Puzzle at a Glance
| |
|---|---|
Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29797 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Monday, October 4, 2021 | |
Setter
Campbell (Allan Scott)
| |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29797]
| |
Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
Falcon | |
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
With regard to 13d, this puzzle was (in the words of Yogi Berra) "déjà vu all over again". I repeated the same mistake I had made back in October when I reviewed the puzzle for 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 | |
|
|
| Click here for further explanation and usage examples of markup conventions used on this blog. | |
Across
| 1a | He, a stoic, a smashing // prime minister (9) |
Taoiseach[5] is the title accorded the prime minister of the Republic of Ireland.
| 6a | Somebody touring clubs // in the past (4) |
| 10a | Action to secure both sides of dragline // crane, maybe (5) |
| 11a | Busy teashops needing to save time // straightaway (9) |
| 12a | Unnecessary // to sound off about day with nothing on in retreat (9) |
| 14a | Show lack of interest // in Irish rugby (5) |
| 15a | About to cross where French boy /gets/ a Swiss roll, say (7) |
The French word for where is où[8].
Swiss roll[5] is a British term for a cylindrical cake with a spiral cross section, made from a flat sponge cake spread with a filling such as jam and rolled up.
A roulade[5] is a dish cooked or served in the form of a roll, typically made from a flat piece of meat, fish, or sponge [cake], spread with a soft filling and rolled up into a spiral.
| 16a | Cook /using/ good sieve (7) |
A riddle[5] is a large coarse sieve, especially one used for separating ashes from cinders or sand from gravel.
| 18a | Quandary /of/ Miss Woodhouse perhaps, after returning hat (7) |
Emma Woodhouse[7] is the 21-year-old protagonist of Jane Austen's 1815 novel Emma.
| 20a | Put up piece /for/ executioner (7) |
A piece[5] is a figure or token used to make moves in a board game ⇒
a chess piece.
A man[5] is a figure or token used in playing a board game ⇒
Mr Kravchuk, who prides himself on his chess-playing prowess, did not give up his man easily.
| 21a | The Spanish show respect /in/ joint (5) |
"the Spanish " = EL [Spanish definite article]
| 23a | Dramatist newspaper chief // crossed (9) |
Ben Travers[7] (1886–1980) was an English writer. His output includes more than 20 plays, 30 screenplays, 5 novels, and 3 volumes of memoirs.
| 25a | Line among pages may, unfortunately, // mess around with one's feelings (4,5) |
| 26a | Chaplain /might offer/ tramp religious education (5) |
In the UK, religious education[10] (abbreviation RE[5]) is a subject taught in schools which educates about the different religions of the world.
Scratching the Surface
| |
|---|---|
| Although the spelling differs, I wondered if there might be an allusion to British actor Charlie Chaplin. The Tramp[7], also known as the Little Tramp, was British actor Charlie Chaplin's most memorable on-screen character and an icon in world cinema during the era of silent film. The Tramp is also the title of a silent film starring Chaplin, which Chaplin wrote and directed in 1915. |
| 28a | Playboy/'s/ name missing from column, last in article (4) |
| 29a | Hooter goes at end of great // championship game (5,4) |
This clue is far more timely today than when it appeared in The Daily Telegraph three months ago. Super Bowl LVI will be played about a month from now on February 13.
The Super Bowl[5] is the National Football League championship game played annually between the champions of the National and the American Football Conferences.
Scratching the Surface
| |
|---|---|
Hooter[5] is a British term for:
|
Down
| 1d | Keep // out of Soweto, we reckon (5) |
A keep[5] is the strongest or central tower of a castle, acting as a final refuge.
Scratching the Surface
| |
|---|---|
| Soweto[5] is a large urban area, consisting of several townships, in
South Africa south-west of Johannesburg. In 1976 demonstrations against
the compulsory use of Afrikaans in schools resulted in violent police
activity and the deaths of hundreds of people. Origin: The name comes from So(uth) We(stern) To(wnships). |
| 2d | Leaders of our Liberal Democrats, // advanced in years (3) |
Scratching the Surface
| |
|---|---|
| The Liberal Democrats[7] (often referred to as the Lib Dems)
are a liberal British political party, formed in 1988 as a merger of
the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party (SDP), a splinter
group from the Labour Party.
|
| 3d | Show violence towards // powerful member (9) |
| 4d | Calm, // primate eating nutritious seeds (7) |
| 5d | Label under meat dish /reveals/ symbol (7) |
According to Lexico (Oxford Dictionaries), a hashtag[5] is:
- a word or phrase preceded by a hash sign (#), used on social media websites and applications, especially Twitter, to identify digital content on a specific topic
- another name for the hash sign (#)
However, while the hash sign (#) is clearly a symbol, can the same be said for a word or phrase preceded by a hash sign?
| 7d | Prophet /using/ common sense about crazy paintings surrealist initially put up (11) |
Nous[5] is an informal British term meaning common sense or practical intelligence ⇒
if he had any nous at all, he’d sell the film rights.
Nostradamus[5] (1503–1566) was a French astrologer and physician; Latinized name of Michel de Nostredame. His cryptic and apocalyptic predictions in rhyming quatrains appeared in two collections (1555; 1558). Their interpretation continues to be the subject of controversy.
| 8d | Holly, for example, // enduringly popular (9) |
| 9d | Accordingly, // American follows half of them (4) |
| 13d | One not spotted in game (6,5) |
How embarrassing is this! Even though this was my second time solving the puzzle, I still came up with the same incorrect answer (DOUBLE BLACK). Not only that, I also embarked on the same fruitless search of cue sport terms. I only discovered my error when I consulted my own review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog! At least, back in October, I twigged to the correct answer before posting my review.
| 15d | Hot stuff, // colour sergeant with band (3,6) |
"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"[7] is a song written by Paul McCartney (credited to Lennon–McCartney), and first recorded and released in 1967, on the album of the same name by the English rock group the Beatles.
| 17d | Publican/'s/ secret stock inside (9) |
Publican[5] is a British term for a person who owns or manages a pub.
Innkeeper[5] is a mainly archaic term for a person who runs an inn*.
* An inn[5] is a pub, typically one in the country, in some cases providing accommodation.
I've always thought of an inn as a place providing accommodation with the serving of alcohol being a secondary function; however, it seems the reverse is true.
| 19d | Employed by London-based newspaper // now and again (2,5) |
The Times[7]
is a British daily national newspaper based in London. (show more )
The paper began in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register and became The Times on 1 January 1788.
The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times (founded in 1821) are published by Times Newspapers, since 1981 a subsidiary of News UK, in turn wholly owned by News Corp. (headed by Australian-born American publisher and media entrepreneur Rupert Murdoch).
The Times and The Sunday Times do not share editorial staff, were founded independently and have only had common ownership since 1966.
hide
The paper began in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register and became The Times on 1 January 1788.
The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times (founded in 1821) are published by Times Newspapers, since 1981 a subsidiary of News UK, in turn wholly owned by News Corp. (headed by Australian-born American publisher and media entrepreneur Rupert Murdoch).
The Times and The Sunday Times do not share editorial staff, were founded independently and have only had common ownership since 1966.
hide
| 20d | Advance warning /from/ principal teachers at university (5-2) |
In Britain, head[5] is short for headmaster*, headmistress*, or head teacher.
* Headmaster[5] (or headmistress[5]) is a British term for a man (or woman) who is the head teacher in a school.
In Britain, up[5] means at or to a university, especially Oxford or Cambridge ⇒
they were up at Cambridge about the same time.
| 22d | Pay // wife to decline (4) |
| 24d | Live // adequately under daughter's roof (5) |
Note the setter is not cluing "D" as an abbreviation for "daughter " but rather as the initial letter of D (indicated by "roof" in a down clue).
| 27d | Pair, // uneasy at first, entering function (3) |
"[social] function " = DO
Do[5,12] is an informal British[5] or chiefly British[12] term* for a party or other social event ⇒
* Although one US dictionary (Webster’s New World College Dictionary[12]) supports the contention by Lexico (Oxford Dictionary of English)[5] that this usage is at least chiefly British, two other US dictionaries[3,11] do not.
hide
Do[5,12] is an informal British[5] or chiefly British[12] term* for a party or other social event ⇒
the soccer club Christmas do.
* Although one US dictionary (Webster’s New World College Dictionary[12]) supports the contention by Lexico (Oxford Dictionary of English)[5] that this usage is at least chiefly British, two other US dictionaries[3,11] do not.
hide
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
Dear Falcon;
ReplyDeleteEvery week, I review a number of these puzzles with the dream that I will learn enough to one day be able to make a good dent in finishing one. So far, I have not come close. However, I feel compelled to say that you are being just a tad hard on yourself for not getting 13d again. You get much higher marks for explaining the background and nuances of all these clues, and providing hope for people like me when you admit that a well-grooved brain synapse can trip any of us up, even the very best, on any given day. After all, you didn't have to share that :-) Thanks for another lesson! Best always, Heather
Thank you Heather. I'm pleased to see that sharing this sort of incident does serve a useful purpose -- which is the reason I do it.
DeleteI'm far from infallible, and readily admit my mistakes. This reminds me of an anecdote about a well-known American evangelist (I forget which one) who was preaching on the importance of being humble and admitting one's errors. He told the congregation "Let me assure you that should I ever make a mistake, I would be quick to admit it". Apparently, it had never been necessary to this point in his life. I think he may have later ended up in federal prison.