Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29884 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Friday, January 14, 2022 | |
Setter
silvanus | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29884]
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Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
Deep Threat | |
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
In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Deep Threat reports "4d was my last one in, and was the only clue that gave me significant difficulty". Well, that statement also nicely sums up my experience.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 | Undermine // Conservative pledge to maintain order (10) |
" Conservative " = C[5] [member of a British political party]
"order " = OM [Order of Merit]
The Order of Merit[7] (abbreviation OM[5]) is a dynastic order recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by King Edward VII, admission into the order remains the personal gift of its Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, and is limited to 24 living recipients at one time from these countries plus a limited number of honorary members. The current membership includes one Canadian (former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien).
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The Order of Merit[7] (abbreviation OM[5]) is a dynastic order recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by King Edward VII, admission into the order remains the personal gift of its Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, and is limited to 24 living recipients at one time from these countries plus a limited number of honorary members. The current membership includes one Canadian (former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien).
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| 6a | Check // large sum of money on the counter (4) |
Pot[10] (often plural) is used in the informal sense of a large amount, especially of money.
| 9a | Mum rushes to eat minute // seafood items (7) |
| 10a | Native American // artist, old man entering American house (7) |
" American " = A[1]
" house " = HO [ho.[1,10]]
The Arapaho[5] are a North American people living chiefly on the Great Plains, especially in Wyoming.
| 12a | Nice funeral is arranged, // this could pay for it? (4,9) |
The entire clue is a cryptic definition of a sort in which the wordplay is embedded.
| 14a | Doctor too busy to inject country's top // young explorer? (3,5) |
| 15a | Highlight // French writer's grave, for instance (6) |
Grave[5] is another term for grave accent[5], a mark (`) placed over a vowel in some languages [including French] to indicate a feature such as altered sound quality, vowel length, or intonation.
| 17a | Number facing Leftist regularly sacrificed // principles (6) |
| 19a | One having friends for dinner perhaps? (8) |
| 21a | Masterful // writer, one against revolutionary musical that's opening (13) |
Evita[7]
is a musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice.
It concentrates on the life of Argentine political leader Eva Perón [known familiarly as Evita],
the second wife of Argentine president Juan Perón. The story follows her early
life, rise to power, charity work, and eventual death. (show more )
Evita began as a rock opera concept album released in 1976. Its success led to productions in London's West End in 1978, winning the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Musical, and on Broadway a year later, where it was the first British musical to receive the Tony Award for Best Musical.
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Evita began as a rock opera concept album released in 1976. Its success led to productions in London's West End in 1978, winning the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Musical, and on Broadway a year later, where it was the first British musical to receive the Tony Award for Best Musical.
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| 24a | Burdened // after losing wife, ineffectual character does poorly (7) |
" wife " = W [w[2]; genealogy]
| 25a | Senselessness /of/ the Italian in charge defending record (7) |
In Italian, the masculine singular form of the definite article is il[8].
" in charge " = IC [i/c[2]]
| 26a | Bank // subsidiary (4) |
| 27a | Count on a northern city that's disheartened /finding/ hope (10) |
Down
| 1d | Method of payment // when visiting Switzerland (4) |
"Switzerland " = CH [IVR code]
The International Vehicle Registration (IVR) country code for Switzerland is CH[5] [from French Confédération Helvétique 'Swiss Confederation'].
Unlike European countries which incorporate the IVR code in the vehicle registration plate [licence plate], Switzerland uses a separate white oval plate or sticker.
Swiss IVR Plate or Sticker
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The International Vehicle Registration (IVR) country code for Switzerland is CH[5] [from French Confédération Helvétique 'Swiss Confederation'].
Unlike European countries which incorporate the IVR code in the vehicle registration plate [licence plate], Switzerland uses a separate white oval plate or sticker.
Swiss IVR Plate or Sticker
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| 2d | Colleague supporting male soldiers // in virtuous manner (7) |
| 3d | Consequences // if I'm seen around wearing shabby raincoat? Scorn, primarily (13) |
| 4d | Secret fascination /with/ pine for furniture material reportedly (8) |
| 5d | Waters // small trees (5) |
" small " = S[5] [clothing size]
| 7d | A little extra I need /to give/ apprentice (7) |
| 8d | Rocket // design India managed to finish early (10) |
" India " = I[5] [NATO Phonetic Alphabet[7]]
| 11d | House plant // fanatic Oliver is unusual (7,6) |
The African violet[10] is a tropical African plant cultivated as a house plant, with violet, white, or pink flowers and hairy leaves.
| 13d | Reports of significant departures from the Telegraph maybe? (10) |
The Daily Telegraph[7] (informally the Telegraph) is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper, founded in 1855 as The Daily Telegraph and Courier, which is published in London and distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally*.
* ... not to mention the newspaper in which this puzzle initially appeared
| 16d | Engineer amazing conclusion to game /for/ Arsenal (8) |
Scratching the Surface
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| The surface reading alludes to Arsenal Football Club[7], an English professional association football [soccer] club based in Islington, London that plays in the Premier League (the top level in the English football league system). |
What did he say?
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In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Deep Threat writesThe Royal Arsenal, Woolwich[7] is an establishment on the south bank of the River Thames in Woolwich in south-east London, England, that was used for the manufacture of armaments and ammunition, proofing [testing], and explosives research for the British armed forces.Nothing to do with Highbury or the Emirates, but a reference to what was at Woolwich, where the club originated. Arsenal Football Club[7] was founded in 1886 by munitions workers at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich*. In 1913, the club moved across the River Thames to the newly-built Arsenal Stadium in Highbury. In 2006, they moved to Emirates Stadium in nearby Islington. * Although the original name was not Arsenal; the club has undergone several name changes since its founding. |
| 18d | Liquid a pet once upset, covering // jotter (4-3) |
Jotter[5] is a British term for a small pad or notebook used for notes or jottings.
| 20d | Weapon /found in/ Aberdeen oddly abandoned, good French one (4,3) |
" good " = G [g or g.[1]; a grade of numismatic coin perhaps]
"French one " = UN
The Bren gun[5] is a lightweight quick-firing machine gun used by the Allied forces in the Second World War.
Origin: blend of Brno (a town in the Czech Republic where it was originally made) and Enfield in England (site of the Royal Small Arms Factory where it was later made)
| 22d | Trendy clothes, we hear, /making/ catalogue (5) |
| 23d | Bill attends hospital with injury, ultimately /it's/ painful (4) |
I believe this common cryptic crossword device may involve a bit of licence in equating "bill" to "account" to the bookkeeping abbreviation "a/c".
" bill " = " account " = AC [a/c[5]]
Origin: from the obsolete phrase account current, denoting a continuous account detailing sums paid and received
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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