Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29935 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Tuesday, March 15, 2022 | |
Setter
Unknown | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29935]
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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
Judging by the rating on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, the streak of relatively easy puzzles continues. However, I still managed to stumble once or twice.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 | Fruit // grew popular (7) |
| 5a | Cricketer might be this // confused (7) |
In cricket, stump[5,10] denotes a play by a fielder, especially a wicketkeeper, to dismiss a batsman by breaking his wicket with the ball or with the ball in the hand while the batsman is out of the crease but not running. A batsman so dismissed in said to be stumped.
| 9a | Husband wearing small wig -- a sign he doesn't care? (5) |
" husband " = H [h[2]; genealogy]
" small " = S[5] [clothing size]
| 10a | Child's books? // Exciting pictures too (9) |
Lee Child[7] (pen name of James Dover Grant) is a British author who writes thriller novels, and is best known for his Jack Reacher novel series. The books follow the adventures of a former American military policeman, Jack Reacher, who wanders the United States. His first novel, Killing Floor (1997), won both the Anthony Award and the Barry Award for Best First Novel.
| 11a | /From/ son, any gift is terribly // pleasing (10) |
Despite appearing at the beginning of the clue, the word "from" is effectively a link word.
" son " = S [s[5]; genealogy]
| 12a | Leader /in/ tournament's arrested (4) |
A tsar[5] (also czar or tzar) was an emperor of Russia before the revolution of 1917.
| 14a | Sipped her bubbly after he's prepared // meal (9,3) |
| 18a | Co-pilots moan flying // worldwide (12) |
| 21a | End // story on the radio (4) |
| 22a | Moving to Tunisia's // places (10) |
| 25a | Guys following a labyrinth with little time /for/ confusion (9) |
" little time " = " [abbreviation for] time " = T [t[1]; symbol used in physics]
| 26a | Facts are not first // class (5) |
Gen[5] is an informal British term for information ⇒
you’ve got more gen on him than we have.
| 27a | Most profound // river problem (7) |
The Dee[5,7] could be any of several rivers in Scotland and England – not to mention Ireland and Australia, the most prominent being:
- a river in northeastern Scotland, which rises in the Grampian Mountains and flows eastwards past Balmoral Castle to the North Sea at Aberdeen
- a river that rises in North Wales and flows into England, past Chester and on into the Irish Sea
| 28a | Think highly of // relation (7) |
Down
| 1d | Weather // is limiting period of relaxation? On the contrary (6) |
| 2d | Fairy // Queen surrounded by malice (6) |
"Queen " = R [Regina]
Queen may be abbreviated as Q, Qu. or R.
Q[5] is an abbreviation for queen that is used especially in describing play in card games and recording moves in chess.
Qu.[2] is another common abbreviation for Queen.
In the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms*, Regina[5] (abbreviation R[5]) [Latin for queen] denotes the reigning queen, used following a name (e.g. Elizabetha Regina, Queen Elizabeth — often shortened to ER) or in the titles of lawsuits (e.g. Regina v. Jones, the Crown versus Jones — often shortened to R. v. Jones).
* A Commonwealth realm[7] is a sovereign state in the Commonwealth of Nations that has Elizabeth II as its monarch and head of state. Each realm functions as an independent state, equal with the other realms and nations of the Commonwealth. There are currently fifteen Commonwealth realms, the largest being Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom with the remainder being smaller Caribbean and Pacific island nations.
Thus Queen Elizabeth signs her name as 'Elizabeth R' as seen here on Canada's paint-stained constitution[7].
hide
Queen may be abbreviated as Q, Qu. or R.
Q[5] is an abbreviation for queen that is used especially in describing play in card games and recording moves in chess.
Qu.[2] is another common abbreviation for Queen.
In the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms*, Regina[5] (abbreviation R[5]) [Latin for queen] denotes the reigning queen, used following a name (e.g. Elizabetha Regina, Queen Elizabeth — often shortened to ER) or in the titles of lawsuits (e.g. Regina v. Jones, the Crown versus Jones — often shortened to R. v. Jones).
* A Commonwealth realm[7] is a sovereign state in the Commonwealth of Nations that has Elizabeth II as its monarch and head of state. Each realm functions as an independent state, equal with the other realms and nations of the Commonwealth. There are currently fifteen Commonwealth realms, the largest being Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom with the remainder being smaller Caribbean and Pacific island nations.
Thus Queen Elizabeth signs her name as 'Elizabeth R' as seen here on Canada's paint-stained constitution[7].
hide
| 3d | Rotting group of fish // -- there are lessons to be learnt here (4,6) |
| 4d | Short // description of an orange? (5) |
Post Mortem
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| With very little conviction, I had entered PATTY in the grid reasoning that it is a common name for an Irishman and orange might be short for Orangeman. I was more than a little troubled by the fact that an Orangeman is an Irish protestant and I questioned whether one of them was likely to be named Patrick. As it turns out, I was way off the mark. |
| 5d | Almost calm, arrive on one // African plain (9) |
Arrive and get are used in the sense of reach (a destination) ⇒
As soon as you arrive there, call me.
The Serengeti[5] is a vast plain in Tanzania, to the west of the Great Rift Valley. In 1951 the Serengeti National Park was created to protect the area’s large numbers of wildebeest, zebra, and Thomson’s gazelle.
| 6d | Fruit // cocktail guzzled up partially (4) |
The ugli or ugli fruit[7] is a Jamaican form of tangelo, a citrus fruit created by hybridizing a grapefruit (or pomelo), an orange and a tangerine. (show more )
UGLI is a registered trademark of Cabel Hall Citrus Limited, under which it markets the fruit. It was discovered growing wild (possibly having developed in the same way grapefruit was created) in Jamaica, where it is mainly grown today.
The name is a variation of the word "ugly", which refers to the fruit's unsightly appearance, with rough, wrinkled, greenish-yellow rind, wrapped loosely around the orange pulpy citrus inside.
hide
UGLI is a registered trademark of Cabel Hall Citrus Limited, under which it markets the fruit. It was discovered growing wild (possibly having developed in the same way grapefruit was created) in Jamaica, where it is mainly grown today.
The name is a variation of the word "ugly", which refers to the fruit's unsightly appearance, with rough, wrinkled, greenish-yellow rind, wrapped loosely around the orange pulpy citrus inside.
hide
| 7d | Exercises // before small drinks (5-3) |
The "small" clothing size from 9a makes another appearance.
"drinks " = SUPS
As a verb, sup[5] is a dated or Northern English term meaning to take (drink or liquid food) by sips or spoonfuls ⇒ (i)
As a noun, sup[5] means
As a verb, sup[5] is a dated or Northern English term meaning to take (drink or liquid food) by sips or spoonfuls ⇒ (i)
she supped up her soup delightedly; (ii)
he was supping straight from the bottle.
As a noun, sup[5] means
- a sip of liquid ⇒
he took another sup of wine
- (in Northern England or Ireland) an alcoholic drink ⇒
the latest sup from those blokes at the brewery
| 8d | Detective Inspector's command creating chaos (8) |
"Detective Inspector " = DI
A detective inspector (abbrevation DI[5]) is a senior police officer in the UK. Within the British police, inspector[7] is the second supervisory rank. It is senior to that of sergeant, but junior to that of chief inspector. Plain-clothes detective inspectors are equal in rank to their uniformed counterparts, the prefix 'detective' identifying them as having been trained in criminal investigation and being part of or attached to their force's Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
hide
A detective inspector (abbrevation DI[5]) is a senior police officer in the UK. Within the British police, inspector[7] is the second supervisory rank. It is senior to that of sergeant, but junior to that of chief inspector. Plain-clothes detective inspectors are equal in rank to their uniformed counterparts, the prefix 'detective' identifying them as having been trained in criminal investigation and being part of or attached to their force's Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
hide
| 13d | Benefits /from/ rearranging vast agenda (10) |
| 15d | Noteworthy // ball in hospital department (9) |
This clue seems to have generated nary a word of protest on Big Dave's Crossword Blog despite prom[5], in the sense of a formal dance, being a North American expression.
"hospital department " = ENT
| 16d | Country // dance lots spoiled, lacking energy (8) |
" energy " = E[2] [symbol used in physics]
| 17d | China supporting Estonia, I // guess (8) |
The International Vehicle Registration (IVR) code for Estonia is EST[1].
China[5] is an informal British term for a friend (or, as the Brits would say, a mate*).
* In Britain, mate[5]—in addition to being a person’s husband, wife, or other sexual partner—is an informal term for a friend or companion ⇒
Origin: Cockney rhyming slang (show more ) from china plate (rhymes with 'mate').
A cockney[5,10] is a native of East London [specifically that part of East London known as the East End[5]], traditionally one born within hearing of Bow Bells (the bells of St Mary-le-Bow[7] church).
The cockney[5] dialect is characterized by dropping the aitch (H) from the beginning of words as well as the use of rhyming slang[5].
Rhyming slang[5] is a type of slang that replaces words with rhyming words or phrases, typically with the rhyming element omitted. For example, butcher’s, short for butcher’s hook, means ‘look’ in cockney rhyming slang.
hide
* In Britain, mate[5]—in addition to being a person’s husband, wife, or other sexual partner—is an informal term for a friend or companion ⇒
my best mate Steve.
Origin: Cockney rhyming slang (show more ) from china plate (rhymes with 'mate').
A cockney[5,10] is a native of East London [specifically that part of East London known as the East End[5]], traditionally one born within hearing of Bow Bells (the bells of St Mary-le-Bow[7] church).
The cockney[5] dialect is characterized by dropping the aitch (H) from the beginning of words as well as the use of rhyming slang[5].
Rhyming slang[5] is a type of slang that replaces words with rhyming words or phrases, typically with the rhyming element omitted. For example, butcher’s, short for butcher’s hook, means ‘look’ in cockney rhyming slang.
hide
Scratching the Surface
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Estonia[5] is a Baltic country on the south coast of the Gulf of Finland. (show more )
Previously ruled by the Teutonic Knights and then by Sweden, Estonia was ceded to Russia in 1721. It was proclaimed an independent republic in 1918 but was annexed by the USSR in 1940 as a constituent republic, the Estonian SSR. With the break-up of the Soviet Union Estonia regained its independence in 1991. hide |
| 19d | Big cat under pressure might do this? (6) |
I would say the entire clue is a (somewhat) cryptic definition in which the wordplay is embedded.
| 20d | Climb // a small church? Not without oxygen (6) |
The small clothing size makes its third appearance in today's puzzle.
" oxygen " = O[5] [chemical symbol]
| 23d | Golf club missing head, // say (5) |
| 24d | Bare // bottoms in stream are rather large (4) |
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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