Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29889 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Thursday, January 20, 2022 | |
Setter
RayT (Ray Terrell) | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29889]
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Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
StephenL | |
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
Not unlike StephenL reports in his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, I found this puzzle to be a bit on the tricky side.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 | Shock /from/ Conservative in chosen path (11) |
" Conservative " = C[5] [member of a British political party]
| 10a | Writer // reflected in someone's bibliography (5) |
Henrik Ibsen[5] (1828–1906) was a Norwegian dramatist. (show more )
He is credited with being the first major dramatist to write tragedy about ordinary people in prose. Ibsen’s later works, such as The Master Builder (1892), deal increasingly with the forces of the unconscious and were admired by Sigmund Freud. Other notable works: Peer Gynt (1867), A Doll’s House (1879), Ghosts (1881).
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He is credited with being the first major dramatist to write tragedy about ordinary people in prose. Ibsen’s later works, such as The Master Builder (1892), deal increasingly with the forces of the unconscious and were admired by Sigmund Freud. Other notable works: Peer Gynt (1867), A Doll’s House (1879), Ghosts (1881).
hide
| 11a | Sat in bow, nervously embracing a // sailor (9) |
A boatswain[5] (pronounced and frequently spelled bosun or bo'sun ) is a ship's officer in charge of equipment and the crew.
| 12a | Footprint Rover trailed catching // lone wolf (9) |
| 13a | Temper // iron, not using right equipment initially (5) |
| 14a | Changed direction // using diplomacy, we hear (6) |
As a sailing manoeuvre, tack[5] means to change course by turning a boat's head into and through the wind.
| 16a | Decline /of/ a gent, oddly in condition (8) |
| 18a | Some aggro under stand /for/ game (8) |
Rounders[5,7]
is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams. It is a striking and fielding team game that involves hitting a
small, hard, leather-cased ball with a cylindrical wooden, plastic, or
metal bat. The players score by running a circuit around four bases on
the field.
Gameplay centres on a number of innings, in which teams alternate at batting and fielding. Points (known as 'rounders') are scored by the batting team when one of their players completes a circuit past four bases arranged in the shape of a diamond without being put 'out'. The batter must strike at a good ball and attempt to run a rounder in an anti-clockwise direction around the first, second, and third base and home to the fourth, though they may stay at any of the first three. A batter is out if the ball is caught; if the base to which they are running to is touched with the ball; or if, while running, they are touched with the ball by a fielder.
The game is popular among British and Irish school children, particularly among girls. [Sound at all familiar?] (read on )]
The game of rounders[7] has been played in England since Tudor times, with the earliest reference being in 1744 in A Little Pretty Pocket-Book where it was called base-ball. In 1828, William Clarke in London published the second edition of The Boy's Own Book, which included the rules of rounders and also the first printed description in English of a bat and ball base-running game played on a diamond. The following year, the book was published in Boston, Massachusetts.
Rounders is played under slightly different rules in Britain and Ireland. Rounders is also linked to British baseball, which is still played in Liverpool, Cardiff and Newport. Although rounders is assumed to be older than (British) baseball, literary references to early forms of 'base-ball' in England pre-date use of the term rounders.
Both the 'New York game' [from which modern (American) baseball evolved] and the now-defunct 'Massachusetts game' versions of baseball, as well as softball, share the same historical roots as rounders and bear a resemblance to the Irish version of the game.
Who knew that baseball—the quintessential American game—was, in fact, imported from Britain!
hide
Gameplay centres on a number of innings, in which teams alternate at batting and fielding. Points (known as 'rounders') are scored by the batting team when one of their players completes a circuit past four bases arranged in the shape of a diamond without being put 'out'. The batter must strike at a good ball and attempt to run a rounder in an anti-clockwise direction around the first, second, and third base and home to the fourth, though they may stay at any of the first three. A batter is out if the ball is caught; if the base to which they are running to is touched with the ball; or if, while running, they are touched with the ball by a fielder.
The game is popular among British and Irish school children, particularly among girls. [Sound at all familiar?] (read on )]
The game of rounders[7] has been played in England since Tudor times, with the earliest reference being in 1744 in A Little Pretty Pocket-Book where it was called base-ball. In 1828, William Clarke in London published the second edition of The Boy's Own Book, which included the rules of rounders and also the first printed description in English of a bat and ball base-running game played on a diamond. The following year, the book was published in Boston, Massachusetts.
Rounders is played under slightly different rules in Britain and Ireland. Rounders is also linked to British baseball, which is still played in Liverpool, Cardiff and Newport. Although rounders is assumed to be older than (British) baseball, literary references to early forms of 'base-ball' in England pre-date use of the term rounders.
Both the 'New York game' [from which modern (American) baseball evolved] and the now-defunct 'Massachusetts game' versions of baseball, as well as softball, share the same historical roots as rounders and bear a resemblance to the Irish version of the game.
Who knew that baseball—the quintessential American game—was, in fact, imported from Britain!
hide
Scratching the Surface
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Aggro[5] (abbreviation of aggravation or aggression) is an informal British term for:
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| 20a | Time off /in/ bay? (6) |
| 23a | Greek character seen in water // colour (5) |
Pi[5] is the sixteenth letter of the Greek alphabet (Π, π).
| 24a | Messiah takes over Queen // singer (9) |
In Christianity, the Messiah[5] is Jesus Christ regarded as the Messiah of the Hebrew prophecies and the saviour of humankind.
"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.
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
| 26a | Former treasure, right // raver (9) |
Raver[5] is a British term for a person who has an exciting and uninhibited social life.
| 27a | On river sits large // bird (5) |
The River Ouse[5] (rhymes with booze rather than mouse)
is a river of northeastern England, formed at the confluence of the Ure
and Swale in North Yorkshire and flowing 92 km (57 miles)
south-eastwards through York to the Humber estuary. There are also
severalother rivers in England having the same or similar name.
hide
- a river of southeastern England, which rises in the Weald of West Sussex and flows 48 km (30 miles) south-eastwards to the English Channel
- (also Great Ouse) a river of eastern England, which rises in Northamptonshire and flows 257 km (160 miles) eastwards then northwards through East Anglia to the Wash near King’s Lynn
- (also Little Ouse) a river of East Anglia, which forms a tributary of the Great Ouse
hide
" large " = L[5] [clothing size]
Ousel is a variant spelling of ouzel[5], a bird that resembles the blackbird.
| 28a | Naughty sprite let go // mischievous spirit (11) |
A poltergeist[2] is a type of mischievous ghost supposedly responsible for otherwise unaccountable noises and the movement of furniture and other objects.
Down
| 2d | Musician /could produce/ record for the audience (5) |
| 3d | Prisoner executed /getting/ pardon (7) |
| 4d | Stones // namely covered by Strokes (6) |
Scratching the Surface
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The Rolling Stones[5]
(informally the Stones) are an English rock group featuring singer Mick Jagger and guitarist
Keith Richards. (show more )
Originally a rhythm-and-blues band, they became successful with a much-imitated rebel image, and are known for songs such as ‘Satisfaction’ (1965) and ‘Jumping Jack Flash’ (1968). hide The Strokes[7] are an American rock band from New York City. Formed in 1998, the band was a leading group of the early-2000s indie rock revival. The band has received numerous awards in Europe and the UK so would seem to be well known across the pond. |
| 5d | Abstinence /having/ caught rash accepting sex (8) |
"caught " = C [cricket notation]
"sex " = IT
It[2,5] (usually written in quotation marks, "it") is an informal term for sex appeal* or sexual intercourse ⇒ (i)
* Chambers 21st Century Dictionary considers this sense to be an "old use" (Chambers' terminology for archaic, obsolete or old-fashioned).
"It"[7] (written in quotation marks) is a term that has come to mean sex appeal — although, in its earliest manifestation, it seems that the term pertained more to personality than to glamorous looks. Despite having been used as early as 1904 by Rudyard Kipling, the term was popularized in the 1927 film It starring Clara Bow (who became known as the "It Girl").
hide
It[2,5] (usually written in quotation marks, "it") is an informal term for sex appeal* or sexual intercourse ⇒ (i)
the only thing I knew nothing about was ‘it’; (ii)
they were caught doing ‘it’ in the back seat of his car.
* Chambers 21st Century Dictionary considers this sense to be an "old use" (Chambers' terminology for archaic, obsolete or old-fashioned).
"It"[7] (written in quotation marks) is a term that has come to mean sex appeal — although, in its earliest manifestation, it seems that the term pertained more to personality than to glamorous looks. Despite having been used as early as 1904 by Rudyard Kipling, the term was popularized in the 1927 film It starring Clara Bow (who became known as the "It Girl").
hide
| 6d | Burdening // trial's opening with questioning (7) |
| 7d | Impartial // test desired in crashes (13) |
| 8d | Settled charge around university /is/ steep (8) |
" university " = U [U or U.[1]]
| 9d | Lunatic inanely curses // for nothing (13) |
| 15d | Strange sweetheart's after cold // pancakes (8) |
Rum[5] is a dated informal British term meaning odd or peculiar ⇒
it’s a rum business, certainly.
" cold " = C [c or c.[1]; symbol found on water taps]
A crumpet[5] is a thick, flat, savoury cake with a soft, porous texture, made from a yeast mixture cooked on a griddle and eaten toasted and buttered.
* I thought perhaps a crumpet might be what we call an English muffin but that is not the case. I discover that crumpets[5] are distinguished from similar sized muffins [such as English muffins] by being made from a batter, rather than a dough.
| 17d | Dearest // father purchases cut diamonds (8) |
Ice[5] is an informal term for diamonds.
| 19d | Old pitch support overturned // game (7) |
" old " = O[12] [linguistics;
OFr(Old French),
OE(Old English)]
 |
| Large and miniature Western rubber diabolos. |
| Wooden sticks are shown in the background. |
| 21d | Example /of/ first person in record book (7) |
| 22d | Medical officer /is/ opening, holding court (6) |
" court " = CT [Ct or ct[2]; in street addresses]
| 25d | Occasionally, then, site's /revealing/ stretches (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
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