Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29905 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Tuesday, February 8, 2022 | |
Setter
X-Type | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29905]
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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 is a gentle but enjoyable offering from X-Type.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 | Minute oxygen consumer -- // a cat? (6) |
" minute "* = M [m[10]]
* Although "minute" appears in the surface reading as an adjective meaning tiny, it is a unit of time in the wordplay.
The symbol for the chemical element oxygen is O[5].
| 5a | Coming /from/ Spain, motoring around (8) |
| 9a | Make kindling /with/ Chinese cutlery? (10) |
| 10a | Blue, // disheartened manual worker (4) |
Navvy[5] is a dated British term for a labourer employed in the excavation and construction of a road, railway, or canal.
You might know:
We are the navvies who work upon the railway
Swingin' our hammers in the bright blazin' sun
Livin' on stew and drinkin' bad whiskey
Bendin' our backs 'til the long days are done
– Canadian Railroad Trilogy, Gordon Lightfoot
Swingin' our hammers in the bright blazin' sun
Livin' on stew and drinkin' bad whiskey
Bendin' our backs 'til the long days are done
– Canadian Railroad Trilogy, Gordon Lightfoot
| 11a | Animal // quietly entering countryside (8) |
Here and There
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| Terrapin[5] is the British name* for a freshwater turtle, especially one of the smaller kinds of the Old World. * This animal is known in North America simply as a turtle. One North American species (Malaclemys terrapin), a small edible turtle with lozenge-shaped markings on its shell, found in coastal marshes of the eastern US, does go by the name terrapin (also diamondback terrapin). |
| 12a | Give up // right to face European character (6) |
" right " = R [r or r.[2]]
" European " = E[2]
| 13a | Fashion for a // hairstyle (4) |
The Story Behind the Picture
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 The hairstyle shown in the picture used by Mr K to illustrate his hint on Big Dave's Crossword Blog is a far cry from my perception of an Afro. I envisage the style sported by Angela Davis (centre in the photo to the right). |
| 15a | Neat code translated /into/ story (8) |
| 18a | One following an EU president, holding a // type of pasta (8) |
Emmanuel Macron[5] is a French statesman who has been president of France since 2017.
| 19a | Area behind house /in which/ cart backed? (4) |
A dray[2,5,10] is a low horse-drawn cart without fixed sides, for delivering beer barrels or other heavy loads.
| 21a | A month in charge /and it's/ infected (6) |
" in charge " = IC [i/c[2]]
| 23a | Excerpt /from/ sailor's treatise (8) |
"sailor " = AB [able seaman]
In the Royal Navy, according to Lexico (Oxford Dictionary of English), able seaman[5] (abbreviation AB[5]), is a rank of sailor above ordinary seaman and below leading seaman. On the other hand, Collins English Dictionary tells us that an able seaman[10] (also called) is an ordinary seaman, especially one in the merchant navy, who has been trained in certain skills.
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In the Royal Navy, according to Lexico (Oxford Dictionary of English), able seaman[5] (abbreviation AB[5]), is a rank of sailor above ordinary seaman and below leading seaman. On the other hand, Collins English Dictionary tells us that an able seaman[10] (also called) is an ordinary seaman, especially one in the merchant navy, who has been trained in certain skills.
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A tract[5] is a short treatise in pamphlet form, typically on a religious subject.
| 25a | Just // a country show (4) |
| 26a | Document carriers /coming from/ very short legal proceedings? (10) |
| 27a | Shed at home // included at no cost (6,2) |
| 28a | Lima, America: otherwise called // an African city (6) |
" Lima " = L[5] [NATO Phonetic Alphabet[7]]
Lusaka[5] is the capital of Zambia, a landlocked country in central Africa.
Down
| 2d | Particular colour // noticed in Loch Restil (5) |
Scratching the Surface
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| Loch Restil[7] is a freshwater loch that lies in the pass between Glen Croe and Glen Kinglas on the Cowal peninsula, Argyll and Bute, West of Scotland. |
| 3d | Prove a sun exploded? This would! (9) |
In this semi-&lit (or semi-all-in-one) clue, the entire clue provides a cryptic definition in which the wordplay is embedded.
A supernova[5] is a star that suddenly increases greatly in brightness because of a catastrophic explosion that ejects most of its mass.
| 4d | Again write out // character who teaches religion? (6) |
In the UK, religious education[10] (abbreviation RE[5]) is a subject taught in schools which educates about the different religions of the world.
| 5d | Purchasing company, maintain noted new // process of removing harmful substances (15) |
Co (also Co.)[5] is the abbreviation for Company [in particular, in the name of a business].
| 6d | Holds back /and/ delivers once more (8) |
| 7d | Goddess // seen in heaven, usually (5) |
In Roman mythology, Venus[5] is a goddess, worshipped as the goddess of love in classical Rome though apparently a spirit of kitchen gardens in earlier times. Her equivalent in Greek mythology is Aphrodite.
| 8d | Northern flier, good inside, /is/ one who works out how to get there (9) |
" good " = G [g or g.[1]; a grade of numismatic coin perhaps]
| 14d | Half taper could produce // landing lights (5,4) |
Flare path[2] is presumably a British term* for the line of lights marking out the length of a runway to enable an aircraft to land or take off when natural visibility is insufficient.
* based on its absence from US dictionaries
| 16d | Read my sad, unhappy // fantasies (9) |
| 17d | Register taxi in // house in the woods? (3,5) |
| 20d | /Being/ handy, // guest regularly rebuilt flue (6) |
The setter has structured the clue in such a way that the link word "being" is positioned at the beginning.
| 22d | Body // buried by rector solemnly (5) |
Scratching the Surface
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| A rector[3,4,11] is a member of the clergy in the Anglican, Episcopal, or Roman Catholic churches. |
| 24d | Constant smell /in/ inlet (5) |
In mathematics, C[5] (or c) is a symbol used to represent either the third fixed constant to appear in an algebraic expression, or a known constant. For example, in physics, c[5] is the symbol for the speed of light in a vacuum (which is a constant). (show more )
In mathematics, a constant[5] is a quantity or parameter that does not change its value whatever the value of the variables, under a given set of conditions.
In physics, a constant[5] is a number expressing a relation or property which remains the same in all circumstances, or for the same substance under the same conditions.
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In mathematics, a constant[5] is a quantity or parameter that does not change its value whatever the value of the variables, under a given set of conditions.
In physics, a constant[5] is a number expressing a relation or property which remains the same in all circumstances, or for the same substance under the same conditions.
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Here and There
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My
first reaction was that a creek is hardly an inlet. However, I discover
that the word has quite a different meaning in the UK than it does
here.
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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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