Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29856 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Saturday, December 11, 2021 | |
Setter
Chalicea (Shirley Curran) | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29856 – Hints]Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29856 – Review] | |
Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
Tilsit (Hints)crypticsue (Review) | |
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, March 26, 2022 edition of the National Post. As this was a Saturday "Prize Puzzle" in Britain, there are two entries related to it on Big Dave's Crossword Blog — the first, posted on the date of publication, contains hints for selected clues while the second is a full review issued following the entry deadline for the contest. The vast majority of reader comments will generally be found attached to the "hints" posting with a minimal number — if any — accompanying the full review. | |
Introduction
{Placeholder Text}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
| 4a | Shook with cold // three times as much around start of March (8) |
| 8a | Last // goal not oddly hurried (6) |
| 9a | Cut vegetation indeed round hill /for/ high-speed road (8) |
Indeed[1] is employed in the sense of an adverb used to emphasize an affirmation ⇒
indeed, you raise a valid point.
Ay (a variant spelling of aye[5,10]) is an archaic or dialect (except in voting by voice) expression of assent ⇒
aye, you're right there.
"hill " = TOR
A tor[7] is a large, free-standing rock outcrop that rises abruptly from the surrounding smooth and gentle slopes of a rounded hill summit or ridge crest. In the South West of England, the term is commonly also used for the hills themselves – particularly the high points of Dartmoor in Devon and Bodmin Moor in Cornwall.
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A tor[7] is a large, free-standing rock outcrop that rises abruptly from the surrounding smooth and gentle slopes of a rounded hill summit or ridge crest. In the South West of England, the term is commonly also used for the hills themselves – particularly the high points of Dartmoor in Devon and Bodmin Moor in Cornwall.
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Motorway[2,5] (abbreviation M[5]) is a British, Australian, and New Zealand term for a dual-carriageway road [divided highway] designed for fast-moving traffic, especially one with three lanes per carriageway [direction of travel] and limited access and exit points [controlled access].
| 10a | Vexed // nuisance made a mistake, losing heart (8) |
| 11a | Outcome /of/ unsettled Ulster (6) |
Scratching the Surface
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Ulster[10] is a widely-used [albeit, in the eyes of many, inaccurate] informal name for the UK province of Northern Ireland (NI) (show more )
Historically Ulster was a province and former kingdom of northern Ireland which passed to the English Crown in 1461. In the 17th century, confiscated land was given to English and Scottish Protestant settlers giving rise to serious long-term conflict. Ulster was partitioned in 1921, with six counties [Antrim, Down, Armagh, Londonderry, Tyrone, and Fermanagh] forming Northern Ireland and three counties [Cavan, Donegal, and Monaghan] joining the Republic of Ireland. hide |
| 12a | Main // computer network in roof space (8) |
A LAN (local area network[5]) is a computer network that links devices within a building or group of adjacent buildings, especially one with a radius of less than 1 km.
The main[5] is an archaic or literary term for the open ocean.
| 13a | Benevolence /of/ sort shown by head (8) |
| 16a | World'/s /response when Conservative comes to fore (8) |
" Conservative " = C[5] [member of a British political party]
| 19a | Ride with team travelling // the Circle Line (8) |
Rather than a London transportation link, the definition is a cryptic reference to a term in geometry.
Scratching the Surface
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| The Circle line[7] is a London Underground [subway]line. At one time, the line formed a closed loop around the centre of London on the north side of the River Thames. However with the opening of an extension to Hammersmith in 2009, the line assumed a spiral shape. |
| 21a | Cut into pieces // parasitic insects inside coat of seed (6) |
| 23a | Natural ability /of/ a quiet little bird you'd picked up (8) |
The tits, chickadees, and titmice[7] constitute the Paridae, a large family of small passerine birds which occur in the northern hemisphere and Africa. These birds are called either "chickadees" or "titmice" in North America, and just "tits" in the rest of the English-speaking world.
| 24a | I clear up misrepresented // characteristic (8) |
| 25a | Relaxing occupations? (3-3) |
These occupations are certainly not relaxing when the occupiers are sitting in idling 18-wheelers spewing diesel fumes and honking their horns 24 hours a day!
| 26a | Workers keep score // using brainpower (8) |
Down
| 1d | Insignificant people // in dissenting cliques (7) |
| 2d | A lake in alpine country /or/ a distant one (9) |
" lake " = L[2] [on maps]
| 3d | Rue // raising sample of winter geraniums (6) |
| 4d | Misbehaving Mack did not harass // anybody (3,4,3,5) |
| 5d | Fellow losing head over electronic band/'s/ recording (8) |
| 6d | Uncovers // wild animals, we hear (5) |
| 7d | Gives power to // English overturning prohibition covering the French (7) |
" English " = E[2]
"the French " = LE [French definite article]
| 14d | Intermittently encounter nitwit; truly gutless // lightweight (9) |
| 15d | Toy/'s/ success with daughter followed by grind (8) |
" daughter " = D [d[2]; genealogy]
Windmill[5] is a British term for a toy consisting of a stick with curved vanes attached that turn in the wind.
| 17d | To ease burden, // consider having change of leader (7) |
| 18d | Sadly ended day mostly /in/ blind alley (4,3) |
| 20d | Section of part is tough /for/ performer (6) |
| 22d | Royal entourage // overheard in conversation (5) |
The word "COURT" , when pronounced in a non-rhotic accent (show explanation
) typical of dialects found in many parts of Britain (especially
southeastern England), sounds like "caught" *.
* This is such a close homophone that Lexico in fact uses a sound sample of the word "court" in lieu of an actual sound sample for the word "caught".
Non-rhotic accents omit the sound < r > in certain situations, while rhotic accents generally pronounce < r > in all contexts. Among the several dozen British English accents which exist, many are non-rhotic while American English (US and Canadian) is mainly rhotic. This is, however, a generalisation, as there are areas of Britain that are rhotic, and areas of America that are non-rhotic. For more information, see this guide to pronouncing < r > in British English.
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* This is such a close homophone that Lexico in fact uses a sound sample of the word "court" in lieu of an actual sound sample for the word "caught".
Non-rhotic accents omit the sound < r > in certain situations, while rhotic accents generally pronounce < r > in all contexts. Among the several dozen British English accents which exist, many are non-rhotic while American English (US and Canadian) is mainly rhotic. This is, however, a generalisation, as there are areas of Britain that are rhotic, and areas of America that are non-rhotic. For more information, see this guide to pronouncing < r > in British English.
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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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