Prologue
Seeing that the review of DT 29682 has already been written, I might as well share it with you. It will give you something to do while you wait for the review of the puzzle that was actually published today.
Solution to the Puzzle
Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29682 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Saturday, May 22, 2021 | |
Setter
Cephas (Peter Chamberlain) | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29682 – Hints]Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29682 – Review] | |
Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
Tilsit (Hints)Rahmat Ali (Review) | |
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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The National Post skipped this puzzle, DT 29682, which was published in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, May 22, 2021. As this was a Saturday "Prize Puzzle" in Britain, there are two entries related to it on Big Dave's Crossword Blog — the first, posted on the date of publication, contains hints for selected clues while the second is a full review issued following the entry deadline for the contest. The vast majority of reader comments will generally be found attached to the "hints" posting with a minimal number — if any — accompanying the full review. | |
Introduction
In a rate occurrence, my pangram alarm sounded early and, even rarer, the knowledge actually proved useful in solving the puzzle.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
| 7a | How healthy porker will go the full extent? (5,3) |
I see this clue as a cryptic definition which has both embedded wordplay (a charade) and an embedded precise definition. While I considered doing so, I couldn't quite bring myself to mark it as a simple clue with wordplay and definition (compare the situation in 20a).
If the word "how" had not been present, I would have marked the clue differently; i.e., as simply wordplay and definition:
- Healthy porker /will go/ the full extent (5,3)
| 9a | Drive // able to be seen when broadcast (6) |
| 10a | Master revised // course (6) |
| 11a | Charge harbour // where there are low duties (3,5) |
| 12a | Her country? Not even his (2-4-4) |
| 14a | Most of dirt /is/ unpleasant (4) |
| 15a | Philosopher // paid for a doctor (13) |
| 17a | American fellows /providing/ the final word (4) |
| 18a | Remain at home having broken gift // exercising (7,3) |
| 20a | How storyteller might be // moving furtively (8) |
In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Rahmat Ali shows this clue as a cryptic definition. I agree that the clue certainly does have overtones of a cryptic definition, but I also think it can be broken down into a simple double definition (compare 1a which has a somewht similar structure but where I didn't feel it was appropriate to simply split the clue into wordplay and definition).
Sneak[5] (verb) is an informal British term (especially in children's use) meaning to inform an adult or person in authority of a companion's misdeeds; in other words, to "tell tales" ⇒
she sneaked on us.
| 21a | Lady /with/ misplaced idealism is leaving (6) |
Imelda[7] is a feminine Spanish/Italian given name derived from the German form of Irmhild.
Meaning: warrior woman, universal battle, or powerful fighter
| 23a | Which French cook trimmed // food? (6) |
In French, qui[8] is a relative pronoun meaning 'which'.
| 24a | Piece of magic // that's celebrated by one on pitch (3,5) |
A hat trick[1] is a conjurer's trick with a hat.
In Britain, pitch[5] is another term for field[5] in the sense of an area of ground marked out or used for play in an outdoor team game ⇒
a football [soccer] pitch.
However, the exception would be cricket, where pitch[5] refers to the strip of ground in the centre of the playing field between the two sets of stumps ⇒
both batsmen were stranded in the middle of the pitch.
The noun hat-trick[5] (or hat trick)* denotes three successes of the same kind within a limited period, in particular (in soccer) the scoring of three goals in a game by one player or (in cricket) the taking of three wickets by the same bowler with successive balls.
Origin: Mid 19th century (denoting any trick with a hat): in the context of cricket originally referring to the club presentation of a new hat (or some equivalent) to a bowler taking three wickets successively.
* Spelling: British dictionaries: hat trick[1,2,] or hat-trick[4,5,10,14]; American dictionaries: hat trick[3,11,12,15]
Down
| 1d | Reportedly obtain nothing /in/ poor area (6) |
| 2d | Piece of evidence solvers are familiar with (4) |
In this case, we have a cryptic definition with embedded precise definition.
Had the clue been worded only very slightly differently, I would have marked it as a double definition:
- Piece of evidence // that solvers are familiar with (4)
| 3d | Tom with half of meal /giving/ sign of approval? (6,2) |
Tom Thumb[7] is a character of English folklore. The History of Tom Thumb was published in 1621 and was the first fairy tale printed in English. Tom is no bigger than his father's thumb, and his adventures include being swallowed by a cow, tangling with giants, and becoming a favourite of King Arthur.
| 4d | Beset with bad luck, // Jack isn't regularly cross with Edward (6) |
| 5d | Canoe damaged before departing /and/ crossing the pond perhaps (5-5) |
The pond[5] is a humorous reference to the Atlantic Ocean ⇒
he’s relatively unknown on this side of the pond.
| 6d | Greek capitalist? (8) |
An Athenian[5] is a native or citizen of Athens, the capital of Greece.
| 8d | Travel some distance // to do everything possible (2,2,3,6) |
| 13d | Be there in this (10) |
| 15d | Short time with hesitation /giving/ impetus (8) |
| 16d | Begin /with/ what I did there in restaurant? (8) |
| 18d | Unusually kind to accept most of fee // cut (6) |
| 19d | Prompt delivery (6) |
A cryptic definition of what an obstetrician may do to ensure he doesn't miss his tee time.
| 22d | Pound // in Fez rarely seen (4) |
Ezra Pound[5] (1885–1972) was an American poet and critic, resident in Europe
1908–45 (show more ).
Initially associated with imagism, he later developed a highly eclectic poetic voice, drawing on a vast range of classical and other references and establishing a reputation as a modernist poet. Notable works: Hugh Selwyn Mauberley (1920) and Cantos (series, 1917–70).
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Initially associated with imagism, he later developed a highly eclectic poetic voice, drawing on a vast range of classical and other references and establishing a reputation as a modernist poet. Notable works: Hugh Selwyn Mauberley (1920) and Cantos (series, 1917–70).
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Scratching the Surface
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| Fez[5] (also Fès) is a city in northern Morocco, founded in 808. |
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
Thanks for the bonus puzzle. Quite a treat !
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