Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29640 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Saturday, April 3, 2021 | |
Setter
chalicea (Shirley Curran) | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29640 – Hints]Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29640 – Review] | |
Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
Tilsit (Hints)crypticsue (Review) | |
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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As this was a Saturday "Prize Puzzle" in Britain, there are two entries related to it on Big Dave's Crossword Blog — the first, posted on the date of publication, contains hints for selected clues while the second is a full review issued following the entry deadline for the contest. The vast majority of reader comments will generally be found attached to the "hints" posting with a minimal number — if any — accompanying the full review.
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Introduction
While I am quite sure this is far from the first puzzle we have seen from this setter, I do believe it is the first time that I have seen her identified on Big Dave's Crossword Blog as the setter of a puzzle. chalicea is a pseudonym of Shirley Curran. You can find out more about her in the following article: Meet the Setter – Chalicea.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 | Close entertaining lawsuit // wrapped up (7) |
| 5a | Commanded // European to wear gold, diamonds and crimson? (7) |
Note: In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Tilsit surely intended to write
Around the abbreviation for European goes ....
"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.
hide
| 9a | Replying to // a call containing bad news (9) |
Here and There
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Ring[5] is an informal — more or less British (show more ) — term for:
In North America, the word would seem to be more accepted as a noun ( I'll give you a ring) than as a verb ( I'll ring you). According to various dictionaries, the word ring used in this sense is:
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| 10a | Outlaw eating commanding officer/'s/ food (5) |
CO[5] is the abbreviation for Commanding Officer.
| 11a | Experience // defeat, as team hides (5) |
| 12a | Garden /with/ lights on head? (9) |
| 13a | Company with million quid /making/ chemicals (9) |
Quid[5] (plural quid) is an informal British term for one pound sterling ⇒
we paid him four hundred quid.
| 16a | Cold periods /in/ prisons (5) |
| 17a | Pens, we're told, // ceremonial forms (5) |
| 18a | What superhero might have on the outside? (9) |
| 20a | Puts on coat perhaps /and/ disappears crossing river (9) |
| 23a | Carefully move front of loose // supporting framework (5) |
| 25a | Tolerate // some of India's tandooris (5) |
Note: While unlikely to cause confusion, there is a minor typo in the solution given by crypticsue in her review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog.
Scratching the Surface
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| A tandoori[5] is a restaurant serving food cooked in a tandoor*. |
| 26a | Refurbished library accepts computers etc // with bad temper (9) |
IT[5] is the abbreviation for information technology.
| 27a | Some admitting blame /for/ treatment (7) |
| 28a | Setter maybe returning with post /is/ a stroke of luck (7) |
Down
| 1d | Feature of laciest pants? (7) |
The entire clue is the definition in which the wordplay is embedded.
As an anagram indicator, pants[5] is used in an informal British sense meaning rubbish or nonsense ⇒
I thought I'd give it a go. Unfortunately, I'd not looked at the reviews..........boy, do I wish I had! It's pants. It really is a poor program.
| 2d | Expenses /of/ Greek island trips on vacation (5) |
Cos is an alternative spelling of Kos[5], a Greek island in the southeastern Aegean, one of the Dodecanese group.
The phrase "on vacation" is an indication to remove the contents (interior letters) from the word "T(rip)S". Vacation[10] is used in the sense of the act of departing from or abandoning property, etc. Thus the setter would seem to be suggesting that the interior letters pack up and leave.
| 3d | Lacking wings, asked all vets for any small // bones (9) |
Note: In her review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, crypticsue has neglected to include the final letter of the solution.
| 4d | Training // medic badly (5) |
| 5d | Arranged // grandiose changes (9) |
| 6d | Society girls getting to grips with tango? /They're/ liabilities! (5) |
| 7d | Shape // reportedly ruined view (9) |
| 8d | Ultimately uncontrolled rage over son/'s/ threats (7) |
| 14d | Worried actor taken in by fashion /for/ fleet of cars (9) |
| 15d | Mischievously /and/ proudly dropping husband after first bit of nookie (9) |
| 16d | Put right, I might stand thus? (9) |
I think the entire clue is a cryptic definition in which a precise definition is embedded.
| 17d | Cleric with kinship to regularly // call again (7) |
| 19d | Journalist supporting race // broadcast (7) |
| 21d | Home help upset // country (5) |
Scratching the Surface
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| Home help[5] is a British term for a person employed, especially by a local authority*, to help in another's home. * Local authority[5] is a British term for an administrative body in local government ⇒ (i) you will need planning permission from your local authority; (ii) local authority housing. |
| 22d | Shoot // southern puritan (5) |
| 24d | Blade, // black, changing hands (5) |
Sable[5] is a literary or heraldic term for black.
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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