Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29755 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Monday, August 16, 2021 | |
Setter
Campbell (Allan Scott) | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29755]
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Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
Falcon | |
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
It was humbling to reread my review of this puzzle on Big Dave's Crossword Blog and relive the plethora of errors I made in that review.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 | Uncle // manipulated person with no money, close to despair (10) |
Uncle[5] is an archaic informal term for a pawnbroker.
| 6a | Father and son, second // to qualify (4) |
| 10a | Exemplary // Medical Officer was first to be retired (5) |
"Medical Officer " = MO [medical officer]
| 11a | Best possible players /in/ drama meet cast (5,4) |
| 12a | Write article about a miserable // place in California (8) |
Pasadena[5] is a city in California, in the San Gabriel Mountains on the northeast side of the Los Angeles conurbation.
Right Bowl, Wrong Game
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| Lexico (Oxford Dictionaries) goes on to state "[Pasadena] is the site of the Rose Bowl stadium, venue for the American Football Super Bowl". In fact, in its entire 55 year history, the Super Bowl[7] has been played at the Rose Bowl on only five occasions, the last time in 1993! The Rose Bowl stadium is most famous as the site of the Rose Bowl Game[7], an annual American college football bowl game, played on January 1 (New Year's Day) except when New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, in which case the game is played on Monday, |
| 13a | Crest /of/ game bird, part shed (5) |
| 15a | Leave // a lecturer defending prohibition (7) |
A don[10] is a member of the teaching staff at a university or college, especially at Oxford or Cambridge.
| 17a | Last of acts tucking into casserole /in/ popular place (7) |
Hotpot[5] is a British term for a casserole of meat and vegetables, typically with a topping of sliced potato.
| 19a | A mile in pilot // ship (7) |
| 21a | Stage // right: Oscar to play guitar (7) |
| 22a | Endless wretchedness /for/ Scrooge, say (5) |
Ebenezer Scrooge[7] is the focal character of Charles Dickens' 1843 novella, A Christmas Carol. Initially a cold-hearted miser who despises Christmas, Scrooge is transformed by ghosts into a better person who changes his ways to become more friendly and less miserly.
| 24a | Anxious about /supplying/ sweets (8) |
Sweet[5] is a British term for a sweet dish forming a course of a meal; in other words, a dessert.
| 27a | I balanced precariously /to get/ ribbon (5,4) |
An Alice band[5] is a flexible band worn by women and girls to hold back the hair.
Origin: Alice, from the name of the heroine of two books by Lewis Carroll.
| 28a | A daughter with American university // grant (5) |
"American university " = MIT [Massachusetts Institute of Technology]
| 29a | Advantage /of/ golf club bar opening (4) |
A wedge[5] is a golf club with a low, angled face for maximum loft.
| 30a | What youth might want? // Ferocious setter and endless belief! (6,4) |
Down
| 1d | Young dog biting male/'s/ shoe (4) |
| 2d | On the alert, // wife thought, on vigil (4,5) |
| 3d | Tropical tree /that may produce/ most of resin (5) |
Balsam[5] is an aromatic resinous substance, such as balm, exuded by various trees and shrubs and used as a base for certain fragrances and medical preparations.
The balsa[5] is a fast-growing tropical American tree from which is obtained a very lightweight wood used chiefly for making models and rafts.
| 4d | Affectionate form of address /from/ elderly head (3,4) |
According to various British dictionaries, bean means:
- (informal) the head[1]
- (informal, dated) a person's head, especially when regarded as a source of common sense[5]
- (US slang) a head or brain[2]
- (US and Canadian slang) another word for head[10]
Old bean[5] is a dated informal British expression used as a friendly form of address to a man ⇒
great to see you, old bean!.
| 5d | See why a comic/'s/ rubbish (7) |
Eyewash is variously defined as an informal term for insincere talk[5], deception[1], insincere or deceptive talk[2], nonsense[1,2.4,5,10,11,14,15], rubbish[4,10], bunk[11,15], flattery[14], something done only to impress an observer[14] or actions or remarks intended to conceal the facts of a situation[3].
| 7d | Winning // answer had to involve European (5) |
"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.
hide
| 8d | Season // a little with a culinary herb, they say (10) |
The wordplay is sounds like (they say) { SOME (a little) + A (from the clue) + THYME (culinary herb)}.
And, yes, the word "SUMMER" , when pronounced in a non-rhotic accent (show explanation ) typical of dialects found in many parts of Britain (especially southeastern England), does sound like "SOME A".
Non-rhotic accents omit the sound < r > in certain situations, while rhotic accents generally pronounce < r > in all contexts. Among the several dozen British English accents which exist, many are non-rhotic while American English (US and Canadian) is mainly rhotic. This is, however, a generalisation, as there are areas of Britain that are rhotic, and areas of America that are non-rhotic. For more information, see this guide to pronouncing < r > in British English.
hide
Non-rhotic accents omit the sound < r > in certain situations, while rhotic accents generally pronounce < r > in all contexts. Among the several dozen British English accents which exist, many are non-rhotic while American English (US and Canadian) is mainly rhotic. This is, however, a generalisation, as there are areas of Britain that are rhotic, and areas of America that are non-rhotic. For more information, see this guide to pronouncing < r > in British English.
hide
| 9d | Former professor maybe // rues time wasted (8) |
| 14d | Hacker's threat? // Children's author admits bitter upset (10) |
Arthur Ransome[5] (1884–1967) was an English novelist and journalist, best known for the children's classic Swallows and Amazons (1930).
| 16d | Scottish town // engineering firm used (8) |
Dumfries[5] is a market town in south-western Scotland, administrative centre of the administrative region of Dumfries and Galloway.
| 18d | Separate row that includes Mike, // one not doing a full day's work (4-5) |
| 20d | Beaming with joy, // speak wildly about aid that's been raised (7) |
| 21d | Remainder // live across Uruguay's capital (7) |
| 23d | Broadcasting, omitting old // style of jazz (5) |
Swing[5] is a style of jazz or dance music with a flowing but vigorous rhythm.
| 25d | Former deed, // precise (5) |
| 26d | Briefly examine // small item of jewellery (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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