Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29625 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Wednesday, March 17, 2021 | |
Setter
Jay (Jeremy Mutch) | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29625]
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Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
2Kiwis | |
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 xx, 2021 edition of the National Post. | |
Introduction
In Comment #12 on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, LabradorsruleOK sums up this puzzle with the statement "The only thing boring about Wednesday are our comments" alluding to the virtually unanimous praise heaped on Jay puzzles for their consistently high quality and enjoyment level.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 | Raised support, // quietly elated about recruiting son (8) |
| 5a | Black, and almost identical // stuff that's thrown out (6) |
| 9a | Regular church people first to trace // old paper (9) |
| 11a | Drive and energy -- // oddly very low in reverse (5) |
| 12a | Long for // free rides across Spain (6) |
| 13a | Fuss /created/ by welcoming everybody who should be heard (8) |
This clue would work better for me were it to be worded:
- By welcoming everybody who should be heard, creating fuss (8)
| 15a | Person looking /for/ opportunities with skipper? (6-7) |
| 18a | Is he bred for transport by more remote // group at sea? (5,8) |
The Hebrides[5] is a group of about 500 islands off the north-western coast of Scotland. The Inner Hebrides include the islands of Skye, Mull, Jura, Islay, Iona, Coll, Eigg, Rhum, Staffa, and Tiree. The Little Minch separates this group from the Outer Hebrides, which include the islands of Lewis and Harris, North and South Uist, Benbecula, Barra, and the isolated St Kilda group.
| 22a | Wave /from/ student about teatime approximately? Quite the reverse (8) |
The phrase "quite the reverse" tells the solver to reverse the logic or meaning of the statement immediately preceding it. Doing so leads one to reinterpret the wordplay as "teatime approximately about student".
"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.
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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 |
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Here "tea" refers to afternoon tea[2,5,7,10] (or low tea), a light afternoon meal, typically eaten between 3:30 pm and 5:00 pm, at which tea, sandwiches, biscuits [British term for cookies or crackers] and cakes are served rather than high tea[7], a more substantial evening meal typically eaten between 5:00 pm and 7:00 pm.
| 23a | Book bingo /getting/ drunk (6) |
"book " = B
The abbreviation for book is b[1] (or b.[1]) or B[12].*
* Although neither of the two dictionaries in which a listing for this abbreviation is found provide information on the context in which it is used, I would guess that it might be in publishing, in particular in bibliographies or footnotes and endnotes in academic works when referencing one or more books in a series of books ⇒
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The abbreviation for book is b[1] (or b.[1]) or B[12].*
* Although neither of the two dictionaries in which a listing for this abbreviation is found provide information on the context in which it is used, I would guess that it might be in publishing, in particular in bibliographies or footnotes and endnotes in academic works when referencing one or more books in a series of books ⇒
see b. 3, p. 233.
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Depending on the dictionary, lotto (in addition to being another term for lottery) is either the former name for[1,2] or a game similar to[3,4,5,10,11,12] bingo.
| 26a | European low-fat // cream (5) |
"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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| 27a | Offensive // old boy confronting Number Ten with evidence of debts (9) |
"old boy " = OB
In Britain, an old boy[5] (abbreviation OB[2]) is:
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In Britain, an old boy[5] (abbreviation OB[2]) is:
- a former male student of a school or college ⇒
an old boy of Banbury County School
- a former male member of a sports team or company ⇒
the White Hart Lane old boy squared the ball to present an easy chance from 12 yards
‘Look here, old boy,’ he said.
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Scratching the Surface
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| 10 Downing Street[7], colloquially known in the United Kingdom as Number 10, is the headquarters of Her Majesty's Government and the official residence and office of the First Lord of the Treasury, a post which, for much of the 18th and 19th centuries and invariably since 1905, has been held by the Prime Minister. |
| 28a | Daughter needs a face-covering // material (6) |
Damask[5] is a rich, heavy silk or linen fabric with a pattern woven into it, used for table linen and upholstery.
| 29a | Detective seen in erotic // number (8) |
"detective " = DI [detective inspector]
A detective inspector (abbrevation DI[5]) is a senior police officer in the UK. Within the British police, inspector[7] is the second supervisory rank. It is senior to that of sergeant, but junior to that of chief inspector. Plain-clothes detective inspectors are equal in rank to their uniformed counterparts, the prefix 'detective' identifying them as having been trained in criminal investigation and being part of or attached to their force's Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
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A detective inspector (abbrevation DI[5]) is a senior police officer in the UK. Within the British police, inspector[7] is the second supervisory rank. It is senior to that of sergeant, but junior to that of chief inspector. Plain-clothes detective inspectors are equal in rank to their uniformed counterparts, the prefix 'detective' identifying them as having been trained in criminal investigation and being part of or attached to their force's Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
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Cardinal[2,3,4,10,11] is another term for cardinal number.
Down
| 1d | Keep quiet, // depressed after tweet (4,4) |
| 2d | Skill required in case of demands /for/ game in pub (5) |
| 3d | Score badly covering hard and unknown // piece of music (7) |
"unknown " = { X | Y | Z } [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.
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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.
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Scherzo[5] (noun) denotes a vigorous, light, or playful musical composition, typically comprising a movement in a symphony or sonata.
| 4d | Liverpool music venue lacking boundaries, // say (4) |
The Cavern Club[7] is a nightclub in Liverpool, England that was a centre of the rock and roll scene in Liverpool in the 1960s, famous as a venue where The Beatles played in their early years.
| 6d | Even off, cut /and wrap/ (7) |
| 7d | False modesty mainly protects her, /being/ stifled (9) |
| 8d | Wealth /of/ men heartlessly collecting shells (6) |
Mammon[5] is wealth regarded as an evil influence or false object of worship and devotion.
| 10d | Duck across wet ground keeping nothing /for/ drier (3,5) |
The teal[5] is a small freshwater duck, typically with a greenish band on the wing that is most prominent in flight.
As an anagram indicator, ground is used as the past tense or past participle of the verb grind[5]. An anagram indicator is typically a word that denotes movement or transformation. Grind denotes transformation, for example, in the sense of grain being ground into flour.
| 14d | English journalists going in like this // coffee (8) |
So[2] means in that [or this] state or condition [i.e., ‛like that’ or ‛like this’] ⇒ (i)
promised to be faithful, and has remained so; (ii)
She told him ‛I am single, and I plan to remain so.’.
| 16d | Some long, for a change, to adopt international // coinage (9) |
| 17d | Suspect Poles will accept America /getting/ support (8) |
| 19d | Sailor fetches butts? (7) |
| 20d | Gave an account of losing time for kiss, /being/ laid-back (7) |
| 21d | High purpose // hurt feelings (6) |
High[5] is used in the sense (said especially of food) of being unpleasantly strong-smelling because beginning to go bad ⇒
it's a type of preserved butter, used for cooking, smells a little high.
Off[10] (said of food or drink) means having gone bad, sour, etc ⇒
this milk is off.
| 24d | Source of tinny hooter /that's/ a cause of irritation (5) |
Hooter[5] is a British term for:
- a siren or steam whistle, especially one used as a signal for work to begin or finish
- the horn of a motor vehicle
| 25d | People who lived // in sin casually (4) |
The Inca[2] were an indigenous South American people living in Peru before the Spanish conquest in the 16th century, who had a complex civilization and empire.
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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