Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29910 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Monday, February 14, 2022 | |
Setter
Campbell (Allan Scott) | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29910]
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Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
Falcon | |
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
The comments on Big Dave's Crossword Blog remind me that this puzzle originally appeared in The Daily Telegraph at the height of the trucker's occupation of Ottawa in mid-February. Having recently survived the derecho, one wonders what calamity is next in store for Ottawa.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 | A petition involving clubs /gets/ praise (7) |
" clubs " = C[1] [card suit]
| 5a | Do damage to what sounds like main // tent (7) |
| 9a | Period of time just before // spell at university (3-2) |
Up[5] is a British term meaning at or to a university, especially Oxford or Cambridge ⇒
they were up at Cambridge about the same time.
| 10a | Caught funny cartoon about Germany /making/ pact (9) |
"caught " = C [cricket notation]
| 11a | Reasonable and sufficient? // I agree (4,6) |
| 12a & 14a | Film troops' patrol, travelling // hither and thither (4,6,2,4) |
The expression from pillar to post[5] denotes from one place to another in an unceremonious or fruitless manner ⇒
We have been bounced from pillar to post over the past few weeks and this has caused a lot of distress for my family.
| 14a | See 12 Across |
| 18a | Singer /in/ bar, one back in centre of Montreal (12) |
A countertenor[1,5,10] (or counter-tenor[2]) is the highest male adult singing voice (sometimes distinguished from the male alto voice by its strong, pure tone).
| 21a | Old fogey /in/ work party (4) |
I thought of work being used in the sense of suitable or acceptable ⇒
It's not ideal, but under the circumstances it will work.
However, I discovered another previously unknown sense in which work and do are synonyms:
"party " = DO
Do[5,12] is an informal British[5] or chiefly British[12] term* for a party or other social event ⇒
* Although one US dictionary (Webster’s New World College Dictionary[12]) supports the contention by Lexico (Oxford Dictionary of English)[5] that this usage is at least chiefly British, two other US dictionaries[3,11] do not.
hide
Do[5,12] is an informal British[5] or chiefly British[12] term* for a party or other social event ⇒
the soccer club Christmas do.
* Although one US dictionary (Webster’s New World College Dictionary[12]) supports the contention by Lexico (Oxford Dictionary of English)[5] that this usage is at least chiefly British, two other US dictionaries[3,11] do not.
hide
| 22a | Popular supplement // as well (2,8) |
| 25a | Stole item, fancy // Christmas decoration (9) |
| 26a | Mislead // about preliminary race (5) |
" about " = C [c.[2]; circa (Latin)]
| 27a | Hurricane // about to be shown in series (7) |
| 28a | Relish // slanderous attacks involving celebrity (7) |
Down
| 1d | A doctor provided tablets, principally // at sea (6) |
| 2d | Frank /in/ Shaw comedy, abridged (6) |
Candida[7] is a comedy by Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw, written in 1894 and first published in 1898.
| 3d | Be grateful /for/ rise (10) |
| 4d | Somewhat manly // in denim, a choreographer (5) |
| 5d | Male horse among weird // collection of animals (9) |
| 6d | Staff caught out /suggesting/ swindle (4) |
The cricket notation for caught makes its second appearance in the puzzle. This time it is removed in the wordplay, whereas in 10a it is inserted. As I noted in my review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, it makes its exit here "perhaps in order to reposition itself in 10a".
| 7d | A likely loser, // the German following a French greyhound, say (8) |
" the German " = DER [der[8]; German definite article]
" a French " = UN [un[8]; French indefinite article]
| 8d | Reckon // I'm coming into property (8) |
| 13d | Men, after visit, // panic (2,2,6) |
A man[5] (plural men) is a figure or token used in playing a board game ⇒
Mr Kravchuk, who prides himself on his chess-playing prowess, did not give up his man easily.
A piece[5] (plural pieces) is a figure or token used to make moves in a board game ⇒
a chess piece.
| 15d | Gretel not working /in/ glasses (9) |
A lorgnette[3,4,11] is a pair of eyeglasses or opera glasses mounted on a handle.
| 16d | Not relevant, // relating to education? (8) |
| 17d | Blind alley, // as clued cryptically by foremost of compilers (3-2-3) |
| 19d | Where one may see mutation of Iceman? (6) |
The entire clue is a cryptic definition in which the wordplay is embedded.
Iceman[7] is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics and is a founding member of the X-Men. Iceman is a mutant born with superhuman abilities. He has the ability to manipulate ice and cold by freezing water vapor around him. This allows him to freeze objects, as well as cover his body with ice. The character has been frequently present in X-Men and Spider-Man-related comics, video games, animated series, and films.
| 20d | Like-minded // editor supporting military group (6) |
| 23d | Perfect // vision (5) |
| 24d | Muppet // some feel moody (4) |
Elmo[7] is a Muppet character on the long-running children's television show Sesame Street. He is a furry red monster with a falsetto voice.
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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