Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29805 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Wednesday, October 13, 2021 | |
Setter
NY Doorknob aka Donnybrook (Paul Bringloe) | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29805]
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Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
2Kiwis | |
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
Jeremy Mutch (who uses the handle Jay when he visits Big Dave's Crossword Blog), the regular setter of the "Wednesday" Cryptic Crossword puzzle, took his monthly sabbatical on the day this puzzle was published in the UK and, under the pseudonym Logman, set the Toughie puzzle (another cryptic crossword puzzle that appears in The Daily Telegraph).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 | Lying down // as quickly as possible (4,3) |
| 5a | Empty beer containers for these traders? (7) |
In their review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, the 2Kiwis write
There is an all-in-one quality to this clue.... and that is the way I have marked it. The entire clue can be taken as a somewhat cryptic definition in which the wordplay is embedded.
| 9a | Wanting best // from Handel? It is magical (7) |
Scratching the Surface
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George Frideric Handel[5]
(1685–1759) was a
German-born composer and organist, resident in England from 1712; born
Georg Friedrich Händel. (show more )
A prolific composer, he is chiefly remembered for his choral works, especially the oratorio Messiah (1742), and, for orchestra, his Water Music suite (circa 1717) and Music for the Royal Fireworks (1749). hide |
| 10a | Small country // on radar in revolt (7) |
| 11a | Vessel /needing/ time on River Po (9) |
Flower is used in the whimsical cryptic crossword sense of something that flows — in other words, a river.
Scratching the Surface
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| The Po[7] is a river that arises in the Cottian Alps and flows eastward across northern Italy entering the Adriatic Sea through a delta near Venice. |
The Story Behind the Picture
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The Flower Pot Men[7]
is a British children's programme, produced by BBC television, first
transmitted in 1952, and repeated regularly for more than twenty years.
The show told the story of Bill and Ben, two little men made of flower
pots who lived at the bottom of an English suburban garden. (show more )
The plot changed little in each episode. The programme always took place in a garden, behind a potting shed. The third character was Little Weed, of indeterminate species, somewhat resembling a sunflower or dandelion with a smiling face, growing between two large flowerpots. The three were also sometimes visited by a tortoise called Slowcoach. hide |
| 12a | Item with Oedipal strings attached? (5) |
The clue alludes to the expression
tied to (one's) mother's apron stringsas well as the concept of the Oedipus complex from the field of psychoanalysis.
The expression tied to someone's apron strings[5] means to be too much under someone's influence and control ⇒
we have all met sturdy adults who are tied to mother's apron strings.
In Freudian theory, the term Oedipus complex[5] denotes the complex of emotions aroused in a young child, typically around the age of four, by an unconscious sexual desire for the parent of the opposite sex and wish to exclude the parent of the same sex. (The term was originally applied to boys, the equivalent in girls being called the Electra complex.)
Origin: by association with Oedipus[5] who, in Greek mythology, was the son of Jocasta and of Laius, king of Thebes. Left to die on a mountain by Laius, who had been told by an oracle that he would be killed by his own son, the infant Oedipus was saved by a shepherd. Returning eventually to Thebes, Oedipus solved the riddle of the sphinx, but unwittingly killed his father and married Jocasta. On discovering what he had done he put out his own eyes in a fit of madness, and Jocasta hanged herself.
| 13a | Drain // to make white, not black (5) |
| 15a | ESP in later years keeping old /in/ secret work (9) |
"old " = O [linguistics]
In linguistics, O[12] is the abbreviation for Old ⇒ (i)
However, a second entry from this same source shows o (lower case) meaning old (not capitalized) suggesting that the use of this abbreviation may not necessarily be confined to the field of linguistics.
Another possibility arises from the British abbreviation OAP[5] standing for old-age pensioner.
hide
In linguistics, O[12] is the abbreviation for Old ⇒ (i)
OFr[Old French]; (ii)
OE[Old English].
However, a second entry from this same source shows o (lower case) meaning old (not capitalized) suggesting that the use of this abbreviation may not necessarily be confined to the field of linguistics.
Another possibility arises from the British abbreviation OAP[5] standing for old-age pensioner.
hide
| 17a | One can relate well // to race run poorly (9) |
| 19a | Traitors getting round Spain/'s/ local taxes (5) |
Rate[3] (often used in the plural) is a chiefly British term for a locally assessed property tax.
* presumably the origin of the term ratepayer
| 22a | Skating facility shortly opening by // sea (5) |
The briny[5] is an informal British term for the sea ⇒
the vortices that suck ships to the bottom of the briny.
| 23a | Tight one is come // to cut back (9) |
As an anagram indicator, tight[5] is used in the informal sense of drunk ⇒
he got tight on brandy.
| 25a | Conservative-Liberal relationship /brings/ outcry (7) |
"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
"Liberal " = L [member of a nearly extinct British political party]
The Liberal Party[5] (abbreviation Lib.[5] or L[2])* in Britain emerged in the 1860s from the old Whig Party and until the First World War was one of the two major parties in Britain. In 1988 the party regrouped with elements of the Social Democratic Party to form the Social and Liberal Democrats, now known as the Liberal Democrats.
However, a small Liberal Party still exists (founded in 1989 by members of the original Liberal Party opposed to its merger with the Social Democratic Party) although it has never held a UK, Scottish or European parliamentary seat, though it has had representation on local councils.[7]
* Although Lib.[5] may be the more common abbreviation for the Liberal Party in Britain — likely to distinguish it from the the Labour Party[5] (abbreviation Lab.[5]) — Chambers 21st Century Dictionary indicates that L[2] may also be used.
hide
The Liberal Party[5] (abbreviation Lib.[5] or L[2])* in Britain emerged in the 1860s from the old Whig Party and until the First World War was one of the two major parties in Britain. In 1988 the party regrouped with elements of the Social Democratic Party to form the Social and Liberal Democrats, now known as the Liberal Democrats.
However, a small Liberal Party still exists (founded in 1989 by members of the original Liberal Party opposed to its merger with the Social Democratic Party) although it has never held a UK, Scottish or European parliamentary seat, though it has had representation on local councils.[7]
* Although Lib.[5] may be the more common abbreviation for the Liberal Party in Britain — likely to distinguish it from the the Labour Party[5] (abbreviation Lab.[5]) — Chambers 21st Century Dictionary indicates that L[2] may also be used.
hide
| 26a | Impressive // meow as Siamese at last moves (7) |
| 27a | Assistant // wants line put into a flirtatious note (7) |
"note " = TE [in tonic sol-fa, the seventh note of a major scale]
From a perusal of entries in American and British dictionaries, I gather that the only recognized spelling of this musical note in the US would be ti[3,11,12] while British dictionaries split into two camps. Two British dictionaries give the principal spelling as te[2,4,10] with ti[2,4,10] as an alternative spelling while two others take the contrary position, giving the spelling as ti[1,5] with te[1,5] as an alternative spelling*.
* Note that the sister publications, The Chambers Dictionary[1] and Chambers 21st Century Dictionary[2], take diametrically opposite positions and Lexico[5] (Oxford Dictionaries) seems to have done a complete about face as I have notes in my files from a previous review showing that "Oxford Dictionaries decrees that te is the British spelling with ti being the North American spelling".
hide
From a perusal of entries in American and British dictionaries, I gather that the only recognized spelling of this musical note in the US would be ti[3,11,12] while British dictionaries split into two camps. Two British dictionaries give the principal spelling as te[2,4,10] with ti[2,4,10] as an alternative spelling while two others take the contrary position, giving the spelling as ti[1,5] with te[1,5] as an alternative spelling*.
* Note that the sister publications, The Chambers Dictionary[1] and Chambers 21st Century Dictionary[2], take diametrically opposite positions and Lexico[5] (Oxford Dictionaries) seems to have done a complete about face as I have notes in my files from a previous review showing that "Oxford Dictionaries decrees that te is the British spelling with ti being the North American spelling".
hide
In general use*, an acolyte[5] is an assistant or follower ⇒
she runs the department through a small group of acolytes.
* In the Church, an acolyte[5] is a person assisting a priest in a religious service or procession ⇒
There were scores of acolytes and priests, preparing to begin the ritual.
| 28a | Row backed about Virginia/'s/ prevarication (7) |
Down
| 1d | Anxious /as/ guitar part not quite complete (7) |
| 2d | Song about Zulu on /in/ state (7) |
An aria[5] is a long accompanied song for a solo voice, typically one in an opera or oratorio.
| 3d | Suppose // one will receive letter from Greeks (5) |
Pi[5] is the sixteenth letter of the Greek alphabet (Π, π).
| 4d | Watch perhaps /seen in/ American magazine article (9) |
Time[7] is an American news magazine and news website published and based in New York City. The magazine, founded in 1923, published weekly until March 2020 when it switched to bi-weekly.
* In addition to the US edition, Time also publishes several regional international editions. A so-called "Canadian edition" which was essentially the US edition with Canadian advertising and a token amount of Canadian editorial content was discontinued in 2008.
| 5d | Be a really good person -- /or/ cruel and brutal one! (5) |
| 6d | Morse's first name /and/ last always stated (9) |
Inspector Endeavour Morse[7] is a fictional character in the eponymous series of detective novels by British author Colin Dexter (1930–2017), as well as the 33-episode British television drama series Inspector Morse[7] produced between 1987 and 2000. Morse is a senior CID (Criminal Investigation Department) officer with the Thames Valley Police force in Oxford, England.
| 7d | Ruralite wrong to ditch large // pot plant (7) |
The Etruria Works[7] was a ceramics factory opened by Josiah Wedgwood in 1769 in a district of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which he named Etruria. The factory ran for 180 years.
| 8d | Playwright born // an Algonquian speaker (7) |
George Bernard Shaw[5]
(1856–1950) was an Irish dramatist and writer. (show more )
His best-known plays combine comedy with a questioning of conventional morality and thought; they include Man and Superman (1903), Pygmalion (1913), and St Joan (1923). A socialist, he became an active member of the Fabian Society. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1925.
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His best-known plays combine comedy with a questioning of conventional morality and thought; they include Man and Superman (1903), Pygmalion (1913), and St Joan (1923). A socialist, he became an active member of the Fabian Society. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1925.
hide
The Shawnee[5] are an American Indian people living formerly in the eastern US and now chiefly in Oklahoma whose language, also known as Shawnee, belongs to the Algonquian family of languages*.
* Languages in the Algonquian[5] family of languages were formerly spoken across a vast area from the Atlantic seaboard to the Great Lakes and the Great Plains, and include Ojibwa, Cree, Blackfoot, Cheyenne, and Delaware. Many words in English have been adopted from these languages, e.g. moccasin, moose, and toboggan.
| 14d | Fine /and/ well-built swimmer (5-4) |
The dory[5] is a narrow deep-bodied fish with a mouth that can be opened very wide.
| 16d | Servant concealing crime /in/ holy residence (9) |
Historically, a page[5] was a man or boy employed as the personal attendant of a person of rank.
| 17d | Novel // about British deposing leader in holy city (7) |
Mecca[5] is a city in western Saudi Arabia, an oasis town in the Red Sea region of Hejaz, east of Jiddah, considered by Muslims to be the holiest city of Islam.
Rebecca[7] is a 1938 Gothic novel written by English author, Daphne du Maurier. The novel depicts an unnamed young woman who impetuously marries a wealthy widower, before discovering that both he and his household are haunted by the memory of his late first wife, the title character.
| 18d | Michigan port // appealingly elegant in the past (7) |
On Big Dave's Crossword Blog, many people seem to have considered the setter to be exercising a bit of licence to disguise the fact we need a port on Lake Michigan rather than a port in the state of Michigan. However, if Halifax is an Atlantic port, then surely Chicago is a Michigan port.
| 20d | Flow easily with crude oil /making/ capital (7) |
Tripoli[5] is the capital and chief port of Libya, on the Mediterranean coast in the north-west of the country. Founded by Phoenicians in the 7th century BC, its ancient name was Oea.
| 21d | Second goddess with vacant expression // still here? (7) |
In Greek mythology, Hebe[5] is the daughter of Hera and Zeus, and cup-bearer of the gods.
Especially in Ireland, Scotland, and South Africa, a shebeen[5] is an unlicensed establishment or private house selling alcohol and typically regarded as slightly disreputable ⇒
There in the shebeen they sold poteen* and punch while in the pubs, beer and spirits were available.
| 23d | Beer without head: that is // disturbing (5) |
| 24d | Character /from/ Titanic holding up duck (5) |
Mega[5] is an informal term that would seem to see more use and have a broader range of meanings in the UK than in North America:
- (adjective) very large or huge ⇒
he has signed a mega deal to make five movies
- (adjective) excellent ⇒
it will be a mega film
- (adverb) extremely ⇒
they are mega rich
"duck " = O [cricket term]
In cricket, a duck[5] (short for duck's egg) is a batsman’s score of nought [zero] ⇒
In British puzzles, "duck" is used to indicate the letter "O" based on the resemblance of the digit "0" to this letter.
hide
In cricket, a duck[5] (short for duck's egg) is a batsman’s score of nought [zero] ⇒
he was out for a duck. This is similar to the North American expression goose egg[5] meaning a zero score in a game.
In British puzzles, "duck" is used to indicate the letter "O" based on the resemblance of the digit "0" to this letter.
hide
Omega[5] is the last letter of the Greek alphabet (Ω, ω).
Scratching the Surface
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| The RMS [Royal Mail Ship] Titanic[5] was a British passenger liner, the largest ship in the world when she was built and supposedly unsinkable, that struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic on her maiden voyage in April 1912 and sank with the loss of 1,490 lives. |
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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