Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29934 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Monday, March 14, 2022 | |
Setter
Campbell (Allan Scott) | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29934]
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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
For a second day in a row, the mental workout is not very taxing. Perhaps we are being set up for more challenging fare later in the week.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 | Potter, say, // in part, is a necromancer (7) |
Scratching the Surface
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| The surface reading is clearly an allusion to Harry Potter[7], the title character in a series of fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling.
The novels chronicle the life of a young wizard, Harry Potter, and his
friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, all of whom are students at
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. A necromancer[5] is someone who engages in the supposed practice of communicating with the dead, especially in order to predict the future. |
| 5a | In company, plays new // song (7) |
Co[5] (also Co.) is the abbreviation for Company [in particular, in the name of a business].
As well as being a genre of music, calypso[5] can also denote a song of that style ⇒
a man was playing a calypso on a double bass.
| 9a | Petty quarrel about rhyme's opening character -- // Jack, perhaps (5) |
Jack Sprat[7] is is an English language nursery rhyme. The most common modern version of the rhyme is:
- Jack Sprat could eat no fat.
- His wife could eat no lean.
- And so between the two of them,
- They licked the platter clean.
Were it not in violation of the convention for double duty, the definition could almost be considered to extend into the wordplay as Jack Sprat is, in fact, the "rhyme's opening character", making his appearance in the first line of the verse.
| 10a | Fish /and/ fruit exclusive (5,4) |
Lemon sole[5] is not a fish recipe but rather a common European flatfish of the plaice family. It is an important food fish.
The fish is actually a type of flounder – not sole – and it has nothing to do with lemon other than it is pale-yellow in color; the name derives from French limande, "flatfish"[a].
[a] Farlex Trivia Dictionary
| 11a | Bon vivant, // Zurich banker, devouring roast set out (10) |
Gnome[5] is used in the informal sense of a person regarded as having secret or sinister influence in financial matters ⇒
It is said that even the bankers, known as the gnomes of Zurich because of the mounds of gold stored in underground vaults, have to relax.
| 12a | Gear includes large // tartan skirt (4) |
Gear and kit can be synonyms in the specific sense of clothing as well as in a more general sense.
Gear[5] is:
- equipment or apparatus that is used for a particular purpose ⇒
camping gear
- (informal) clothing, especially of a specified kind ⇒
He expanded his clothing line from basketball gear to lifestyle wear.
- a set of articles or equipment needed for a specific purpose ⇒
a first-aid kit
- (British) a set of articles forming part of a soldier's equipment ⇒
They are heavy, and adding them to a soldier's kit that already includes ammunitions, rations, and other heavy items may be undesirable.
- a set of all the parts needed to assemble something ⇒
an aircraft kit
- a British[5] or chiefly British[3] term for clothing and other personal effects, especially those of a traveller or soldier ⇒ (i)
safari kit
; (ii)battle kit
. - an informal British term for clothing in general, especially in the phrase get one's kit off[5] meaning to take off all one's clothes.
| 14a | Railing against yellowish-white // lotion? (7,5) |
Barrier cream[5] is a British term for a cream used to protect the skin from damage or infection ⇒
apply a barrier cream for dirty, wet jobs.
| 18a | Take off after arriving -- from here, paradoxically? (7,5) |
The entire clue is a cryptic definition of the ironically named location from which one departs (on the air side) after arriving at an airport (on the land side); however, as, a reader pointed out in a comment on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, it also includes embedded wordplay in the form of a word meaning to take off (clothing, for instance) following a word meaning arriving (at the end of a flight).
| 21a | Extra // aboard ship (Lusitania) (4) |
Scratching the Surface
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| RMS* Lusitania[7] was a British ocean liner, holder of the Blue Riband [an unofficial accolade given to the passenger liner crossing the Atlantic Ocean in regular service with the record highest speed]
and briefly the world's biggest ship. She was launched by the Cunard
Line in 1906, at a time of fierce competition for the North Atlantic
trade. In 1915 she was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat, causing
the deaths of 1,198 passengers and crew. * RMS = Royal Mail Ship |
| 22a | Duke Ellington, for example, // also included in British editorial (10) |
" British " = B[1]
Leader[10] (also called leading article) is a mainly British term for the leading editorial in a newspaper.
| 25a | Watch parts broken // easily (5,4) |
| 26a | Brownish // teacup smashed, about to be dropped (5) |
" about " = C [c.[2]; circa (Latin)]
| 27a | Melting ice does, // see (7) |
A see[10] is the diocese (show more ) of a bishop, or the place within it where his cathedral (show more ) or procathedral (show more ) is situated.
A diocese[5] is a district under the pastoral care of a bishop in the Christian Church — or, more precisely, episcopal churches.
hide
A diocese[5] is a district under the pastoral care of a bishop in the Christian Church — or, more precisely, episcopal churches.
hide
| 28a | Told // of the same family (7) |
Down
| 1d | A small token /for/ delegate (6) |
" small " = S[5] [clothing size]
| 2d | Flog // junk round hotel (6) |
" hotel " = H[5] [NATO Phonetic Alphabet[7]]
| 3d | Posed with vase, famous boxer before a // festival (10) |
Muhammad Ali[5] is an American boxer; born Cassius Marcellus Clay. He won the world heavyweight title in 1964, 1974, and 1978, becoming the only boxer to be world champion three times.
Saturnalia[5] is the ancient Roman festival of Saturn in December, a period of general merrymaking and the predecessor of Christmas.
| 4d | Material /from/ New York, London university lecturer dismissed (5) |
A don[10] is a member of the teaching staff at a university or college, especially at Oxford or Cambridge.
| 5d | Cheese // a representative brought into court (9) |
" court " = CT [Ct or ct[2]; in street addresses]
Camembert[10] is a rich soft creamy cheese named for a village in Normandy where it originated.
| 6d | Deception involving northern // band (4) |
| 7d | Allowed // in the event (8) |
| 8d | Remove it somehow /to get/ extra pay (8) |
| 13d | Not planned, // a topless western! (10) |
| 15d | Cook, a character following Moore's initial // complicated series of actions (9) |
Scratching the Surface
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| Peter Cook[7] (1937–1995) was an English satirist and comedic actor. He was the leading figure of the British satire boom of the 1960s, and he was associated with the anti-establishment comedic movement that emerged in the United Kingdom in the late 1950s. After graduating from the University of Cambridge, he created the comedy stage revue Beyond the Fringe, beginning a long-running partnership with Dudley Moore. Dudley Moore[7] (1935–2002) was an English actor, comedian, composer and musician. Moore first came to prominence in the UK as a leading figure in the British satire boom of the 1960s. He was one of the four writer-performers in the comedy revue Beyond the Fringe from 1960 that created a boom in satiric comedy. He formed a popular double act with another member of that team, Peter Cook, that continued until the mid 1970s in which Moore’s buffoonery contrasted with Cook’s deadpan monologues. |
| 16d | Careless // fielders keep dropping Leicestershire's opener (8) |
In cricket, slip[5]
denotes a fielding position close behind the batsman on the side of
the field toward which the batsman's feet are pointed when standing
to receive the ball or a fielder at this position. (show more )
In cricket, a slip[5] is:
* The off[5] (also called off side) is the half of the field (as divided lengthways through the pitch) towards which the batsman's feet are pointed when standing to receive the ball. The other half of the field is known as either the leg[5] (also called leg side) or on[5] (also called on side) ⇒
** Edge[5] means:
hide
In cricket, a slip[5] is:
- a fielding position (often one of two or more in an arc) close behind the batsman on the off side*, for catching balls edged** by the batsman ⇒ (i)
he was caught in the slips for 32
*** ; (ii)King is at first slip
- a fielder at slip
* The off[5] (also called off side) is the half of the field (as divided lengthways through the pitch) towards which the batsman's feet are pointed when standing to receive the ball. The other half of the field is known as either the leg[5] (also called leg side) or on[5] (also called on side) ⇒
he played a lucky stroke to leg.
** Edge[5] means:
- to strike (the ball) with the edge of the bat [remember, a cricket bat is flat — unlike a baseball bat] ⇒
he edged a ball into his pad
- to strike a ball delivered by (the bowler) with the edge of the bat⇒
Haynes edged to slip
hide
Scratching the Surface
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| Leicestershire[5] is a county of central England. Leicestershire County Cricket Club[7] is one of eighteen first-class county clubs* within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. * the top tier of cricket in England and Wales |
| 17d | Union, worried about consequence, /makes/ insinuation (8) |
| 19d | Change // plug perfectly (6) |
| 20d | Mate // runs in addict (6) |
"runs " = R [cricket notation]
In Britain, mate[5] – in addition to meaning a person’s husband, wife, or other sexual partner – can also be an informal term for a friend or companion ⇒
my best mate Steve.
| 23d | Benefactor/'s/ party rounding on Republican (5) |
"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
" Republican " = R[5] [member or supporter of the US Republican Party]
| 24d | Dogs, maybe, /in/ passageway having no lead (4) |
The Isle of Dogs[7] is an area in the East End of London that is bounded on three sides (east, south and west) by one of the largest meanders in the River Thames.
Scratching the Surface
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Lead[5] is a British* term for leash, a strap or cord for restraining and guiding a dog or other domestic animal ⇒ the dog is our constant walking companion and is always kept on a lead. * Despite being characterized as a British term by Lexico (Oxford Dictionaries), lead[3] is defined in The American Heritage Dictionary as another name for a leash. |
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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