Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29955 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Thursday, April 7, 2022 | |
Setter
silvanus | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29955]
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Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
Miffypops | |
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, August 6, 2022 edition of the National Post. | |
Introduction
I found the northwest quadrant together with a couple of scattered clues elsewhere in the puzzle to be very obstinate today. It took me several sessions to solve the puzzle and I was left with one clue for which I could not explain the wordplay.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 | Disagree having fewer commitments /is/ example to follow (6,6) |
| 9a | Tactful broadcast about university beginning to embrace // change (9) |
" university " = U [(U or U.)[1]]
The indicator "beginning to" is a direction to use the initial letter of a word in the fodder.
The indicator "beginning to" is a direction to use the initial letter of a word in the fodder.
| 10a | Stupid // article fiancee regularly defends (5) |
| 11a | Acclaims // opening vote on Wednesday essentially being rejected (6) |
The indicator "essentially" is a direction to use the letter
that forms the essence or core of a word in the fodder.
| 12a | One who suffers if workers are idle? (8) |
| 13a | Extremely good sailor returns to visit // island (6) |
" good " = G [(g or g.)[1]; a grade of numismatic coin perhaps]
"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 able-bodied seaman) 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 able-bodied seaman) is an ordinary seaman, especially one in the merchant navy, who has been trained in certain skills.
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Tobago is one of two islands off the northeastern coast of Venezuela that together comprise the country of Trinidad and Tobago[5] (show more ).
Much the larger of the two islands is Trinidad, with Tobago to the north-east. Trinidad, inhabited by Arawaks, was visited by Columbus in 1498 and settled by the Spanish; Tobago, occupied by Caribs, was colonized by the French and later the British in the 18th century. Trinidad became British during the Napoleonic Wars and was formally amalgamated with Tobago as a Crown Colony in 1888. Trinidad and Tobago became an independent member state of the Commonwealth in 1962 and finally a republic in 1976.
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Much the larger of the two islands is Trinidad, with Tobago to the north-east. Trinidad, inhabited by Arawaks, was visited by Columbus in 1498 and settled by the Spanish; Tobago, occupied by Caribs, was colonized by the French and later the British in the 18th century. Trinidad became British during the Napoleonic Wars and was formally amalgamated with Tobago as a Crown Colony in 1888. Trinidad and Tobago became an independent member state of the Commonwealth in 1962 and finally a republic in 1976.
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| 15a | Suggest I'm at ease receiving // valuation (8) |
| 18a | Edge over towards European wearing fine scarlet // stole (8) |
| 19a | Free // to think once more? (6) |
| 21a | Quality // goods (8) |
| 23a | Archaeologists find them buried /in/ rows, reportedly (6) |
| 26a | Poet's son promoted /to/ something important in brewery (5) |
Although the 's denotes possession in the surface reading, in the cryptic reading it is interpreted as a contraction for has making the wordplay "Poet has son promoted".
W. B. Yeats[5] (1865–1939) was an Irish poet and dramatist; full name William Butler Yeats. (show more )
His play The Countess Cathleen (1892) and his collection of stories The Celtic Twilight (1893) stimulated Ireland’s theatrical, cultural, and literary revival. Notable poetry: The Tower (1928) and The Winding Stair (1929). He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923.
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His play The Countess Cathleen (1892) and his collection of stories The Celtic Twilight (1893) stimulated Ireland’s theatrical, cultural, and literary revival. Notable poetry: The Tower (1928) and The Winding Stair (1929). He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923.
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| 27a | Some clinics sent penicillin back, /showing/ incompetence (9) |
| 28a | Fine centre running, about to break through // obstruction (12) |
Down
| 1d | Bad live act shunned by clubs /that's/ unusual (7) |
" clubs " = C[1] [card suit]
| 2d | Not entirely smart // trip (5) |
The indicator "not entirely" is a direction to discard the final letter of a word suggested by the fodder.
| 3d | Got a clue easily, accepting answer /in/ list (9) |
" answer " = A[1]
| 4d | See American female making bloomer, maybe (4) |
Bloomer[2] is a British term for a longish crusty loaf of white bread, with rounded ends and several diagonal slashes across the top.
| 5d | Embarrassed, // rather like you on the radio? (8) |
| 6d | Board // of Unilever implementing joint agreement initially (5) |
| 7d | Prove // vat ideal for cooking (8) |
| 8d | Annoy // Head of English after in-depth talk occasionally (6) |
The indicator "head of" is a direction to use the initial letter of a word in the fodder.
| 14d | Vocal support for male dog around // royal residence (8) |
" male " = M [(m or m.)[2]]
Balmoral Castle[5] is a holiday [vacation] residence of the British royal family, on the River Dee in Scotland.
| 16d | Cousins or Dean perhaps // Eric takes swimming (3-6) |
Robin Cousins[7] is a British former competitive figure skater who was the 1980 Olympic champion, the 1980 European champion, a three-time World medalist (1978–1980) and four-time British national champion (1977–1980), winning all of these titles during his amateur career.
Christopher Dean[7] is a British ice dancer who won a gold medal at the 1984 Winter Olympics with his skating partner Jayne Torvill. They also won a bronze medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics.
Christopher Dean[7] is a British ice dancer who won a gold medal at the 1984 Winter Olympics with his skating partner Jayne Torvill. They also won a bronze medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics.
| 17d | Defend // greatest attraction at Alton Towers? (8) |
Alton Towers Resort[7] (often referred to as Alton Towers) is a theme park and resort complex in Staffordshire, England, near the village of Alton.
The Chambers Dictionary defines bestride (in part) as "... to defend or protect ..."[1] while the Chambers 21st Century Dictionary elaborates on this by saying "to stand over or across something in an imposing, protective or defensive manner"[2].
| 18d | Fruit // always consumed by father (6) |
Ay is a variant spelling of aye[2], a Scots and Northern England dialect term meaning always, still or continually ⇒
Och, he's aye skiving aff.
The papaya[5] is a tropical fruit shaped like an elongated melon, with edible orange flesh and small black seeds.
| 20d | Essential to visit // sacred figure in French museum (4-3) |
The French word musée[8] means 'museum'.
| 22d | A number following cybercrime ultimately // put away (5) |
The indicator "ultimately" is a direction to use the final letter of a word in the fodder.
| 24d | Extra morning rest, /with/ student that is popular! (3-2) |
"student " = L [driver under instruction]
The cryptic crossword convention of L meaning learner or student arises from the L-plate[7], a square plate bearing a sans-serif letter L, for learner, which must be affixed to the front and back of a vehicle in various jurisdictions (including the UK) if its driver is a learner under instruction.
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The cryptic crossword convention of L meaning learner or student arises from the L-plate[7], a square plate bearing a sans-serif letter L, for learner, which must be affixed to the front and back of a vehicle in various jurisdictions (including the UK) if its driver is a learner under instruction.
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| Automobile displaying an L-plate |
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Lie-in[5] is a British expression for a prolonged stay in bed in the morning ⇒
your mother is having a lie-in this morning.
| 25d | Complaint // left one lacking in confidence (4) |
" left " = L [l[2]]
" one " = I[2] [Roman numeral]
The wordplay is {L(eft) + I ([Roman numeral] one)} discarded from (lacking in) BE[LI]EF (confidence).
" one " = I[2] [Roman numeral]
The wordplay is {L(eft) + I ([Roman numeral] one)} discarded from (lacking in) BE[
Post Mortem
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| I got the correct solution but could not work out the wordplay (for which I needed to look at Miffypops' review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog). He acknowledges "Stephen Lord and Cryptic Sue" as the source of his solution. |
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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