Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29803 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Monday, October 11, 2021 | |
Setter
Campbell (Allan Scott) | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29803]
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Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
pommers | |
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
I might have said,Not much to say about the crossword except it’s just what I’ve come to look forward to [in a Campbell offering]. Not too difficult but elegantly clued with two or three tricky bits to keep one on one’s toes. Hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did.But then, pommers already said that in his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog.
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
| 8a | Careless // fellow caught out by chance (9) |
"fellow " = CHAP
Chap[3,4,11] is an informal British[5] or chiefly British[3] term for a man or boy — although a term that is certainly not uncommon in Canada. It is a shortened form of chapman[3,4,11], an archaic term for a trader, especially an itinerant pedlar[a,b].
[a] Pedlar is the modern British spelling of peddler[14] which, in most senses, is considered by the Brits to be a US or old-fashioned British spelling. The exception is in the sense of a dealer in illegal drugs which the Brits spell as drug peddler.
[b] The current meaning of chap[2] dates from the 18th century. In the 16th century, chap meant 'a customer'. The dictionaries do not explain how a shortened form of 'chapman' (pedlar) came to mean 'customer'.
hide
Chap[3,4,11] is an informal British[5] or chiefly British[3] term for a man or boy — although a term that is certainly not uncommon in Canada. It is a shortened form of chapman[3,4,11], an archaic term for a trader, especially an itinerant pedlar[a,b].
[a] Pedlar is the modern British spelling of peddler[14] which, in most senses, is considered by the Brits to be a US or old-fashioned British spelling. The exception is in the sense of a dealer in illegal drugs which the Brits spell as drug peddler.
[b] The current meaning of chap[2] dates from the 18th century. In the 16th century, chap meant 'a customer'. The dictionaries do not explain how a shortened form of 'chapman' (pedlar) came to mean 'customer'.
hide
On cricket scorecards, the abbreviation c[5] or c.[2,10] denotes caught (by).
Scratching the Surface
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| The surface reading may allude to a play in cricket, where one way for a batsman to be dismissed is to be caught out[5], that is for a player on the opposing team to catch a ball that has been hit by the batsman before it touches the ground. |
| 10a | Put up // beams in the auditorium (5) |
| 11a | Desert contains nutrients? // Really! (3,8,4) |
| 12a | Model of a scene // I love in play (7) |
"love " = O [nil score in tennis]
In tennis, squash, and some other sports, love[5] is a score of zero or nil ⇒
Although folk etymology has connected the word with French l'oeuf 'egg', from the resemblance in shape between an egg and a zero, the term apparently comes from the phrase play for love (i.e. the love of the game, not for money).
hide
In tennis, squash, and some other sports, love[5] is a score of zero or nil ⇒
love fifteen. The resemblance of a zero written as a numeral (0) to the letter O leads to the cryptic crossword convention of the word "love" being used to clue this letter.
Although folk etymology has connected the word with French l'oeuf 'egg', from the resemblance in shape between an egg and a zero, the term apparently comes from the phrase play for love (i.e. the love of the game, not for money).
hide
| 13a | Famous cricketer, // wicked guy bagging runs (7) |
"runs " = R [cricket notation]
Sir Donald "Don" Bradman[7] (1908–2001), often referred to as "The Don", was an Australian cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest Test batsman of all time. Bradman's career Test batting average of 99.94 is often cited as the greatest achievement by any sportsman in any major sport.
| 15a | I gawk at thresher at sea, // a predatory creature (5,5,5) |
| 19a | Face // a fine promenade (7) |
A promenade[5] is a paved* public walk, typically one along the seafront at a resort.
* In Britain, pave[5] means to cover (a piece of ground) with flat stones or bricks — not asphalt.
Front[5] is used in a mainly British sense as short for seafront or waterfront.
| 22a | Came to // study about revolutionary (7) |
Read[5] is a British term meaning to study (an academic subject) at a university ⇒ (i)
I’m reading English at Cambridge; (ii)
he went to Manchester to read for a BA in Economics.
"revolutionary " = CHE [Guevara]
Che Guevara[7]
(1928–1967) was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author,
guerrilla leader, diplomat, and military theorist. A major figure of the
Cuban
Revolution, his stylized visage has become a ubiquitous countercultural
symbol of rebellion and global insignia within popular culture.
hide
Che Guevara[7]
(1928–1967) was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author,
guerrilla leader, diplomat, and military theorist. A major figure of the
Cuban
Revolution, his stylized visage has become a ubiquitous countercultural
symbol of rebellion and global insignia within popular culture.hide
| 24a | Show follows sort of blue // film (8,7) |
Midnight blue[5] is a very dark blue.
Midnight Express[7] is a 1978 prison drama film directed by Alan Parker, produced by David Puttnam and written by Oliver Stone, based on Billy Hayes's 1977 non-fiction book of the same name*. The film, whose title is prison slang for an inmate's escape attempt. was nominated for Best Picture and Best Director for Parker at the 51st Academy Awards in 1979, and won Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Original Score for Stone and composer Giorgio Moroder respectively.
* The book's author, Hayes, was a young American student sent to a Turkish prison for trying to smuggle hashish out of the country. The film deviates from the book's accounts of the story, especially in its portrayal of the Turkish characters. Hayes and others criticized the film for portraying the Turkish prison men as violent and villainous and for deviating too much from the source material. Later, both Stone and Hayes expressed their regret about how Turkish people were portrayed in the film.
| 26a | Rogue failing to get in // large country house (5) |
| 27a | Criminal on the run casing Conservative // Club (9) |
"Conservative " = C [member of British political party]
The abbreviation for Conservative may be either C.[10] or Con.[10].
The Conservative Party[5] is a major right of centre British political party promoting free enterprise and private ownership that emerged from the old Tory Party* under Sir Robert Peel in the 1830s and 1840s.
* Historically, a Tory[10] was a member of the English political party that opposed the exclusion of James, Duke of York from the royal succession (1679–80). Tory remained the label for subsequent major conservative interests until they gave birth to the Conservative Party in the 1830s.
hide
The abbreviation for Conservative may be either C.[10] or Con.[10].
The Conservative Party[5] is a major right of centre British political party promoting free enterprise and private ownership that emerged from the old Tory Party* under Sir Robert Peel in the 1830s and 1840s.
* Historically, a Tory[10] was a member of the English political party that opposed the exclusion of James, Duke of York from the royal succession (1679–80). Tory remained the label for subsequent major conservative interests until they gave birth to the Conservative Party in the 1830s.
hide
Down
| 1d | I must leave leading // cook (4) |
| 2d | Trouble opening up /in/ temple (6) |
In India and East Asia, a pagoda[5] is a Hindu or Buddhist temple, typically in the form of a many-tiered tower.
| 3d | Mix-up involving plastic card, /so/ ready money required (4,4) |
Ready money[5] (also called ready cash) is money in the form of cash that is immediately available.
Hard cash[5] (also known in North America as cold cash[5]) is negotiable coins and banknotes as opposed to other forms of payment.
| 4d | Braved winds // heroically, say (6) |
| 5d | Force spring in lock /in/ unlawful act (8) |
Force[5] is used as a containment indicator in the sense of to drive or push into a specified position or state using physical strength or against resistance.
| 6d | Head of department is member // to win over (6) |
| 7d | Gala // pie, ultimately, after endless cheese (4) |
Feta[5] is a white salty Greek cheese made from the milk of ewes or goats.
A gala[5] is a social occasion with special entertainments or performances ⇒
a gala performance by the Royal Ballet.
Fete[5] is a British term for a public function, typically held outdoors and organized to raise funds for a charity, including entertainment and the sale of goods and refreshments ⇒
a church fete.
These two entertainment events would certainly seem to vary markedly in scale!
| 9d | End // use (7) |
| 12d | Follow mother/'s/ belief (5) |
| 14d | Exposed, // king in small valley, climbing (5) |
Dean is a variant spelling of dene[5], a British term for a vale, especially the deep, narrow wooded valley of a small river.
| 16d | Very hot // current round mouth of river (8) |
| 17d | Arrived /and/ got ready to play outside right (6,2) |
| 18d | A grant secured by the // gymnast, maybe (7) |
| 20d | Female taking the part of male in mean // con (6) |
Fiddle[5] (noun) is an informal British term for an act of defrauding, cheating, or falsifying ⇒
a major mortgage fiddle.
| 21d | Volunteers reach island, // one in the south Pacific (6) |
"volunteers " = TA [Territorial Army, former name for the Army Reserve]
Hit[5] is used in an informal sense meaning to reach (a particular level, point, or figure) ⇒
Consumer optimism continues to rise, hitting its highest level since November 2001.
Tahiti[5] is an island in the central South Pacific, one of the Society Islands, forming part of French Polynesia. One of the largest islands in the South Pacific, it was claimed for France in 1768 and declared a French colony in 1880.
| 23d | Mountain cat almost catches a // llama-like animal (6) |
The alpaca[5] is a long-haired domesticated South American mammal related to the llama, valued for its wool.
| 24d | Some criticism over // turn (4) |
| 25d | Forward // pass not penalised at first (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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