Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29657 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Friday, April 23, 2021 | |
Setter
NY Doorknob, aka Donnybrook (Paul Bringloe) | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29657]
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Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
Deep Threat | |
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
I believe the most oft-used description of this puzzle in the comments on Big Dave's Crossword Blog is quirky. So, be prepared to do some lateral thinking.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 | Such a fish as sinks beneath the waves? (7) |
Fish[5] is an informal term for a torpedo—a weapon whose purpose is to "sink" (ships) and which operates "beneath the waves".
Post Mortem
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| Before looking at Deep Threat's review, I was rather unconvincingly attempting to explain this clue based on torpedo[5] (also torpedo ray) being another name for an electric ray (literally a fish). |
| 9a | Spies must keep wandering Bloom /in/ country (8) |
| 10a | Trader // being in no hurry to appear in business paper (7) |
The loris[5] is a small, slow-moving nocturnal Asian primate with a short or absent tail, living in dense vegetation—in other words, a "being [creature] in no hurry".
The Financial Times[7] (abbreviation FT) is a British international business newspaper that is printed on conspicuous salmon pink newsprint.
A trader[5] is a person who buys and sells goods, currency, or shares ⇒
Rogue traders who are selling fireworks to kids are likely to find themselves in hot water.
| 11a | Guard // posted home by the Spanish (8) |
"the Spanish " = EL [Spanish definite article]
| 12a | Having daughter in control // an explosive mixture? (6) |
| 13a | Sober // sailors ring us after rough time (10) |
"sailor " = AB [able seaman] thus "sailors" = ABS
In the Royal Navy, according to Lexico (Oxford Dictionary of English), able seaman[5] (abbreviation AB[5]), is a rank of sailor above ordinary seaman and below leading seaman. On the other hand, Collins English Dictionary tells us that an able seaman[10] (also called) is an ordinary seaman, especially one in the merchant navy, who has been trained in certain skills.
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In the Royal Navy, according to Lexico (Oxford Dictionary of English), able seaman[5] (abbreviation AB[5]), is a rank of sailor above ordinary seaman and below leading seaman. On the other hand, Collins English Dictionary tells us that an able seaman[10] (also called) is an ordinary seaman, especially one in the merchant navy, who has been trained in certain skills.
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| 15a | Catty remarks /in/ converted stables? (4) |
Mews[5] is a British term for a row or street of houses or flats [apartments] that have been converted from stables or built to look like former stables.
| 16a | Scrambling device /in/ American helicopter? (3,6) |
From a British perspective, egg beater[5] is an informal North American term for a helicopter.
| 21a | English graduate cross about // test (4) |
| 22a | Horse initially brought to Troy under volatile // monarch (5,5) |
Henry Tudor is a name by which Henry VII[5], the first Tudor king of England, was known. (show more )
Henry VII (1457–1509), son of Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond, reigned 1485–1509. Although the grandson of Owen Tudor, he inherited the Lancastrian claim to the throne through his mother, a great-granddaughter of John of Gaunt. He defeated Richard III at Bosworth Field and eventually established an unchallenged Tudor dynasty.
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Henry VII (1457–1509), son of Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond, reigned 1485–1509. Although the grandson of Owen Tudor, he inherited the Lancastrian claim to the throne through his mother, a great-granddaughter of John of Gaunt. He defeated Richard III at Bosworth Field and eventually established an unchallenged Tudor dynasty.
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Although it goes unmentioned by Lexico, Wikipedia states that his son Henry VIII[7] is also known as Henry Tudor. It is the latter whose likeness graces Deep Threat's review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog.
Scratching the Surface
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| In Greek mythology, the Trojan Horse[5] was a hollow wooden statue of a horse in which the Greeks are said to have concealed themselves in order to enter Troy. |
| 24a | /For/ temple, // travel through flat area (6) |
The setter has chosen to structure the clue in a way which puts the link word "for" at the beginning of the clue. At the expense of the surface reading, the clue could have been written:
- Travel through flat area /for/ temple (6)
Pad[5] is an informal term for a person's home ⇒
the police raided my pad.
In India and East Asia, a pagoda[5] is a Hindu or Buddhist temple, typically in the form of a many-tiered tower.
| 25a | Forebear /needs/ an exotic escort (8) |
| 27a | Prodigy /being/ learner in motorway chase (7) |
"learner " = 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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The M1[7] is a north–south motorway* in England connecting London to Leeds.
* Motorway[2,5] (abbreviation M[5]) is a British, Australian, and New Zealand term for a dual-carriageway road [divided highway] designed for fast-moving traffic, especially one with three lanes per carriageway [direction of travel] and limited access and exit points [controlled access].
Chase[5] is short for steeplechase[5], a horse race run on a racecourse having ditches and hedges as jumps. The modern version of the race evolved from a cross country race in which a steeple marked the finishing point.
Prodigy[5] is used in the sense of an amazing or unusual thing, especially one out of the ordinary course of nature.
| 28a | Beauty // spot in front of city's limits? (3,5) |
| 29a | Fate /in/ Tyneside not completely appalling (7) |
Scratching the Surface
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| Tyneside[5] is an industrial conurbation on the banks of the River Tyne, in northeastern England, stretching from Newcastle upon Tyne to the coast. |
Down
| 2d | One sees // royal couple below using smallest room? (8) |
The members of the "royal couple" are:
- K[5], an abbreviation for king that is used especially in describing play in card games and recording moves in chess; and
- ER[5], the regnal cipher of Queen Elizabeth (from the Latin Elizabetha Regina).
In our opinion, the smallest room can provide you with the greatest interior design challenge.
* Judging by its dictionary appearances, this would appear to be a British expression.
Loo[5] is an informal British term for a toilet [either as a room or a plumbing fixture].
Having parsed the first five letters of the solution as independent words (2,3), I thought of ON meaning "using" in the sense of "on drugs". However, Deep Threat in his review has a more apropos idea (given the clue) and parsed these two words as a phrase meaning "using the facilities" found in the smallest room.
| 3d | Heavenly place // is locked up in March (8) |
| 4d | Getting into beer, one good person // raving (10) |
"good person " = ST [saint]
Aside from being a "good person" in a religious sense, saint[5] is also an informal term for any very virtuous, kind, or patient person ⇒
The abbreviation for Saint is St*[5] ⇒
* The British do not use a period — or, as they would say, full stop — at the end of abbreviations formed from the initial and final letters of a word.
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Aside from being a "good person" in a religious sense, saint[5] is also an informal term for any very virtuous, kind, or patient person ⇒
she's a saint to go on living with that man.
The abbreviation for Saint is St*[5] ⇒
St George.
* The British do not use a period — or, as they would say, full stop — at the end of abbreviations formed from the initial and final letters of a word.
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Don't forget, it is only the US where the name for casked beer is spelled with a mere five letters.
| 5d | Tiresome sort /giving/ wave (4) |
A bore[5] is a steep-fronted wave caused by the meeting of two tides or by the constriction of a tide rushing up a narrow estuary.
| 6d | Seat // German fellow in black mass (6) |
Otto[7] is likely the most common name given to German men in Crosswordland.
| 7d | Musicians playing /in/ Strand (7) |
Scratching the Surface
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| Strand[10] (or the Strand)[10] is a street in west central London, parallel to the Thames, famous for its hotels and theatres. |
| 8d | Round item a stone /in/ coarse aggregate (7) |
The stone[5] (abbreviation st[5]) is a British unit of weight equal to 14 lb (6.35 kg) ⇒
I weighed 10 stone.
Ballast[5] can variously mean:
- heavy material, such as gravel, sand, or iron, placed in the bilge of a ship to ensure its stability;
- gravel or coarse stone used to form the bed of a railway track or the substratum of a road;
- a mixture of coarse and fine aggregate for making concrete.
| 11d | This supports stocking // revolutionary American poet (9) |
Sir Stephen Spender[5] (1909–1995) was an English poet and critic. In his critical work The Destructive Element (1935) Spender defended the importance of political subject matter in literature.
Here and There
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| Before tackling this clue, it is important to understand that, in Britain, suspenders[5] hold up stockings rather than trousers. The accessory that North Americans call suspenders is known in the UK as braces[5].The accessory that North Americans call garters[10] is known in the UK as suspenders. To the Brits, a garter is a band, usually of elastic, worn round the arm or leg to hold up a shirtsleeve, sock, or stocking. Suspenders may attach either to a decorative belt worn around the waist or to a garter worn around the leg (as illustrated below). | |||||
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| 14d | Compete in Lever // business (10) |
Scratching the Surface
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| The surface reading may allude to Lever Brothers[7], a British manufacturing company founded in 1885 that merged with Margarine Unie in 1929 to form Unilever. |
| 17d | Two different pandas -- // one massive star! (3,5) |
The red panda[5] (also called lesser panda or cat-bear) is a raccoon-like mammal with thick reddish-brown fur and a bushy tail, native to high bamboo forests from the Himalayas to southern China.
The panda[5] (also known as giant panda) is a large bearlike mammal with characteristic black and white markings, native to certain mountain forests in China. It feeds almost entirely on bamboo and has become increasingly rare.
A red giant[5] is a very large star of high luminosity and low surface temperature. Red giants are thought to be in a late stage of evolution when no hydrogen remains in the core to fuel nuclear fusion.
| 18d | Chap to kill carrying large // instrument (8) |
"chap " = MAN
Chap[3,4,11] is an informal British[5] or chiefly British[3] term for a man or boy — although a term that is certainly not uncommon in Canada. It is a shortened form of chapman[3,4,11], an archaic term for a trader, especially an itinerant pedlar[a,b].
[a] Pedlar is the modern British spelling of peddler[14] which, in most senses, is considered by the Brits to be a US or old-fashioned British spelling. The exception is in the sense of a dealer in illegal drugs which the Brits spell as drug peddler.
[b] The current meaning of chap[2] dates from the 18th century. In the 16th century, chap meant 'a customer'. The dictionaries do not explain how a shortened form of 'chapman' (pedlar) came to mean 'customer'.
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Chap[3,4,11] is an informal British[5] or chiefly British[3] term for a man or boy — although a term that is certainly not uncommon in Canada. It is a shortened form of chapman[3,4,11], an archaic term for a trader, especially an itinerant pedlar[a,b].
[a] Pedlar is the modern British spelling of peddler[14] which, in most senses, is considered by the Brits to be a US or old-fashioned British spelling. The exception is in the sense of a dealer in illegal drugs which the Brits spell as drug peddler.
[b] The current meaning of chap[2] dates from the 18th century. In the 16th century, chap meant 'a customer'. The dictionaries do not explain how a shortened form of 'chapman' (pedlar) came to mean 'customer'.
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| 19d | Conservative in rage // broke the rules (7) |
"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.
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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.
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| 20d | Source of criticism /for/ rapper (7) |
| 23d | Might one forever be a nodding acquaintance? (3-3) |
A cryptic definition of one for whom no is never the answer.
| 26d | Bits // sourced as appropriate from old VDUs? (4) |
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
Some years ago, on a driving holiday in the Maritimes, we stopped in Truro to see the tidal bore. Perhaps because of the moon or the time of year, it didn't amount to much. A bore in another sense of the word, I suggested, causing eye-rolls all around.
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