Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29433 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Tuesday, August 4, 2020 | |
Setter
Unknown | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29433]
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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
There are a couple of pretty obscure words in the lower reaches of this puzzle. I believe I must have encountered the Spanish torture in another crossword as it just popped to mind once I had a couple of checking letters. The Hindu religious text was quite a different matter.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 | Concentrate again: // prepare for next shot? (7) |
| 5a | Intimidate to restrict runs and hinder // opener (7) |
"runs " = R [cricket notation]
| 9a | Pole // tires alongside Welsh runner (9) |
The setter uses the word "runner" in the whimsical sense of something that runs or flows — in other words, a river.
The River Taff[7] is a large river in Wales. It rises as two rivers in the Brecon Beacons — the Little Taff and the Big Taff — before joining to form the Taff and flowing south to Cardiff Bay.
| 10a | Opinion given one way or another (5) |
I consider this clue to be a cryptic definition comprising an embedded precise definition combined with cryptic elaboration indicating that the solution is a palindrome (one way or another).
| 11a | Sauce // unfortunately knocked over covers son (5) |
Salsa[5] is a spicy tomato sauce (used especially in Latin American cooking).
| 12a | Limit supply of beer /in/ grounds (9) |
| 13a | One cleans // material turning round less (9) |
| 16a | Wide, /but/ no main thoroughfare? (5) |
In Great Britain, B roads[7] are numbered local routes, which have lower traffic densities than the main trunk roads, or A roads. This classification has nothing to do with the width or quality of the physical road, and B roads can range from dual carriageways [divided highways] to single track roads with passing places.
| 17a | Doctor meeting a graduate /in/ exciting situation (5) |
| 18a | Passing // rains ripped into canvas shelter (9) |
| 20a | Penny had meal aboard river // vessel (9) |
Historically, a privateer[5] was an armed ship owned and crewed by private individuals holding a government commission and authorized for use in war, especially in the capture of merchant shipping.
| 23a | Good to occupy one privy /in/ packed house (5) |
Loo[5] is an informal British term for a toilet [either as a room or a plumbing fixture].
| 25a | Old number // three fouled (5) |
"Number" is used in the whimsical cryptic crossword sense of 'something that numbs'.
Diethyl ether[7], or simply ether, is a colorless, highly volatile, sweet-smelling, extremely flammable liquid. It is commonly used as a solvent in laboratories and as a starting fluid for some engines. It was formerly used as a general anesthetic, until non-flammable drugs were developed, such as halothane.
| 26a | Animal spotted at Crufts? (9) |
Crufts[7] is an an international dog show held annually in Birmingham, England. It is the largest show of its kind in the world, as declared by Guinness World Records.
| 27a | Weapon not used at the front? (7) |
| 28a | Untidy person seen with east // European (7) |
Sloven[5] is a dated term for a person who is habitually untidy or careless ⇒
He may have been king of the aesthetes and the quintessential dandy about town - but behind the bedroom door, Oscar Wilde lived the life of a careless sloven.
A Slovene[5] is a native or inhabitant of Slovenia*, or a person of Slovene descent.
* Slovenia[5] is a country in southeastern Europe, formerly a constituent republic of Yugoslavia.
Down
| 1d | Revised FA rules /getting/ thumbs-down (7) |
Scratching the Surface
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| The Football Association[7], also known simply as the FA, is the governing body of football [soccer] in England. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world and is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the amateur and professional game in England. |
| 2d | Delicate // father to sicken (5) |
| 3d | Treated as canards -- her prophecies were! (9) |
The entire clue provides the definition in which the wordplay is embedded.
In Greek mythology, Cassandra[5] was a daughter of the Trojan king Priam. She was given the gift of prophecy by Apollo, but when she cheated him, he turned this into a curse by causing her prophecies, though true, to be disbelieved.
| 4d | Right to support celebrity // skin-basher (5) |
Impeccable Timing
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| I solved this clue from the wordplay but did not understand the definition. However, while writing the review, just as I got to this clue "She Loves You" by the Beatles began playing and I had my 'Eureka' moment. |
Ringo Starr[5] is an English rock and pop drummer; born Richard Starkey. He replaced Pete Best in the Beatles in 1962. After the band split up in 1970, he pursued a solo career as a musician, singer, and actor.
| 5d | Copyright song entertaining fund-raiser /for/ restaurant (9) |
C[5] (also C. or ©) is the abbreviation for copyright.
An aria[5] is a long accompanied song for a solo voice, typically one in an opera or oratorio.
Fete[5] (also fête) is a British term for a public function, typically held outdoors and organized to raise funds for a charity, including entertainment and the sale of goods and refreshments ⇒
a church fete.
| 6d | Better /from/ United in goalless game? (5) |
Utd[5] is the abbreviation for United (in names of soccer teams).
A "goalless game" is one in which the score is '0-0'.
| 7d | Shuffle along in exposed // Indian city (9) |
Bangalore[5] is the former name (until 2014) for Bengaluru[5], a city in south central India.
| 8d | Radical claims to be in Paris /or/ Tyre (7) |
Rad[5] is an informal term for a political radical*.
* From a British perspective, rad[5] or radical[5] in the sense of excellent or impressive is a North American expression.
The French word meaning 'to be' is être[8].
Tyre[5] is the British spelling of tire (in the sense of an automobile component).
Scratching the Surface
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| In the surface reading, Tyre[5] is a port on the Mediterranean in southern Lebanon. Founded in the 2nd millennium BC as a colony of Sidon, it was for centuries a Phoenician port and trading centre. |
| 14d | Universal god is deceived /in/ sacred Hindu text (9) |
In Greek mythology, Pan[5] is a god of flocks and herds, typically represented with the horns, ears, and legs of a goat on a man's body. His sudden appearance was supposed to cause terror similar to that of a frightened and stampeding herd, and the word panic is derived from his name.
The Upanishads[5] are a series of Hindu sacred treatises written in Sanskrit c.800–200 BC, expounding the Vedas in predominantly mystical and monistic terms.
| 15d | City // scoundrel US lawyer married (9) |
Rotter[5] is a dated informal British term for a cruel, mean, or unkind person ⇒
Rosemary had decided that all men were rotters.
Rotterdam[5] is a city in the Netherlands, at the mouth of the River Meuse, 25 km (15 miles) inland from the North Sea. It is one of the world's largest ports and a major oil refinery, with extensive shipbuilding and petrochemical industries.
| 16d | Abstain when whipped? Party /gives/ punishment! (9) |
"party " = DO
Do[5,12] is an informal British[5] or chiefly British[12] term* for a party or other social event ⇒
* Although one US dictionary (Webster’s New World College Dictionary[12]) supports the contention by Lexico (Oxford Dictionary of English)[5] that this usage is at least chiefly British, two other US dictionaries[3,11] do not.
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Do[5,12] is an informal British[5] or chiefly British[12] term* for a party or other social event ⇒
the soccer club Christmas do.
* Although one US dictionary (Webster’s New World College Dictionary[12]) supports the contention by Lexico (Oxford Dictionary of English)[5] that this usage is at least chiefly British, two other US dictionaries[3,11] do not.
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Bastinado[5] is a form of punishment or torture that involves caning the soles of someone's feet.
| 17d | Bring down // news boss elevated by media (7) |
| 19d | Thrash // tiger disheartened by smaller cat (7) |
Ounce[5] is another term for snow leopard[5], a rare large cat which has pale grey fur patterned with dark blotches and rings, living in the Altai mountains, Hindu Kush, and Himalayas.
| 21d | Trunk route // going north via Longleat Road (5) |
In the definition, trunk[5] is used in the sense of the main part of an artery, nerve, or other anatomical structure from which smaller branches arise.
Scratching the Surface
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| Longleat[7] is a stately home in Wiltshire, England and the seat of the Marquesses of Bath. It is noted for its Elizabethan country house, maze, landscaped parkland and safari park. It was the first stately home to open to the public, and the site of the first safari park outside Africa. * Origin of the name: from "leat", an artificial waterway or channel such as that which supplies a watermill |
| 22d | Posh car // turns over (5) |
Rolls[10] is an informal name for a Rolls-Royce[10], a make of very high-quality, luxurious, and prestigious British* car.
* Although the Rolls-Royce company is no longer British-owned.
| 24d | Get wisdom about current /in/ French river (5) |
The Loire[5] is a river of west central France. France’s longest river, it rises in the Massif Central and flows 1,015 km (630 miles) north and west to the Atlantic at St-Nazaire.
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
Found this quite challenging and needed your explanations as to how some of the answers worked. “Number” always trips me up.
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting. It's always great to get some feedback from readers.
Delete