Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29765 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Friday, August 27, 2021 | |
Setter
Zandio | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29765]
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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 is described on Big Dave's Crossword Blog as "zany"—appropriate for an offering from a setter named Zandio.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 | Ready for a dogfight -- with dangerous canines? (5,2,3,5) |
One might consider the first part of the clue to be a more or less precise definition and the latter part to be a more or less cryptic definition. However, I think the two parts together constitute a cryptic definition.
| 9a | In need of exercise book here? (9) |
The setter mischievously misplaces the question mark. Move it two words to the left and the clue becomes much clearer.
- In need of exercise? Book here (9)
Delving Deeper
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| In Comment #24 on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Jules is Sussex points out "There’s more to this clue than is mentioned in the hint. Another meaning
of the answer is a European secondary school preparing students for
university. So an exercise book, or several, would be handy there." A gymnasium[5] is a school in Germany, Scandinavia, or central Europe that prepares pupils for university entrance. |
| 10a | They often cause bother, /being/ available in two sizes (5) |
| 11a | Memento // queen left in ice for restoring (5) |
"queen " = R [Regina]
Queen may be abbreviated as Q, Qu. or R.
Q[5] is an abbreviation for queen that is used especially in describing play in card games and recording moves in chess.
Qu.[2] is another common abbreviation for Queen.
In the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms*, Regina[5] (abbreviation R[5]) [Latin for queen] denotes the reigning queen, used following a name (e.g. Elizabetha Regina, Queen Elizabeth — often shortened to ER) or in the titles of lawsuits (e.g. Regina v. Jones, the Crown versus Jones — often shortened to R. v. Jones).
* A Commonwealth realm[7] is a sovereign state that is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and shares the same person, currently Elizabeth II, as its head of state and reigning constitutional monarch, but retains a crown legally distinct from the other realms. There are currently sixteen Commonwealth realms, the largest being Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom with the remainder being smaller Caribbean and Pacific island nations.
Thus Queen Elizabeth signs her name as 'Elizabeth R' as seen here on Canada's paint-stained constitution[7].
hide
Queen may be abbreviated as Q, Qu. or R.
Q[5] is an abbreviation for queen that is used especially in describing play in card games and recording moves in chess.
Qu.[2] is another common abbreviation for Queen.
In the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms*, Regina[5] (abbreviation R[5]) [Latin for queen] denotes the reigning queen, used following a name (e.g. Elizabetha Regina, Queen Elizabeth — often shortened to ER) or in the titles of lawsuits (e.g. Regina v. Jones, the Crown versus Jones — often shortened to R. v. Jones).
* A Commonwealth realm[7] is a sovereign state that is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and shares the same person, currently Elizabeth II, as its head of state and reigning constitutional monarch, but retains a crown legally distinct from the other realms. There are currently sixteen Commonwealth realms, the largest being Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom with the remainder being smaller Caribbean and Pacific island nations.
Thus Queen Elizabeth signs her name as 'Elizabeth R' as seen here on Canada's paint-stained constitution[7].
hide
| 12a | Coppers // locate writer in square by church (9) |
"Locate" is used as a verb in the sense of to place or position.
The
use of the word "writer" to clue PEN is likely to be slightly more
cryptic to the Brits than it is to us on this side of the pond. British
solvers will see "pen" as being a writing implement rather than the person wielding that implement. (show more )
In addition to defining pen[3,11] as a writing implement, North American dictionaries also define it as a writer or an author ⇒
hide
In addition to defining pen[3,11] as a writing implement, North American dictionaries also define it as a writer or an author ⇒
a hired pen, British dictionaries do not list this meaning although they do show pen[2,4] (or the pen[5,10]) as symbolically representing writing as an occupation (a sense of the word not found in US dictionaries).
hide
Copper is a British[5] or chiefly British[12] (or, perhaps, not so British[3,11]) term for brown coins of low value made of copper or bronze.
Ninepence[5] is a British term for the sum or value of nine pence [pennies], especially in British currency before decimalization [in 1971]. Ninepence[10] is also the name of a former English coin worth nine pennies.
| 13a | Dog // deposited between two men (8) |
Alsatian[5] is a British name for a German shepherd, a large dog of a breed typically used as guard dogs or for police work.
| 14a | Eggs on // fire -- tucked into lettuce! (6) |
Strictly from a spelling perspective, a British axe[5] is a heftier tool than an American ax. One might encounter either spelling in Canada.
Cos (or cos lettuce)[5,10] is a British name* for a variety of lettuce with a long slender head and crisp leaves (usual US and Canadian name: romaine).
* The British dictionaries cited either state or imply that the term is British. However, the word cos[3,11] is found in US dictionaries—although one can glean from the entries that this is not the principal term in North America.
| 16a | Catnap // where wild animals are facing west, standing in all other directions (6) |
| 18a | Retired nurse I retrained /to secure/ body parts (8) |
| 22a | Drunk and turned // out of work (9) |
Redundant[5] is a British term denoting (of a person) no longer employed because there is no more work available ⇒
eight permanent staff were made redundant.
| 23a | Down /with/ articles in EU languages (5) |
The articles are un[8] (a French indefinite article) and der[8] (a German definite article).
| 24a | One may get dropped making ascent unwell (5) |
| 25a | If you need to step on it, don't step on it (9) |
| 26a | Performed hip-hop in street raising money /to offer/ poor (8,3,4) |
Down
| 1d | Country/'s/ odd-looking regalia (7) |
| 2d | Speaks softly, // silence getting endless praise (7) |
| 3d | Documentation for person with extra land? (4,11) |
| 4d | Relation moving // from Japan? (8) |
| 5d | Kind /of/ chap that sits in shade (6) |
| 6d | One usually starts with nothing -- but this represents high earnings! (9,6) |
Telephone numbers is the United Kingdom[7]. in general, are 7-, 9- or 10-digit numbers beginning with "0".
Telephone number[5,10] (usually telephone numbers) is an informal (seemingly British) term for extremely large numbers, especially in reference to salaries or prices ⇒
When they began talking telephone numbers over my contract I was hooked.
| 7d | Who in France tucks into wild oxen /as/ a regular event? (7) |
| 8d | Hotel tosses out // person holding a party (7) |
| 15d | Forget about // crash? (5,3) |
Write off is a British expression* meaning to damage a vehicle so badly that it cannot be repaired or is not worth repairing.
* I was surprised to see this expression characterized as British as it is commonly used in Canada, but I did not find it in US dictionaries (used in this sense)
| 16d | Beefy cuts across river /and/ barely runs (7) |
| 17d | OAP/'s/ diamonds stored where East-ender's weapon is kept (7) |
An East Ender[5,10] (or East-ender[1] or Eastender[2])* is a native or inhabitant of the East End of London, an area traditionally associated with industry and the docks, and crowded living conditions whose residents are also known as cockneys. The cockney[5]
dialect spoken in this part of London is characterized by dropping
the aitch (H) from the beginning of words as well as the use of rhyming slang (show more ).
* It would seem that one can justify most any spelling merely by consulting enough dictionaries.
* It would seem that one can justify most any spelling merely by consulting enough dictionaries.
In Britain, the abbreviation OAP[5] stands for old-age pensioner.
| 19d | State // intervening in Egyptian aid, Nile rising (7) |
| 20d | Loose stones coming down on church /make/ a horrible noise (7) |
Scree[5] is a mass of small loose stones that form or cover a slope on a mountain.
| 21d | Little mischief-maker with remote turned over // lottery (6) |
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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