Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29748 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Saturday, August 7, 2021 | |
Setter
Unknown | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29748 – Hints]Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29748 – Review] | |
Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
Senf (Hints)crypticsue (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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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.
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Introduction
The setter of this quirky puzzle is not identified although the setter pickers on Big Dave's Crossword Blog are all leaning toward NY Doorknob (Paul Bringloe).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 | Document // I don't know, left at sea (8) |
"left at sea " = PORT [nautical term]
| 5a | Blocks // changes on the radio (6) |
An altar[5] is a table or flat-topped block used as the focus for a religious ritual, especially for making sacrifices or offerings to a deity.
| 9a | Seal tins contaminated with second // type of steel (9) |
| 11a | Into Panama sailed // East African (5) |
The Masai[5] are a pastoral people living in Tanzania and Kenya.
| 12a | Terribly crude joke finally // cut (6) |
| 13a | Couple in plant // put right (8) |
| 15a | It's far from dull /as/ Margaret's parent (6-2-5) |
Margaret[7] is a female first name, derived via French (Marguerite) and Latin (Margarita) from an Ancient Greek word meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian.
The above was enough of an explanation for me but in her review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog crypticsue cites a more specific example.
Saint Margaret of Scotland[7] (c. 1045–1093), also known as Margaret of Wessex, was an English princess and a Scottish queen. Margaret was sometimes called "The Pearl of Scotland".
| 18a | Compound -- // atoms under it, I suspect (6,7) |
Sodium nitrate[5] (chemical formula NaNO₃) is a white powdery compound used mainly in the manufacture of fertilizers.
| 22a | Sign of emotion // predator conjured up (8) |
| 23a | King, dark // chessman (6) |
A knight[5] is a chess piece, typically with its top shaped like a horse’s head, that moves by jumping to the opposite corner of a rectangle two squares by three. Each player starts the game with two knights.
| 26a | English and European in retreat // flee together (5) |
As usual, this European hails from Poland.
| 27a | Secreted chemical: // call to inject extra rejected (9) |
A pheromone[5] is a chemical substance produced and released into the environment by an animal, especially a mammal or an insect, affecting the behaviour or physiology of others of its species.
| 28a | Two female relatives meeting // tomorrow (6) |
Mañana[5] is an adverb denoting in the indefinite future (used to indicate procrastination).
Origin: Spanish, literally ‘tomorrow’
| 29a | Dark // tassels twisted around first of ropes (8) |
Down
| 1d | Beef // gone, sheep beginning to increase (8) |
Pastrami[5] is highly seasoned smoked beef, typically served in thin slices. The recipe for pastrami[7] as we know it today was developed in the latter half of the 19th century in New York by Jewish immigrants from Romania.
Origin: Despite appearances, the word pastrami is not — as I had always supposed — of Italian origin. Rather the word comes from Yiddish pastrame which in turn derives from Romanian pastrama. The modified “pastrami” spelling was probably introduced in imitation of the American English salami (a word which is of Italian lineage).
| 2d | Small, rigid // piece of glass? (5) |
| 3d | God has a revolutionary // style (7) |
In Greek mythology, Pan[5] is a god of flocks and herds, typically represented with the horns, ears, and legs of a goat on a man's body. His sudden appearance was supposed to cause terror similar to that of a frightened and stampeding herd, and the word panic is derived from his name.
"revolutionary " = CHE [Guevara]
Che Guevara[7]
(1928–1967) was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author,
guerrilla leader, diplomat, and military theorist. A major figure of the
Cuban
Revolution, his stylized visage has become a ubiquitous countercultural
symbol of rebellion and global insignia within popular culture.
hide
Che Guevara[7]
(1928–1967) was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author,
guerrilla leader, diplomat, and military theorist. A major figure of the
Cuban
Revolution, his stylized visage has become a ubiquitous countercultural
symbol of rebellion and global insignia within popular culture.hide
| 4d | Dance // not made up, reportedly (4) |
| 6d | Character from Athens stealing a dance (7) |
Lambda[5] is the eleventh letter of the Greek alphabet (Λ, λ).
The lambada[5] is a fast erotic Brazilian dance which couples perform in close physical contact.
| 7d | Country -- // nation imbued with Aboriginal light originally (9) |
| 8d | Five hundred in gleaming // row (6) |
Shindy[10] (another term for shindig) is an informal term for a quarrel or commotion (especially in the phrase kick up a shindy).
| 10d | Far-reaching // job of broom (8) |
| 14d | Deceptive opus, a cod // TV programme (8) |
A docusoap[5] is a documentary following people in a particular occupation or location over a period of time.
Scratching the Surface
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|---|---|
| Cod[5] is an informal British term meaning not authentic or fake. |
| 16d | Choose one of two // actions so randomly (4,1,4) |
| 17d | Concerns pinning article // down (8) |
| 19d | Ineffective thing gone awry, // resentment (7) |
| 20d | Wallop opening // oven (7) |
A tandoor[5] is a clay oven of a type used originally in northern India and Pakistan.
| 21d | Current // group in school (6) |
Stream[5] is a British term* for a group in which schoolchildren of the same age and ability are taught ⇒
children in the top streams.
* A term I believe is also used in Canada.
| 24d | One has a hand in this // good, good feeling (5) |
| 25d | Others // take a break (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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