Puzzle at a Glance
| |
|---|---|
Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29430 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Friday, July 31, 2020 | |
Setter
Zandio | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29430]
| |
Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
Deep Threat | |
BD rating
| |
| Difficulty - ★★★ | Enjoyment - ★★★ |
Falcon's experience
┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐
███████████████████████████████████ └────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘ | |
|
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
| |
Introduction
After the strenuous tussle I had with yesterday's puzzle, this one came as a welcome relief. Although the two puzzles were awarded the same *** / *** rating from reviewers on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, I found yesterday's puzzle to be an order of magnitude more difficult — with the possible exception of 1a, on which I likely spent as much time as on the remainder of the puzzle.This puzzle appeared in the UK at the end of July in the midst of a heatwave. A heatwave not merely by British standards but one that would also qualify as such in our books (temperatures between 35-40 degrees C). At Comment #23 on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Terence reports that he is "drinking orange squash by the gallon". No he has not gone daft from heat. Squash[5] is a British term for a sweet concentrated liquid made from or flavoured with fruit juice, which is diluted to make a drink.
I am also pleased to see that Deep Threat appears to have abandoned his use of the ARVE video embedder that no longer works on Big Dave's site.
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 | |
|
|
| Click here for further explanation and usage examples of markup conventions used on this blog. | |
Across
| 1a | Salt gathering in huge quarry (6) |
A cryptic definition of an ocean-going hunter who bags some very large prey.
Salt[3,10] is an informal term for a sailor, especially one who is old and experienced.
| 5a | Challenging // United in a cricket club chant (8) |
CC[5] is the abbreviations for Cricket Club.
| 9a | Embarrassed, /being/ a bit tight perhaps (13) |
| 10a | One masters politics // degree needs time (8) |
| 11a | Places to stay // from Carlisle to Harrogate when retired (6) |
Scratching the Surface
| |
|---|---|
| Carlisle[5]
is a city in northwestern England, the county town of Cumbria. Harrogate[7] is a spa town in North Yorkshire, England. |
| 12a | Pass over // region in a storm (6) |
| 14a | Rescue boat trapped between delta and cape /in/ night-time (8) |
Noah's ark[5] is the ship ("rescue boat") in which Noah, his family, and the animals were saved from the Flood, according to the biblical account (Genesis 6–8).
| 16a | Queen is surrounded by ticket sellers /and/ trippers (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].
hide
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].
hide
Tout[5] (also ticket tout) is the British term for scalper[5], a person who buys up tickets for an event to resell them at a profit.
Tripper[5] is an informal British term for a person who goes on a pleasure trip or excursion.
| 19a | Quite // perfect -- stay on odd occasions (6) |
| 21a | Without a present, cancels /and/ drives back (6) |
| 23a | Times keeps nice refurbed // offices (8) |
Refurb[10] is a seemingly British* informal shortening of refurbish.
* judging by the absence of the term from American dictionaries
| 25a | Plug from the telly? (13) |
A cryptic definition of a commercial message on the boob tube*.
* Transatlantic confusion alert: Boob tube[5] is an informal British term for a tube top (a woman's tight-fitting strapless top made of stretchy material).
| 26a | Bursting in, be less // coolheaded (8) |
| 27a | Ranks // Scrabble letters required in 'tango'? The opposite (6) |
Contrarian Convention
| |
|---|---|
| The phrase "The opposite" tells the solver to reverse the logic or meaning of the statement immediately preceding it. Doing so leads one to reinterpret the wordplay as "'tango' required in Scrabble letters". |
Rank[10] is used in the sense of a position, especially an official one, within a social organization, especially the armed forces ⇒
he held the rank of captain.
Title[5] is used in the sense of a name that describes someone's position or job ⇒
However, he retains his professorial title and benefits at the University of Washington.
Down
| 2d | Hospital job for cat lacking initial // accommodation (7) |
| 3d | Slimmer's bar (5) |
The entire clue is a cryptic definition in which a precise definition is embedded.
Local[5] is an informal British term for a pub convenient to a person’s home ⇒
had a pint in the local.
The cryptic definition is a whimsical allusion to lo-cal[12], a variant spelling of low-cal[5] (short for low-calorie).
| 4d | Calls to mind // children in scripture group? (9) |
In the UK, religious education[10] (abbreviation RE[5]) is a subject taught in schools which educates about the different religions of the world.
Children taking such a class might be called "RE members".
| 5d | 25 chose /to be/ taken in (7) |
The
numeral "25" is a cross
reference indicator pointing to clue 25a (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
| 6d | Sample of Muscat chardonnay /in/ bag (5) |
Muscat[5] is wine made from muscat grapes, especially a sweet or fortified white wine.
* a variety of white, red, or black grape with a musky scent, grown in warm climates for wine or raisins or as table grapes
| 7d | Bendy buses can't // matter (9) |
Scratching the Surface
| |
|---|---|
| Bendy bus[5] is an informal British term for a single-decker bus consisting of two rigid vehicles linked together by a flexible section [in other words, an articulated bus]. |
| 8d | They're employed making woolly // ruffles (7) |
Woolly[5] is an informal British term for a garment made of wool, especially a pullover.
| 13d | Sour deviant trolls // you and me (9) |
Scratching the Surface
| |
|---|---|
Troll[5] means to
make a deliberately offensive or provocative online post with the aim of
upsetting someone or eliciting an angry response from them ⇒ (i) if people are obviously trolling then I’ll delete your posts and do my best to ban you: (ii) you folks taking this opportunity to troll me, you really need to reassess your values in your life. |
| 15d | Picture // commercial traveller posted again (9) |
| 17d | Run // musical show outside of Trieste (7) |
Scratching the Surface
| |
|---|---|
|
Trieste[5] is a
city in northeastern Italy, the largest port on the Adriatic and
capital of Friuli-Venezia Giulia region. (show more )
Formerly held by Austria (1382–1918), Trieste was annexed by Italy after the First World War. The Free Territory of Trieste was created after the Second World War but returned to Italy in 1954. hide |
| 18d | Where to have fun in the sun /in/ London area, single? (7) |
London[5] is the capital of the United Kingdom, situated in south-eastern England on the River Thames. (show more )
London was settled as a river port and trading centre, called Londinium, shortly after the Roman invasion of AD 43, and, since the Middle Ages, has been a flourishing centre. It is divided administratively into the City of London, which is the country's financial centre, and thirty-two boroughs.
hide
London was settled as a river port and trading centre, called Londinium, shortly after the Roman invasion of AD 43, and, since the Middle Ages, has been a flourishing centre. It is divided administratively into the City of London, which is the country's financial centre, and thirty-two boroughs.
hide
A single[2] was originally a vinyl record with with only one track on each side*.
* now also referring to a cassette single and those on compact disc which usually have one lead track plus a number of additional tracks (fewer than would be found on an EP)
A song that is released on a single is also known as a single and, furthermore, can be referred to as the A-side or B-side of a record ⇒
"Hey Jude" was released as a single in August 1968. It was the A-side of a disc on which the B-side was "Revolution".
Variations
| |
|---|---|
In reading through the comments on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, I infer that some solvers parsed the wordplay as:
|
| 20d | Three twists to get to grips with at // National? (7) |
The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House.
| 22d | Two kinds of brush (5) |
I guess one would call this is a cryptic double definition where the two definitions are different meanings of the word 'brush'.
| 24d | That man's involved in court // case (5) |
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
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.