Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29821 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Monday, November 1, 2021 | |
Setter
Campbell (Allan Scott) | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29821]
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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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Notes
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This puzzle appears on the Monday Diversions page in the Saturday, February 5, 2022 edition of the National Post. The National Post has skipped DT 29819 and DT 29820 which were published in The Daily Telegraph on Friday, October 29,2021 and Saturday, October 30, 2021. | |
Introduction
Note: This is a review of the Monday Diversions puzzle that was published in the National Post a week ago. A separate review has been posted for today's Monday Diversions puzzle.Last week I failed to notice that the National Post had skipped a couple of puzzles and as a result the solutions to the wrong puzzles were posted to the blog on Monday and Tuesday. Here is review of the puzzle that actually appeared in the National Post on Monday, February 7, 2022.
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
| 5a | Make out detailed object /and/ obsolete coin (8) |
A farthing[5] is a former monetary unit and coin of the UK, withdrawn in 1961, equal to a quarter of an old [pre-decimal currency system] penny.
| 8a | In need of companionship // working in large cathedral city (6) |
" large " = L[5] [clothing size]
The Diocese of Ely[7] is a Church of England diocese in the (ecclesiastical) Province of Canterbury, headed by the Bishop of Ely, who sits at Ely Cathedral in the city of Ely.
| 10a | Some stopped alongside // pleasure craft (6) |
Pedalo[5] is a British term for a small pedal-operated pleasure boat.
| 11a | Stinging creature /in/ house, close to firescreen (8) |
In astrology, a house[10] is any any of the 12 divisions of the zodiac.
Scorpio[10] is the eighth sign of the zodiac.
| 12a | Artist // captures gold in part of tree (12) |
Thomas Gainsborough[5] (1727–1788) was an English painter. He was known for his society portraits, including Mr. and Mrs. Andrews (1748) and The Blue Boy (c.1770), and for landscapes such as The Watering Place (1777).
| 15a | Heart-throb, // not working it's said (4) |
| 17a | Bearded // dean upset about wife (5) |
" wife " = W [w[2] ; genealogy]
| 18a | Implement /of/ inordinate length (4) |
" length " = L [l[2]]
| 19a | Professional // pulled it off (12) |
| 22a | Sublime // joke grasped by the old lady in charge (8) |
| 24a | Stand /when/ tour party brought over (6) |
"party " = 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
| 25a | Elected to go off // one after the other (2,4) |
Off[10] (said of food or drink) means having gone bad, sour, etc. ⇒
this milk is off.
| 26a | Syndicate rejected flaw /as/ way out of contract? (8) |
Down
| 1d | Air // filter (6) |
| 2d | Wine, // a pound over in top inn in resort, and clubs (5,5) |
As an anagram indicator, resort[1] (or re-sort[5]) is used in the sense of to sort (something) again or differently ⇒
children find pleasure in sorting and re-sorting boxes of buttons.
" clubs " = C[1] [card suit]
Pinot blanc[5] is a variety of white grape or a white wine made from this grape.
| 3d | Likewise // a leading orchestra (4) |
The London Symphony Orchestra[7] (abbreviation LSO), founded in 1904, is the oldest of London's symphony orchestras.
| 4d | Photograph // game attempt (8) |
Snap[5] is a British* card game in which cards from two piles are turned over simultaneously and players call ‘snap’ as quickly as possible when two similar cards are exposed.
* I believe this game is also commonly played in Canada.
| 6d | Lodged in a river /in/ state capital (8) |
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
Adelaide[5] is a city in Australia, the capital and chief port of the state of South Australia.
| 7d | Suitable for gourmets, // grill's opening -- tremendous (13) |
| 9d | Play // set in Waterloo, two-hander (4) |
Loot[7] is a play by English playwright Joe Orton (1933–1967). The play is a dark farce that satirises the Roman Catholic Church, social attitudes to death, and the integrity of the police force.
Scratching the Surface
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| Waterloo[10] is a small town in central Belgium south of Brussels. In 1815, a battle was fought nearby in which British and Prussian forces under the Duke of Wellington and Prussian field marshal Gebhard von Blücher routed the French under Napoleon. A two-hander[5] is a play for two actors. |
| 13d | Wave /from/ worried adult in agreement (10) |
Union[5] denotes a state of harmony or agreement ⇒
they live in perfect union.
| 14d | Stood up on pitch /getting/ trophy? (8) |
I suppose pitch may be loosely synonymous with bowl.
In cricket, bowl[5] means (for a bowler) to propel (the ball) with a straight arm* toward the wicket defended by a batsman, typically in such a way that the ball bounces once.
* This statement would appear to be incorrect. In cricket, throwing[7], commonly referred to as chucking, is an illegal bowling action which occurs when a bowler straightens the bowling arm when delivering the ball.
In cricket, pitch[5] means (for a bowler) to cause (the ball) to strike the ground at a particular point ⇒
all too often you pitch the ball short.
The term pitch seems to denote more precision (the ball strikes the ground at a particular point) than the term bowl (the ball may strike the ground at some unspecified point or may not strike the ground at all). However, I suppose essentially the same meaning is conveyed by either
I pitched the ball shortor
I bowled the ball short.
A rosebowl[10] is a a decorative bowl for displaying roses. Despite finding nothing to support the supposition in my usual reference sources, I could only conclude that a rosebowl may be commonly awarded as a trophy in the UK. However, some comments on Big Dave's Crossword Blog would seem to provided support to my theory.
I did consider and reject a couple of other possible explanations. I found numerous mentions in Wikipedia articles to players in the Auckland (New Zealand) Rugby league being awarded the Painter Rosebowl Trophy as the league's top point scorer—without doubt an exceedingly unlikely reference. I even investigated whether there might be such a trophy awarded in the annual Rose Bowl US college football game. Apart from the spelling discrepancy, the winner of that game is awarded the Leishman Trophy (which bears no resemblance whatsoever to a rosebowl).
| 16d | Miss // holiday abroad (5,3) |
Here and There
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The British use the word holiday(s) for what North Americans (especially our neighbours south of the border) would call vacation[5]. (read more )
Holiday[5,10] (often holidays) is a chiefly British term for a period in which a break is taken from work or studies for rest, travel, or recreation ⇒ (i) I spent my summer holidays on a farm; (ii) Fred was on holiday in Spain. According to British dictionaries, the usual US and Canadian term for such a break is vacation. However, I am accustomed to hearing the two terms used almost interchangeably in this sense—in much the same manner that I would use fall and autumn interchangeably. This may not be the case in all parts of Canada, but I grew up in the Maritimes and have lived in Eastern Ontario for most of my life, both areas where British traditions are particularly strong. In Britain, the word vacation[5] has a very specific meaning, a fixed holiday period between terms in universities and law courts ⇒ the Easter vacation. In North America, such a period might be called a break[7]. hide |
| 20d | Small insignificant // snub (6) |
" small " = S[5] [clothing size]
| 21d | Chess piece /in/ hand, knight (4) |
" knight " = N[2] [chess notation]
Having It Both Ways!
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| In chess, according to Lexico (Oxford Dictionaries), a piece[5] is "a king, queen, bishop, knight, or rook, as opposed to a pawn". However, this same "authority" defines a pawn[5] as "a chess piece of the smallest size and value". |
| 23d | Fish // aunt cooked (4) |
References
Key to Reference Sources:
[1] - The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition
[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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