Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29445 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Tuesday, August 18, 2020 | |
Setter
Unknown | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29445]
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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
A bit of British content pushed the difficulty level above the two star level awarded by Mr K.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 | Falling // over very softly at home after doctor initially goes (8) |
| 5a | Tudors rebuilt // English town (6) |
Stroud[7] is a market town* and civil parish** in the centre of Gloucestershire, England.
* market town[7] is a legal term, originating in the Middle Ages, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city
** in England and formerly Wales, a parish[2,5,10] [also called civil parish to differentiate it from an ecclesiastical parish] is the smallest unit of local government, constituted only in rural areas
Scratching the Surface
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| The Tudors[5] were an English royal dynasty which held the throne from the accession of Henry VII in 1485 until the death of Elizabeth I in 1603. |
| 9a | Great // fizzy drink -- it's flipping cold (9) |
Fanta[7] is a brand of fruit-flavored carbonated soft drinks produced by Coca-Cola.
Delving Deeper
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| Fanta[7] was created by Coca-Cola Deutschland as a Coca-Cola substitute in 1940 due to the American trade
embargo of Nazi Germany which affected the availability of Coca-Cola
ingredients. Throughout the remainder of the war, the drink was produced at plants in Germany and Holland but was discontinued when the German and Dutch Coca-Cola branches were reunited with their parent company. Following the launch of several drinks by the Pepsi corporation in the 1950s, Coca-Cola relaunched Fanta in 1955. There are more than 150 flavors worldwide, although not all flavours are available in all markets. The orange Fanta of today was produced for the first time in Italy, in Naples, in 1955, when a local bottling plant started producing it using locally sourced oranges. Orange Fanta in Canada differs from its American counterpart in that it contains orange juice and the American version contains none. |
Scratching the Surface
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Flipping[5]
is an informal British term used for emphasis or to express mild annoyance ⇒ (i) are you out of your flipping mind?; (ii) it’s flipping cold today. |
| 11a | A small, young horse left shed /for/ racecourse (5) |
Ascot Racecourse[7] is a British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England, which is used for thoroughbred horse racing.
| 12a | Permitted // a sin (6) |
In Christian tradition, the sins of pride, covetousness, lust, anger, gluttony, envy, and sloth are known as the seven deadly sins[5]. Given that greed[2t] could be considered to be synonymous with both gluttony and covetousness, does that make it doubly sinful?
| 13a | Clubs linked to golfer's // mistakes (8) |
Bernhard Langer[7] is a German professional golfer. He is a two-time Masters champion and was one of the world's leading golfers throughout the 1980s and 1990s.
Clanger[5] is an informal British term for an absurd or embarrassing blunder ⇒
the minister had dropped a massive political clanger*.
* To drop a clanger[10] means to make a very embarrassing mistake.
The Story Behind the Picture
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| The illustration in Mr K's review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog depicts characters from Clangers[7] (usually referred to as The Clangers), a British children's television series about a family of mouse-like creatures who live on a small moon-like planet. The programmes were originally broadcast between 1969 and 1972. |
| 15a | Cheering up // European once argument's resolved (13) |
"European " = E [as in E number]
E[1,2] is the abbreviation for European (as in E number*).
* An E number[1,4,10,14] (or E-number[2,5]) is any of various identification codes required by EU law, consisting of the letter E (for European) followed by a number, that are used to denote food additives such as colourings and preservatives (but excluding flavourings) that have been approved by the European Union.
hide
E[1,2] is the abbreviation for European (as in E number*).
* An E number[1,4,10,14] (or E-number[2,5]) is any of various identification codes required by EU law, consisting of the letter E (for European) followed by a number, that are used to denote food additives such as colourings and preservatives (but excluding flavourings) that have been approved by the European Union.
hide
| 18a | Rebellious // sweetheart returning by train, you suspect (13) |
| 22a | Ladies // perhaps clean area (8) |
The ladies[5,10] is a British term for a ladies' room or women’s public toilet.
Where do you go?
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| It can be difficult to interpret definitions related to toilet facilities. In both Britain and North America, toilet[3,4,11] and lavatory[3,4,11]
can each mean either a plumbing fixture for collecting and disposing
of bodily wastes or the room in which such a fixture is located. To
compound the confusion, in North America, lavatory[3,11] can also mean washbasin. Judging by entries in several British dictionaries, Brits use the term washroom*[1,4,10,14] to refer to a room with toilets and washing facilities, situated in a large building such as a factory or an office block. They apparently do not use the term as a euphemism for lavatory [toilet] as we do in the US and Canada. * Alone among my usual British dictionaries, Lexico (Oxford Dictionaries) considers washroom[5] to be a Canadian term. There are a number of comments on Big Dave's Crossword Blog alluding to washroom being a North American term. One of the most enlightening, perhaps, is the exchange kicked off at Comment #32 where portcoquitambc (whom I believe to be a long-time British ex-pat) refers to "the North American answer for 22a", to which John Bee (a Brit) responds "22a is just about acceptable here". I wonder if this is evidence of a North American term starting to be adopted by the British after the author of the former comment had emigrated to Canada. John Bee goes on to state "I usually respond to anyone offering a bathroom with I don’t want a bath just a **** !". The thinking behind this remark should be easily deduced from the definition for bathroom[5] given by Lexico (Oxford Dictionaries):
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| 23a | The man caught twitching, // agitated (6) |
"caught " = C [cricket notation]
| 26a | Visitor somehow carrying // trunk (5) |
| 27a | Lower // compact musical instrument (9) |
Lower is used in the whimsical cryptic crossword sense of an animal that lows (moos) — in other words, a bovine animal.
A shorthorn[5] is an animal of a breed of cattle with short horns.
| 28a | Obvious mistake -- // a baby could be one (6) |
| 29a | Idlers regularly mend // ship (8) |
Despatch[3,4] is a variant (and less common) spelling of dispatch.
Down
| 1d | Fed up with editor after snack/'s/ licked (8) |
| 2d | Keeper -- // one guarding wicket and runs (5) |
On cricket scorecards, wicket is abbreviated as W[5].
Delving Deeper
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| In cricket, the term wicket[5]
can have a variety of meanings (not unlike hockey, where goal can mean
either the net or an instance of putting the puck in the net). First, wicket is the name given to each of the sets of three stumps with two bails across the top at either end of the pitch [or, confusingly, wicket (see second meaning below)], defended by a batsman. Second, wicket is also another name for the pitch[5], the prepared strip of ground between the two sets of stumps [or, confusingly, wickets (see first meaning above)] ⇒ when they inspected the wicket, they found it being rolled by some prisoners. Third, and the sense in which it is being used in this clue, wicket is the term for the dismissal of a batsman; each of ten* dismissals regarded as marking a division of a side’s innings ⇒ Darlington won by four wickets. * Because batsmen always bat in pairs, once ten of the eleven players on a team have been dismissed, the team can no longer form a pair and consequently is dismissed. |
"runs " = R [cricket notation]
| 3d | Dish on a university // table (7) |
Table[10] is used in the sense of any flat or level area, such as the solution to the clue.
| 4d | Touched // heads (4) |
Touched[5] is used in the informal sense of slightly mad or crazy.
Nut[3,4] is slang for the human head.
| 6d | Student // wasted an entire November getting expelled (7) |
| 7d | Group of musicians -- // a chorister's lost without one (9) |
| 8d | Hate // upsetting Edward before exam (6) |
| 10d | Gathers // best cello concerto, to an extent, is uplifting (8) |
| 14d | Quickly gets higher // bonuses, impressing everyone (8) |
| 16d | One opens sack? (9) |
Sack[3,4] is an archaic term for any of various light, dry, strong wines from Spain and the Canary Islands, imported to England in the 1500s and 1600s.
Removing the cork
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| There is a bit of discussion on Big Dave's Crossword Blog regarding whether a corkscrew would be needed to open a bottle of sack. These comments led me to the discovery that sack is a form of sherry and not quite as outdated as the dictionary definition would lead us to believe. I suspect the comments allude to the fact that many — but not all — sherries use T-top corks that can be removed by hand without the aid of a corkscrew (see Closures for Sherry Bottles). |
| 17d | It could be blooming // hard in yacht at sea (8) |
Scratching the Surface
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Blooming[5] is an informal British term used to express annoyance or for emphasis ⇒ (i) of all the blooming cheek!; (ii) a blooming good read. |
| 19d | Victor brewed beer so // gassy (7) |
| 20d | Frank with best // type of car? (4-3) |
Open-top[5,10] (also open-topped) means (of a vehicle) not having a roof or having a folding or detachable roof ⇒ (i)
an open-top MG; (ii)
a tour on the open-top bus.
| 21d | Son with pine // twig (6) |
| 24d | Strongly recommend catching river // fish (5) |
| 25d | Deer eating small // flower (4) |
The roe[5] (also called roe deer) is a small Eurasian deer which lacks a visible tail and has a reddish summer coat that turns greyish in winter.
And to bring the curtain down, the clothing size from 11a performs an encore.
Key to Reference Sources:
[1] - The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition
[2] - Search Chambers - (Chambers 21st Century Dictionary)
[2t] - Search Chambers - (Chambers Thesaurus)
[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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