Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29653 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Monday, April 19, 2021 | |
Setter
Campbell (Allan Scott) | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29653]
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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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This puzzle appears on the Monday Diversions page in the Saturday, July 3, 2021 edition of the National Post. | |
Introduction
This is the week that comes around every so often when the "Monday" puzzle actually appears in the National Post on a Monday.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 | Wood // sounds good to me (4) |
| 3a | The old lady mugs up on remarkable // person's greatest work (6,4) |
A magnum opus[5] (Latin 'great work') is a work of art, music, or literature that is regarded as the most important or best work that an artist, composer, or writer has produced.
| 9a | Former PM heading off /for/ retreat (4) |
Tony Blair[5] is British Labour statesman and former British Prime Minister
(1997–2007). (show more )
He was elected leader of the Labour Party in 1994. His landslide victory in the election of 1997 gave his party its biggest-ever majority and made him the youngest Prime Minister since Lord Liverpool in 1812.
hide
He was elected leader of the Labour Party in 1994. His landslide victory in the election of 1997 gave his party its biggest-ever majority and made him the youngest Prime Minister since Lord Liverpool in 1812.
hide
| 10a | Crossing // ford, big toe gets broken (10) |
| 11a | Blunder involving Irish // beast (7) |
| 13a | Preposterous yarn inspired by red // fox (7) |
Reynard[5,10] is a literary name for a fox, used in medieval tales, fables, etc.
| 14a | What can be won at rugby? // Nonsense written about Lomu's first cap (6,5) |
Tripe[5] is an informal term* meaning nonsense or rubbish ⇒
you do talk tripe sometimes.
* "Formally", tripe is the first or second stomach of a cow or other ruminant used as food.
In rugby union, the Triple Crown[7] is an honour contested annually by the "Home Nations" – i.e. England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales who compete within the larger Six Nations Championship. If any one of these teams defeats all three other teams, they win the Triple Crown.
The Six Nations Championship also includes France and Italy, but their involvement in the tournament has no influence on the result of the Triple Crown, although it means that the winners of the Triple Crown are not necessarily the winners of the Championship as a whole.
Scratching the Surface
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| Jonah Tali Lomu[5] (1975–2015) was a New Zealand rugby player. He became the youngest Test* player for the All Blacks when he joined the team in 1994. * Test[5] (short for Test match[5]) denotes an international cricket or rugby match, typically one of a series, played between teams representing two different countries ⇒ the Test match between Pakistan and the West Indies. Cap[5] is a British term for:
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| 18a | Outfit for a woman? // Sure, tourist abroad (7,4) |
Trouser suit is the British term for pantsuit[5].
| 21a | Port // auction: no bottles right? (7) |
Salerno[5] is a Mediterranean port on the west coast of Italy, on the Gulf of Salerno south-east of Naples.
| 22a | Taking the most pessimistic view, // a team's leader before defeat (2,5) |
Worst[5] is used as a verb meaning to get the better of or defeat* ⇒
this was not the time for a deep discussion—she was tired and she would be worsted.
* Ironically, in this sense worst is a synonym of best[5] which, as a verb, means to outwit or get the better of (someone) ⇒
she refused to allow herself to be bested.
| 23a | Fan // in seat, wriggling about so (10) |
| 24a | Hope // portion of stew is hot (4) |
| 25a | Mean person /in/ nick, fenced-in area, extremely nasty (10) |
Nick[5] is an informal British term meaning to steal ⇒
he'd had his car nicked by joyriders.
| 26a | South, down /in/ card game (4) |
Down[10] is used in the sense of any growth or coating of soft fine hair, such as that on the human face.
Nap[5] is the raised hairs or threads on the surface of fabric or suede leather, in terms of the direction in which they naturally lie.
Snap[5] is a British* card game in which cards from two piles are turned over simultaneously and players call ‘snap’ as quickly as possible when two similar cards are exposed.
* I believe this game is also commonly played in Canada.
Down
| 1d | Emissary /from/ East, on stage during meeting (8) |
| 2d | Pollutant /from/ a sewer enveloping capital of Caribbean island (4,4) |
| 4d | By oneself /in/ plant around noon (5) |
| 5d | No nonsense shown over one old American // film (9) |
"old " = O [linguistics]
In linguistics, O[12] is the abbreviation for Old ⇒ (i)
However, a second entry from this same source shows o (lower case) meaning old (not capitalized) suggesting that the use of this abbreviation may not necessarily be confined to the field of linguistics.
Another possibility arises from the British abbreviation OAP[5] standing for old-age pensioner.
hide
In linguistics, O[12] is the abbreviation for Old ⇒ (i)
OFr[Old French]; (ii)
OE[Old English].
However, a second entry from this same source shows o (lower case) meaning old (not capitalized) suggesting that the use of this abbreviation may not necessarily be confined to the field of linguistics.
Another possibility arises from the British abbreviation OAP[5] standing for old-age pensioner.
hide
Notorious[7] is a 1946 American spy thriller film directed and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman and Claude Rains as three people whose lives become intimately entangled during an espionage operation.
| 6d | Slightly drunk warden, silly // clown (5-6) |
Merry[5,10] is an informal British term meaning slightly and good-humouredly drunk ⇒
after the third beer he began to feel quite merry*.
* In Canada, someone in this state would likely be described as
feeling happy.
Merry andrew[5] is a person who entertains others by means of comic antics; a clown ⇒
This is similar to the definition of a ‘Jester’ who is also known as a ‘buffoon, or a merry andrew.’
| 7d | Hawker, // one using a bike, we hear (6) |
| 8d | Consistent // stable (6) |
| 12d | Fine everyone over // collapse (4,7) |
What did he say?
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In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, pommers describes "through" asBritish dictionaries do show through[2] (preposition) as a North American term in the sense of up to and including ⇒an American term meaning over or finished. Tuesday through Thursday. However, I wouldn't think that is quite the sense in which it is being used here. Rather, I suggest that through[2] might be used in the sense 'from the beginning to the end (of something)' which is not characterized by British dictionaries as an Americanism ⇒ read this through and sign at the bottom. |
| 15d | Reptile, // ice-cold or otherwise? (9) |
| 16d | Newspaper // piece about support artist raised (8) |
From a British perspective, piece[5] is an informal North American term for a firearm.
"artist " = RA [Royal Academician | Royal Academy]
The Guardian[7] is a British national daily newspaper, known until 1959 as the Manchester Guardian. Along with its sister papers The Observer and The Guardian Weekly, The Guardian is part of the Guardian Media Group.
| 17d | Falsely incriminate // diminutive figure during drink (6,2) |
Titch[5] (also tich) is an informal British term for a small person ⇒
the titch of the class.
"drink " = SUP
As a verb, sup[5] is a dated or Northern English term meaning to take (drink or liquid food) by sips or spoonfuls ⇒ (i)
As a noun, sup[5] means
As a verb, sup[5] is a dated or Northern English term meaning to take (drink or liquid food) by sips or spoonfuls ⇒ (i)
she supped up her soup delightedly; (ii)
he was supping straight from the bottle.
As a noun, sup[5] means
- a sip of liquid ⇒
he took another sup of wine
- (in Northern England or Ireland) an alcoholic drink ⇒
the latest sup from those blokes at the brewery
Stitch up[10] is British slang meaning to incriminate (someone) on a false charge by manufacturing evidence.
| 19d | Pleased, mostly, breaking // out (6) |
| 20d | Author, // British, tense visiting French city (6) |
Lyon[10] (anglicized as Lyons) is a city in southeastern central France, capital of Rhône department, at the confluence of the Rivers Rhône and Saône. The third largest city in France, it is a major industrial centre and river port.
Enid Blyton[5] (1897–1968) was an English writer of children’s fiction. Her best-known creation for young children is the character Noddy, who first appeared in 1949; her books for older children include the series of Famous Five and Secret Seven adventure stories.
| 22d | Crime /of/ penniless member of the clergy? (5) |
Parson[5] is an informal term for any member of the clergy, especially a Protestant one. In the Church of England, a parson[5,10] is a parish priest, formerly applied only to those who held ecclesiastical benefices*—that is, a rector or a vicar.
* A benefice[5] is a permanent Church appointment, typically that of a rector or vicar, for which property and income are provided in respect of pastoral duties.
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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