Puzzle at a Glance
| |
|---|---|
Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29867 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Friday, December 24, 2021 | |
Setter
silvanus | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29867]
| |
Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
Deep Threat | |
BD rating
| |
| Difficulty - ★★ | Enjoyment - ★★★ |
Falcon's experience
┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐
███████████████████████████████████ └────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘ | |
|
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
| |
Introduction
For what was a Christmas Eve puzzle in the UK, the seasonal references are minimal. Despite it being a fairly benign offering today, I did need a gentle nudge to get me 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 | |
|
|
| Click here for further explanation and usage examples of markup conventions used on this blog. | |
Across
| 1a | Detective /emerging from/ helicopter with our suspect (7,6) |
Hercule Poirot[7] is a fictional Belgian detective, created by Agatha Christie. Poirot is one of Christie's most famous and long-lived characters, appearing in 33 novels, one play (Black Coffee), and more than 50 short stories published between 1920 and 1975.
| 10a | Trial engulfs European politician /in/ storm (7) |
"European " = E [as in E number]
E[1,2] is the abbreviation for European (as in E number*).
* An E number[1,4,10,14] (or E-number[2,5]) is any of various identification codes required by EU law, consisting of the letter E (for European) followed by a number, that are used to denote food additives such as colourings and preservatives (but excluding flavourings) that have been approved by the European Union.
hide
E[1,2] is the abbreviation for European (as in E number*).
* An E number[1,4,10,14] (or E-number[2,5]) is any of various identification codes required by EU law, consisting of the letter E (for European) followed by a number, that are used to denote food additives such as colourings and preservatives (but excluding flavourings) that have been approved by the European Union.
hide
" politician " = MP[5] [Member of Parliament]
What did he say?
| |
|---|---|
In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Deep Threat describes the trial asTest[5] (short for Test match[5]) denotes an international cricket or rugby match, typically one of a series, played between teams representing two different countries.The sort .. that the England cricket team is failing in Australia. |
| 11a | Student /requiring/ support to install shower (7) |
| 12a | Detected by auditors, hiding-place /for/ money (4) |
| 13a | Spirit // voice (5) |
| 14a | TV show that gets one into a lather? (4) |
| 17a | Cricket teams /in/ prime fitness at last (7) |
A prime[5] (short for prime number[3,5]) is a positive integer that is greater than 1 and is not divisible without a remainder by any positive integer other than itself and 1 (e.g. 2, 3, 5, 7, 11).
Eleven[5] (often appearing as a Roman numeral XI) is the number of players in* a cricket[7] side [team] or an Association football[7] [soccer] team — and is frequently used as a metonym for such a team ⇒
at cricket I played in the first eleven.
* Note that, in Britain, the words "side" and "team" are synonymous and a player is said to be "in a side" or "in a team" rather than "on a team" as one would say in North America.
| 18a | Fifty tucking into hot // Christmas food (7) |
Stollen[7] is a fruit bread of nuts, spices, and dried or candied fruit, coated with powdered sugar or icing sugar. It is a traditional German bread eaten during the Christmas season.
| 19a | Club perhaps provided source of financial // capital (7) |
Cardiff[5] is the capital of Wales, a seaport on the Bristol Channel.
| 22a | Exhibition of setter's skills displayed here? (3,4) |
| 24a | A little optional something // in addition (4) |
| 25a | Single // redundant worker being released (5) |
Redundant[5] is a British term denoting (of a person) no longer employed because there is no more work available ⇒
eight permanent staff were made redundant.
"worker " = ANT
The terms "worker" and "social worker" are commonly used in cryptic crossword puzzles to clue ANT or BEE.
A worker[5] is a neuter or undeveloped female bee, wasp, ant, or other social insect, large numbers of which do the basic work of the colony.
In crossword puzzles, "worker" will most frequently be used to clue ANT and occasionally BEE but I have yet to see it used to clue WASP. Of course, "worker" is sometimes also used to clue HAND or MAN.
hide
The terms "worker" and "social worker" are commonly used in cryptic crossword puzzles to clue ANT or BEE.
A worker[5] is a neuter or undeveloped female bee, wasp, ant, or other social insect, large numbers of which do the basic work of the colony.
In crossword puzzles, "worker" will most frequently be used to clue ANT and occasionally BEE but I have yet to see it used to clue WASP. Of course, "worker" is sometimes also used to clue HAND or MAN.
hide
| 26a | Herb // swallowed finally with difficulty (4) |
Ill[5] (usually ills) is used in the sense of a problem or misfortune ⇒
a lengthy work on the ills of society.
| 29a | Energy needed by snooker player possibly /in/ decline (2,2,3) |
In billiards and snooker, pot[5] means to strike (a ball) into a pocket ⇒
he failed to pot a red at close range.
The wordplay is most effective when read as an entire phrase denoting the "GO [needed] TO POT" a ball.
| 30a | Mum loves employing rag mop regularly /as/ cleaner (7) |
" love " = O [love[5]; nil score in tennis]
| 31a | State // running Austrian school, having sacked Head (5,8) |
Down
| 2d | Graduates seen cavorting outside, // all together (2,5) |
| 3d | Boasted /in/ company (4) |
| 4d | Young son // scatters rubbish untidily about (7) |
| 5d | Customers /of/ SPAR not fickle (7) |
Scratching the Surface
| |
|---|---|
| SPAR[7] is a Dutch multinational that provides branding, supplies and support services for independently owned and operated food retail stores. A Spar shop may be owned independently, by a franchisee, or be part of a chain, depending on the model applied in any given country. It was founded in the Netherlands in 1932 and now consists of more than 13,500 stores in 48 countries (none of which, it appears, are in the Americas). |
| 6d | Country, // near ruin at intervals, that's on the rise (4) |
| 7d | Confess on purpose // action proving personally disadvantageous (3,4) |
Own goal[5,10] is an informal British term for any action that results in disadvantage to the person who took it or to a party, group, etc with which that person is associated.
Origin: In soccer, an own goal[10] is a goal scored by a player accidentally playing the ball into their own team's net.
| 8d | Standard conversation /in/ market with traders (5,8) |
Here and There
| |
|---|---|
| I expect this clue would be more cryptic in the UK where the allusion to the stock market would likely not be so readily evident as there a trader[5] is a person who buys and sells any type of goods, not only currency or shares. |
| 9d | Sound almost excited feeding small, sad-looking // tree (7,6) |
What did he say?
| |
|---|---|
In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Deep Threat describes the sound in question asI am very familiar with the use of the term ping[10] in computing where it means to send a test message to (a computer or server) in order to check whether it is responding or how long it takes it to respond.a four-letter word used these days for the sound you don’t want to hear from Test and Trace. However, as in the case of many technical terms, ping[5] seems to have slipped into common parlance—at least in the UK—with a less technical meaning, namely to send an electronic message to (someone) ⇒ at least a dozen people have pinged me or called to tell me this. In his comment, Deep Threat is not referring to just any old electronic message but rather to a very specific example of an electronic message—one received through Britain's National Health Service (NHS) Coronavirus test-and-trace system app[b]. This is an exposure notification app that works similarly to the COVID Alert app deployed in Canada. As explained on the BBC News website: "If you have the app, and you spend enough time close to another person
using it, you will receive a "ping" alert if they later test positive
for Covid... If you are "pinged" you're advised - but not legally obliged - to self-isolate for 10 days." [b] "Coronavirus: How does the NHS test-and-trace system and app work?", BBC News |
| 15d | One granting wishes /of/ a German, say, to go north (5) |
| 16d | Not entirely neglect // fashion (5) |
| 20d | Dish, // excessive starter of olives, gentleman served up (7) |
Risotto[5] is an Italian dish of rice cooked in stock with ingredients such as vegetables and meat or seafood.
| 21d | Zealot /is/ in fact a criminal (7) |
| 22d | Article of furniture, // one found backstage in theatre (7) |
Here and There
| |
|---|---|
| In the UK, a dresser[5] is not a chest of drawers as in North America. Rather, it is
a sideboard* with shelves above for storing and displaying plates and
kitchen utensils. |
In the theatre, a dresser[5] is a person whose job is to look after theatrical costumes and help actors to dress*.
* Thus someone who is found backstage.
| 23d | Reportedly Berlin chap's address has identity code // that secures locks (7) |
Herr[5] is a title or form of address used of or to a German-speaking man, corresponding to Mr and also used before a rank or occupation ⇒ (i)
good morning, Herr Weber; (ii)
my trip with the Herr Doktor was postponed.
| 27d | Quarrel /that's/ quick blows over (4) |
| 28d | High // time Rosalind essentially left (4) |
" time " = T [t[1]]
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
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.