Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29758 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Thursday, August 19, 2021 | |
Setter
RayT (Ray Terrell) | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29758]
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Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
StephenL
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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
Today's puzzle is a major milestone for the setter, RayT, being his 500th puzzle published in The Daily Telegraph. I'm not sure if that number* reflects the total for both puzzles he sets for that publication or just for the so-called "back page" Cryptic Crossword. He also regularly sets the Toughie Crossword (a more difficult cryptic crossword that appears elsewhere in the paper) under the pseudonym Beam.* If Rabbit Dave is correct in Comment #12 on Big Dave's Crossword Blog—and I have no reason to suspect that he is not, then the number does not include the Beam Toughies.
Today's review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog marks the debut as a reviewer of StephenL, a longtime contributor to the Comments section on Big Dave's blog.
As for the puzzle, I thought it was definitely at the upper end of the three star difficulty range—at the least. The final half dozen or so clues took me a long time to unravel. I was on the verge of throwing in the towel on several occasions only to have a clue succumb, encouraging me to press on. In the end, I finished unaided. A very enjoyable solve and a satisfying finish.
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 | Most tedious // exam takes a minute (6) |
| 4a | Intrude /using/ spring within lock (8) |
| 9a | Quick way to reach rock bottom? (6) |
Here and There
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Abseil[5]
is a British term meaning to descend a rock face or other
near-vertical surface by using a doubled rope coiled round the body and
fixed at a higher point ⇒ (i) team members had to abseil down sheer cliffs to reach the couple; (ii) (as noun abseiling) there are facilities for abseiling and rock climbing. The term used in North America is rappel[5], which is also an alternative term in the UK. |
| 10a | Veto // such as accepted by state (8) |
| 11a | Fine // hose following back of thigh (8) |
Airline[5,10] (also air line) is a seemingly British term* for a hose or tube carrying air under pressure ⇒
use an air line to inflate those tyres [British spelling of 'tires'].
* a sense of the word not present in the several US dictionaries I consulted
| 13a | Takes off // cartoons (6) |
| 15a | Stupidly argued with nude art // student (13) |
| 18a | Sad // tidings in a pop hit (13) |
| 22a | Initially land next to snake // here? (6) |
The adder[5] (also called viper) is a small venomous Eurasian snake which has a dark zigzag pattern on its back and bears live young. It is the only poisonous snake in Britain.
Scratching the Surface
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| The surface reading may be an allusion to the board game Snakes and Ladders[7]. |
| 24a | Take part assuming little left // over (8) |
| 26a | Trip, near turning // turtle (8) |
Here and There
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| Terrapin[5] is the British name* for a freshwater turtle, especially one of the smaller kinds of the Old World. * This animal is known in North America simply as a turtle. One North American species (Malaclemys terrapin), a small edible turtle with lozenge-shaped markings on its shell, found in coastal marshes of the eastern US, does go by the name terrapin (also diamondback terrapin). |
| 27a | Spot // sweetheart on American diet? (6) |
"sweetheart " = E ['heart' of swEet]
A common cryptic crossword construct is to use the word "sweetheart" to clue the letter 'E', the middle letter (heart) of the word 'swEet'.
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A common cryptic crossword construct is to use the word "sweetheart" to clue the letter 'E', the middle letter (heart) of the word 'swEet'.
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It would appear that, from a British perspective, lo-cal[11,15] is seen as an American spelling* of low-cal (low calorie).
* I found this spelling only in two versions of Webster’s College Dictionary
| 28a | Unusually solitary // Queen fan? (8) |
Scratching the Surface
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|---|---|
| Queen[5]—reportedly RayT's favourite band—
is a British rock group that in its heyday featured camp vocalist
Freddie Mercury (1946–1991). Queen are known for their extravagant,
almost operatic brand of rock, as exemplified by the hugely successful ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ (1975). "The Queen" (or "Queen") appears in the clues of most RayT puzzles. Today, she makes an encore appearance in 21d. |
| 29a | Policemen taught to hold // stick (6) |
Down
| 1d | Worthless // empty territory contains outbreak (6) |
| 2d | Nice guys? (9) |
Nice[5] is a resort city on the French Riviera, near the border with Italy.
The French word monsieur[8] (plural messieurs) means 'gentleman' or 'man'.
| 3d | Professional // players finally slaughtered (7) |
| 5d | Regretted /being/ audibly obnoxious (4) |
| 6d | Skinned // behind in outhouse (7) |
Aft[5] (originally a nautical term) denotes at, near, or towards the stern of a ship or tail of an aircraft ⇒ (i)
Travis made his way aft; (ii)
the aft cargo compartment.
Here and There
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| In Britain, an outhouse[5] is a
building such as a shed or barn that is built on to or in* the grounds
of a house rather than an outside toilet (as the term would be understood in North America). In North America, such a structure would be called an outbuilding[5] (a term that also appears to be used in the UK). * note that Brits say "in the grounds" rather than "on the grounds"; they also say that a player is "in a team" rather than "on a team" and that children are playing "in the road" rather than "on the road" |
Skinned[5] is used in the informal sense of took money from or swindled (someone) ⇒
I ain’t no dummy, and I know when I’m being skinned.
| 7d | Defence /of/ jails in brig occasionally (5) |
| 8d | Shady // relative keeping cool (8) |
| 12d | New quarrel perhaps /for/ reactionary (6) |
Quarrel[5] is a historical term for a short, heavy, square-headed arrow or bolt used in a crossbow or arbalest*.
* Arbalest[5] (also arblast) is a historical term denoting a crossbow with a special mechanism for drawing back and releasing the string.
| 14d | Dictator // worked in fine company (6) |
Francisco Franco[5] (1892–1975) was a Spanish general and dictator, head of state 1939–75. Leader of the Nationalists in the Civil War, in 1937 Franco became head of the Falange Party and proclaimed himself Caudillo (‘leader’) of Spain. With the defeat of the republic in 1939, he took control of the government and established a dictatorship that ruled Spain until his death.
| 16d | Mass /of/ silver say, inside jar (9) |
| 17d | One adores // following after single party (8) |
"party " = DO
Do[5,12] is an informal British[5] or chiefly British[12] term* for a party or other social event ⇒
* Although one US dictionary (Webster’s New World College Dictionary[12]) supports the contention by Lexico (Oxford Dictionary of English)[5] that this usage is at least chiefly British, two other US dictionaries[3,11] do not.
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Do[5,12] is an informal British[5] or chiefly British[12] term* for a party or other social event ⇒
the soccer club Christmas do.
* Although one US dictionary (Webster’s New World College Dictionary[12]) supports the contention by Lexico (Oxford Dictionary of English)[5] that this usage is at least chiefly British, two other US dictionaries[3,11] do not.
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| 19d | Win // quiet revolution with trouble (7) |
| 20d | Perfect // rogue on cruise (7) |
| 21d | Squire gently embracing // Queen? (6) |
A regent[7] is a person appointed to govern a state pro tempore (Latin: 'for the time being') because the regnant monarch is a minor, is absent, abdicated the throne, is incapacitated or dead, or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy. ... if the regent of a minor is his mother, she is often referred to as queen regent or empress dowager.
| 23d | Foreign bowler /in/ local match (5) |
Bowler[5] (also bowler hat)
is the British name for a man’s hard felt hat with a round
dome-shaped crown. From a British perspective, derby[5] is the North American name for this item of apparel—the name on this side of the pond said to arise from American demand for a hat of the type worn at the Epsom Derby*.* a prestigious British horse race—not to mention a major event on the British social calendar
The hat in question was a trademark of the comedy duo Laurel and Hardy. I wonder, did Brit Stan Laurel wear a bowler while Yank Oliver Hardy wear a derby?
Derby[2] (also local derby) is a British term for a race or a sports event or contest, especially a contest between teams from the same area.
| 25d | Starts to settle into the seat (4) |
This is a hallmark RayT acrostic or initialism clue in which the entire clue is both the wordplay and the definition.
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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