Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29462 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Monday, September 7, 2020 | |
Setter
Campbell (Allan Scott) | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29462]
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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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Notes
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The National Post has skipped DT 29461 which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, September 5, 2020.
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Introduction
Here, in case anyone is interested, is the review of DT 29461—a day late I am afraid.On Thursday, the National Post skipped DT 29461 for which my review had been written and scheduled for posting. I usually check prior to the scheduled posting time to verify that the expected puzzle has, in fact, been published. However, Thursday was one of those rare occasions that I neglected to do so. As I was occupied with other matters all day, I didn't realize that the puzzle I had reviewed was not the puzzle that was published until late in the day.
I have also added the grid and clues to the review of DT 29461 so that those who would like an extra puzzle to solve 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 | Needle match /shown in/ pub, against City? (5,5) |
Local[5] is an informal British term for a pub convenient to a person’s home ⇒
had a pint in the local.
Derby[5] is a city in the Midlands of England, on the River Derwent.
Needle match[10] is an informal British term for a bitterly fought contest between two competitors or teams who bear each other a grudge ⇒
As with all needle matches, the nastiest play came in the closing minutes.
Derby[2] (also local derby) is a British term for a race or a sports event or contest, especially a contest between teams from the same area.
I don't see why a local derby necessarily has to be a needle match—perhaps because these teams meet frequently in competition, thereby developing a degree of animosity (like match-ups in the Stanley Cup Playoffs).
Scratching the Surface
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| Manchester City Football Club[7] (often referred to simply as City) is an English professional football [soccer] club, based in Manchester, England, that plays in the Premier League (the top level in the English football league system). |
| 6a | Returning at eleven /in/ cab (4) |
| 10a | Play /in/ short trousers (5) |
| 11a | Hector heard entering English hospital department // full of enthusiasm (9) |
"hospital department " = ENT
| 12a | Wealthiest heading off, // one refusing to face unpleasant facts (7) |
An ostrich[5] is a person who refuses to face reality or accept facts [in allusion to the erroneous belief that ostriches bury their heads in the sand].
Myth Busted
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| From Animal Myths Busted on the National Geographic Kids website: MYTH: Ostriches bury their heads in the sand when they're scared or threatened. HOW IT STARTED: It's an optical illusion! Ostriches are the largest living birds, but their heads are pretty small. "If you see them picking at the ground from a distance, it may look like their heads are buried in the ground," says Glinda Cunningham of the American Ostrich Association. WHY IT'S NOT TRUE: Ostriches don't bury their heads in the sand—they wouldn't be able to breathe! But they do dig holes in the dirt to use as nests for their eggs. Several times a day, a bird puts her head in the hole and turns the eggs. So it really does look like the birds are burying their heads in the sand! |
| 13a | Lecture room: // initially adjust temperature in there (7) |
| 14a | Unusual 'Toughie' word describing unknown // folk singer (5,7) |
The word ''describing" is used as a containment indicator. (show more )
The use of the word "describe(s)" (or variations thereof such as "describing" or "described by") as either a containment indicator or a hidden word indicator is a common cryptic crossword device which relies on describe[1,2,12] being used in the sense of to trace out or delineate ⇒
* Although, to be precise, it is the tracks left by the skaters' blades that describe the circles.
hide
The use of the word "describe(s)" (or variations thereof such as "describing" or "described by") as either a containment indicator or a hidden word indicator is a common cryptic crossword device which relies on describe[1,2,12] being used in the sense of to trace out or delineate ⇒
skaters describing circles on the ice*.
* Although, to be precise, it is the tracks left by the skaters' blades that describe the circles.
hide
"unknown " = Y [algebraic notation]
In mathematics (algebra, in particular), an unknown[10] is a variable, or the quantity it represents, the value of which is to be discovered by solving an equation ⇒
In mathematical formulae, unknowns are typically represented symbolically by the letters x, y and z.
hide
In mathematics (algebra, in particular), an unknown[10] is a variable, or the quantity it represents, the value of which is to be discovered by solving an equation ⇒
3y = 4x + 5 is an equation in two unknowns.
In mathematical formulae, unknowns are typically represented symbolically by the letters x, y and z.
hide
Woody Guthrie[7] (1912–1967) was an American singer-songwriter, and one of the most significant figures in early American folk music whose most famous work is the folk song "This Land Is Your Land".
Scratching the Surface
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The Toughie is a cryptic crossword which is published in The Daily Telegraph
on Tuesday through Friday. It gets its name from the fact that it is
intended to be a more difficult puzzle than the regular Cryptic
Crossword which appears in The Daily Telegraph from Monday through Saturday—the latter puzzle being the one the National Post carries in syndication. Screenshot of the Telegraph Puzzles website
showing the puzzles available |
| 18a | Child prodigy? /It's/ hardly surprising (6,6) |
The first part of the clue is a whimsical interpretation of the solution.
| 21a | Daughter to take part in ramble -- father reviewed // plan (4,3) |
| 23a | Available // for one worried about onset of flu (2,5) |
On offer[5,14] is a [likely British] term meaning available (to be used or bought).
| 24a | Medium blocking conscious // feeling (9) |
| 25a | Out of place // at home, a pint (5) |
| 26a | Man-eating monster in fairy tale // therefore repelled (4) |
In folklore, an ogre[5] is a man-eating giant.
| 27a | Anger badly managed, // on the whole (2,3,5) |
Down
| 1d | Not as busy /in/ practice (6) |
| 2d | Modest // order cut by husband (6) |
A caste[5] is each of the hereditary classes of Hindu society, distinguished by relative degrees of ritual purity or pollution and of social status.
| 3d | You have no choice, // I put to killer I'm to reform (4,2,2,4,2) |
| 4d | Watch programme that includes ad /for/ make-up item (9) |
| 5d | Outspoken, // a Parisian tucking into sandwich? (5) |
"a Parisian " = UN
The Story Behind the Picture
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| Anthony Blunt[7] (1907–1983) was a leading British art historian who in 1964, after being offered immunity from prosecution, confessed to having been a spy for the Soviet Union from some time in the 1930s to at least the early 1950s. |
| 7d | Mouth /of/ a brisk Yorkshire river (8) |
The River Ure[7] is a stream in North Yorkshire, England, approximately 74 miles (119 km) long from its source to the point where it changes name to the River Ouse.
What did he say?
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In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, pommers explains that we need a... however, in reality, the two are just different ends of the same river,Yorkshire river, not the Ouse but the other one .... |
| 8d | Owing money // their end, abroad (2,3,3) |
| 9d | Monument /in/ marble male trio sculpted (6,8) |
The Albert Memorial[7], directly north of the Royal Albert Hall in Kensington Gardens, London, was commissioned by Queen Victoria in memory of her beloved husband Prince Albert, who died in 1861.
| 15d | Explosive // piece about too much working (9) |
From a British perspective, piece[5] is an informal North American term for a firearm.
Guncotton[1] is an explosive prepared by saturating cotton with nitric and sulphuric acids.
| 16d | A student painting // outdoors (8) |
"student " = L [driver under instruction]
The cryptic crossword convention of L meaning learner or student arises from the L-plate[7], a square plate bearing a sans-serif letter L, for learner, which must be affixed to the front and back of a vehicle in various jurisdictions (including the UK) if its driver is a learner under instruction.
hide
The cryptic crossword convention of L meaning learner or student arises from the L-plate[7], a square plate bearing a sans-serif letter L, for learner, which must be affixed to the front and back of a vehicle in various jurisdictions (including the UK) if its driver is a learner under instruction.
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| Automobile displaying an L-plate |
hide
| 17d | Riddle /of/ diamonds finally found on coach (8) |
A riddle[5] is a large coarse sieve, especially one used for separating ashes from cinders or sand from gravel.
| 19d | Incident /in/ a fine bazaar (6) |
| 20d | Feel acute embarrassment /having/ legal document served on ambassador (6) |
HE[2] is the abbreviation for His or Her Excellency*.
* Excellency[2] (usually His, Her or Your Excellency or Your or Their Excellencies) a title of honour given to certain people of high rank, e.g. ambassadors.
Writhe[10] is used in the sense of to suffer acutely from embarrassment, revulsion, etc.
| 22d | Sad thing about ending of one // religious devotion (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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