Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29661 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Wednesday, April 28, 2021 | |
Setter
NY Doorknob, aka Donnybrook (Paul Bringloe)
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Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29661]
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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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Introduction
Jay has taken a day of leave today and in his place we get a nice bit of fun from NY Doorknob.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 | Drink // gallon where plastered member might be? (3,5) |
A gin sling[5] is a drink of gin and water, sweetened and flavoured with lemon or lime juice.
| 5a | Commentator's spotted a // spinner? (6) |
The word "spider" , when pronounced in a non-rhotic accent (show explanation
) typical of dialects found in many parts of Britain (especially
southeastern England), sounds like "spied a".
Non-rhotic accents omit the sound < r > in certain situations, while rhotic accents generally pronounce < r > in all contexts. Among the several dozen British English accents which exist, many are non-rhotic while American English (US and Canadian) is mainly rhotic. This is, however, a generalisation, as there are areas of Britain that are rhotic, and areas of America that are non-rhotic. For more information, see this guide to pronouncing < r > in British English.
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Non-rhotic accents omit the sound < r > in certain situations, while rhotic accents generally pronounce < r > in all contexts. Among the several dozen British English accents which exist, many are non-rhotic while American English (US and Canadian) is mainly rhotic. This is, however, a generalisation, as there are areas of Britain that are rhotic, and areas of America that are non-rhotic. For more information, see this guide to pronouncing < r > in British English.
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| 9a | Character suffered // in flight (8) |
| 10a | Put on // stone -- no spring chicken! (6) |
The stone[5] (abbreviation st[5]) is a British unit of weight equal to 14 lb (6.35 kg) ⇒
I weighed 10 stone.
| 12a | Professional put through paces // showed dissent (9) |
| 13a | Girl /in/ wicked love head over heels? (5) |
"love " = O [nil score in tennis]
In tennis, squash, and some other sports, love[5] is a score of zero or nil ⇒
Although folk etymology has connected the word with French l'oeuf 'egg', from the resemblance in shape between an egg and a zero, the term apparently comes from the phrase play for love (i.e. the love of the game, not for money).
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In tennis, squash, and some other sports, love[5] is a score of zero or nil ⇒
love fifteen. The resemblance of a zero written as a numeral (0) to the letter O leads to the cryptic crossword convention of the word "love" being used to clue this letter.
Although folk etymology has connected the word with French l'oeuf 'egg', from the resemblance in shape between an egg and a zero, the term apparently comes from the phrase play for love (i.e. the love of the game, not for money).
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| 14a | Bottomless // river with source in Pennines (4) |
The Dee[5,7] could be any of several rivers in Scotland and England — not to mention Ireland and Australia, the most prominent being:
- a river in northeastern Scotland, which rises in the Grampian Mountains and flows eastwards past Balmoral Castle to the North Sea at Aberdeen
- a river that rises in North Wales and flows into England, past Chester and on into the Irish Sea
Scratching the Surface
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| The Pennine Hills[5] (also Pennine Chain or the Pennines) are a range of hills in northern England, extending from the Scottish border southwards to the Peak District in Derbyshire. Its highest peak is Cross Fell in Cumbria, which rises to 893 m (2,930 ft). |
| 16a | Butcher came with the // broad-bladed knife (7) |
| 19a | Creature, // two miles in, breaking limb (7) |
| 21a | Quick // mole devouring rook (4) |
R[5] is an abbreviation for rook that is used in recording moves in chess. (show more )
A rook[5] (also known by the informal, old-fashioned term castle*[5]) is a chess piece, typically with its top in the shape of a battlement, that can move (if not obstructed by another chess piece or pawn) any number of spaces in any direction along a rank or file on which it stands. Each player starts the game with two rooks at opposite ends of the first rank.
* It is apparent from numerous comments on Big Dave's Crossword Blog over the years that chess purists hold that the proper name for this piece is a rook and that under no circumstances whatsoever is it ever to be referred to as a castle. Furthermore, they take great umbrage should those of us less attuned to the niceties of the "game of kings" happen to commit this cardinal sin.
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A rook[5] (also known by the informal, old-fashioned term castle*[5]) is a chess piece, typically with its top in the shape of a battlement, that can move (if not obstructed by another chess piece or pawn) any number of spaces in any direction along a rank or file on which it stands. Each player starts the game with two rooks at opposite ends of the first rank.
* It is apparent from numerous comments on Big Dave's Crossword Blog over the years that chess purists hold that the proper name for this piece is a rook and that under no circumstances whatsoever is it ever to be referred to as a castle. Furthermore, they take great umbrage should those of us less attuned to the niceties of the "game of kings" happen to commit this cardinal sin.
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What did they say?
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In their review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, the 2Kiwis tell us that the mode could beIn the UK, MI6[5] (Military Intelligence Section 6) was the governmental agency responsible for dealing with matters of internal security and counter-intelligence overseas. Formed in 1912, the agency was officially named the Secret Intelligence Service in 1964, but the name MI6 remains in popular use.working for MI6 perhaps. |
| 24a | Corn // one put in puzzling place (5) |
From a British perspective, this usage of the word "corn" might be considered to be an Americanism.
The word "corn" has quite a different meaning in Britain than it does in North America. The plant known in North America (as well as Australia and New Zealand) as corn[5], is called maize[5] in the UK. In Britain, corn refers to the chief cereal crop of a district, especially (in England) wheat or (in Scotland) oats.
To make matters more puzzling:
- another name for maize is Indian corn[10],
- maize for human consumption is known as sweetcorn[5],
- maize of a variety with hard kernels that swell up and burst open when heated is called popcorn[5],
- the core of an ear of maize, to which the kernals are attached, is called a corncob[10],
- and when maize is eaten straight from the cob it is referred to as corn on the cob[5].
What did they say?
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In their review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, the 2Kiwis describe the "puzzling place" as beingHampton Court[5] is a palace on the north bank of the Thames in the borough of Richmond-upon-Thames, London, a favourite royal residence until the reign of George II. Its gardens contain a well-known maze.like the famous one at Hampton Court. |
| 25a | Lively arena band /gives/ Indian accompaniment (4,5) |
Naan[5,10] is another name for nan[5] (also nan bread[10]) which, in Indian cookery, is a slightly leavened bread in a large flat leaf shape.
| 27a | Stand /being/ overdrawn after voyage (6) |
In banking, OD (or O/D)[1] is an abbreviation for overdraft or overdrawn.
| 28a | Female in metallic fabric not good /for/ ex (3,5) |
Lamé[5] is fabric with interwoven gold or silver threads ⇒
a gold lamé suit.
| 29a | Announced wrong charge /for/ structure of sentence? (6) |
| 30a | Hollow tree in southeast /is/ plane (8) |
The Spitfire[5] is a single-seat, single-engined British fighter aircraft of the Second World War. It is particularly remembered for its role in the Battle of Britain.
Scratching the Surface
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| The plane[5] (also plane tree) is a tall spreading tree of the genus Platanus of the northern hemisphere, with maple-like leaves and bark which peels in uneven patches. |
Down
| 1d | Doctor accepting blame needs a // brandy (6) |
GP*[5] is the abbreviation for general practitioner.
* Despite Lexico (Oxford Dictionaries) characterizing the abbreviation GP (but not the full term general practitioner[5]) as a British usage, I would say that this abbreviation is certainly in general use in Canada.
Grappa[5] is a brandy distilled from the fermented residue of grapes after they have been pressed in winemaking.
| 2d | Slender // point on missile (6) |
| 3d | Jazzy solo with echo // not tight (5) |
| 4d | New on street, work // without break (3-4) |
"work " = OP [opus]
In music, an opus[5] (Latin 'work', plural opuses or opera) is a separate composition or set of compositions.
The abbreviation Op.[5] (also op.), denoting opus, is used before a number given to each work of a particular composer, usually indicating the order of publication. The plural form of Op. is Opp..
Opus[5] can also be used in other contexts to denote an artistic work, especially one on a large scale ⇒
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In music, an opus[5] (Latin 'work', plural opuses or opera) is a separate composition or set of compositions.
The abbreviation Op.[5] (also op.), denoting opus, is used before a number given to each work of a particular composer, usually indicating the order of publication. The plural form of Op. is Opp..
Opus[5] can also be used in other contexts to denote an artistic work, especially one on a large scale ⇒
he was writing an opus on Mexico.
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| 6d | Panda /and/ cat playing with polar bear's tail (6,3) |
Panda car[5] is an informal British term for a small police patrol car (originally black and white or blue and white).
| 7d | Whacked like boxer? (3-5) |
| 8d | Judge in long grass // rescued (8) |
| 11d | Woman, going topless, // man expelled from garden (4) |
In the biblical and Koranic traditions, Adam[5] is the name of the first man. According to the Book of Genesis, Adam was created by God as the progenitor of the human race and lived with Eve in the Garden of Eden*.
* prior to being expelled for disobediently eating the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil[5]
| 15d | Brew infused with Australian fruit upset // writer (5,4) |
Oz[5] is an informal Australian and New Zealand term for:
- (noun) Australia ⇒
he spent the last few years in Oz
- (noun) a person from Australia ⇒
it was enough to make a red-blooded Oz choke on his meat pie
- (adjective) Australian ⇒
Oz hospitality
Émile Zola[5] (1840–1902) was a French novelist and critic. His series of twenty novels collectively entitled Les Rougon-Macquart (1871–93), including Nana (1880), Germinal (1885), and La Terre (1887), attempts to show how human behaviour is determined by environment and heredity.
| 17d | Plant /in/ changing climate succeeded (8) |
| 18d | Lambs bite lions? What's in their hearts? (8) |
This is an &lit. clue[7], a clue in which the entire clue is both wordplay (according to one reading) and definition (under a different reading).
| 20d | Some climbing on Everest // vanished (4) |
Scratching the Surface
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| Mount Everest[5]
is a mountain in the Himalayas, on the border between Nepal and Tibet.
Rising to 8,848 m (29,028 ft), it is the highest mountain in the world;
it was first climbed in 1953 by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. Close to 300 people have died climbing on Everest[7]. |
| 21d | Order placed in shop -- husband missed // seafood! (7) |
| 22d | Asian // one having Geordie friend over? (6) |
Geordie[5] is an informal British term for a person from Tyneside* or for the English dialect or accent typical of people from Tyneside* .
* Tyneside[5] is an industrial conurbation on the banks of the River Tyne, in northeastern England, stretching from Newcastle upon Tyne to the coast.
As an adjective, Geordie[5] means relating to Tyneside, its people, or their accent or dialect ⇒
Geordie humour.
Thus a "Geordie friend" could otherwise be described as a "NE pal".
| 23d | Stick // lands regularly at this spot (6) |
| 26d | Be leader in fashion with Italian // suit (5) |
"Italian " = IT [in reference to either the language or the vermouth]
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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