Tuesday, June 28, 2022

Monday, June 27, 2022 — DT 29923 (Published Saturday, June 25, 2022)


Puzzle at a Glance
Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29923
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Tuesday, March 1, 2022
Setter
X-Type
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29923]
Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
Mr K
BD rating
Difficulty - ★★Enjoyment - ★★★
Falcon's experience
┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐
██████████████████████████████████
└────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘
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
Notes

This puzzle appears on the Monday Diversions page in the Saturday, June 25, 2022 edition of the National Post.

Introduction

I learned several new things from today's puzzle – the material found in a ship's hold, a British name for a geological feature and some railway terminology.

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
  • "//" - marks the boundary between wordplay and definition when no link word or link phrase is present
  • "/[link word or phrase]/" - marks the boundary between wordplay and definition when a link word or link phrase is present
  • "solid underline" - precise definition
  • "dotted underline" - cryptic definition
  • "dashed underline" - wordplay
  • "wavy underline" - whimsical and inferred definitions
Click here for further explanation and usage examples of markup conventions used on this blog.

Across

1a Cocktail of wine duly // hard to handle (8)

5a Cost of maintenance /of/ high castle tower (6)

A keep[5] is the strongest or central tower of a castle, acting as a final refuge.

10aThrilling tale: // unknown items recorded here? (8,7)

Double definition, the first being whimsical.

A suspense account[5] is an account in the books of an organization in which items are entered temporarily before allocation to the correct or final account.

11a Shelters not opened /in/ these pleasant garden spots (7)

12a Unorthodox /and/ rotten cricketer restricting English (7)

A bat[5] is a person batting, especially in cricket; in other words, a batsman the team's opening bat.

" English " = E[2]

13a Went up // as century came to a close (8)

The abbreviation for century or centuries is c[5] (also c.) a watch case, 19th c.

15a Car, primarily an old banger, // not costing a lot (5)

Banger[5] is an informal British term for an old car in poor condition ⇒ they’ve only got an old banger.

18a The top's come off loudspeaker -- // bother! (5)

Tannoy[5] (Trademark) is a type of public address system. In Britain, the term has become a generic term for a public address system to such an extent that it is even used as a verb meaning to transmit or announce over a public address system ⇒ the news was tannoyed one afternoon.

20aMen gathered for a board meeting? (5,3)

23a Dull brown, new-age // material found in ship's hold (7)

Dun[5] denotes of a dull greyish-brown colour.

" new " = N[5] [in place names on maps; N Zealand]



Dunnage[5] is loose wood, matting, or similar material used to keep a cargo in position in a ship's hold.

25a Female made a record -- /it's/ sold (7)

26a Men with horns closest to fight // mythical creature (4,4,7)

The Loch Ness monster[5] is a large creature alleged to live in the deep waters of Loch Ness in Scotland. Reports of its existence date from the time of St Columba (6th century); despite recent scientific expeditions, there is still no proof of its existence.

27a Standard achieved without Mike /in/ street procession (6)

" Mike " = M[5] [NATO Phonetic Alphabet[7]]

28a In favour of pipes /and/ various manufactured items (8)

Down

1d As tune changes, // remove an MP, perhaps (6)

2d Sink // was given nasty bash at home (9)

3d Perform /in/ river? Lovely (7)

The River Exe[7] rises on Exmoor in Somerset, 8.4 kilometres (5 mi) from the Bristol Channel coast, but flows more or less directly due south*, so that most of its length lies in Devon. It reaches the sea at a substantial ria, the Exe Estuary, on the south (English Channel) coast of Devon.

* and, thus, away from the Bristol Channel

4d Odd odes and singular // measures (5)

6d Peaceful -- /or/ perhaps loco? (7)

Loco[5] is an informal British term for a locomotive.

In the age of steam, the 4-6-2 locomotive* became almost globally known as a Pacific[7] type.

* Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-6-2 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and two trailing wheels on one axle.

Post Mortem
I only understood the latter part of the clue after reading Mr K's review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog.

7d Issue /as/ former partner getting cuddles on a regular basis (5)

8d Mine's the best /of/ places for rapid vehicle maintenance (8)

9d Kit often seen with this /in/ taxi -- a lot? Almost (8)

14d Get less // iron, one could say? (8)

Double definition, the second being whimsical

16d Lively // quote half-hearted author's written up (9)

Graham Greene[5] (1904–1991) was an English novelist. (show more )

The moral paradoxes he saw in his Roman Catholic faith underlie much of his work. Notable works: Brighton Rock (1938), The Power and the Glory (1940), and The Third Man (written as a screenplay, and filmed in 1949; novel 1950).

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17d Arrives at rim /to see/ rockfall? (8)

Landslip[5] is a British alternative term for landslide.

19d At last, Harry gets what's deserved /and/ longed for (7)

21d Any number in goal maybe, with Germany // held in contempt (7)

"any number " = N [n[10]; mathematical symbol]

The letter n[10] is used (especially in mathematics) as a symbol to represent an indefinite number (of) ⇒ there are n objects in a box.

hide

"Germany " = D [IVR code]

The International Vehicle Registration (IVR) country code for Germany is D[5] (from German Deutschland).

 
German Licence Plate Format
(The IVR code is on the left below the EU flag emblem)

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22d Publicity material with alternative directions /for/ ornaments (6)

24d New diamonds, right? /That's/ better! (5)

The "new" from 23a makes a return appearance.

Ice[5] is an informal term for diamonds.

" right " = R [r or r.[2]]

25d Bone // incorporated into life mural (5)


References

Sources referenced in the blog are identified by the following symbols. The reference numbers themselves are hyperlinks to the entry in the source being referenced. Click on the number to view the source.

Key to Reference Sources: 

  [1]   - The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition
  [2]   - Search Chambers - (Chambers 21st Century Dictionary)
  [3]   - TheFreeDictionary.com (American Heritage Dictionary)
  [4]   - TheFreeDictionarycom (Collins English Dictionary)
  [5]   - Lexico (formerly Oxford Dictionaries Online) (Oxford Dictionary of English)
  [6]   - Lexico (formerly Oxford Dictionaries Online) (Oxford Advanced American Dictionary)
  [7]   - Wikipedia
  [8]   - Reverso Online Dictionary (Collins French-English Dictionary)
  [9]   - Infoplease (Random House Unabridged Dictionary)
[10]   - CollinsDictionary.com (Collins English Dictionary)
[11]   - TheFreeDictionary.com (Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary)
[12]   - CollinsDictionary.com (Webster’s New World College Dictionary)
[13]   - MacmillanDictionary.com (Macmillan Dictionary)
[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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