Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29894 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Wednesday, January 26, 2022 | |
Setter
Jay (Jeremy Mutch) | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29894]
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Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
KiwiColin | |
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
This puzzle got mixed reviews on Big Dave's Crossword Blog. I found the puzzle provided a good test which was challenging enough to be enjoyable.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 | Ghastly // parliamentary staff must hold a Biro, oddly (7) |
In both the UK and Canada, the mace[5] is a staff of office which lies on the table in the House of Commons when the Speaker is in the chair, regarded as a symbol of the authority of the House.
Scratching the Surface
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| Biro[5] is a British trademark for a brand of ballpoint pen. In the UK, the name is used
as a generic term for a ballpoint pen (in the same way that kleenex has become a generic term for
facial tissue). Origin: named after László József Bíró (1899–1985), the Hungarian inventor of the ballpoint pen |
| 9a | Local // head of state losing power (8) |
" power " = P[10] [symbol used in physics]
| 10a | Close look at // objective of insomniac (4-3) |
| 11a | Ruling soundly following tense // instruction (8) |
" tense " = T [t or t.[1]; grammar term]
| 12a | Rejected elements of model art, say, // like stars (6) |
I believe rejected is used as a reversal indicator using the rationale that something that is rejected is sent back (like a letter from a spurned suitor marked "Return to Sender").
| 13a | Came across people with no leader /finding/ support (10) |
| 15a | Expect // to manage, needing hot rather than cold (4) |
" hot " = H [h[1]; as in 'h and c'[1] (referring to water supply)]
" cold " = C [c[1]; as in 'h and c'[1] (referring to water supply)]
| 16a | Memorable quotation // on debut is questionable (5,4) |
| 21a | Long // house originally used in service (4) |
In tennis and similar games, ace[5] denotes a service that an opponent is unable to return and thus wins a point.
| 22a | Do // lovers without protection attack? (10) |
Do[5] is an informal British term meaning to swindle ⇒
It was only after travelling to Amsterdam and meeting the fraudsters that she became suspicious and contacted police, who told her: ‘Sorry, but you've been done.’.
| 24a | Singular access /for/ person on watch (6) |
" singular " = S [s[5]; grammar term]
| 25a | Advise against the euro? (8) |
| 27a | My specialist market has no hard // decorative moulding (7) |
Cor[5] is an informal British exclamation expressing surprise, excitement, admiration, or alarm ⇒
Cor! That‘s a beautiful black eye you’ve got!.
" hard " = H[2,5] [grade of pencil lead]
| 28a | Journey /making/ half of capital laugh madly? (4,4) |
London[5] is the capital of the United Kingdom, situated in south-eastern England on the River Thames. (show more )
London was settled as a river port and trading centre, called Londinium, shortly after the Roman invasion of AD 43, and, since the Middle Ages, has been a flourishing centre. It is divided administratively into the City of London, which is the country's financial centre, and thirty-two boroughs.
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London was settled as a river port and trading centre, called Londinium, shortly after the Roman invasion of AD 43, and, since the Middle Ages, has been a flourishing centre. It is divided administratively into the City of London, which is the country's financial centre, and thirty-two boroughs.
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Journey[5] is used figuratively in the sense of a long and often difficult process (of personal change and development).
Long haul[5] is used figuratively in the sense of a prolonged and difficult effort or task.
| 29a | Refuse to hug model /for/ body (7) |
Down
| 2d | Notice the bloke's working to support international // attachment (8) |
" international " = I[2]
| 3d | Life-support vessels? (8) |
| 4d | Having a load of cash to underpin impressive // hand (5,5) |
Royal[5] is used to mean of a quality or size suitable for a king or queen; in other words, splendid ⇒
she received a royal welcome.
In the card game poker, a royal flush[5] is a straight flush including ace, king, queen, jack, and ten all in the same suit, which is the hand of the highest possible value when wild cards are not in use.
| 5d | Fruit /and/ veg plus starter of risotto (4) |
Scratching the Surface
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| Starter[3,5] is another name* for an appetizer or the first course of a meal. * although British dictionaries consider this term to be British[5] (or chiefly or mainly British[4,10,14]), this usage of the word would seem to be well established in North America and is found in some US dictionaries[3,12] Risotto[5] is an Italian dish of rice cooked in stock with ingredients such as vegetables and meat or seafood. |
| 6d | Quartz /from/ Vatican church missing graduate? (6) |
St Peter's Basilica[5] is a Roman Catholic basilica in the Vatican City. Built in the 16th century on the site of a structure erected by Constantine on the supposed site of St Peter's crucifixion, it is the largest Christian church.
BA[5] is the abbreviation for Bachelor of Arts.
Silica[5] is a hard, unreactive, colourless compound which occurs as the mineral quartz and as a principal constituent of sandstone and other rocks.
| 7d | Shortfall // if edict put into action (7) |
| 8d | Organising // swindle, pinching silver (7) |
The symbol for the chemical element silver is Ag[5] (from Latin argentum).
| 11d | Spoke angrily /as/ Times once almost died (9) |
The Times[7]
is a British daily national newspaper based in London. (show more )
The paper began in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register and became The Times on 1 January 1788.
The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times (founded in 1821) are published by Times Newspapers, since 1981 a subsidiary of News UK, in turn wholly owned by News Corp. (headed by Australian-born American publisher and media entrepreneur Rupert Murdoch).
The Times and The Sunday Times do not share editorial staff, were founded independently and have only had common ownership since 1966.
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The paper began in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register and became The Times on 1 January 1788.
The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times (founded in 1821) are published by Times Newspapers, since 1981 a subsidiary of News UK, in turn wholly owned by News Corp. (headed by Australian-born American publisher and media entrepreneur Rupert Murdoch).
The Times and The Sunday Times do not share editorial staff, were founded independently and have only had common ownership since 1966.
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In the 19th century, The Times gained the nickname 'The Thunderer' (apparently from its penchant for pronouncements such as "We thundered out the other day an article on social and political reform.").
| 14d | Emphasises // heirs moved out (6,4) |
| 17d | Wants to drop initial // salary (8) |
| 18d | What barber might offer // that'll save time? (5,3) |
Whether this clue is considered to be a double definition or not depends on how one spells the solution to the second part of the clue. If the numeration matches that given, then this is a double definition. On the other hand, if the numeration does not match, then it would not be considered to be a double definition. For the purposes of this puzzle, the important point is that The Chambers Dictionary spells it as two words, short cut[1], thereby making this a double definition.
* Several British dictionaries spell the solution to the second part as short cut[1,4,10] while a couple of British dictionaries side with US dictionaries, spelling it shortcut[3,5,11,12,14]. One British dictionary covers all the bases, listing three different spellings: short cut[15], short-cut[15], and shortcut[15].
| 19d | Gather // poor policeman must go without an ... (7) |
| 20d | ... official electoral process // to relate (7) |
On the Wrong Track
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| Having taken a wrong turn, I had to backtrack here. My first attempt was TELLING (in the sense of counting ballots) which also means relating (a story). I will admit I was bothered by the fact the parts of speech did not quite align for the second definition. |
| 23d | Reluctant to be seen in church // dress (6) |
Loth is a variant spelling of loath[5].
| 26d | Knowledge /that's/ mostly ineffective? (4) |
Nous[5] is an informal British term meaning common sense or practical intelligence ⇒
if he had any nous at all, he’d sell the film rights.
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
The sw corner of this puzzle was my downfall. Needed hints from everyone.
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