Puzzle at a Glance
| |
|---|---|
Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29776 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Thursday, September 9, 2021 | |
Setter
Giovanni (Don Manley) | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29776]
| |
Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
Miffypops | |
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
| |
Introduction
This is a puzzle where I believe I threw in the towel too early. A bit more perseverance might well have allowed at least one more clue to be solved unaided.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 | |
|
|
| Click here for further explanation and usage examples of markup conventions used on this blog. | |
Across
| 1a | One's charged for transport (8,3) |
| 7a | Noble fellow /with/ female relation by river (7) |
Gran[5] is an informal British term for one's grandmother*.
* While it may seem obvious, the term is not found in most of my US dictionaries.
The Dee[5,7] could be any of several rivers in Scotland and England — not to mention Ireland and Australia, the most prominent being:
- a river in northeastern Scotland, which rises in the Grampian Mountains and flows eastwards past Balmoral Castle to the North Sea at Aberdeen
- a river that rises in North Wales and flows into England, past Chester and on into the Irish Sea
A grandee[5] is specifically a Spanish or Portuguese nobleman of the highest rank or, more generally, any person of high rank or eminence ⇒
several City grandees and eminent lawyers.
| 8a | Went round // rubbish deposited by an old rocker (7) |
Rubbish[3,4,11] and rot[3,4,11] are used in the sense of nonsense (foolish or pointless words or speech).
Ted[2] is short for Teddy boy[5], a slang term originally applied to a young man belonging to a subculture in 1950s Britain characterized by a style of dress based on Edwardian fashion (typically with drainpipe trousers, bootlace tie, and hair slicked up in a quiff* and a liking for rock-and-roll music. Judging by the entry in the Chambers 21st Century Dictionary, it would appear that the term Teddy boy[2] is now applied to any unruly or rowdy adolescent male.
Origin: The name comes from Teddy, pet form of the given name Edward (with reference to Edward VII's reign).
* Quiff[3,4] is a chiefly British term for a prominent tuft of hair, especially one brushed up above the forehead.
| 10a | Surprises /in/ a street when meeting dogs with no lead (8) |
Scratching the Surface
| |
|---|---|
Lead[5] is a British* term for leash, a strap or cord for restraining and guiding a dog or other domestic animal ⇒ the dog is our constant walking companion and is always kept on a lead. * Despite being characterized as a British term by Lexico (Oxford Dictionaries), lead[3] is defined in The American Heritage Dictionary as another name for a leash. |
| 11a | People living nearby // their pubs? (6) |
The underlining fails to fully capture the subtlety of this clue which is a play on two meanings of the word local:
- A local[5] is an inhabitant of a particular area or neighbourhood ⇒
the street was full of locals and tourists
. -
Local[5] is an informal British term for a pub convenient to a person’s home ⇒
had a pint in the local
.
| 13a | Nail /in/ food (4) |
Tack[10] is an informal term for food, especially when regarded as inferior or distasteful.
| 14a | 'Orrible situation returning -- flier gets round it -- // that brings relief (10) |
An aitch (H) dropped by the setter in the clue—in imitation of cockney
speech mannerisms (show more )—indicates that the solver must also drop one in the solution.
A cockney[5,10] is a native of East London [specifically that part of East London known as the East End[5]], traditionally one born within hearing of Bow Bells (the bells of St Mary-le-Bow[7] church).
The cockney[5] dialect is characterized by dropping the aitch (H) from the beginning of words as well as the use of rhyming slang[5], a type of slang that replaces words with rhyming words or phrases, typically with the rhyming element omitted. For example, butcher’s, short for butcher’s hook, means ‘look’ in cockney rhyming slang.
hide
A cockney[5,10] is a native of East London [specifically that part of East London known as the East End[5]], traditionally one born within hearing of Bow Bells (the bells of St Mary-le-Bow[7] church).
The cockney[5] dialect is characterized by dropping the aitch (H) from the beginning of words as well as the use of rhyming slang[5], a type of slang that replaces words with rhyming words or phrases, typically with the rhyming element omitted. For example, butcher’s, short for butcher’s hook, means ‘look’ in cockney rhyming slang.
hide
| 16a | Change // regular pattern of succession with any number dropping out (10) |
"any number " = N [mathematical symbol]
| 18a | Home west of California? // His home's way south of there! (4) |
An Inca[5] is a member of a South American Indian people who were living in the central Andes before the Spanish conquest.
Second Opinion
| |
|---|---|
| In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Miffypops suggests that "west of California" indicates CA ("The two letters on the left or west side of the word [California]"). My take is that CA is a known abbreviation for California and that "west of" indicates that the IN is placed west of or to the left of CA. |
| 21a | Deal only half done -- is America involved /in/ neglect? (6) |
| 22a | Pearl /has/ shed tears in front of banker (8) |
Banker is used here as a whimsical Crosswordland term for a river — something that has banks. After all, if a tanker is something that has tanks then does it not logically follow that a banker must be something that has banks.
The River Ure[7] is a stream in North Yorkshire, England, approximately 74 miles (119 km) long from its source to the point where it changes name to the River Ouse.
Post Mortem
| |
|---|---|
| I suspected the "banker" would be a river and, from the checking letters, I figured the stream I needed was either the Ure or the Ouse—which just happen to be the names of different sections of the same river. However, it never occurred to me that "shed" could be an anagram indicator. While shed does denote a transformation, it is through a process of discarding a part of the original and not by rearranging the components of the original. |
| 24a | Second victory against England finally? The French // cheat! (7) |
"the French " = LE [French definite article]
| 25a | Rite man devised /in/ religious tower (7) |
A minaret[5] is a slender tower, typically part of a mosque, with a balcony from which a muezzin* calls Muslims to prayer.
| 26a | Water supply needed by land near building -- // large increase (11) |
Down
| 1d | What could be laciest // piece of stretchy material (7) |
| 2d | Headless chaps, almost totally sloshed -- // a feature of American sport (3,3) |
In North American—not merely American—football, an end run[5] is an attempt by the ball carrier to run around the end of the defensive line.
| 3d | It enables one to get an angle on the situation (10) |
A theodolite[5] is a surveying instrument with a rotating telescope for measuring horizontal and vertical angles.
Easy If You Know It!
| |
|---|---|
| Having spent two summers while in university working on a survey crew, the answer popped immediately to mind. I doubt that would be the case for many. |
| 4d | Small container // brought up in morning (4) |
An inro[5] is an ornamental box with compartments for items such as seals and medicines, worn suspended from a girdle [a belt not a corset] as part of traditional Japanese dress.
| 5d | Sort of Christian // jazz fan about to embrace non-Christian festival (8) |
Cat[5] is an informal North American term (especially among jazz enthusiasts) for a man ⇒ (i)
this West Coast cat had managed him since the early 80s; (ii)
the cat went crazy on the horn.
* As can be seen from the usage examples, the term cat does not apply solely to jazz fans, but to performers and others associated with jazz as well. In fact, none of the nine usage examples provided by Lexico (Oxford Dictionaries) specifically relates to fans and almost all specifically mention performers.
Holi[5] is a Hindu spring festival celebrated in February or March in honour of Krishna.
| 6d | Soldiers with land vehicle -- soldiers to leave, // pull back (7) |
| 7d | Big beasts // somehow adapting as necessary originally (5,6) |
Giant panda is another name for the panda[5], a large bearlike mammal with characteristic black and white markings, native to certain mountain forests in China. It feeds almost entirely on bamboo and has become increasingly rare.
| 9d | Smart maiden worked out // way to decrease international danger maybe? (11) |
| 12d | Certain plays // made morals uncertain (10) |
| 15d | Military post // is set up in troubled period (8) |
In Spain and Spanish America, a presidio[5] is a fortified military settlement.
| 17d | Volunteers, smart, /needed for/ sampling wine? (7) |
"volunteers " = TA [Territorial Army, former name for the Army Reserve]
| 19d | 'Nervy', tense inside, // sitting on the fence? (7) |
| 20d | Snack -- // hopeless ultimately for giving to famous body-builder? (6) |
Arnold "Arnie" Schwarzenegger[7] is an Austrian-American film actor, former bodybuilder, producer, businessman, and former politician who served as the 38th governor of California from 2003 to 2011.
Schwarzenegger won the Mr. Universe title at age 20, subsequently winning the Mr. Olympia contest seven times; he remains a prominent figure in bodybuilding, and has written many books and articles on it. The Arnold Sports Festival, considered the second-most important bodybuilding event after Mr. Olympia, is named after him.
Sarnie[5] is an informal British term for a sandwich.
Post Mortem
| |
|---|---|
| There can be absolutely no valid reason for not getting this one unaided—I have encountered the British snack in the past and, of course, I am familiar with the body builder. |
| 23d | Foreign city // seen in October/November (4) |
Bern is a variant spelling of Berne[5], the capital of Switzerland since 1848.
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
I got stuck on 14a and 17a. I don’t think I have ever seen the term in 17.
ReplyDeleteSurely, you either have the clue number incorrect or you are commenting on a different puzzle!
DeleteRight you are! 16a
ReplyDelete