Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29660 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Tuesday, April 27, 2021 | |
Setter
Unknown | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29660]
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Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
Mr K | |
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 found it a light and pleasant offering today.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 | Eva maybe embracing second friend // in my book (10) |
Eva Perón[5]
(1919–1952), known as Evita, was an Argentinian politician, second wife of Argentinian president Juan Perón. (show more )
A former actress, after her marriage in 1945 she became de facto Minister of Health and of Labour until her death from cancer; her social reforms earned her great popularity with the poor.
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A former actress, after her marriage in 1945 she became de facto Minister of Health and of Labour until her death from cancer; her social reforms earned her great popularity with the poor.
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| 6a | Prevent // vessels returning (4) |
| 9a | Means // to relax, with no time to wrap gift (10) |
| 10a | Stomach // empty, by the sound of it (4) |
| 12a | Crafty // little mammal departs (6) |
| 13a | Sponge // misplaced under dark English shed (8) |
| 15a | Change three lenses, keeping very // still (12) |
"very " = V [context uncertain]
The abbreviation* v (or v.)[1,2,5,10] stands for very.
* Although this abbreviation is found in most of my British dictionaries, it does not appear in any of my American dictionaries. Unfortunately no explanation is given as to the specific context in which one might encounter this usage. The only possibility that I can imagine is when combined with G as a grade of VG (very good) on school tests or assignments.
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The abbreviation* v (or v.)[1,2,5,10] stands for very.
* Although this abbreviation is found in most of my British dictionaries, it does not appear in any of my American dictionaries. Unfortunately no explanation is given as to the specific context in which one might encounter this usage. The only possibility that I can imagine is when combined with G as a grade of VG (very good) on school tests or assignments.
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| 18a | Anxiety after nut married current // leader in education (12) |
Nut[3,4] is slang for the human head.
Headmistress[5] (abbreviation HM[5]) is a British term for a woman who is the head teacher in a school.
| 21a | Relative/'s/ very new and fashionable act (3-2-3) |
So[5] is an adverb (used for emphasis) meaning extremely or very much ⇒
she looked so pretty.
| 22a | Small child's bed we reduced by 50% /for/ writer (6) |
Here and There
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| I was more than a little surprised to find "child's bed" used to clue CRIB—a blatant North Americanism. I was even more surprised by how little reaction it stirred up on Big Dave's Crossword Blog. Cot[5] is the British name for what is known in North America as a crib[5] — a small bed with high barred sides for a baby or very young child. |
| 24a | Garibaldi biscuit enthrals // bird (4) |
Scratching the Surface
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| The Garibaldi biscuit*[7]
consists of currants squashed and baked between two thin, oblongs of
biscuit dough—a sort of currant sandwich. They have a golden brown,
glazed exterior and a moderately sweet pastry,
but their defining characteristic is the layer of squashed fruit which
gives rise to the colloquial names fly sandwiches, flies' graveyards, dead fly biscuits, or squashed fly biscuits, because the squashed fruit resemble squashed flies—a fact to which DaveG alludes in Comment #31 on Big Dave's Crossword Blog. |
| 25a | 'I can' belief extraordinarily // advantageous (10) |
| 26a | Nearly // the end of the day? Nearly (4) |
One could also parse this clue as:
- Nearly the end of the day? // Nearly (4)
| 27a | Adult making a noise around front of tavern, // staggering (10) |
"adult " = A [former British film classification]
The A (Adult) certificate is a former film certificate[7] issued by the British Board of Film Classification. This certificate existed in various forms from 1912 to 1985, when it was replaced by the PG (Parental Guidance) certificate. [Despite its demise in the real world, it continues to find widespread use in Crosswordland.]
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The A (Adult) certificate is a former film certificate[7] issued by the British Board of Film Classification. This certificate existed in various forms from 1912 to 1985, when it was replaced by the PG (Parental Guidance) certificate. [Despite its demise in the real world, it continues to find widespread use in Crosswordland.]
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Down
| 1d | Is hotel below average /for/ district? (6) |
Parish[10] can refer to either:
- an ecclesiastic parish which, in episcopal churches, is a subdivision of a diocese, having its own church and minister or priest;
- a civil parish: in England (and, formerly, Wales), the smallest unit of local government in rural areas.
Delving Deeper
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| In England and many British Overseas Territories and former British territories, the Church of England parish church[7] is the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches. Nearly every part of England is designated as a parish (there being both ecclesiastic parishes and civil parishes, which overlie each other, but do not share names or boundaries, and hence an address may therefore fall into two parishes with different names). |
| 2d | Concerning drink // rumour (6) |
| 3d | Six balls wife initially hooked with wood in golf -- // mind-boggling! (12) |
In cricket, an over[5] is a division of play consisting of a sequence of six balls bowled by a bowler from one end of the pitch, after which another bowler takes over from the other end.
| 4d | Encourage // American gamble (4) |
| 5d | Texts // intoxicated -- rue it later (10) |
| 7d | Adolescent // themes regularly annoy the Queen (8) |
"the Queen " = ER [regnal cipher of Queen Elizabeth]
The regnal ciphers (monograms) of British monarchs are initials formed from the Latin version of their first name followed by either Rex or Regina (Latin for king or queen, respectively). Thus, the regnal cipher of Queen Elizabeth is ER[5] — from the Latin Elizabetha Regina.
* A cipher[5] (also cypher) is a monogram[5] or motif of two or more interwoven letters, typically a person's initials, used to identify a personal possession or as a logo.
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The regnal ciphers (monograms) of British monarchs are initials formed from the Latin version of their first name followed by either Rex or Regina (Latin for king or queen, respectively). Thus, the regnal cipher of Queen Elizabeth is ER[5] — from the Latin Elizabetha Regina.
* A cipher[5] (also cypher) is a monogram[5] or motif of two or more interwoven letters, typically a person's initials, used to identify a personal possession or as a logo.
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| 8d | Display outside is // heaven (8) |
| 11d | So reticent in altering // meeting (12) |
| 14d | Rags // badly sewn perhaps husband's thrown out (10) |
Rag[5] is an informal term for a newspaper, typically one regarded as being of low quality.
| 16d | The spread includes one // ham? (8) |
The question mark indicates that the performer could be—but not necessarily is—a ham.
| 17d | Suffering can lead to glorious // work of art (8) |
| 19d | Bathing suit -- // big kind -- is missing bottoms (6) |
| 20d | Fasten on // wooden pin (3,3) |
"on " = LEG [cricket term]
In cricket, the on[5] (also known as on side) is another name for the leg[5] (also called leg side), the half of the field (as divided lengthways through the pitch) away from which the batsman’s feet are pointed when standing to receive the ball ⇒
The other half of the field is known as the off[5] (also called off side).
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In cricket, the on[5] (also known as on side) is another name for the leg[5] (also called leg side), the half of the field (as divided lengthways through the pitch) away from which the batsman’s feet are pointed when standing to receive the ball ⇒
he played a lucky stroke to leg.
The other half of the field is known as the off[5] (also called off side).
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Pin[5,10] (usually plural) is an informal term for a leg ⇒
she was very nimble on her pins.
Peg leg[5] is an informal name for an artificial leg, especially a wooden one.
| 23d | Some remote village lifted // ban (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
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