Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29750 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Tuesday, August 10, 2021 | |
Setter
Anthony Plumb | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29750]
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Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
Mr K | |
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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* Anthony Plumb is identified as the setter of this puzzle in a comment in the review of DT 29750 on Big Dave's Crossword Blog. | |
Introduction
There are a fair number of Briticisms in this enjoyable puzzle which likely make it a bit challenging to those who are not familiar with them. Fortunately, not only have I encountered most of them in over a decade of solving these puzzles, I remembered them.There is an enlightening discussion on Big Dave's Crossword Blog concerning the indication of apostrophes in the numeration of clues. It seems that in the UK, the apostrophes are indicated in the printed edition of the paper but not in online versions of the puzzle. As I am working from the latter, the apostrophes were not shown on my printout. However, they will likely appear in the National Post as the puzzle published there is usually identical to the one found in the printed edition of The Daily Telegraph. In the review below, I have modified the numeration to indicate the apostrophes.
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 | Look after husband with sliced // bun? (7) |
I would think that a bun[5] is a hairstyle rather than a haircut—and so, it seems, does Lexico (Oxford Dictionaries). Even though it also defines haircut[5] as the style in which a person's hair is cut, I don't see a bun as a haircut as I can't fathom how hair can be cut into a bun.
| 5a | Everyone in performance /is/ superficial (7) |
| 9a | Country // engaged in informal talks (5) |
| 10a | Local creeps -- // they might leave you under the table (3-6) |
Local[5] is an informal British term for a pub convenient to a person’s home ⇒
had a pint in the local.
| 11a | Single // cat hunted a cuckoo (10) |
| 12a | Called // newspaper about its leader (4) |
Rag[5] is an informal term for a newspaper, typically one regarded as being of low quality.
Scratching the Surface
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| Leader[10] (also called leading article) is a mainly British term for the leading editorial in a newspaper. |
| 14a | Flying by US jet, Clive/'s/ not without bias (12) |
| 18a | Important // piece of music (12) |
| 21a | Ships disposing of second-rate // cereal (4) |
| 22a | Proposed spicy English // meal at a restaurant? (5,1'4) |
American readers should note that in Britain, as in Canada, table[5] means to present formally for discussion or consideration at a meeting ⇒
more than 200 amendments to the bill have already been tabled.
On the other hand, in the US, the term table[5] has essentially the opposite connotation, meaning to postpone consideration of ⇒
I'd like the issue to be tabled* for the next few months.
* In Canada, we might say that the issue has been shelved or put on the back burner — expressions that I suspect may also be well-known in both the US and the UK.
| 25a | Career talk prepared no student /for/ acting (9) |
| 26a | Relative entering that is // foolish (5) |
Nan[5] is an informal British term for one's grandmother.
| 27a | Determined // detectives in action (7) |
"detectives " = CID [Criminal Investigation Department]
| 28a | Disturbance after old boy/'s/ rude (7) |
"old boy " = OB
In Britain, an old boy[5] (abbreviation OB[2]) is:
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In Britain, an old boy[5] (abbreviation OB[2]) is:
- a former male student of a school or college ⇒
an old boy of Banbury County School
- a former male member of a sports team or company ⇒
the White Hart Lane old boy squared the ball to present an easy chance from 12 yards
‘Look here, old boy,’ he said.
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Down
| 1d | Sweet // sound of buzzing insect (6) |
Sweet[5] is a British term for a small shaped piece of confectionery made with sugar. In North American parlance, sweets would be candy[5] and a sweet would be a piece of candy*.
* In Britain, the term candy[5] denotes sugar crystallized by repeated boiling and slow evaporation ⇒
making candy at home is not difficult—the key is cooking the syrup to the right temperature. I think this may be what we know as hard candy[5].
According to British dictionaries, humbug[2,5,10] is a British term for a hard boiled sweet [candy], usually flavoured with peppermint and often having a striped pattern. As a candy, the term humbug[3,11,15] does not appear in two of the American dictionaries that I customarily consult and the third defines it as a British term for a variety of hard mint candy.
Humbugs are available in Canada, but I certainly would not describe their taste as minty. I was unsuccessful in my attempts to identify what is used as a flavouring, although I did find references to licorice and maple flavoured humbugs in addition to the "traditional" ones, the later being described by one manufacturer simply as humbug-flavoured. I think that is undoubtedly the best description one could give.
| 2d | Poorly, for example? // Not half! (1'2,3) |
Here and There
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Poorly[5] (adjective) is a British* term meaning unwell ⇒ she looked poorly. * Despite Lexico claiming this to be a British usage, US dictionaries define poorly[3,11] (adjective) as meaning in poor health or somewhat ill ⇒ feeling poorly. In fact, the American Heritage Dictionary characterizes poorly used in this sense as a chiefly Southern US term. A statement such as "I am feeling rather poorly today" is likely the only context in which one would encounter this term in North America. Not so in the UK; Lexico provides examples of British usage that I am sure one would never encounter on this side of the pond:
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Not half[a,14] is an expression primarily heard in the UK and Australia meaning absolutely or I strongly agree ⇒
‘Presumably this made some impact then.’ ‘Oh not half.’.
[a] Farlex Dictionary of Idioms
I'll say[5] is an informal expression used to express emphatic agreement ⇒
‘That was a good landing.’ ‘I'll say!’.
| 3d | Adjust cargo at sea, losing jack? // This could be the answer (10) |
I see the entire clue as a sort of cryptic definition in which the wordplay is embedded.
| 4d | Greek character in bed brought up // issue (5) |
Pi[5] is the sixteenth letter of the Greek alphabet (Π, π).
What did he say?
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In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Mr K describes the required bed asCot[5] is the British name for a crib[5]—a small bed with high barred sides for a baby or very young child.small. |
| 5d | Small uniform daughter wears guiding signal // member of the clergy (9) |
In some Christian Churches, a subdeacon[5] is a minister of an order ranking below deacon*.
* In Catholic, Anglican, and Orthodox Churches, a deacon[5] is an ordained minister of an order ranking below that of priest.
Scratching the Surface
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| In the surface reading, I presume signal[5] is used as an adjective in the sense of striking in extent, seriousness, or importance; in other words, outstanding. |
| 6d | Mocking after adult/'s/ wrong (4) |
| 7d | Legislator // left a whiskey? God! (8) |
| 8d | Smart alecs // guess why I broke no hearts (4,4) |
| 13d | Random // things tennis players do? (3-3-4) |
Split the solution (3,3,4) to get the things tennis players do.
| 15d | Spot of bother with group of animals -- half of shed /is/ filled to capacity (3-6) |
| 16d | Tattered cover did // split (8) |
| 17d | Obscure // boozer in east Morecambe? (8) |
The British comic duo Morecambe and Wise[7] (also known as Eric and Ernie), comprised of Eric Morecambe (1926-1984) and Ernie Wise (1925–1999), were a British comic double act, working in variety, radio, film and most successfully in television. Their partnership lasted from 1941 until Morecambe's death in 1984. They have been described as "the most illustrious, and the best-loved, double-act that Britain has ever produced".
Scratching the Surface
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| Morecambe[7] is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England and the birthplace of comedian Eric Morecambe (born John Eric Bartholomew) who took his stage name from the town. |
| 19d | Spirit // or beer after getting married (6) |
| 20d | Demanding // slice off European (6) |
"European " = E [as in E number]
E[1,2] is the abbreviation for European (as in E number*).
* An E number[1,4,10,14] (or E-number[2,5]) is any of various identification codes required by EU law, consisting of the letter E (for European) followed by a number, that are used to denote food additives such as colourings and preservatives (but excluding flavourings) that have been approved by the European Union.
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E[1,2] is the abbreviation for European (as in E number*).
* An E number[1,4,10,14] (or E-number[2,5]) is any of various identification codes required by EU law, consisting of the letter E (for European) followed by a number, that are used to denote food additives such as colourings and preservatives (but excluding flavourings) that have been approved by the European Union.
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| 23d | Slow, // large vessel (5) |
In Greek mythology, the Argo[10] was the ship in which Jason sailed in search of the Golden Fleece.
Largo[5] is a musical direction meaning in a slow tempo and dignified in style.
| 24d | Learning to ignore last // boss (4) |
A boss[5] is a stud on the centre of a shield.
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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