Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29859 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Wednesday, December 15, 2021 | |
Setter
Jay (Jeremy Mutch) | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29859]
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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
I found this puzzle to be a mite on the tricky side and needed a gentle electronic nudge across the finish line.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 | Investigates tense gangster /finding/ religious office (10) |
" tense " = T [t or t.[1]; grammar term]
| 6a | Emperor // penguins ultimately eaten by sailor (4) |
A tsar[5] (also czar or tzar) was an emperor of Russia before the revolution of 1917.
Scratching the Surface
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| The emperor penguin[5] is the largest penguin, which has a yellow patch on each side of the head and rears its young during the Antarctic winter. |
| 10a | Recall // almost always covering fine (5) |
| 11a | Strange about European Community penchant /for/ lying (9) |
Rum[5] is a dated informal British term meaning odd or peculiar ⇒
it’s a rum business, certainly.
"European Community " = EC
The European Community was the predecessor of the European Union.
Achieving European Union occurred in three stages.
Stage 1: The European Economic Community[5] (abbreviation EEC), an institution of the European Union, is an economic association of western European countries set up by the Treaty of Rome (1957). The original members were France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.
Stage 2: The European Community[5] (abbreviation EC) is an economic and political association of certain European countries, incorporated since 1993 in the European Union. The European Community was formed in 1967 from the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the European Economic Community (EEC), and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom); it comprises also the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the European Court of Justice. Until 1987 it was still commonly known as the EEC. The name ‘European Communities’ is still used in legal contexts where the three distinct organizations are recognized.
Stage 3: The European Union[5] (abbreviation EU) is an economic and political association of certain European countries as a unit with internal free trade and common external tariffs. The European Union was created on 1 November 1993, with the coming into force of the Maastricht Treaty. It encompasses the old European Community (EC) together with two intergovernmental ‘pillars’ for dealing with foreign affairs and with immigration and justice. The terms European Economic Community (EEC) and European Community (EC) continue to be used loosely to refer to what is now the European Union. The European Union consists of 28 member states, 19 of which use the common currency unit, the euro.[7]
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The European Community was the predecessor of the European Union.
Achieving European Union occurred in three stages.
Stage 1: The European Economic Community[5] (abbreviation EEC), an institution of the European Union, is an economic association of western European countries set up by the Treaty of Rome (1957). The original members were France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.
Stage 2: The European Community[5] (abbreviation EC) is an economic and political association of certain European countries, incorporated since 1993 in the European Union. The European Community was formed in 1967 from the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the European Economic Community (EEC), and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom); it comprises also the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the European Court of Justice. Until 1987 it was still commonly known as the EEC. The name ‘European Communities’ is still used in legal contexts where the three distinct organizations are recognized.
Stage 3: The European Union[5] (abbreviation EU) is an economic and political association of certain European countries as a unit with internal free trade and common external tariffs. The European Union was created on 1 November 1993, with the coming into force of the Maastricht Treaty. It encompasses the old European Community (EC) together with two intergovernmental ‘pillars’ for dealing with foreign affairs and with immigration and justice. The terms European Economic Community (EEC) and European Community (EC) continue to be used loosely to refer to what is now the European Union. The European Union consists of 28 member states, 19 of which use the common currency unit, the euro.[7]
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| 12a | Walk /to find/ answer during journeys east (7) |
| 13a | Bizarre /and/ stupid quarrels with no origin (7) |
| 14a | Engineers search new posts /for/ public transport facilities (7,5) |
Request stop[5] is a British term for a bus stop at which the bus halts only if requested by a passenger or if hailed.
| 18a | Fiercely // sound horn, confronting worker with arrest (5,3,4) |
| 21a | Artists // young reporters will entertain first (7) |
A Cubist[14] is an artist working in the style of Cubism[10], a French school of painting, collage, relief, and sculpture initiated in 1907 by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, which amalgamated viewpoints of natural forms into a multifaceted surface of geometrical planes.
| 23a | Obsessions /of/ German chap holding dog back? (4-3) |
Hans[7] is a German masculine given name*. It was originally short for Johannes (John), but is now also recognized as a name in its own right for official purposes.
* In terms of popularity of German names in Crosswordland, I would say it ranks just behind Otto.
A pug[5] (also pug dog) is a dog of a dwarf breed like a bulldog with a broad flat nose and deeply wrinkled face.
| 24a | Small fruit with fresh // flavour (9) |
" small " = S[5] [clothing size]
| 25a | South American chain oddly missing // this dish (5) |
| 26a | Shops starting to employ // attention-seeker (4) |
| 27a | Person whose work may be forged (10) |
Down
| 1d | Rather // small-minded about the centre of Perth (6) |
Scratching the Surface
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| Perth[5] is a town in eastern Scotland, at the head of the Tay estuary. The administrative centre of Perth and Kinross, it was the capital of Scotland from 1210 until 1452. |
| 2d | Descriptive line /from/ Boris, upset about article? (6) |
In meteorology, an isobar[5] is a line on a map connecting points having the same atmospheric pressure at a given time or on average over a given period.
The word "descriptive" relates to describe[10] being used in the sense of to draw a line or figure, such as a circle.
Scratching the Surface
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| 3d | Expensive case of lemonade drinks /for/ jumpers (14) |
A steeplechaser[10] is a horse or rider who takes part in steeplechases. Today, we know a steeplechase[5] as a horse race run on a racecourse having ditches and hedges as jumps. Originally, however, it was a cross country race in which a steeple marked the finishing point.
| 4d | Capital rugby player, // a buffoon! (9) |
A Harlequin is a member of the Harlequins[7] (officially Harlequin Football Club), a professional rugby union club that plays in Premiership Rugby, the top level of English rugby union. Their home ground is the Twickenham Stoop, located in Twickenham, south-west London.
A harlequin[10] is a clown or buffoon*.
* In theatre, harlequin[10] (sometimes Harlequin) is a stock comic character originating in the Italian commedia dell'arte; the foppish lover of Columbine in the English harlequinade (a play or part of a pantomime in which harlequin has a leading role). He is usually represented in diamond-patterned multicoloured tights, wearing a black mask.
| 5d | Comes a cropper holding up // killers (5) |
Orca[5] is another term for killer whale.
Scratching the Surface
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Come a cropper[5,10] is an informal British term meaning:
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| 7d | Key // frame? (8) |
| 8d | Criminal hustlers // showing no pity (8) |
| 9d | Brass-rubbers* may be so described /as/ artists (14) |
I would call this clue a cryptic definition consisting of a loose or whimsical definition and a precise definition.
A brass rubber* is a practitioner of brass rubbing[10], the taking of an impression of an engraved brass tablet or plaque by placing a piece of paper over it and rubbing the paper with graphite, heelball (a black waxy substance used by shoemakers to blacken the edges of heels and soles), or chalk.
* Although puzzles appearing in The Daily Telegraph are supposed to use spelling found in The Chambers Dictionary, this term is spelled without a hyphen in my edition of The Chambers Dictionary.
An impressionist[5] is a painter who is an exponent of impressionism[5], a style or movement in painting originating in France in the 1860s, characterized by a concern with depicting the visual impression of the moment, especially in terms of the shifting effect of light and colour.
| 15d | Fake // copy finally found in battered tin chest (9) |
| 16d | Robs // drink, depressed by criticism (6,2) |
"drink " = SUP
As a verb, sup[5] is a dated or Northern English term meaning to take (drink or liquid food) by sips or spoonfuls ⇒ (i)
As a noun, sup[5] means
As a verb, sup[5] is a dated or Northern English term meaning to take (drink or liquid food) by sips or spoonfuls ⇒ (i)
she supped up her soup delightedly; (ii)
he was supping straight from the bottle.
As a noun, sup[5] means
- a sip of liquid ⇒
he took another sup of wine
- (in Northern England or Ireland) an alcoholic drink ⇒
the latest sup from those blokes at the brewery
Stick[5] is an informal British term denoting severe criticism or treatment ⇒
I took a lot of stick from the press.
| 17d | Line crossed by Aussie mates /is/ absolute nonsense (8) |
" line " = L [l.[5]; in textual references ⇒
l. 648]
In Britain, mate[5]—in addition to meaning a person’s husband, wife, or other sexual partner—can also be an informal term for a friend or companion ⇒
my best mate Steve.
Cobber[5] is an informal Australian and New Zealand term for a companion or friend (often used as a form of address between men) ⇒
G'day cobbers!
Cobblers[10] is British slang for rubbish or nonsense ⇒
a load of old cobblers; cobblers[10] is also British slang for balls (testicles).
Origin: from rhyming slang* cobblers' awls ⇒ balls
* Rhyming slang is formed by rhyming a phrase (in this case "cobblers' awls") with a word (in this case "balls"); the rhyming word in the phrase is then typically dropped (with the result, in this case, being "cobblers").
In a usage note, Collins English Dictionary informs us "The use of cobblers meaning 'nonsense' is so mild that hardly anyone these days is likely to be offended
by it. Most people are probably unaware of its rhyming-slang association with 'balls',
and therefore take it at its face value as a more colourful synonym for 'nonsense'.
The classic formulation 'a load of (old) cobblers' seems to be particularly popular
in the tabloid press."
By the way, balls[10] itself is a (more universal) slang term for nonsense.
In a usage note pertaining to the word balls, Collins English Dictionary
informs us "Both its anatomical senses and its various extended senses
nowadays have far less impact than they used to, and seem unlikely to
cause offence, though some older or more conservative people may
object."
| 19d | Unusually impulsive VIP missing // breakfast? (6) |
The "?" indicates this is a definition by example; that is, we are looking not for a synonym for "breakfast" but for an example of breakfast.
Muesli[5] is a mainly British term for a mixture of oats and other cereals, dried fruit, and nuts, eaten with milk at breakfast.
What did he say?
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In Comment 3 on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, {reviewer} writesIf not a convention, it is certainly a common practice. However, not one that is used today.Isn’t the convention for 19d to require a secondary anagram indicator where the letters to be removed (in this case VIP) don’t appear in the source word in the same order?. |
| 20d | Book // one's first-class -- that's a surprise (6) |
"first-class " = AI [originally a ship classification (A1)]
Isaiah[5] is a book of the Bible containing the prophecies of Isaiah* and, it is generally thought, those of at least one later prophet.
* Isaiah[5] was a major Hebrew prophet of Judah in the 8th century BC, who taught the supremacy of the God of Israel and emphasized the moral demands on worshippers.
| 22d | So far // yet // not moving (5) |
This clue is a triple definition (which escaped the 2Kiwis in their review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog).
In a double or triple definition, the definitions in the clue should not be synonyms of each other. While "so far" and "yet" are synonyms and mean still in the sense of up to this point in time, "yet" can also mean still in a couple of other senses which are not synonymous with "so far":
- even (used to emphasize increase or repetition) ⇒
snow, snow, and yet more snow
- in spite of that or nevertheless ⇒
‘every week she gets worse, and yet it could go on for years
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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