Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29897 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Saturday, January 29, 2022 | |
Setter
Chalicea (Shirley Curran) | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29897 – Hints]Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29897 – Review] | |
Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
Tilsit (Hints)Rahmat Ali (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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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.
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Introduction
This puzzle is typical of Chalicea's creations, a lot of fun without being overly difficult.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 | Puzzle -- // cattle disease grips bird (6) |
BSE[5] (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) is a disease of cattle which affects the central nervous system, causing agitation and staggering, and is usually fatal. It is believed to be caused by an agent such as a prion or a virino, and to be related to Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease in humans. It is also popularly called mad cow disease.
The emu[5] is a large flightless fast-running Australian bird resembling the ostrich, with shaggy gray or brown plumage, bare blue skin on the head and neck, and three-toed feet.
| 4a | Jettisons // rotten, mostly base publicity items (8) |
Off[10] (said of food or drink) means having gone bad, sour, etc. ⇒
this milk is off.
| 10a | Raised fists /of/ Ellington and Wellington? (5) |
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington[5] (1769–1852) was a British soldier and Tory statesman, prime minister 1828–30 and 1834. Known as the Iron Duke, he commanded the British forces against the French in the Peninsular War (1808–14) and in 1815 defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo, so ending the Napoleonic Wars.
| 11a | Exceptional animator, ace // lover (9) |
" ace " = A[5] [playing card]
An inamorata[5] is a person's female lover.
| 12a | Three articles right, // substantially (2,5) |
| 13a | Tough // outlaw left, facing hesitation (7) |
I think the reference in the clue is more likely to be to the English outlaw than to the modern North American usage of the word; the latter is simply a shortening of the solution to the clue and its use would thereby somewhat detract from the clue in my estimation.
Robin Hood[5] was a semi-legendary English medieval outlaw, reputed to have robbed the rich and helped the poor. Although he is generally associated with Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire, it seems likely that the real Robin Hood operated in Yorkshire in the early 13th century.
| 14a | Total collapse /is/ sadly disorientating (14) |
| 17a | Building anew, // deplorably cutting corners (14) |
| 21a | Kind of rice; // a bit ma's cooked (7) |
Basmati[5] (also basmati rice) is a kind of long-grain Indian rice with a delicate fragrance.
| 23a | Some cricket // starts with appeal ignored (7) |
While, in cricket, the term innings[5] (plural same or informally inningses) can be used in several ways (show more ), here it denotes each of two or four divisions of a game during which one side has a turn at batting.
In cricket, innings[5] (plural same or informally inningses) can denote any of:
The second sense would be roughly equivalent to an at bat in baseball. One difference is that a cricket player can have only one innings (sense 2) per innings (sense 1) although a turn at batting can be quite lengthy (long enough for Marsh to score 78 runs in the usage example for sense 3). In baseball, it is possible for a player to have more than one at bat during a single inning (players continue to bat around the order until the fielding team achieves three outs and if the batting team has more than nine at bats during an inning, one or more players will have multiple at bats in the inning).
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In cricket, innings[5] (plural same or informally inningses) can denote any of:
- each of two or four divisions of a game during which one side has a turn at batting ⇒
the highlight of the Surrey innings
- a player’s turn at batting ⇒
he had played his greatest innings
- the score achieved during a player’s turn at batting ⇒
a solid innings of 78 by Marsh
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The second sense would be roughly equivalent to an at bat in baseball. One difference is that a cricket player can have only one innings (sense 2) per innings (sense 1) although a turn at batting can be quite lengthy (long enough for Marsh to score 78 runs in the usage example for sense 3). In baseball, it is possible for a player to have more than one at bat during a single inning (players continue to bat around the order until the fielding team achieves three outs and if the batting team has more than nine at bats during an inning, one or more players will have multiple at bats in the inning).
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Scratching the Surface
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| Unlike baseball umpires, cricket umpires do not deliver a decision unless one is requested by the fielding side. In cricket, an appeal[7] (locally known as a “Howzat”) is the act of a player (or players) on the fielding team asking an umpire for a decision regarding whether a batsman is out or not. According to the Laws of Cricket, an umpire may not rule a batsman out unless the fielding side appeals for a decision. However, in practice most umpires will give a batsman out to an obvious bowled or caught. On many occasions when a batsman has otherwise technically been out, the fielding team has not realised, so neglected to appeal, and so the umpire has not declared them out. An appeal may be made at any point before the bowler starts their run-up for the next ball. An appeal is a verbal query to an umpire, usually in the form of, "How's that?" – often slightly abbreviated to "Howzat?" or simply "How?" or "Zat?".  The
umpire's response is either to raise his index finger above his head to
indicate that the batsman is out, or to clearly say "not out", which is
usually accompanied with a shake of the head. The 'out' signal is the
only signal that if indicated by the striker's end umpire, does not
require confirmation by the bowler's end umpire.[7] |
| 24a | Scotsman caught breaking into fruit // machine (9) |
"caught " = C [cricket notation]
| 25a | A step // at full tilt (5) |
| 26a | Adventurously // hanging round centre of Hebrides (8) |
Scratching the Surface
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The Hebrides[5] is a group of about 500 islands off the north-western coast
of Scotland. The Inner Hebrides are separated from the Outer Hebrides
by the Little Minch. (show more )
The Inner Hebrides include the islands of Skye, Mull, Jura, Islay, Iona, Coll, Eigg, Rhum, Staffa, and Tiree. The Little Minch separates this group from the Outer Hebrides, which include the islands of Lewis and Harris, North and South Uist, Benbecula, Barra, and the isolated St Kilda group. The shipping forecast area Hebrides covers an area of the Atlantic off the northwestern coast of Scotland. hide |
| 27a | Girl // checks email on vacation (6) |
The phrase "on vacation" is an indication to remove the contents (interior letters) from the word "E(mai)L". Vacation[5] is the action of leaving something one previously occupied ⇒
On the vacation of the post, the senior managers assembled and discussed eligible candidates.
Down
| 1d | Orchestras welcoming American Democrat (Liberal) /in/ South Dakota region (8) |
" American " = A[1]
" Democrat " = D[5] [member or supporter of the US Democratic Party]
"Liberal " = L [member of a nearly extinct British political party]
The Liberal Party[5] (abbreviation Lib.[5] or L[2])* in Britain emerged in the 1860s from the old Whig Party and until the First World War was one of the two major parties in Britain. In 1988 the party regrouped with elements of the Social Democratic Party to form the Social and Liberal Democrats, now known as the Liberal Democrats.
However, a small Liberal Party still exists (founded in 1989 by members of the original Liberal Party opposed to its merger with the Social Democratic Party) although it has never held a UK, Scottish or European parliamentary seat, though it has had representation on local councils.[7]
* Although Lib.[5] may be the more common abbreviation for the Liberal Party in Britain — likely to distinguish it from the the Labour Party[5] (abbreviation Lab.[5]) — Chambers 21st Century Dictionary indicates that L[2] may also be used.
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The Liberal Party[5] (abbreviation Lib.[5] or L[2])* in Britain emerged in the 1860s from the old Whig Party and until the First World War was one of the two major parties in Britain. In 1988 the party regrouped with elements of the Social Democratic Party to form the Social and Liberal Democrats, now known as the Liberal Democrats.
However, a small Liberal Party still exists (founded in 1989 by members of the original Liberal Party opposed to its merger with the Social Democratic Party) although it has never held a UK, Scottish or European parliamentary seat, though it has had representation on local councils.[7]
* Although Lib.[5] may be the more common abbreviation for the Liberal Party in Britain — likely to distinguish it from the the Labour Party[5] (abbreviation Lab.[5]) — Chambers 21st Century Dictionary indicates that L[2] may also be used.
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The Badlands[5] is a barren plateau region of the western US, mainly in North and South Dakota and Nebraska.
| 2d | Roughly shake mate // to get a move on (4,5) |
| 3d | Undergo // shame surrounding us (7) |
| 5d | Frivolous // exploit the lady's intellect emptily engineered (7-7) |
| 6d | Be vigilant, // toilet lock ultimately not in use (4,3) |
Loo[5] is an informal British term for a toilet [either as a plumbing fixture or a room].
| 7d | Make use of // a thing that conceals, we're told (5) |
| 8d | Sun at first heats up // bodies of bees (6) |
| 9d | Regularly admit emphasis on remarkable // flare, for example (8,6) |
| 15d | Eccentric relations, // those from the Far East? (9) |
| 16d | Incites havoc, // a truly fragile thing (8) |
| 18d | Old renegade working to support independent // speech (7) |
" old " = O[12] [linguistics;
OFr(Old French),
OE(Old English)]
" independent " = I[1] [politician with no party affiliation]
| 19d | Insincere talk advanced with thanks /for/ choral work (7) |
Ta[5] is an informal British exclamation signifying thank you ⇒
‘Ta,’ said Willie gratefully.
A cantata[5] is a medium-length narrative piece of music for voices with instrumental accompaniment, typically with solos, chorus, and orchestra.
| 20d | A group of directors // at sea perhaps (6) |
| 22d | Pleasant // little drink with queen (5) |
"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
"queen " = ER[5] [regnal cipher of Queen Elizabeth]
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.
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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.
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To me, the definition seems a bit understated. However, Lexico (Oxford Dictionaries) defines super[5] as an informal term meaning very good or pleasant; excellent.
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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