Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29438 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Monday, August 10, 2020 | |
Setter
Campbell (Allan Scott) | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29438]
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Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
pommers | |
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
In today's puzzle, I learned a new card game — new to me, but apparently it may date back to the middle of the 18th century or before. The game turns out not to be nearly as much fun as I first imagined; by the end of the game, I had envisioned being in my 17d suit.On another point, I would find it very interesting to have an opinion from an authority on hereditary titled British orders as to the accuracy of 4d.
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 | Cheese // bun deli has made up (6,4) |
Danish blue[5] is a soft, salty, strongly flavoured white cheese with blue veins.
| 6a | Shower // coat (4) |
| 10a | Speak of // hesitation by official in game (5) |
| 11a | Rogue // in favour of splitting money returned (9) |
| 12a | Climbing aid /in/ hamper by leg (7) |
"leg " = ON [cricket term]
In cricket, the leg[5] (also called leg side) is another name for the on[5] (also known as on side), the half of the field (as divided lengthways through the pitch) away from which the batsman’s feet are pointed when standing to receive the ball ⇒
The other half of the field is known as the off[5] (also called off side).
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In cricket, the leg[5] (also called leg side) is another name for the on[5] (also known as on side), the half of the field (as divided lengthways through the pitch) away from which the batsman’s feet are pointed when standing to receive the ball ⇒
he played a lucky stroke to leg.
The other half of the field is known as the off[5] (also called off side).
hide
| 13a | Grow profusely /in/ enclosure -- impressively large display (3,4) |
This was my last one in. The wordplay involves two terms that I know well but were slow to come to mind.
A run[5] is an enclosed area in which domestic animals or birds may run freely in the open.
A riot[5] is an impressively large or varied display of something ⇒
the garden was a riot of colour.
I also discovered that the definition, though well-known to me, is absent from most of my regularly consulted US dictionaries*, at least in the sense in which it is used here.
* with the exception of Webster's New World College Dictionary[12]
Run riot[10] (said of plants) means to to grow rankly or profusely.
| 14a | Awfully frail, he hates // some of those practising alternative medicine (5,7) |
| 18a | Psychiatrist/'s/ ploy with pushbike rider (5,7) |
Pushbike[5] is an informal British term for a bicycle.
Trick cyclist[1,2,4,5,10,12] is a British* term that can mean either:
- an acrobat who performs stunts on a bicycle or monocycle (unicycle), e.g. in a circus
- (colloquial, humorous) a psychiatrist (a deliberate malapropism)
* several dictionaries explicitly state that the second sense is British; I infer that the first sense may also be British due to its non-appearance in US dictionaries.
| 21a | Very foolish person, // the head, facing trial (7) |
Nut[3,4] is slang for the human head.
| 23a | State // papers collected by Ms Poste, say (7) |
Flora Poste[7] is the heroine of the 1932 comic novel Cold Comfort Farm[7] by English author Stella Gibbons (1902–1989).
| 24a | Gundog // inflamed compiler (3,6) |
Red setter[5] is a less formal name for Irish setter[5], a dog of a breed of setter with a long, silky dark red coat and a long feathered tail.
| 25a | Feature /of/ bird stuffed by artist (5) |
The tits, chickadees, and titmice[7] constitute the Paridae, a large family of small passerine birds which occur in the northern hemisphere and Africa. These birds are called either "chickadees" or "titmice" in North America, and just "tits" in the rest of the English-speaking world.
| 26a | Toy // taken from Tokyo youngster (2-2) |
| 27a | Tearful, // Charles, upset about my rejected love (10) |
"love " = O [nil score in tennis]
In tennis, squash, and some other sports, love[5] is a score of zero or nil ⇒
Although folk etymology has connected the word with French l'oeuf 'egg', from the resemblance in shape between an egg and a zero, the term apparently comes from the phrase play for love (i.e. the love of the game, not for money).
hide
In tennis, squash, and some other sports, love[5] is a score of zero or nil ⇒
love fifteen. The resemblance of a zero written as a numeral (0) to the letter O leads to the cryptic crossword convention of the word "love" being used to clue this letter.
Although folk etymology has connected the word with French l'oeuf 'egg', from the resemblance in shape between an egg and a zero, the term apparently comes from the phrase play for love (i.e. the love of the game, not for money).
hide
Down
| 1d | Outspoken, // shocking court (6) |
| 2d | Certainly not // included in population of Earth (2,4) |
No fear[5] is an informal British term used as an emphatic expression of denial or refusal ⇒
‘Are you coming with me?’ ‘No fear—it's too exciting here!’.
| 3d | Narrow piece sailor uncovered /in/ game (5,4,5) |
Strip Jack naked[7] is a simple card game* somewhat similar in nature to the children's card game War.
* also known as Beggar-my-neighbour, Beat your neighbour out of doors, or Beat Jack out of doors
And no, in case you were wondering, it is not a British variant of strip poker.
| 4d | A peer may have one, // high tea with Corbyn (9) |
As an anagram indicator, high[2] is used in the sense of under the influence of drugs or alcohol alluding to the fact that such a state is characterized by being confused and mixed-up.
Peer or Not?
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| Baronetcy[2] is the rank or title of a baronet[5], a member of the lowest hereditary titled British order, with the status of a commoner but able to use the prefix ‘Sir’. The nobility in Britain or Ireland (whose members are known as peers[5]) comprises the ranks of duke, marquess, earl, viscount, and baron. From these definitions, it seems abundantly clear that a baronet is a commoner not a peer. Yet there is no mention on Big Dave's Crossword Blog regarding this apparent error. I would certainly expect the Brits to know their peers from their commoners far better than I, so I do have to wonder what have I not understood? |
Scratching the Surface
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| Jeremy Corbyn[7] is a British politician who served as Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition from 2015 to 2020. Corbyn announced his intention to step down as Leader following Labour's disastrous showing in the 2019 British general election and was replaced in a leadership election in April 2020 (about four months before the appearance of this puzzle in the UK). |
| 5d | Superior // meal, no seconds required (5) |
| 7d | Former pit worker holding a // marker (8) |
| 8d | Paper /in/ stand is European (8) |
"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.
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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.
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| 9d | Juliet has long rambles with notable // novelist (4,10) |
† the official NATO spelling is Juliett[7] (to facilitate use by speakers of languages other than English), an inconvenient fact that setters choose to ignore
John Galsworthy[5] (1867–1933) was an English novelist and playwright. He is remembered chiefly for The Forsyte Saga (1906–28), a series of novels which was adapted for television in 1967. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1932.
| 15d | Speak at length // from keep on Scottish river (4,5) |
The Forth[5] is a river of central Scotland, rising on Ben Lomond and flowing eastwards through Stirling into the North Sea.
Scratching the Surface
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| A keep[5] is the strongest or central tower of a castle, acting as a final refuge. |
| 16d | Mean to imbibe half of raki /and/ fish (8) |
Scratching the Surface
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| Raki[5] is a strong alcoholic spirit made in eastern Europe or the Middle East. |
| 17d | Time for a celebration // by a third at sea? (8) |
| 19d | House housing a // fierce woman (6) |
In astrology, a house[10] is any any of the 12 divisions of the zodiac.
In astrology, Virgo[10] (also called the Virgin) is the sixth sign of the zodiac, symbol ♍, having a mutable earth classification and ruled by the planet Mercury. The sun is in this sign between about Aug 23 and Sept 22.
A virago[5] is a domineering, violent, or bad-tempered woman.
| 20d | Large building // left in order (6) |
| 22d | Run // further (5) |
In cricket, an extra[5] is a run scored other than from a hit with the bat, credited (in most cases) to the batting side rather than to a batsman. The types of extra[7] are no ball, wide, bye, leg-bye, and penalty runs.
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 one took me into three star time and needed on-line help for the card game. And, as always, had to guess the cricket answer. Apparently, Brits know all these arcane terms, but many never heard of John Galsworthy. Go figure.
ReplyDeleteThis went very quickly for me until I came to a halt with the last few. I had never heard of the card game and even though I had all the checking letters I needed help to solve it. 8D also eluded me and I couldn’t parse either 13A or 23A. Overall **/*** for me
ReplyDelete