Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29853 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Wednesday, December 8, 2021 | |
Setter
Unknown | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29853]
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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
On the day this puzzle appeared in The Daily Telegraph, Jeremy Mutch (who uses the pseudonym Jay on Big Dave's Crossword Blog) was the setter of the Toughie Puzzlc in that paper under his alter ego Logman. It is therefore a safe bet that this puzzle was not also set by him. Although the 2Kiwis suggest the setter might be NY Doorknob (Paul Bringloe), neither he nor anyone else steps forward to take a bow.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
| 6a | Noted literati possibly // all set to go? (6-7) |
| 8a | Sign Schäfer uses // confused mutual (6) |
An umlaut[5] is a mark (¨) used over a vowel, especially in German, to indicate a different vowel quality.
Scratching the Surface
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| Schäfer[7] is a German surname meaning 'shepherd'. |
| 9a | Blooming apple drink said /to be/ no favourite (8) |
Scratching the Surface
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Blooming[5] is an informal British term used to express annoyance or for emphasis ⇒ (i) of all the blooming cheek!; (ii) a blooming good read. |
| 10a | Prepare to shoot /for/ goal (3) |
| 11a | On stage /in/ temporary role? (6) |
| 12a | Where to take off /and/ dry sports kit (8) |
Kit[5] is a British* term for the clothing used for an activity such as a sport ⇒
a football kit.
* an outfit that would generally be called a uniform on this side of the pond
Strip[5] is a British term* denoting the identifying outfit worn by the members of a sports team while playing ⇒
the team’s away strip is a garish mix of red, white, and blue.
* in North American parlance, a uniform
| 14a | Touchy-feely part // before news article? (7) |
" new " = N[5] [in place names on maps;
N Zealand]; ergo, " news " = NN
| 16a | Gigantic // mummy, creature of the night (7) |
Mam[5] is an informal British dialect term for one's mother ⇒
my mam would have had a fit if I'd gone out dressed like that.
| 20a | Judge initially joining outside court/'s/ meeting place (8) |
" court " = CT [Ct or ct[2]; in street addresses]
| 23a | Cloud over // boat moored in shelter (6) |
Ark[5] is an archaic name for a ship or boat*.
* The best known example is undoubtedly Noah's ark[5], the ship in which Noah, his family, and the animals were saved from the Flood, according to the biblical account (Genesis 6–8).
| 24a | Female on farm /uses/ pitcher mostly (3) |
| 25a | Remote is broken -- /it's/ annoying (8) |
| 26a | Right to replace 50 among soldiers /in/ sector (6) |
In the ancient Roman army, a legion[5] was a division of 3,000–6,000 men, including a complement of cavalry.
| 27a | Endlessly daring language rattled // protective figure (8,5) |
Down
| 1d | Boxer Muhammad's breaking excellent // clinch (8) |
Muhammad Ali[5] is an American boxer; born Cassius Marcellus Clay. He won the world heavyweight title in 1964, 1974, and 1978, becoming the only boxer to be world champion three times.
| 2d | Figure /given by/ Defense Department (8) |
The fact that we are looking for an American term is indicated by the US spelling of "defense".
The Pentagon[5] is a metonym for the US Department of Defense*.
* from the pentagonal building serving as the headquarters of the US Department of Defense, near Washington DC. Part of the building was badly damaged in the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001.
| 3d | Turk, // outrageous female removing top (7) |
"outrageous " = OTT [over the top]
The Ottoman Empire[5] was The Turkish empire, established in northern Anatolia by Osman I at the end of the 13th century and expanded by his successors to include all of Asia Minor and much of south-eastern Europe. After setbacks caused by the invasion of the Mongol ruler Tamerlane in 1402, Constantinople was captured in 1453. The empire reached its zenith under Suleiman in the mid 16th century; it had greatly declined by the 19th century and collapsed after the First World War.
| 4d | Lay into // cricketer (6) |
Having been a bit surprised to see "cricketer" used to define batter, it is gratifying to see some Brits taking exception to the use of batter rather than batsman. Nevertheless, the former is in the dictionary.
A batter[5] (in various sports, especially baseball or cricket) is a player who is batting.
| 5d | Silent when moving? // Join commandos, perhaps (6) |
| 6d | Taking forever, // having seconds at dinner? (4-9) |
The latter part of the clue is a whimsical interpretation of the solution to the clue.
| 7d | When shot, do they lie down? /That's/ confirmed (4-2-3-4) |
| 13d | Tot /in/ poor area beginning to lose out (3) |
| 15d | Egg // container overturned (3) |
| 17d | Tree feller // an elected council member (8) |
In England and Wales until 1974*, an alderman[10] was one of the senior members of a local council, elected by other councillors.
* The term is still used in the US, Canada, Australia, and other countries for a member of the governing body of a municipality.
| 18d | Tense silence during increased // security (8) |
| 19d | Bone /in/ neck ape fractured (7) |
| 21d | Greek // sailors dropping with effect of sun's rays (6) |
" with " = W [w[2]]
A Cretan[5] is a native or inhabitant of the Greek island of Crete.
| 22d | Princess // is getting on plane at last (6) |
Isolde[5] (another name for Iseult[5]) is a princess in Arthurian legend. According to one account, she was the sister or daughter of the king of Ireland, the wife of King Mark of Cornwall, and loved by Tristram*.
* Tristram (another name for Tristan[7]) is the male hero of the Arthurian Tristan and Iseult story. A Cornish knight of the Round Table and the nephew of King Mark of Cornwall, he is sent to fetch Iseult back from Ireland to wed the king. However, he and Iseult accidentally consume a love potion while en route and fall helplessly in love. The pair undergo numerous trials that test their secret affair.
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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