Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29424 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Friday, July 24, 2020 | |
Setter
proXimal (Steve Bartlett) | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29424]
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Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
Deep Threat | |
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
I failed to notice the X-less pangram* — one of the hallmarks of a proXimal puzzle. Actually my pangram radar has been fairly sensitive recently and has alerted me on several cases to potential pangrams, only to come up a few letters short at the end. However, this one slipped by undetected.* a pangram is a puzzle in which every letter of the alphabet appears at least once in the solution
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 | Leaves collector /of/ footwear to go round Orient (3-8) |
| 7a | Base, a garage emptied /to make/ some film (7) |
| 8a | English menagerie in hostelry returned /for/ revelry (5-2) |
Booze-up[10] is British, Australian and New Zealand slang for a drinking spree.
| 10a | Mostly be the boss with quiet // restraint (5) |
| 11a | Party guest /and/ husband are on parade (5,4) |
The March Hare[7] is a guest at the tea party in the 1865 novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll.
| 12a | Men having abandoned male faults, accepting good // standards (7) |
| 14a | Allow // call (7) |
| 15a | Spirit drink with last of asparagus // spears (7) |
| 18a | New way up // emerging (7) |
| 20a | Space between posts /is/ tough loam ground (9) |
| 21a | Abandon // small clique after changing sides (5) |
| 22a | Desired // some time home in retirement (7) |
| 23a | Cater // for five kiddies with odd breaks (7) |
| 24a | New York district overlooking old // shady business (5,6) |
Down
| 1d | First month in group upset // dependable people (7) |
A Trojan[10] is a person who is hard-working and determined.
Origin: The Trojans[10] were the natives or inhabitants of ancient Troy. According to legend, as recorded in both Vergil's Aeneid and Homer's Illiad, the Trojans were a hard-working, determined, industrious people. Hence the idiom "work like a Trojan"[a].
[a] The Phrase Finder website
| 2d | Packed // whiskey when going in a hospital (5) |
Today's setter, unlike yesterday's, uses what seems to be the the "official" spelling of Whiskey in the NATO Phonetic Alphabet. However, judging by comments on Big Dave's Crossword Blog related to yesterday's puzzle, some Brits appear to think they have their own British version of the NATO Phonetic Alphabet. In case you missed it, in my review of yesterday's puzzle, I discussed at some length the spelling of whiskey in the NATO phonetic alphabet.
| 3d | Other people crossing river really capsized // vessel (7) |
| 4d | Inn // some time occupied by cabbies (7) |
An auberge[5] is an inn in a French-speaking country.
| 5d | Mobile phones, yet /for/ novices (9) |
| 6d | Portray // time with outmoded punishment monarch served up (2-5) |
The cane[5]
was* a form of corporal punishment used in certain schools,
involving beating with a length of cane or a slender stick ⇒
* In many state secondary schools in England and Wales [schools that would be called public schools in North America] caning was in use, mostly for boys, until 1987. In the UK, all corporal punishment in private schools was finally banned in 1999 for England and Wales, 2000 in Scotland, and 2003 in Northern Ireland.
Caning[7] is a form of corporal punishment consisting of a number of hits (known as "strokes" or "cuts") with a single cane usually made of rattan, generally applied to the offender's bare or clothed buttocks or palms of the hands.
The thin cane generally used for corporal punishment is not to be confused with a walking stick, sometimes also called (especially in American English) a "cane" but which is thicker and much more rigid, and more likely to be made of stronger wood than of cane.
The western educational use of the cane dates principally to the late nineteenth century, gradually replacing birching—effective only if applied to the bare bottom—with a form of punishment more suited to contemporary sensibilities, once it had been discovered that a flexible rattan cane can provide the offender with a substantial degree of pain even when delivered through a layer of clothing.
Caning as a school punishment is strongly associated in the English-speaking world with England, but it was also used in other European countries in earlier times, notably Scandinavia, Germany and the countries of the former Austrian empire.
In some schools corporal punishment was administered solely by the headmaster, while in others the task was delegated to other teachers. In many English and Commonwealth private schools, authority to punish was also traditionally given to certain senior students (often called prefects). In the early 20th century, such permission for prefects to cane other boys was widespread in British public schools*.
* In the UK, a public school[5] is a private fee-paying secondary school, especially one for boarders — what North Americans would call public schools are referred to in Britain as state (funded) schools.
In many state secondary schools in England and Wales caning was in use, mostly for boys, until 1987, while elsewhere other implements prevailed, such as the Scottish tawse*. The cane was generally administered in a formal ceremony to the seat of the trousers, typically with the student bending over a desk or chair. Usually there was a maximum of six strokes (known as "six of the best").
* a strip of leather, with one end split into a number of tails
Schoolgirls were caned much more rarely than boys, and if the punishment was given by a male teacher, nearly always on the palm of the hand. Rarely, girls were caned on the clothed bottom, in which case the punishment would probably be applied by a female teacher.
In the UK, all corporal punishment in private schools was finally banned in 1999 for England and Wales, 2000 in Scotland, and 2003 in Northern Ireland.
hide
wrong answers were rewarded by the cane. (show more )
* In many state secondary schools in England and Wales [schools that would be called public schools in North America] caning was in use, mostly for boys, until 1987. In the UK, all corporal punishment in private schools was finally banned in 1999 for England and Wales, 2000 in Scotland, and 2003 in Northern Ireland.
Caning[7] is a form of corporal punishment consisting of a number of hits (known as "strokes" or "cuts") with a single cane usually made of rattan, generally applied to the offender's bare or clothed buttocks or palms of the hands.
The thin cane generally used for corporal punishment is not to be confused with a walking stick, sometimes also called (especially in American English) a "cane" but which is thicker and much more rigid, and more likely to be made of stronger wood than of cane.
The western educational use of the cane dates principally to the late nineteenth century, gradually replacing birching—effective only if applied to the bare bottom—with a form of punishment more suited to contemporary sensibilities, once it had been discovered that a flexible rattan cane can provide the offender with a substantial degree of pain even when delivered through a layer of clothing.
Caning as a school punishment is strongly associated in the English-speaking world with England, but it was also used in other European countries in earlier times, notably Scandinavia, Germany and the countries of the former Austrian empire.
In some schools corporal punishment was administered solely by the headmaster, while in others the task was delegated to other teachers. In many English and Commonwealth private schools, authority to punish was also traditionally given to certain senior students (often called prefects). In the early 20th century, such permission for prefects to cane other boys was widespread in British public schools*.
* In the UK, a public school[5] is a private fee-paying secondary school, especially one for boarders — what North Americans would call public schools are referred to in Britain as state (funded) schools.
In many state secondary schools in England and Wales caning was in use, mostly for boys, until 1987, while elsewhere other implements prevailed, such as the Scottish tawse*. The cane was generally administered in a formal ceremony to the seat of the trousers, typically with the student bending over a desk or chair. Usually there was a maximum of six strokes (known as "six of the best").
* a strip of leather, with one end split into a number of tails
Schoolgirls were caned much more rarely than boys, and if the punishment was given by a male teacher, nearly always on the palm of the hand. Rarely, girls were caned on the clothed bottom, in which case the punishment would probably be applied by a female teacher.
In the UK, all corporal punishment in private schools was finally banned in 1999 for England and Wales, 2000 in Scotland, and 2003 in Northern Ireland.
hide
"monarch " = ER [regnal cipher of Queen Elizabeth]
The regnal ciphers (monograms) of British monarchs are initials formed from the Latin version of their first name followed by either Rex or Regina (Latin for king or queen, respectively). Thus, the regnal cipher of Queen Elizabeth is ER[5] — from the Latin Elizabetha Regina.
* A cipher[5] (also cypher) is a monogram[5] or motif of two or more interwoven letters, typically a person's initials, used to identify a personal possession or as a logo.
hide
The regnal ciphers (monograms) of British monarchs are initials formed from the Latin version of their first name followed by either Rex or Regina (Latin for king or queen, respectively). Thus, the regnal cipher of Queen Elizabeth is ER[5] — from the Latin Elizabetha Regina.
* A cipher[5] (also cypher) is a monogram[5] or motif of two or more interwoven letters, typically a person's initials, used to identify a personal possession or as a logo.
hide
| 7d | Making change in career // with hesitation (11) |
| 9d | Now, expert /is/ smart (11) |
| 13d | Nervously ring model // one digs (9) |
Video AWOL
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| Here is the video that has gone missing from Deep Threat's review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog: |
| 16d | Doctor account with a record to raise // bill (7) |
| 17d | Gooey // seafood disheartened guy (7) |
Squidgy[5] is an informal British term meaning soft, spongy, and moist.
| 18d | One of the also-rans /is/ realist? (2-5) |
I would say that the second definition is more than a bit whimsical.
No-hoper[5] is an informal [possibly British*] term for a person who is not expected to be successful ⇒
they wasted their nominations on a no-hoper.
* based on the absence of the term from US dictionaries
| 19d | Insects // beneath organ -- flies, indefinite number ignored (7) |
"indefinite number " = N [mathematical symbol]
| 21d | Cool // selection of cakes to ice (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
This did require some work but I completed it unaided. I too missed the “x-less” pangram. Couldn’t parse 21A and the BD explanation still left me puzzled. ***/**** for me.
ReplyDelete21a S|C(L->R)UB -- S(mall) + CLUB (clique); then remove L(eft) and insert R(ight) (changing sides)
DeleteOf course! Thanks
ReplyDelete