Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29719 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Monday, July 5, 2021 | |
Setter
Campbell (Allan Scott) | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29719]
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Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
Falcon | |
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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This puzzle appears on the Monday Diversions page in the Saturday, September 18, 2021 edition of the National Post. | |
Introduction
This puzzle should be a quick solve. It may take you longer to make up your mind for whom to cast your ballot 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
| 7a | Man's clue, written cryptically, /for/ powerful nation's government (5,3) |
| 9a | Initially doing English, checked by stern // university lecturer (6) |
Reader[5] is a British term for a university lecturer of the highest grade below professor ⇒
Dr Gardiner is Reader in Mathematics.
| 10a | Increase /got by/ former partner -- harshly criticised, we hear (6) |
| 11a | Boss // in Boeing over Norway (8) |
| 12a | The horizon may be this, // according to my understanding? (2,3,2,1,3,3) |
| 15a | Very happy /to find/ bird's nest, say (4) |
Bird's nest soup[5] is a soup made in Chinese cooking from the dried gelatinous coating of the nests of swifts and other birds.
| 17a | Computer device /in/ fashion, foremost from Microsoft (5) |
Mode[3] denotes the current or customary fashion or style ⇒
a hat in the latest mode.
| 19a | Northern beer knocked back /in/ style (4) |
| 20a | Legendary knight's useful // book (8,6) |
In medieval legend, Tristram[5] is a knight who was the lover of Iseult.
Tristram Shandy[7] (title in full The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman) is a novel by Anglo-Irish novelist and Anglican cleric Laurence Sterne (1713–1768). It was published in nine volumes, the first two appearing in 1759, and seven others following over the next seven years.
| 23a | Large glass // sailing ship (8) |
Here and There
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| A schooner is a glass on both sides of the pond — albeit very different ones. In Britain, a schooner[5] is a glass for drinking a large measure of sherry, whereas in North America — as well as Australia and New Zealand — the term denotes a tall beer glass. |
| 25a | Take in // a small circle, including bishop (6) |
| 27a | A weird tale following Victor/'s/ dance (6) |
Valeta is an alternate spelling of veleta[5], a ballroom dance in triple time, faster than a waltz and with partners side by side.
| 28a | Outrageous, // senior relative in apartment (8) |
Gran[5] is an informal British term for one's grandmother*.
* Seems obvious but the term is not found in most of my US dictionaries.
Flat[5] is the common British term for what would be called an apartment[5] in North America.
Down
| 1d | Stone // from nursery's borders carried by cattle ... (4) |
When I wrote my review for Big Dave's Crossword Blog back in July, I questioned whether it is possible to have a single cattle.
On second look, I suppose were one to think of the words as modifiers, a "cattle stall" occupied by an ox would be an "ox stall".
| 2d | ... a large bundle, mostly put on a // llama-like beast (6) |
| 3d | Complacent, // son, gullible person (4) |
Mug[5] is an informal British term for a stupid or gullible person ⇒
they were no mugs where finance was concerned.
| 4d | Unimportant stuff /provided by/ four during short hearing (6) |
| 5d | A pass intercepted by the French /in/ game (8) |
"the French " = LE [French definite article]
| 6d | Earlier, // in front of worker (10) |
| 8d | Team member/'s/ weapon (7) |
"team " = SIDE
Side[5] is a British term for a sports team ⇒
* Note that, in Britain, a player is said to be "in a side" or "in a team" rather than "on a team" as one would say in North America.
In North America, the term side[3] is used in a very general fashion that can denote one of two or more opposing individuals, groups, teams, or sets of opinions. While this same general usage is also found in the UK, the term side[5] is also used there in a much more specific sense to mean a sports team, as we can clearly see from the following usage examples ⇒ (i)
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Side[5] is a British term for a sports team ⇒
there was a mixture of old and young players in* their side.
* Note that, in Britain, a player is said to be "in a side" or "in a team" rather than "on a team" as one would say in North America.
In North America, the term side[3] is used in a very general fashion that can denote one of two or more opposing individuals, groups, teams, or sets of opinions. While this same general usage is also found in the UK, the term side[5] is also used there in a much more specific sense to mean a sports team, as we can clearly see from the following usage examples ⇒ (i)
Previous England rugby sides, and England teams in many other sports, would have crumbled under the weight of such errors.; (ii)
They'll face better sides than this Monaco team, but you can only beat what's put in front of you.
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| 13d | Wears fur // jacket (6,4) |
| 14d | Country // home on telephone, endlessly (5) |
| 16d | Inmate // rips off one close to warder (8) |
Scratching the Surface
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| Warder[5] is a British term for a guard in a prison. |
| 18d | A blemish hidden by mother/'s/ cosmetic (7) |
| 21d | Heartless film character/'s/ time on popular island (3,3) |
The Isle of Man[5]
is an island in the Irish Sea (show more ).
The island is a British Crown dependency having home rule, with its own legislature (the Tynwald) and judicial system. It was part of the Norse kingdom of the Hebrides in the Middle Ages, passing into Scottish hands in 1266 for a time, until the English gained control in the early 15th century. Its ancient language, Manx, is still occasionally used for ceremonial purposes.
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The island is a British Crown dependency having home rule, with its own legislature (the Tynwald) and judicial system. It was part of the Norse kingdom of the Hebrides in the Middle Ages, passing into Scottish hands in 1266 for a time, until the English gained control in the early 15th century. Its ancient language, Manx, is still occasionally used for ceremonial purposes.
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Nick Chopper, the Tin Woodman, also known as the Tin Man[7] or—mistakenly—the "Tin Woodsman," is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. Baum's Tin Woodman first appeared in his classic 1900 book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and reappeared in many other subsequent Oz books in the series.
| 22d | Tell positively, // when certain (6) |
| 24d | Crack // appears in glacier, if thawing (4) |
| 26d | Draw a circle round // item of jewellery (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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