Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29753 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Friday, August 13, 2021 | |
Setter
Zandio | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29753]
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Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
Deep Threat | |
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
This puzzle provided a strenuous workout but I was able to finish without outside help. I would award it an additional star for difficulty, though, as I found it to be at the top end of my ability level.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 | For instance, pottery // vessel displayed by husband and I (10) |
| 6a | Wag // Club? (4) |
Scratching the Surface
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| The surface reading may allude to the seemingly British term WAG[5] (or Wag[10]) denoting a wife or girlfriend of a sports player, typically characterized as having a high media profile and a glamorous lifestyle. Origin: Early 21st century from the acronym WAGs ‘wives and girlfriends’. |
| 9a | Well-worn // article about study local's following (10) |
Read[5] is a British term meaning to study (an academic subject) at a university ⇒ (i)
I’m reading English at Cambridge; (ii)
he went to Manchester to read for a BA in Economics.
Local[5] is an informal British term for a pub convenient to a person’s home ⇒
had a pint in the local.
| 10a | Maybe Cornish area will be welcoming to // store (4) |
Cornwall[5] ("Cornish area") is a county occupying the extreme southwestern peninsula of England.
| 12a | In the habit of // playing duets with nothing on (4,2) |
| 13a | Hack admitted to dance of seven // veils (8) |
Scratching the Surface
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| In modern stage, literature and visual arts, the Dance of the Seven Veils[7] is the name given to Salome's dance performed before Herod II. It is an elaboration on the biblical story of the execution of John the Baptist, which refers to Salome dancing before the king, but does not give the dance a name. Origin: The name "Dance of the Seven Veils" originates with the 1893 English translation of Oscar Wilde's 1891 French play Salome in the stage direction "Salome dances the dance of the seven veils". |
| 15a | Granted // a recording, about 17 (12) |
The
numeral "17" is a cross
reference indicator pointing to clue 17d (show more ).
To complete the clue, a solver must replace the cross reference indicator with the solution to the clue starting in the light* identified by the cross reference indicator.
The cross reference indicator may include a directional indicator but this is customarily done only in situations where there are both Across and Down clues originating in the light that is being referenced.
* light-coloured cell in the grid
hide
To complete the clue, a solver must replace the cross reference indicator with the solution to the clue starting in the light* identified by the cross reference indicator.
The cross reference indicator may include a directional indicator but this is customarily done only in situations where there are both Across and Down clues originating in the light that is being referenced.
* light-coloured cell in the grid
hide
| 18a | Fascinating // stretch cover (12) |
| 21a | Clear a chessboard, taking // great pains? No, little ones (8) |
| 22a | Wander // with son, ugly little fellow (6) |
| 24a | The old lady one's // hurt (4) |
What may seem, on first appearance, to be a third person construction in the clue ("one's") becoming a first person construction in the solution ("I'm") is not, in fact, the case.
The pronoun one[5] can be used to refer to the speaker, or any person, as representing people in general. Although technically a third person pronoun, in certain contexts when referring to the speaker, it can effectively be considered to be used as a first person pronoun. For instance, the statement
As distasteful as this task is, one has got to do what one has got to dois equivalent to
As distasteful as this task is, I've got to do what I've got to do.
| 25a | Put an end to // sock fluff (6,4) |
| 26a | Appreciates // accommodation (4) |
| 27a | Sneaky boxing final -- punch in the middle /is/ dirty (10) |
Down
| 1d | Bath, // not the best place to have ice cream? (3,3) |
In the second definition, I take tub[5] to mean a small plastic or cardboard container in which food is bought or stored, the contents of such a container or the amount it can contain ⇒
I bought a tub of ice cream.
| 2d | Ratty's // boat kept in hideaway capsized (6) |
Ark[5] is an archaic name for a ship or boat. The best known example is undoubtedly Noah's ark[5], the ship in which Noah, his family, and the animals were saved from the Flood, according to the biblical account (Genesis 6–8).
Ratty[5] is an informal British term meaning bad-tempered and irritable ⇒
I was a bit ratty with the children.
Narked[5] is an informal British term meaning annoyed ⇒
I was narked at being pushed around.
Scratching the Surface
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| Rat[7], known as "Ratty" to his friends (though he is actually a water vole), is one of the main characters in The Wind in the Willows[7], a children's novel by British writer Kenneth Grahame (1859–1932), first published in 1908. In 1908, Grahame retired from his position as secretary of the Bank of England. He moved back to Berkshire, where he had lived as a child, and spent his time by the River Thames, doing much as the animal characters in his book do – to quote, "simply messing about in boats" – and expanding the bedtime stories he had earlier told his son Alastair into a manuscript for the book. At the beginning of the story, Mole ends up at the river, which he has never seen before. Here he meets Rat (a water vole), who at this time of year spends all his days in, on and close by the river. Rat takes Mole for a ride in his rowing boat. They get along well and spend many more days boating, with “Ratty” teaching Mole the ways of the river, with the two friends living together in Ratty's riverside home. |
| 3d | In technique, I fancy, arresting copper /shows/ incoherence (12) |
| 4d | Colour /is/ arguably absent, oddly (4) |
| 5d | Part of military uprising, with general // all over the place (3,3,4) |
"part of military " = RAF
| 7d | While // tough, Hal gets beaten (8) |
| 8d | Blue team /reveals/ limitation (8) |
Scratching the Surface
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In Britain, a blue[5]* is a person who has represented Cambridge University (a Cambridge blue) or Oxford University (an Oxford blue) at a particular sport in a match between the two universities ⇒ a flyweight boxing blue. |
| 11d | Two presents to wrap plus tons /in/ various places (4,3,5) |
| 14d | Subordinate // in police dept to go on hire, topless (10) |
"police dept " = CID [Criminal Investigation Department]
The setter has likely used "dept" rather than "department" to indicate that an abbreviation or acronym of the synonym is required.
Hire[5] (noun) is the action of hiring someone or something ⇒ (i)
car hire is recommended; (ii)
a hire charge.
Here and There
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| In North America, we hire people and rent accommodation, property and things while in the UK, they hire people and things and let accommodation and property. Hire[5] is a British term meaning:
she let the flat [apartment] to a tenant; (ii) they’ve let out their house. * Based on its appearance in US dictionaries[3,11], I doubt this word is quite as British as the editors of Lexico (formerly Oxford Dictionaries Online) would have us believe. However, I would think the term is rather passé in North America. One would certainly be far more likely to say 'renting an apartment' than 'letting an apartment'.. Thus, in Britain, both hire and let are synonyms for rent (a word which the Brits would also seem to use) — although the terms are seemingly used in relation to different categories of goods and services. The former term is used in relation to renting things such as cars, boats, bicycles, movies to watch at home, etc., while the latter is used with respect to renting accommodation and property. |
| 16d | Distinguished // parade meets Eisenhower, partly getting held up (8) |
Scratching the Surface
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| Dwight David Eisenhower[5]
(1890–1969) was an American general and Republican statesman, 34th
president of the US 1953–61; known as Ike. In the Second World War he
was Supreme Commander of Allied Expeditionary Forces in western Europe
1943-5. As president, he adopted a hard line towards communism. |
| 17d | Left before winning // scholarship (8) |
| 19d | Cut down consuming to // hit factory in America (6) |
Motown[5] (also Tamla Motown) denotes music released on or reminiscent of the US record label Tamla Motown. The first black-owned record company in the US, Tamla Motown was founded in Detroit in 1959 by Berry Gordy, and was important in popularizing soul music, producing artists such as the Supremes, Stevie Wonder, and Marvin Gaye.
In the clue, the label is used as a metonym for the enterprise producing music under the label.
| 20d | Quiet Yankee eats fast // enough (6) |
"fast " = LENT
In the Christian Church, Lent[5] is the period preceding Easter, which is devoted to fasting, abstinence, and penitence in commemoration of Christ’s fasting in the wilderness. In the Western Church it runs from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday, and so includes forty weekdays [including Saturdays]*.
* This is rather oversimplified as the beginning and end of Lent actually varies among churches. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, Lent begins on Clean Monday (the Monday preceding Ash Wednesday) and ends on the Friday preceding Palm Sunday (however, fasting continues through Holy Week). In the Roman Catholic Church, Lent ends on Maundy Thursday (the Thursday preceding Good Friday).
hide
In the Christian Church, Lent[5] is the period preceding Easter, which is devoted to fasting, abstinence, and penitence in commemoration of Christ’s fasting in the wilderness. In the Western Church it runs from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday, and so includes forty weekdays [including Saturdays]*.
* This is rather oversimplified as the beginning and end of Lent actually varies among churches. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, Lent begins on Clean Monday (the Monday preceding Ash Wednesday) and ends on the Friday preceding Palm Sunday (however, fasting continues through Holy Week). In the Roman Catholic Church, Lent ends on Maundy Thursday (the Thursday preceding Good Friday).
hide
| 23d | Hand // is covered by foot (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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