Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29727 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Wednesday, July 14, 2021 | |
Setter
Jay (Jeremy Mutch) | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29727]
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Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
2Kiwis | |
BD rating
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Difficulty - ★★ | Enjoyment - ★★★★ |
Falcon's experience
┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐
███████████████████████████████████ └────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘ | |
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
From the wordplay and checking letters, I worked out what I considered to be a rather unlikely solution at 24d. However, a dictionary check confirmed that it is, in fact, correct.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 | Leaving party? (9) |
The solver is clearly intended to be misdirected into interpreting the clue as denoting a "farewell party". However, one must actually interpret it to mean "[an instance of] leaving [a political] party". I had a hard time wrapping my mind around the correct interpretation as I was hung up on a "leaving party" being an individual who leaves or a defector.
6a | A few heard leading // review (3,2) |
9a | Sound /of/ Queen once with low backing? (5) |
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 Victoria was VR[5] — from the Latin Victoria 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.
10a | Car // paint essentially must be in new emulsion (9) |
11a | Stroppy // pros, to be sure, may be retrained (12) |
Stroppy[5] is an informal British term meaning bad-tempered and argumentative ⇒
Patricia was getting stroppy.
14a | Suspend setter /for/ such an expression? (7) |
The definition is interpreted as "a particular type of expression" with the solution being the adjective that describes this type of expression ⇒
And besides, in the majority of scenes you can plainly see that many a bystander are crying with laughter at the sight of Bill Murray's hangdog expression, thus indicating that the amused bafflement is mutual.
16a | Fancy a blonde, // mate? (3,4) |
In Britain, mate[5]—in addition to meaning a person’s husband, wife, or other sexual partner—can also be an informal term for a friend or companion ⇒
my best mate Steve. It is commonly used as a friendly form of address between men or boys ⇒
See you then, mate.
Old bean[5] is a dated informal British friendly form of address to a man ⇒
great to see you, old bean!.
17a | Layer // seen in ozone hole reversed (3) |
18a | Identify personal problem /offering/ hopeful treatment (7) |
20a | Horse // always found around hospital department (7) |
"hospital department " = ENT
Eventer[5] is a British term for a horse or rider that takes part in eventing[5], an equestrian sport in which competitors must take part in each of several contests, usually cross-country, dressage, and showjumping.
22a | Lost all interest with the onset of rows // between stars (12) |
26a | Part of leg /that may be/ off in steak (5,4) |
Off[10] (said of food or drink) means having gone bad, sour, etc. ⇒
this milk is off.
High[5] is used in the sense (said especially of food) of being unpleasantly strong-smelling because beginning to go bad ⇒
it's a type of preserved butter, used for cooking, smells a little high.
27a | Lord once // kept in privilege illegally rejected (5) |
The term liege[10] can mean either a liege lord* or a liegeman** — in this clue, it is the former.
* Liege lord[10] is a historical term for a feudal lord [nobleman] entitled to allegiance and service.
** Liegeman[5] is a historical term for a vassal [holder of land by feudal tenure] who owed feudal service or allegiance to a nobleman [liege lord].
28a | Utter // prerogative (5) |
As the solution to the first part of the clue, right[5] is an informal British expression (used for emphasis) meaning complete or absolute ⇒
I felt a right idiot.
29a | So indeed, desperately holding Victor, // fell sharply (9) |
Down
1d | Singer /needing/ most of seat? (4) |
2d | Beat // current that's good for women (4) |
3d | Accountant, politician and graduate teacher may find rest here (4-3) |
"accountant " = CA
The official designation CA[5] for Chartered Accountant is used in Scotland—and was formerly employed in Canada. However, Canadian CAs—together with CGAs (Certified General Accountants) and CMAs (Certified Management Accountants)—have adopted the CPA (Chartered Professional Accountant) designation.
Outside Scotland, the term "chartered accountant" is used by members of the accounting profession in the UK who belong to certain professional bodies.
In the UK (apart from Scotland) the designatory letters are ACA[10] (Associate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants) or FCA[10] (Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants). The designatory letters ACA and FCA are also employed in the Republic of Ireland although there I would presume that they stand for Associate of Chartered Accountants Ireland and Fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland respectively—Chartered Accountants Ireland (CAI) being the Irish counterpart to the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) and Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS).[7]
In addition to the organizations already mentioned there are a plethora of other bodies representing accountants in the UK. In fact, in the UK there are no licence requirements for individuals to describe themselves or to practise as accountants. However, those who use the description "chartered accountant" must be members of one of the organisations mentioned above or a recognised equivalent body in another Commonwealth country.
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The official designation CA[5] for Chartered Accountant is used in Scotland—and was formerly employed in Canada. However, Canadian CAs—together with CGAs (Certified General Accountants) and CMAs (Certified Management Accountants)—have adopted the CPA (Chartered Professional Accountant) designation.
Outside Scotland, the term "chartered accountant" is used by members of the accounting profession in the UK who belong to certain professional bodies.
In the UK (apart from Scotland) the designatory letters are ACA[10] (Associate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants) or FCA[10] (Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants). The designatory letters ACA and FCA are also employed in the Republic of Ireland although there I would presume that they stand for Associate of Chartered Accountants Ireland and Fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland respectively—Chartered Accountants Ireland (CAI) being the Irish counterpart to the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) and Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS).[7]
In addition to the organizations already mentioned there are a plethora of other bodies representing accountants in the UK. In fact, in the UK there are no licence requirements for individuals to describe themselves or to practise as accountants. However, those who use the description "chartered accountant" must be members of one of the organisations mentioned above or a recognised equivalent body in another Commonwealth country.
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"politician " = MP
A Bachelor of Education[7] (B.Ed.) is an undergraduate professional degree which prepares students for work as a teacher in schools.
4d | Stretch of water /requiring/ popular permit (5) |
5d | Principal // uniform worn by fighting men born on base (6,3) |
In mathematics, e[5] is the transcendental* number that is the base of Napierian or natural logarithms, approximately equal to 2.71828.
* A transcendental number[5] is a number such as e or π that is real but not a root of an algebraic equation with rational coefficients.
6d | Used -- and ate -- nuts // lightly fried (7) |
7d | Partner accepting no site free /for/ place to live (10) |
We have already encountered this partner today in 16a.
Maisonette[3,4,11] is a chiefly British term for self-contained living accommodation often occupying two floors of a larger house and having its own outside entrance.
8d | Nice case of rivalry /generating/ casual remark (10) |
12d | Criminal type // who might hold up a store (10) |
The latter part of the clue is a whimsical interpretation of the solution.
13d | Revealing // close call supporting United? (10) |
15d | Guest gutted about landlord with private // place that's empty (5,4) |
A landlord[5] is a man who keeps lodgings, a boarding house, or a pub.
Host[2] is an old-fashioned term for an innkeeper or publican [proprietor of a pub].
19d | Not a sound will be heard out of this! (7) |
21d | Contacted // regulars of team and suffered (7) |
23d | City // shelter dropouts left empty (5) |
24d | Somewhat undervalued // fuel (4) |
Derv[5] (also DERV) is a British term for diesel oil for road vehicles.
Origin: 1940s (apparently Second World War forces' slang): acronym from diesel-engined road vehicle
25d | Drink /made from/ bananas, full of energy (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