Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29656 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Thursday, April 22, 2021 | |
Setter
(Likely) Giovanni (Don Manley) | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29656]
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Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
Miffypops | |
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
At some point during the sequence of puzzles skipped by the National Post in its Great Leap Forward a month or two ago, it seems that Giovanni emerged as the sole setter of puzzles on the Thursdays when RayT puzzles don't appear.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 | Little mite smuggled aboard ship // doesn't go away (6) |
"smuggled aboard ship " = 'contained in SS' [SS = steamship]
| 5a | Platforms // allowing vocal quartet to be heard (8) |
A foretop[5] is a platform around the head [upper end] of the lower section of a sailing ship's foremast.
* On a sailing ship, a top[7] is a platform at the upper end of the lower section of a mast (about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way up the mast as a whole). The foretop is the top on the foremast (the forward mast).
The Four Tops[7] are an American vocal quartet from Detroit, Michigan who helped to define the city's Motown sound of the 1960s.
| 9a | Dedication /of/ US university evident in discussion (10) |
"US university " = MIT [Massachusetts Institute of Technology]
| 10a | Endless sarcasm /offered by/ good conductor (4) |
While iron may be a good conductor of electricity, it is far from the best. The best metallic conductors are silver, copper, gold and aluminum. Iron is well down the list behind zinc, nickel and the alloys brass and bronze. Cast iron is also a relatively poor conductor of heat—one-third as good as aluminum and only one-fifth as good as copper—which is why it holds its heat so well.
| 11a | Support // fire damaged in arch (8) |
| 12a | Shiny stuff -- no good -- // rubbish! (6) |
| 13a | Second character surviving flood /is/ a fraud (4) |
From the Bible, Ham[5] was a son of Noah (Gen. 10:1), traditional ancestor of the Hamites*. Noah[5] was a Hebrew patriarch represented as tenth in descent from Adam. According to the biblical account (Genesis 6–8) he built the ark which saved his family and specimens of every animal from the Flood.
* The Hamites[5] were a a group of North African peoples, including the ancient Egyptians and Berbers, supposedly descended from Ham, son of Noah.
| 15a | Most untidy // place for eating that is on street (8) |
| 18a | Rugby player Don played in teachers' team maybe (5-3) |
In rugby, a stand-off[5] (short for stand-off half[5]) is a half back who forms a link between the scrum half and the three-quarters.
| 19a | What is expected by end of week /is/ place in which to relax (4) |
| 21a | Duty /of/ a queen intervening in row (6) |
"queen " = R [Regina]
Queen may be abbreviated as Q, Qu. or R.
Q[5] is an abbreviation for queen that is used especially in describing play in card games and recording moves in chess.
Qu.[2] is another common abbreviation for Queen.
In the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms*, Regina[5] (abbreviation R[5]) [Latin for queen] denotes the reigning queen, used following a name (e.g. Elizabetha Regina, Queen Elizabeth — often shortened to ER) or in the titles of lawsuits (e.g. Regina v. Jones, the Crown versus Jones — often shortened to R. v. Jones).
* A Commonwealth realm[7] is a sovereign state that is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and shares the same person, currently Elizabeth II, as its head of state and reigning constitutional monarch, but retains a crown legally distinct from the other realms. There are currently sixteen Commonwealth realms, the largest being Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom with the remainder being smaller Caribbean and Pacific island nations.
Thus Queen Elizabeth signs her name as 'Elizabeth R' as seen here on Canada's paint-stained constitution[7].
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Queen may be abbreviated as Q, Qu. or R.
Q[5] is an abbreviation for queen that is used especially in describing play in card games and recording moves in chess.
Qu.[2] is another common abbreviation for Queen.
In the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms*, Regina[5] (abbreviation R[5]) [Latin for queen] denotes the reigning queen, used following a name (e.g. Elizabetha Regina, Queen Elizabeth — often shortened to ER) or in the titles of lawsuits (e.g. Regina v. Jones, the Crown versus Jones — often shortened to R. v. Jones).
* A Commonwealth realm[7] is a sovereign state that is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and shares the same person, currently Elizabeth II, as its head of state and reigning constitutional monarch, but retains a crown legally distinct from the other realms. There are currently sixteen Commonwealth realms, the largest being Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom with the remainder being smaller Caribbean and Pacific island nations.
Thus Queen Elizabeth signs her name as 'Elizabeth R' as seen here on Canada's paint-stained constitution[7].
hide
| 23a | Situation with inadequate leader: // such will be ineffective (8) |
| 25a | Girl? // One may be hugged by mother returning (4) |
| 26a | Family member // tries changing by incremental amounts (10) |
| 27a | Raven had to fly around // terrace (8) |
A terrace[5] is a level paved area next to a building; in other words, a patio.
The Chambers Dictionary defines verandah[1] (alternative spelling of veranda) as a roofed gallery [covered walk], terrace or open portico [colonnade] along the front or side of a building.
As you can see below, my concept of a verandah differs markedly from that of Collins English Dictionary.
 Verandah (my concept) |  Verandah (Collins English Dictionary) |
| 28a | Cruelty /making one/ unhappy is last thing kingdom needs (6) |
The first thing that KINGDOM needs is a 'K', the second thing is an 'I', ..., and the last thing is ...
Down
| 2d | That group /shows/ spirit, first to last (5) |
| 3d | Fellows who may shoot others without killing them (9) |
| 4d | Dog /in/ sofa, not quite right (6) |
| 5d | Human right // that could result in cheeps (7,2,6) |
Had the solution to this clue (FREEDOM OF SPEECH) itself been a clue in a cryptic crossword puzzle, it might be interpretted as an anagram of (freedom of) SPEECH or CHEEPS.
| 6d | Wicked hustlers // showing no mercy (8) |
| 7d | Young fellow requesting extra // dance (5) |
Charles Dickens novel, Oliver Twist[7], is the story of an orphan, Oliver Twist, who is born into a life of poverty and misfortune in a workhouse where he is brought up with little food and few comforts. One day, around the time of his ninth birthday, the desperately hungry boys decide to draw lots; the loser must ask for another portion of gruel. The task falls to Oliver, who at the next meal tremblingly comes forward, bowl in hand, and begs the overseer, Mr. Bumble, for gruel with his famous request: "Please, sir, I want some more".
| 8d | I have a chair, // I declare (9) |
| 14d | Old listing /of/ characters involved in apartheid (3,6) |
| 16d | Confession of someone in a hurry // was breathtaking? (9) |
Note that the definition is "was breathtaking" and not merely "breathtaking" (as shown by Miffypops in his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog) ⇒
the view impressed/
the view was breathtaking.
In a comment on Big Dave's site, Stephen L. offers an imaginative explanation (which, although it may be true, does not fully explain the wordplay), remarking that if someone "were literally pressed it would be breathtaking".
| 17d | Bewildered // prisoner mingled (8) |
| 20d | Parts of document getting left out // -- the reasons? (6) |
| 22d | Pouring rain'd come from me? (5) |
This is what the folks at Big Dave's Crossword Blog would call a semi-all-in-one clue. The entire clue provides a rather cryptic definition in which the wordplay is embedded.
Indra[5] is the Hindu warrior king of the heavens, god of war and storm, to whom many of the prayers in the Rig Veda* are addressed.
* The Rig Veda[5] is the oldest and principal of the Vedas [Hindu scripture], composed in the 2nd millennium BC and containing a collection of hymns in early Sanskrit.
Scratching the Surface
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| The surface reading left me scratching my head. In fact, the wordplay was easier to decipher than the meaning of the surface reading. Is it possibly intended to be a contracted version of "Pouring rain would [have] come from me"? |
| 24d | Old chaps beginning to see // warning signs (5) |
"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.
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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.
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"chaps " = MEN
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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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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