Puzzle at a Glance
| |
|---|---|
Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29879 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Saturday, January 8, 2022 | |
Setter
Unknown
| |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29879 – Hints]Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29879 – Review] | |
Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
Tilsit (Hints)crypticsue (Review) | |
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
| |
|
Notes
| |
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
There is some very tricky wordplay in this puzzle which is somewhat unusual for a Saturday puzzle in The Daily Telegraph.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 | Authentic // rock sounds (4) |
| 3a | Far-sighted viewers? (10) |
The Good and the Bad
| |
|---|---|
| For me, this was a "good news/bad news" story. The good news, this was my first one in; the bad news, TELESCOPES proved to be the wrong answer. |
| 9a | Enchanting creature, not female at first, /gets/ fresh (4) |
| 10a | Queen Elizabeth coin occupying her attendant/'s/ interest (10) |
"Queen Elizabeth " = ER[5] [regnal cipher]
The regnal ciphers (monograms) of British monarchs are initials formed from the Latin version of their first name followed by either Rex or Regina (Latin for king or queen, respectively). Thus, the regnal cipher of Queen Elizabeth is ER[5]—from the Latin Elizabetha Regina.
* A cipher[5] (also spelled cypher) is a monogram[5] or motif of two or more interwoven letters, typically a person's initials, used to identify a personal possession or as a logo.
hide
The regnal ciphers (monograms) of British monarchs are initials formed from the Latin version of their first name followed by either Rex or Regina (Latin for king or queen, respectively). Thus, the regnal cipher of Queen Elizabeth is ER[5]—from the Latin Elizabetha Regina.
* A cipher[5] (also spelled cypher) is a monogram[5] or motif of two or more interwoven letters, typically a person's initials, used to identify a personal possession or as a logo.
hide
A page[10] is a youth in the personal service of a person of rank, especially in a royal household.
What did he say?
| |
|---|---|
In his hints on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Tilsit describes the coin asforeign.
The coin is foreign from a British perspective. The cent[5] is a monetary unit in various countries*,
equal to one hundredth of a dollar, euro, or other decimal currency
unit. However, in Britain — despite having adopted a decimal currency
system — one hundredth of a pound is known as a penny rather than a cent.
* Collins English Dictionary lists some 85 jurisdictions having the cent[10] as a monetary unit worth one hundredth of their respective standard units (show list ). American Samoa, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Australia, Austria, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Bermuda, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Brunei, Canada, the Cayman Islands, Cyprus, Dominica, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, French Guiana, Germany, Greece, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guam, Guyana, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Kosovo, Liberia, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, the Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mauritius, Mayotte, Micronesia, Monaco, Montenegro, Namibia, Nauru, the Netherlands, the Netherlands Antilles, New Zealand, the Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Réunion, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino, the Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Surinam, Swaziland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Uganda, the United States, the Vatican City, the Virgin Islands, and Zimbabwe. hide |
| 11a | Odd characters in sect ruin POTUS -- // many are employed in Hollywood! (7) |
Scratching the Surface
| |
|---|---|
| POTUS[5] is an acronym for President of the United States. |
| 13a | Taken to court about little volume, 'English // Triumph' (7) |
" little volume " = CC [cubic centimetre; cc or c.c.[5]]
" English " = E[2]
| 14a | Solvers look for them first or last -- if not inside, unusually (11) |
Third Opinion
| |
|---|---|
| Tilsit and crypticsue, in their hints and review respectively on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, show the definition as being only the first seven words of the clue. Tilsit even describes DEFINITIONS as "What always comes first or last in a crossword clue". Despite the above claim, there are some infrequently seen (unusual) clue constructions where the definition does not come either first or last. Therefore, I would classify the entire clue as a cryptic definition in which the wordplay is embedded*. * In fact, the wordplay is so well-embedded that I failed to notice it and only became aware of its existence from reading Tilsit's and crypticsue's posts on Big Dave's Crossword Blog. |
| 18a | Obvious // schools should ban independent pop? (11) |
" independent " = I[1] [politician with no party affiliation]
| 21a | Two exercises, warlike -- oddly avoided /being/ shot in the arm (3,4) |
PT[10] is the abbreviation for physical training[10], an old-fashioned term for training and practice in sports, gymnastics, etc, as in schools and colleges.
Oops!
| |
|---|---|
| In his hint on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Tilsit should have said "Two abbreviations for exercise plus the non-odd characters of WARLIKE give something motivational." |
| 22a | Any temp should arrange to get this (7) |
While some might mark the definition in this clue as merely the single word "this", I see the entire clue as a cryptic definition in which the wordplay is embedded (much like 14a).
| 23a | Lines up the mariner's chart? (10) |
| 24a | Yours truly and mum, /getting/ fit together (4) |
| 25a | Build up // series, with Spain knocking out Italy next (10) |
| 26a | Invites // idiot to protect king (4) |
" king " = K[5] [playing card or chess piece]
Down
| 1d | Attack won't start, // by the way (8) |
| 2d | Cockney barber uses this // transport (8) |
One of the distinguishing characteristics of the dialect spoken by the cockneys[5,10] of London's East End[5] is dropping the aitch (H) from the beginning of words.
| 4d | Upwardly-mobile Mensa editor is full of // these brainwaves (5) |
Scratching the Surface
| |
|---|---|
| Mensa[5] is an international organization founded in England in 1945 whose members must achieve very high scores in IQ tests to be admitted. |
| 5d | Dodgy casino in Cos rearranged // events (9) |
Scratching the Surface
| |
|---|---|
| Cos is an alternative spelling of Kos[5], a Greek island in the southeastern Aegean, one of the Dodecanese group. It is the home of cos lettuce[5] (known to North Americans as romaine[5]). |
| 6d | Superfluous // sunscreen goes off over a year (11) |
" year " = Y [y[5];
orbital period (Pluto): 248.5y]
| 7d | Lost for words? // Before twelve, education should cover entire alphabet (6) |
" education " = ED [ed.[2]]
The phrase from A to Z[5] denotes over the entire range or completely ⇒
make sure you understand the subject from A to Z. Of course, it literally means the entire alphabet.
| 8d | Competitors are told go after this // firm (6) |
I was not familiar with the command used by a British starter* to begin a race
Ready, steady, go[5] .
* A North American starter would say
Ready, set, go.
| 12d | Period in America perhaps that's overlooked by lazy writers (11) |
The punctuation mark (.) known as a period[5] in North America is called a full stop[5] by the British.
As crypticsue states in her review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, the second part of the clue alludes to the fact that
lazy writers don’t bother with punctuation.
Three Bloggers, Three Approaches
| |
|---|---|
| Tilsit, crypticsue, and I have each marked this clue in a different fashion. In his hints, Tilsit has shown the clue as a double definition. I have chosen not to do so because both parts of the clue lead to the same meaning of the answer (which to my understanding is not "allowed" in a double definition). In her review, crypticsue has marked the clue as definition and wordplay. However, as I don't see the second part of the clue as being unrelated to the first part, I have not gone that route. I have marked the entire clue as a cryptic definition in which the first part is a precise definition and the second part provides elaboration pertaining to the first part. |
| 15d | In practice, one covers one // song linked with clubs? (9) |
The first part of the clue is a cryptic definition of a garment one would wear when training (i.e., in practice).
| 16d | Judges // free crooked fortune-teller, bound over (8) |
| 17d | Mends // past-it chesterfield, to an extent (8) |
Scratching the Surface
| |
|---|---|
| Past it[2] (or past one's best) is a colloquial expression denoting having lost the vigour of one's youth or prime. Although I did not find the hyphenated version in any of my dictionaries, I suppose as a prepositive adjective it would be hyphenated. I also did not find it used to modify inanimate objects. |
| 19d | Shifts // signals (6) |
This clue perhaps gave more trouble to the readers of Big Dave's Crossword Blog than any other.
Shift[5] is used in the sense of each of two or more recurring periods in which different groups of workers do the same jobs in relay.
While more general meanings might possibly work, to my mind the meaning that provides the best match comes from cricket where a spell[5] is a series of overs during a session of play in which a particular bowler bowls [following which another bowler takes over and bowls the next spell].
In the second definition, spell[5] is used in a sense meaning to be a sign or characteristic of (
she had the chic, efficient look that spells Milan) or to mean or have as a result (
the plans would spell disaster for the economy).
| 20d | Cricketer /takes/ six balls, with writer dismissing five (6) |
The
use of the word "writer" to clue PEN is likely to be slightly more
cryptic to the Brits than it is to us on this side of the pond. British
solvers will see "pen" as being a writing instrument rather than the person wielding that instrument. (show more )
In addition to defining pen[3,11] as a writing implement, North American dictionaries also define it as a writer or an author ⇒
hide
In addition to defining pen[3,11] as a writing implement, North American dictionaries also define it as a writer or an author ⇒
a hired pen, British dictionaries do not list this meaning although they do show pen[2,4] (or the pen[5,10]) as symbolically representing writing as an occupation (a sense of the word not found in US dictionaries).
hide
In cricket, an opener[2] is either of the two* batsmen who begin the batting for their team.
* in cricket, batsmen always bat in pairs, positioned at opposite ends of the pitch
| 22d | Scrap /or/ truce in talks? (5) |
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.