Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29887 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Tuesday, January 18, 2022 | |
Setter
Unknown | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29887]
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Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
Mr K | |
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
Today's puzzle delivers a reasonably gentle challenge to close out the week.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 | Reprimanding // two females after revealing nothing (7,3) |
| 6a | Party // remains behind Boris, initially (4) |
Scratching the Surface
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At the time this puzzle appeared in the UK, the Partygate[7] scandal would have been raging. Partygate is a political scandal in the United Kingdom, regarding parties and other gatherings of government and Conservative Party staff held during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, when public health restrictions prohibited most gatherings. While several lockdowns in the country were in place, gatherings took place at 10 Downing Street [the residence and office of the British Prime Minister], its garden and other government buildings. These were first reported on from late November 2021 and attracted media attention, public backlash and political controversy. In late January 2022, twelve gatherings came under investigation by the Metropolitan Police, including at least three attended by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister. More than 50 fixed penalty notices have been issued to individuals who the police believe had committed an offence under COVID-19 regulations, including Johnson, his wife Carrie Johnson and Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer [finance minister]. Public disquiet over how government staff and others in Westminster were perceived to have been breaking restrictions led to a decline in public support for Prime Minister Johnson, the government and the Conservatives, and is thought to have contributed to the party's loss of the 2021 North Shropshire by-election. In early 2022, a number of opposition, and a few Conservative, politicians called for Johnson's resignation or a no confidence vote. In February, the scandal led to the resignation of five senior Downing Street staffers, and that of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice David Wolfson in April. On 21 April, MPs approved a motion calling for the allegations that Johnson misled MPs to be referred to the Parliamentary Privileges Committee. |
| 9a | Rabbit in the sack? (6,4) |
Rabbit[5] is an informal British term meaning:
- (noun) a conversation ⇒
we had quite a heated rabbit about it
- (verb) to talk at length, especially about trivial matters ⇒
stop rabbiting on, will you, and go to bed!
Delving Deeper
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The term rabbit[5] (meaning talk) is Cockney rhyming slang arising from the expression
"rabbit and pork"[5]. (show more )
Cockneys[5,10], the natives of that part of East London known as the East End[5], speak a dialect (also known as cockney) that is characterized by dropping the aitch (H) from the beginning of words as well as the use of rhyming slang. In Cockney rhyming slang, a word (in this case, "talk") is replaced by a phrase with which it rhymes (in this case, "rabbit and pork"). Although the entire rhyming phrase may sometimes be used, it is more often the case that the rhyming word (in this case, "pork") is dropped leaving the slang word (in this case, "rabbit"). Thus, through this process, "talk" becomes "rabbit". The word "pork" , when pronounced in a non-rhotic accent* typical of dialects found in many parts of Britain (especially southeastern England), more or less rhymes with "talk" . * Non-rhotic accents omit the sound < r > in certain situations, while rhotic accents generally pronounce < r > in all contexts. Among the several dozen British English accents which exist, many are non-rhotic while American English (US and Canadian) is mainly rhotic. This is, however, a generalization, as there are areas of Britain that are rhotic, and areas of America that are non-rhotic. For more information, see this guide to pronouncing < r > in British English. As for the expression "rabbit and pork", apparently it is common practice to combine these two meats in a dish (as a Google search for 'rabbit and pork recipe' will quickly attest). One recipe I found sheds some light on why these meats often appear together: "Rabbit can be dry some times so here it is cooked with belly pork and cyder [archaic spelling of cider] to create a warming substantial casserole". hide |
| 10a | Dad's collecting new // cooking equipment (4) |
" new " = N[5] [in place names on maps;
N Zealand]
| 12a | Reach // a temperature that isn't regularly dropping (6) |
" temperature " = T [t[2]]
| 13a | Starts to reimburse everyone there if money/'s/ withdrawn (8) |
| 15a | Urges Cumberbatch, perhaps, /to get/ food (4,8) |
Benedict Cumberbatch[7] is an English actor. known for his roles on both screen and stage.
Eggs Benedict[5] is a dish consisting of poached eggs and sliced ham on toasted muffins, covered with hollandaise sauce.
| 18a | Opening statement // in court I don't fancy (12) |
| 21a | Lean right out of bed -- time /to reveal/ bust (8) |
" time " = T [t[1]; symbol used in physics]
| 22a | A slice // each (6) |
| 24a | See red // pimple (4) |
Is the second definition not making a mountain out of a molehill?
| 25a | Shaken // drink going round is Tango (10) |
" Tango " = T[5] [NATO Phonetic Alphabet[7]]
| 26a | For that reason // monster returns (4) |
| 27a | Nude except pants? // Not anticipated (10) |
As an anagram indicator, pants[5] is used in an informal British sense meaning rubbish or nonsense ⇒
I thought I'd give it a go. Unfortunately, I'd not looked at the reviews..........boy, do I wish I had! It's pants. It really is a poor program.
Down
| 1d | Heading for opera, papa wears such? (3,3) |
This is an &lit. clue[7] (or, as they prefer to call it on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, an all-in-one clue) in which the entire clue is a cryptic definition as well as wordplay.
" papa " = P[5] [NATO Phonetic Alphabet[7]]
| 2d | Left behind schedule after parking // -- sign of a new driver (1-5) |
An L-plate[7] is a square plate bearing a sans-serif letter L, for learner, which must be affixed to the front and back of a vehicle in various jurisdictions (including the UK) if its driver is a learner under instruction.
 |
| Automobile displaying an L-plate |
| 3d | Decreasing surface? (7-5) |
| 4d | Holiday house // in Strasbourg I test (4) |
A gîte[5] is a furnished holiday house in France, typically in a rural district.
Scratching the Surface
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| 5d | Felt these bats surrounding adult // -- they come out at night (5,5) |
"adult " = A [former British film classification]
The A (Adult) certificate is a former film certificate[7] issued by the British Board of Film Classification. This certificate existed in various forms from 1912 to 1985, when it was replaced by the PG (Parental Guidance) certificate. [Despite its demise in the real world, it continues to find widespread use in Crosswordland.]
hide
The A (Adult) certificate is a former film certificate[7] issued by the British Board of Film Classification. This certificate existed in various forms from 1912 to 1985, when it was replaced by the PG (Parental Guidance) certificate. [Despite its demise in the real world, it continues to find widespread use in Crosswordland.]
hide
| 7d | Not pragmatic // scholar (8) |
| 8d | The man scoffed after model/'s/ delay (8) |
| 11d | These may prevent fighting // if people space out, leaving line (5,2,5) |
" line " = L [l.[5]; in textual references ⇒
l. 648]
Pipe of peace[5] is simply another term for peace pipe.
| 14d | Animal backbone? Not good // guess (10) |
" good " = G [g or g.[1]; a grade of numismatic coin perhaps]
| 16d | Zulu and Bambi broadcast by western European // country (8) |
" Zulu " = Z[5] [NATO Phonetic Alphabet[7]]
" European " = E[2]
| 17d | Upright // position (8) |
| 19d | Burden // women's rowing crew? (6) |
" women's " = W[2] [on clothing labels]
An eight[5] is an eight-oared rowing boat or its crew.
| 20d | Swindled Conservative departs, // furious (6) |
" Conservative " = C[5] [member of a British political party]
| 23d | Continue abandoning area and cross // river (4) |
" area " = A[2] [geometry]
In Greek mythology, the Styx[5] is one of the nine rivers in the underworld, over which Charon ferried the souls of the dead.
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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