Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29623 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Monday, March 15, 2021 | |
Setter
Campbell (Allan Scott) | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29623]
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Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
Falcon | |
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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Notes
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This puzzle appears on the Monday Diversions page in the Saturday, May 22, 2021 edition of the National Post. The National Post has skipped DT 29464 through DT 29622 which were published in The Daily Telegraph from September 9, 2020 through March 13, 2021 respectively. | |
Introduction
Today, the National Post has taken a Great Leap Forward[7] . Emulating Doctor Who[7], it has travelled ahead in time some six months from mid-September 2020 to mid-March 2021, in the process skipping over 159 puzzles.On another note, in case anyone is still interested, I have posted a review of DT 29462, the puzzle that appeared last Thursday in place of the expected (by me) DT 29461.
I have also added the grid and clues to the review of DT 29461 (the puzzle the National Post skipped on Thursday) so that those who would like an extra puzzle to solve this long weekend may do so.
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 | Crazy slanderous remarks about celebrity /in/ plant (4,7) |
Wild mustard is another name for charlock[3,7,11], an annual weed in the mustard family commonly found in grain fields, native to Eurasia and North Africa and naturalized in North America, having clusters of yellow flowers and hairy stems and foliage.
| 9a | Ice, briefly, over Irish // lake (9) |
| 10a | Snare, // one so devilish (5) |
| 11a | Initial letters /from/ a friend, male (7) |
| 12a | Persistently question family /that supplies/ fruit (7) |
| 13a | Time to study factory/'s/ routine (9) |
Read[5] is a British term meaning to study (an academic subject) at a university ⇒ (i)
I’m reading English at Cambridge; (ii)
he went to Manchester to read for a BA in Economics.
| 16a | Fashionable // greeting in Conservative clubs (4) |
"Conservative " = C [member of British political party]
The abbreviation for Conservative may be either C.[10] or Con.[10].
The Conservative Party[5] is a major right of centre British political party promoting free enterprise and private ownership that emerged from the old Tory Party* under Sir Robert Peel in the 1830s and 1840s.
* Historically, a Tory[10] was a member of the English political party that opposed the exclusion of James, Duke of York from the royal succession (1679–80). Tory remained the label for subsequent major conservative interests until they gave birth to the Conservative Party in the 1830s.
hide
The abbreviation for Conservative may be either C.[10] or Con.[10].
The Conservative Party[5] is a major right of centre British political party promoting free enterprise and private ownership that emerged from the old Tory Party* under Sir Robert Peel in the 1830s and 1840s.
* Historically, a Tory[10] was a member of the English political party that opposed the exclusion of James, Duke of York from the royal succession (1679–80). Tory remained the label for subsequent major conservative interests until they gave birth to the Conservative Party in the 1830s.
hide
| 18a | Give up // 'Decline /and/ Fall'? (4) |
Scratching the Surface
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| Decline and Fall[7] is a novel by English author Evelyn Waugh (1903–1966), first published in 1928. It was Waugh's first published novel. The novel's title is a contraction of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, a six-volume work by English historian Edward Gibbon (1737–1794) published between 1776 and 1789. |
| 19a | Top grub, as cooked here? (9) |
Gastropub[5] is a British term for a pub that specializes in serving high-quality food ⇒
we've built our reputation on searching out obscure ethnic restaurants, gastropubs, cutting-edge bars, and superlative food venues.
| 22a | Mythical creature, // fabulous bird, displayed over in a French home (7) |
The roc[5] is a gigantic mythological bird described in the Arabian Nights.
| 23a | Severe blow, // printing error involving house name (7) |
| 25a | Bring in // grand polar explorer (5) |
G as an abbreviation for grand is one North American usage that the Brits would appear to have embraced (show more ).
While the abbreviation G for "grand" is deemed by British dictionaries to be an Americanism, it seems to be one that is well known to Brits — undoubtedly from American gangster films. It is frequently seen in British crossword puzzles and never seems to garner the abuse that usually greets the appearance of American terms.
Grand[5] is an informal term for a thousand dollars or pounds ⇒
G is defined in various British dictionaries as follows:
While the abbreviation G for "grand" is deemed by British dictionaries to be an Americanism, it seems to be one that is well known to Brits — undoubtedly from American gangster films. It is frequently seen in British crossword puzzles and never seems to garner the abuse that usually greets the appearance of American terms.
Grand[5] is an informal term for a thousand dollars or pounds ⇒
he gets thirty-five grand a year. While the term "grand" itself would seem to be commonly used in the UK, the informal abbreviation G[5] meaning grand appears to be regarded as a North American usage ⇒
I was up nine Gs on the blackjack tables.
G is defined in various British dictionaries as follows:
- Oxford Dictionaries: (North American informal) abbreviation for grand, a thousand dollars)[5].
- Chambers 21st Century Dictionary: (North American slang) abbreviation for a grand, 1000 dollars[2].
- Collins English Dictionary: (mainly US slang) a symbol for grand (a thousand dollars or pounds)[4,10].
Sir John Ross[5] (1777–1856) was a British explorer. He led an expedition to Baffin Bay in 1818 and another in search of the North-West Passage between 1829 and 1833.
Sir James Clark Ross[5] (1800–1862) was a British explorer. He discovered the north magnetic pole in 1831, and headed an expedition to the Antarctic from 1839 to 1843, in the course of which he discovered Ross Island, Ross Dependency, and the Ross Sea. He was the nephew of Sir John Ross.
| 26a | On crusade /to get/ pardon (9) |
| 27a | Initially managed well, nursed by friends /in/ US city (4,7) |
Down
| 1d | With complete // authority (7) |
| 2d | Runner-up // in close race? (5) |
| 3d | Chef's mixture, // notice, taken in by soldier aboard ship? (8) |
The Royal Marines[5,10] is a British armed service (part of the Royal Navy) founded in 1664. It is a corps of soldiers specially trained in amphibious warfare.
| 4d | Wife turned up, about to // hit the roof (5) |
| 5d | A storage tower erected to keep produce /in/ citadel (9) |
In general, an acropolis[5] is a citadel or fortified part of an ancient Greek city, typically one built on a hill.
Specifically, the Acropolis[5] is the ancient citadel at Athens, containing the Parthenon and other notable buildings, mostly dating from the 5th century BC.
| 6d | Energetic type // held up by so many duties (6) |
| 7d | Intensive course /in/ hospital in Notts town (8) |
Worksop[7] is a town in Nottinghamshire, England.
| 8d | Fox /coming from/ marshy land with endless boldness (6) |
In general, a fen[5] is a low and marshy or frequently flooded area of land.
Specifically, the Fens[5] is a flat low-lying area of eastern England, mainly in Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, and Norfolk, formerly marshland but largely drained for agriculture since the 17th century.
Neck[10] is an informal [seemingly British] term meaning impudence or audacity ⇒
she had the neck to ask for a rise*.
* for a North American, a raise (in pay)
The fennec[5] (also fennec fox) is a small pale fox with large pointed ears, native to the deserts of North Africa and Arabia.
| 14d | Feeling upon receiving Charlie/'s/ messaging symbol (8) |
| 15d | Usually // popular army officer (2,7) |
| 17d | One making toast, // professional model (8) |
| 18d | Menial servant // died -- Dickens character (6) |
Barnaby Rudge[7] is the title character of the 1841 historical novel Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of Eighty (commonly known as Barnaby Rudge) by British novelist Charles Dickens (1812–1870).
| 20d | Two articles supporting bishop? Like // crazy (7) |
| 21d | Talk idly /having/ small drink after work (6) |
| 23d | Prison sentence beginning to skate // by (5) |
| 24d | Nothing new working under single // bulb (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
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