Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29928 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Monday, March 7, 2022 | |
Setter
Campbell (Allan Scott) | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29928]
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Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
pommers | |
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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Notes
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This puzzle appears on the Monday Diversions page in the Saturday, July 2, 2022 edition of the National Post. | |
Introduction
There are a few terms in this puzzle which did not come to mind quickly – including one that seems not to have come to anyone's mind.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
| 5a | In // with a group in possession of Ecstasy (7) |
" with " = W [w[2]]
"Ecstasy " = E [the illicit drug Ecstasy]
E[5] is an abbreviation for the drug Ecstasy* or a tablet of Ecstasy ⇒ (i)
* Ecstasy[5] is an illegal amphetamine-based synthetic drug with euphoric effects, originally produced as an appetite suppressant. Also called MDMA (Methylenedioxymethamphetamine).
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E[5] is an abbreviation for the drug Ecstasy* or a tablet of Ecstasy ⇒ (i)
people have died after taking E; (ii)
being busted with three Es can lead to stiff penalties.
* Ecstasy[5] is an illegal amphetamine-based synthetic drug with euphoric effects, originally produced as an appetite suppressant. Also called MDMA (Methylenedioxymethamphetamine).
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| 7a | Acknowledge // it after dam burst (5) |
| 9a | Blackbeard, for example, // power mad (6) |
" power " = P[10] [symbol used in physics]
Blackbeard[10] was the nickname of Edward Teach[10] (died 1718), an English pirate active in the West Indies and on the Atlantic coast of North America.
| 10a | Uninformed, // go in unwisely before storm (8) |
| 11a | Scary ride // travelling straight on (5,5) |
Ghost train[5] is a British term for a miniature train at a funfair designed to scare its passengers with eerie sights and sounds.
| 13a | Wild West // dish? (4) |
| 14a | Order wine with enthusiasm /for/ soulmate (7,6) |
I took order[5] to be used in the sense of the quality or nature of something ⇒
poetry of the highest order. However, pommers took a different tack in his review (see box).
What did he say?
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In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, pommers writesI don't believe he means to imply that "order" and "genus" are synonyms but rather that they are both taxonomic categories.order as in genus. Order[5] is a principal taxonomic category that ranks below class and above family ⇒ the higher orders of insects. |
| 16a | Genuine // old Spanish coin (4) |
The real[5] was a former coin and monetary unit of various Spanish-speaking countries [among them, Spain].
| 17a | Scan skip, // riveted (10) |
I cannot explain – nor, it appears, can anyone on Big Dave's Crossword Blog – the setter's use of SPELL as a synonym for "scan" other than it appears in The Chambers Dictionary:
spell[1] transitive verb to read laboriously, letter by letter; to name or set down in order the letters of; to constitute or represent orthographically; to make out, come to understand; to scan; to signify, indicate, amount to (figurative);
| 19a | Bishops perhaps curse // dinner jackets and bow ties, say (8) |
| 20a | Note // about thin rope (6) |
| 22a | Warm // temperature kiln required (5) |
" temperature " = T [t[2]]
An oast[2] is either a kiln for drying hops or, formerly, malt or (also called oast house) a building, usually with a conical roof, containing such kilns.
| 23a | What a monk may have // on, certainly after end of Lent (7) |
A tonsure[5] is a part of a monk's or priest's head left bare on top by shaving off the hair ⇒
his hair is thinning up there—soon he'll have a tonsure like a monk's.
Down
| 1d | Long story /of/ French novelist, unfinished (4) |
Françoise Sagan[5] (1935–2004) was a French novelist, playwright, and short-story writer; pseudonym of Françoise Quoirez. She rose to fame with her first novel Bonjour Tristesse (1954); in this and subsequent novels she examined the transitory nature of love as experienced in brief liaisons.
| 2d | Dreadful player scratching a // manager (8) |
| 3d | Law surrounding new // big gun (6) |
Canon can mean "law" in a couple of senses:
- A canon[5] is a Church decree or law ⇒ (i)
a set of ecclesiastical canons
; (ii)legislation which enables the Church of England General Synod to provide by canon for women to be ordained
. - A canon[5] is a general law, rule, principle, or criterion by which something is judged ⇒
the appointment violated the canons of fair play and equal opportunity
.
N Zealand]
| 4d | Showman /from/ Paris? Rome, I suspect (10) |
| 5d | Consider // method announced (5) |
| 6d | Keep a stiff upper lip /in/ Britain with danger being involved! (4,3,4,2) |
| 8d | Flog squire /for/ touching (7) |
A squire[5] is a man of high social standing who owns and lives on an estate in a rural area, especially the chief landowner in such an area.
| 12d | Pick-up joint? // A blessing in disguise close to pier (7,3) |
| 14d | Most devoted /in/ what sounds like important home (7) |
| 15d | Exert one's authority /in/ row after row (4,4) |
Pull[5] means to work oars to cause a boat to move.
| 17d | Film // bloodhound (6) |
Sleuth[7] is a 1972 British-American mystery comedy thriller film directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and starring Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine. The screenplay by playwright Anthony Shaffer was based on his 1970 Tony Award-winning play. Both Olivier and Caine were nominated for Academy Awards for their performances. This was Mankiewicz's final film. Critics gave the film overwhelmingly positive reviews.
A 2007 remake with screenplay by Nobel laureate Harold Pinter and directed by Kenneth Branagh starred Michael Caine and Jude Law (in the roles played in the original by Olivier and Caine respectively). The remake did not use any of the dialogue in Shaffer's original script and was considered unsuccessful in comparison with the original.
Bloodhound[10] is an informal term for a detective.
| 18d | Square up holding bottom of beer // bottle (5) |
What did he say?
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In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, pommers tells us we are looking for squareQuits[5] is an adjective meaning (of two people) on even terms, especially because a debt or score has been settled ⇒as in quits. I think we’re just about quits now, don’t you?. |
Bottle[5] is an informal British term denoting the courage or confidence needed to do something difficult or dangerous ⇒
I lost my bottle completely and ran.
* Origin: bottle (from "bottle and glass") is Cockney rhyming slang for arse
(buttocks) [which in the non-rhotic dialects (show explanation
) found in many parts of Britain (especially southeastern England) is pronounced 'ass'
and, thus, does rhyme with glass]. Apparently 'to lose one's bottle'
originally meant to be so scared that one loses control of one's bowels.
Non-rhotic accents omit the sound < r > in certain situations, while rhotic accents generally pronounce < r > in all contexts. Among the several dozen British English accents which exist, many are non-rhotic while American English (US and Canadian) is mainly rhotic. This is, however, a generalisation, as there are areas of Britain that are rhotic, and areas of America that are non-rhotic. For more information, see this guide to pronouncing < r > in British English.
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Non-rhotic accents omit the sound < r > in certain situations, while rhotic accents generally pronounce < r > in all contexts. Among the several dozen British English accents which exist, many are non-rhotic while American English (US and Canadian) is mainly rhotic. This is, however, a generalisation, as there are areas of Britain that are rhotic, and areas of America that are non-rhotic. For more information, see this guide to pronouncing < r > in British English.
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| 21d | Cheeky youngster pinching pounds /in/ disco? (4) |
Cub[2] is used in a derogatory old sense denoting an impudent young man.
"pounds " = L [British monetary unit]
The pound[5] (also pound sterling) is the basic monetary unit of the UK, equal to 100 pence. While the symbol for pound is £, it is often written as L[10].
The Chambers Dictionary defines the upper case L[1] as the abbreviation for pound sterling (usually written £) and the lower case l[1] as the abbreviation for pound weight (usually written lb) — both deriving from the Latin word libra* .
* In ancient Rome, the libra[5] was a unit of weight, equivalent to 12 ounces (0.34 kg). It was the forerunner of the pound.
hide
The pound[5] (also pound sterling) is the basic monetary unit of the UK, equal to 100 pence. While the symbol for pound is £, it is often written as L[10].
The Chambers Dictionary defines the upper case L[1] as the abbreviation for pound sterling (usually written £) and the lower case l[1] as the abbreviation for pound weight (usually written lb) — both deriving from the Latin word libra* .
* In ancient Rome, the libra[5] was a unit of weight, equivalent to 12 ounces (0.34 kg). It was the forerunner of the pound.
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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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