puzzles and never seems to garner the abuse that usually greets the appearance of American terms.
Grand[5] is an informal term for a thousand dollars or pounds ⇒
he gets thirty-five grand a year. While the term "grand" itself would seem to be commonly used in the UK, the informal abbreviation G[5] meaning grand appears to be regarded as a North American usage ⇒
I was up nine Gs on the blackjack tables.
G is defined in various British dictionaries as follows:
- Oxford Dictionaries: (North American informal) abbreviation for grand, a thousand dollars)[5].
- Chambers 21st Century Dictionary: (North American slang) abbreviation for a grand, 1000 dollars[2].
- Collins English Dictionary: (mainly US slang) a symbol for grand (a thousand dollars or pounds)[4,10].
Emirates[7] is an international airline based in Dubai. The flag carrier of the United Arab Emirates and the largest airline in the Middle East, it ranks among the world's largest airlines.
| 19d | Sharper // smell, practically rank (7) |
Niff[5] is an informal British term that means (as a noun) an unpleasant smell and (as a verb) to have an unpleasant smell.
What did she say?
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In her review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Kath refers to the required smell asPong[5] (adjective pongy[5]) is an informal British term meaning:a slang four letter word that means an unpleasant pong.
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| 20d | Clairvoyant I questioned about // past (7) |
| 21d | Cold comfort before illness finally // stops (6) |
| 23d | Comparatively empty // boozer, empty earlier (5) |
In Britain, boozer[5] is not only an informal term for a person who drinks large quantities of alcohol but also an informal term for a pub or bar.
| 25d | Starts to swallow using, perhaps, spoon (4) |
Without doubt, this trademark RayT initialism clue can be deemed an &lit. clue[7], a clue in which the entire clue is both wordplay and definition.
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
Very tough. Putting optics in 1a made the top left impossible until I saw your hints for 1d. I find Ray T’s puzzles very difficult but fun.
ReplyDeleteGlad I was able to point you in the right direction.
DeleteI agree that this was a*** verging on ****. I managed to complete it without electronic help, but there was certainly a lot of staring at the blank spaces hoping for inspiration. I had the most trouble with the NW, but 29A was my last in. As they say, when in doubt, look for a lurker.
ReplyDeleteI should add that I gave it **** for enjoyment.
ReplyDeleteThanks to both of you for dropping in. It's nice to receive some comments on a weekday puzzle.
ReplyDelete