Tuesday, December 28, 2021

Tuesday, December 28, 2021 — DT 29790


Puzzle at a Glance
Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29790
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Saturday, September 25, 2021
Setter
Unknown
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29790 – Hints]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29790 – Review]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
Tilsit (Hints)
Rahmat Ali (Review)
BD rating
Difficulty - ★★Enjoyment - ★★★
Falcon's experience
┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐
███████████████████████████████████
└────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘
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
Notes
As this was a Saturday "Prize Puzzle" in Britain, there are two entries related to it on Big Dave's Crossword Blog — the first, posted on the date of publication, contains hints for selected clues while the second is a full review issued following the entry deadline for the contest. The vast majority of reader comments will generally be found attached to the "hints" posting with a minimal number — if any — accompanying the full review.

Introduction

As Tilsit says in his intro on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, this puzzle has a bit of a different feel to it than the usual Daily Telegraph "Saturday" puzzle.

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
  • "//" - marks the boundary between wordplay and definition when no link word or link phrase is present
  • "/[link word or phrase]/" - marks the boundary between wordplay and definition when a link word or link phrase is present
  • "solid underline" - precise definition
  • "dotted underline" - cryptic definition
  • "dashed underline" - wordplay
  • "wavy underline" - whimsical and inferred definitions
Click here for further explanation and usage examples of markup conventions used on this blog.

Across

1a Send // watch to be wound back (5)

4a Marine species // lookin' to catch you, ultimately (3,6)

9a Woodworker // adds fish to log (9)

10a Day at home // that's smooth and silky (5)

11a Stretch /where/ angler repositioned line, finally (7)

12a Tedious novel // ceases to exist (4,3)

13a Inexplicable thing // being in game as every other character sent off (6)

The solution could have been clued as a simple anagram of IN GAME; however, the setter has chosen to follow a more interesting path to reach the destination.

15a Terms in list // are endless in magazine (8)

18a Journalist // on carrier (8)

20a A burden // describing some clues (6)

23a Top police force // take a nosedive (7)

The Met[5] is the common name for the Metropolitan Police in London — otherwise known as Scotland Yard (show more ).

The Metropolitan Police Service[7] (widely known informally as the Met[5]) is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement in Greater London, excluding the "square mile" of the City of London which is the responsibility of the City of London Police. The Met also has significant national responsibilities such as co-ordinating and leading on counter-terrorism matters and protection of the British Royal Family and certain members of Her Majesty's Government and others as deemed appropriate. The Met is also referred to by the metonym Scotland Yard after the location of its original headquarters in a road called Great Scotland Yard in Whitehall. The Met's current headquarters is New Scotland Yard, in Victoria.

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24a After opening of trading, currency /in/ difficulty (7)

Rouble[5] is the British spelling of ruble, the basic monetary unit of Russia and some other former republics of the USSR, equal to 100 kopeks.

26a Authoritarian // back on ship (5)

27aRight in the main? (9)

The main[5] is an archaic or literary term for the open ocean.

Starboard[5] is the side of a ship or aircraft that is on the right when one is facing forward.

28a Interred, a rogue // learned new skills (9)

29a Fruity // edges of raspberry? (5)

Fruity[5] is an informal British expression meaning sexually suggestive in content or style.

Down

1d Fraudster, // one playing tennis you might say? (9)

A double definition; the second one whimsical.

2d Mushroom // added with first of lentils (5)

Black morel
The morel[5] is a widely distributed edible fungus [mushroom] which has a brown oval or pointed fruiting body with an irregular honeycombed surface bearing the spores.

3d Other plays with me, // one's proven (7)

In physics and mathematics, a theorem[5] is a general proposition not self-evident but proved by a chain of reasoning.

4d Crossword writer /in/ sun at the end of the day? (6)

Double definition; the second a shade whimsical.

I thought the second part of this clue was clear enough but it seems to have caused problems for lots of Brits. At the end of the day the sun sets and so could whimsical be described as a "setter".

5d Dog // on telly, bitter (8)

Telly[5] is an informal British term for television ⇒ (i) there’s a cowboy film on telly; (ii) a black-and-white telly.

Bitter[5] is a British name for beer that is strongly flavoured with hops and has a bitter taste ⇒ (i) a pint of bitter; (ii) the company brews a range of bitters.



An Airdale[5] is a large terrier of a rough-coated black-and-tan breed.

Origin: from Airedale, a district in Yorkshire, England where the dog was bred

6d Bacon // poor as her sausage sandwiches (7)

A rasher[5] is a thin slice of bacon ⇒ (i) two rashers of lean bacon; (ii) he cut into one of the rashers on his plate.

The Story Behind the Picture
Rahmat Ali illustrates his explanation of this clue on Big Dave's Crossword Blog with a picture showing rashers of British bacon which is what we would call back bacon*[5]. The Brits would refer to our bacon as streaky bacon[5].

* Brits also use the term back bacon; however, when they use the term bacon unqualified, they would be referring to back bacon.

7d Awkward problem, // sexy King Edward? (3,6)

King Edward[5] is an oval potato of a variety with a white skin mottled with red.

Origin: named after King Edward VII

8d Group /has/ nothing to break your fall (5)

A nonet[5] is:
  • a group of nine people or things, especially musicians
  • a musical composition for nine voices or instruments

14d Minder put off /being/ foolish (9)

Scratching the Surface
Minder[5] is a mainly British term meaning:
  • a person whose job it is to look after someone or something ‘their baby-minder is getting married
  • (informal) a bodyguard employed to protect a celebrity or criminal he was accompanied by his personal minder

16d Number in the sixties, // a short way back (9)

"Yesterday"[7] is a song originally recorded by the Beatles for their 1965 album Help!. Although credited to "Lennon–McCartney", the song was written solely by Paul McCartney. It remains popular today with more than 2,200 cover versions, and is one of the most covered songs in the history of recorded music.

17d Plane is not dismantled /for/ scrap (8)

19d A minor revolutionary leading a // nation (7)

Romania[5] is a country in south-eastern Europe with a coastline on the Black Sea. (show more )

In the Middle Ages the area consisted of the principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia, which were swallowed up by the Ottoman Empire in the 15th–16th centuries. The two principalities gained independence in 1878. After the Second World War, in which it supported Germany, Romania became a Communist state under Soviet domination. After 1974 the country pursued an increasingly independent course under the virtual dictatorship of Nicolae Ceauşescu. His regime collapsed in violent popular unrest in 1989 and a new democratic constitution was introduced. Romania joined the EU in 2007.

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21d Outfit // a huge hit (7)

Clobber[5] is an informal British term for clothing, personal belongings, or equipment ⇒ I found all his clobber in the locker.

In the second definition, clobber is used as a noun meaning, as Rahmat Ali puts it in his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, "a very hard strike or blow". However, I can find no source to support the word being used as a noun in this sense; it can only be a verb.

22d Attitude about right /for/ thread (6)

23d Model // in picture, so pumped up (5)

25d Something elasticated in // mind (5)

Elasticated[5] is a British term meaning (of a garment or part of a garment) made with rubber thread or tape and able to be stretched easily ⇒ trousers with elasticated waists.



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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