Welcome to the North American Daily Telegraph Cryptic Crossword Forum.
has ceased publishing cryptic crosswords, those of us addicted to them can continue to get our daily fix direct from
. In addition to various subscription options offered by the newspaper itself (the online edition of the
paper, the
is also available via PressReader which is available not only by subscription but also as a free service provided to members by
many public libraries.
In addition to having a new name, the blog will appear once a week on Saturday instead of daily. The format will also change. Rather than review each puzzle in detail, I plan to comment on selected clues focusing on Briticisms that are likely to be unfamiliar to North American solvers. I also invite readers to request explanations for any clues they are struggling with.
I didn't manage to include all of this weeks puzzles, running out of time before deadline.
I am sure we were all shocked and disappointed by the demise of cryptic crosswords in the
. I also did not appreciate the replacement puzzle being described in an article published on October 15 as not "
I have also been in touch with Emily and Henry who seem to have been equally blindsided by this move by the National Post. I am sure they will not mind if I share some of their remarks with readers:
What's New At Big Dave's Crossword Blog
We saw the last DT Cryptic published by the
National Post in the Friday, October 13, 2022 edition of the paper. It was DT 30005 which had appeared in
The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, June 4, 2022. Those of you switching your source of puzzles to
The Daily Telegraph will find yourself at DT 30120 which was published by the DT on Monday of this week.
A lot happened at
Big Dave's Crossword Blog between June and October. In late August a bit of drama occurred when a reader took exception to the tone of some comments directed toward him by Miffypops. Some senior reviewers supported the reader's position and called out Miffypops resulting in Miffypops deciding to leave the blogging team followed by a few other bloggers in sympathy with him. This occasioned a shakeup in blogging assignments.
Expect to find pommers and myself sharing responsibility for Monday reviews, Mr K has moved to Thursday with a new blogger, Twmbarlwm, replacing him, the 2Kiwis retain their Wednesday slot, Senf has replaced Deep Threat on Friday, and crypticsue is now handling the hints on Saturday while continuing to split reviewing duty for that puzzle with Rahmat Ali.
Notes on This Week's Puzzles
The following commentary supplements reviews of these puzzle found on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, to which links are provided in the tables below.
|
Publication date
|
Puzzle number
|
Setter
|
| Monday, October 17, 2022 |
DT 30120 |
Campbell (Allan Scott)
|
|
Link to review
|
Reviewer
|
Difficulty
|
Enjoyment
|
|
DT 30120 – Review
|
Falcon
|
★★★
|
★★★
|
Across 1a Robber /in/ gang, Italian (6)IT for Italian can come from either the abbreviation It. (referring to the Italian language) used to describe the etymology of words in dictionary entries or an informal British name for Italian vermouth "Bartender, I'll have a gin and it".
12a Jellyfish // petrifying woman (6)In Greek mythology, the
gorgons[5] were three sisters, Stheno, Euryale, and
Medusa, with snakes for hair, who had the power to turn anyone who
looked at them to stone. The only mortal gorgon was
Medusa[5] whom Perseus killed by cutting off her head.
| Some Brits appear to have had trouble with this clue, likely since, in the UK, the anglicized spelling me for this musical note seems to be more prevalent than the Italian spelling mi with which we are familiar in North America. |
23a Daily, one's mother /makes/ personal appeal (8)Daily and char are British terms for a cleaning lady.
26a Member of the clergy, // American patriot, approaching North Dakota (8)Paul Revere[16B] (1735–1818) was an American patriot and silversmith, best known for his night ride on April 18, 1775, to warn the Massachusetts colonists of the coming of the British troops.
Down 5d Duck taken by each female // thief (3,4)Tea leaf is Cockney rhyming slang for thief.
The word duck in the wordplay might mislead UK solvers who are
apt to interpret it as a cricket term. In British puzzles, "duck" is
commonly used to
indicate the letter "O" based on the resemblance of the digit "0" to
this letter. In cricket, a duck[5] (short for duck's egg) is a batsman’s score of nought [zero] ⇒ he was out for a duck . This is similar to the North American expression goose egg[5]
meaning a zero score in a game. |
6d Snare // wild ones crossing over (5)More cricket. On cricket scorecards, the abbreviation
O[5] denotes
over(s), an
over[5] being a division of play consisting of a sequence of six balls bowled by a bowler from
one end of the pitch, after which another bowler takes over from the
other end.
| If you peruse the comments on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, you will find that some readers were rather shocked by what happens in the back rooms of strip clubs. |
17d Object // the Parisian found under lorry (7)Lorry is the common British name for a truck.
Artic[5] is an informal British name for an
articulated lorry.
|
Publication date
|
Puzzle number
|
Setter
|
| Tuesday, October 18, 2022 |
DT 30121 |
Anthony Plumb (Unconfirmed) |
|
Link to review
|
Reviewer
|
Difficulty
|
Enjoyment
|
|
DT 30121 – Review
|
Twmbarlwm
|
★★
|
★★★★
|
Across 1a Athletes who get the highest // value petrol annoyed with Shell initially (4-8)Petrol is the British term for gasoline.
12a Fool European maiden by holding large // meeting (8)Yet another cricket term. In cricket, a
maiden[5], also known as a
maiden over and denoted on cricket scorecards by the abbreviation
m.[10], is an
over (
see Monday 6d above) in which no runs are scored.
We also see European cluing the abbreviation E and large cluing L, a symbol designating a size of clothing.
13a Hard interrupting Italian novelist, editor // reflected (6)Umberto Eco (1932–2016) was an Italian novelist.
H is an abbreviation for hard that one would see on pencils designating its grade of lead.
15a Egg on sandwiches Mussolini, perhaps, // made (8)Il Duce (the leader) was the title assumed by Italian fascist leader Benito Mussolini (1883–1945).
18a Old fogey // ruins a do, dancing (8)
| Notable quote: "I object most strongly to dinosaurs being equated
with old fogeys. The dinosaurs dominated our planet for some 200
million years and finally disappeared through no fault of their own. I
cannot see the human race getting anywhere near such an achievement."
(Grammarian on Big Dave's Crossword Blog) |
19a Feature // a page penned by religious school (6)
One finds
p[5] as an abbreviation for
page in textual references ⇒
see p 784
.
In the surface reading,
coconut shy[2,5] is a British term for a fairground stall where people throw balls at coconuts to try to knock them off stands and thereby win a prize.
Shy[5]
is a dated term meaning (as a noun) an act of flinging or throwing
something at a target or (as a verb) to fling or throw (something) at a
target ⇒ he tore the spectacles off and shied them at her . |
27d Ford maybe // parking next to hotel guest (9)The symbol P for parking is in common use on street signs.
Gerald Ford
(1913–2006) was the 38th President of the
US 1974-7.
Down 1d Meaty food -- // this might go on one's crumpet (4,3)
In the surface reading, crumpet[16B] refers to a light soft yeast cake full of small holes on the top side, eaten toasted and buttered which is popular in Britain. They somewhat resemble English muffins but are made from batter rather than dough.
|
A
porkpie[10] (
or porkpie hat[10]) is a hat with a round flat crown and a brim that can be turned up or down.
As the solution, a British
pork pie[5,10,14] is a round, tall pie filled with minced seasoned pork, which is typically eaten cold.
I have not marked the clue as a double definition as the numeration of the second part does not march that given in the clue.
2d Actress, say, removing soft // coat (5)Piano[3,5] (
abbreviation p[5]), is a musical direction meaning either (
as an adjective) soft or quiet or (
as an adverb) softly or quietly.
4d In jail, guard picked up // something to eat (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. 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.
One would encounter
t.[10] as the abbreviation for
tense in the field of grammar.
Mainly in US slang,
G is a symbol for
grand (a thousand
dollars or
pounds)
[4,10]. Brits would appear to use the term grand in this sense but not the abbreviated version.
Lag[5] is an informal British term for a person who has been frequently convicted and sent to prison ⇒ both old lags were sentenced to ten years' imprisonment
.
|
Publication date
|
Puzzle number
|
Setter
|
| Wednesday, October 19, 2022 |
DT 30122 |
Unknown |
|
Link to review
|
Reviewer
|
Difficulty
|
Enjoyment
|
| DT 30122 – Review
|
2Kiwis
|
★★★
|
★★★
|
Across 1a Believer // a bit wet? Not the fellow being imprisoned (10)
Wet[5] is an informal British term meaning (as an adjective) showing a lack of forcefulness or strength of character ⇒ they thought the cadets were a bit wet or (as a noun) a person exhibiting such characteristics ⇒ there are sorts who look like gangsters and sorts who look like wets .
In British political circles, the name wet[5] is applied to a Conservative with liberal tendencies ⇒ the wets favoured a change in economic policy .
It is a term that was frequently used by former British Prime Minister Margaret
Thatcher for those to the left of her in the British Conservative Party
[which must have been just about everyone]. |
6a Desdemona's husband maybe /in/ a desolate place (4)Desdemona[7] is a character in William Shakespeare's play Othello. She is a Venetian beauty who enrages and disappoints her father, a Venetian senator, when she elopes with Othello, a Moor.
Moor[5] is a chiefly British term for a tract of open uncultivated upland, typically covered with heather.
15a Saw // agent dressed in brown (6)A
trepan[2] is a type of small cylindrical saw that was formerly used for removing part of a bone, especially part of the skull.
In German,
der[8] is one of several forms the definite article may assume.
Gee-gee[5] (in children's use or in racehorse betting) is an informal British term for a horse ⇒ (i) Even as the wrapping paper was ripped off, he worried whether his choice of choo-choos over gee-gees was the right one ; (ii) Betters can also wager on other major sports, including golf, tennis and rugby, as well as the gee-gees . |
20a Country // almost liberated with introduction of political party? (6)The
African National Congress[5] (
abbreviation ANC)
is a South African political party and black nationalist organization.
When the creator of the puzzle references themself in the clue, one must replace the reference with a first person pronoun (I or ME).
2d Heads? // Crazy people (4)Nut[3,4] is slang for the human head.
4d One using brain is engaged by boffin // who works in the lab? (15)Boffin[2] is a colloquial British term for a scientist engaged in research, especially for the armed forces or the government.
7d Like mode of transport // traversing sporting venue? (10)I would say
ground[5] is a chiefly term for an area of land, often with associated buildings and structures, used for a particular sport ⇒
(i) a football ground
; (ii) Liverpool’s new ground is nearing completion
.
Asti[7] (formerly known as
Asti Spumante)
is a sparkling white Italian wine.
14d Guards // so large doing turns (7)Gaolor[10] is a British variant spelling of
jailer.
20d Repair // fine kitchen vessel without its lid (6)F[5] is an abbreviation for
fine, as used in describing grades of pencil lead.
As the definition, repair is used as a noun.
23d Garment // is taken up for a queen to wear (4)In the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, during the reign of a queen,
Regina[5] (
abbreviation R[5]) [
Latin for queen] denotes the reigning monarch, 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).
|
Publication date
|
Puzzle number
|
Setter
|
| Thursday, October 20, 2022 |
DT 30123 |
silvanus |
|
Link to review
|
Reviewer
|
Difficulty
|
Enjoyment
|
| DT 30123 – Review
|
Mr K
|
★★★★
|
★★★★
|
Across 9a Airline service cross about // supposedly unmissable target? (4,4)The airline is British Airways (BA) and the service is the Royal Navy (RN).
10a Skill /of/ primarily kind old doctor in Cumbrian area (4-3)Cumbria is a county in NW England.
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television program.
11a Greek character visits second // gravestone, possibly (8)Nu[5] is the thirteenth letter of the Greek alphabet (
Ν, ν).
12 Little old man retired, lacking in desire (6)
15a Rum, maybe /from/ Italy, son left half-finished (4)The International Vehicle Registration (IVR) code for
Italy is
I[5] [from Italian
Italia].
In genealogies,
s[5] is the abbreviation for
son(s) ⇒
m 1991; one s one d
.
Rùm[7] (a Scottish Gaelic name often anglicised to
Rum) is one of the Small Isles of the Inner Hebrides in Scotland.
16a Entering southern strait, Norman occasionally /is/ sleepy (9)The
Solent[7]is the strait that separates the Isle of Wight (an island on the southern coast of England) from the mainland of England.
Ide[5] is another name for the
orfe[5], a silvery freshwater fish of the carp family, which is fished commercially in eastern Europe.
24a Issue // anaesthetic (6)In the second part of the clue, "number" is used in the whimsical cryptic crossword sense of 'something that numbs'.
27a Caught golfer /making/ embarrassing error (7)On cricket scorecards, the abbreviation
c[5] or
c.[2,10] denotes
caught (by).
Bernhard Langer[7]
is a German professional golfer.
Clanger[5] is an informal British term for an absurd or embarrassing blunder ⇒
the minister had dropped a massive political clanger*
.
* To
drop a clanger[10] means to make a very embarrassing mistake.
28a Took over from // daughter behind console (8)In genealogies,
d[5] is the abbreviation for
daughter ⇒
Henry m. Georgina 1957, 1s 2d
.
Tripe[5]
is an informal term
* for nonsense or rubbish (
foolish words or speech) ⇒
you do talk tripe sometimes
.
* "Formally", tripe is the first or second stomach of a cow or other ruminant used as
food. 5d PM over /in/ Irish county (4)Theresa May[7] was Prime
Minister of the United Kingdom from
2016 to 2019.
In cricket, an
over[5] is a division of play consisting of a sequence of six balls bowled by a bowler from
one end of the pitch, after which another bowler takes over from the
other end.
Mayo[5] is a county in the Republic of Ireland, located in the north-west in the province of Connacht.
7d Understands it's stated patient individual /requires/ cosmetic surgery (4,3)In the Bible,
Job[5] was
a man whose
patience and piety were tried by undeserved misfortunes. However, in
spite of his bitter lamentations, he remained confident in the goodness
and justice of God. His name has come to epitomise patience ⇒In dealing with this series of difficult circumstances, she displayed the patience of Job
.
The
Spice Girls[7]
are an English pop girl group formed in 1994. The group comprises
Melanie Brown, also known as Mel B ("Scary Spice"), Melanie Chisholm,
Mel C ("Sporty Spice"), Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"), Geri Halliwell
("Ginger Spice") and Victoria Beckham ("Posh Spice").
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.
In physics,
p[5] is a symbol used to represent
pressure in mathematical formulae.
The
eleven-plus[7] (
11+) is a standardized examination administered to some students in England and Northern Ireland in their last year of primary education, which governs admission to grammar schools and other secondary schools which use academic selection.
18
Respectful // First Lady has tear succeeding Republican (8)
In the Bible,
Eve[5,10] is the first woman,
mother of the human race, fashioned by God from the rib of Adam, companion of Adam and mother of Cain and Abel
* [
Gen 2:18-25].
* not to mention Seth and her other sons and daughters [
Gen 5:4]
A
Republican[5] (
abbreviation R[5]) is a member or supporter of the US Republican Party.
In Britain,
U[5]
is used informally as an adjective (in respect to language or social
behaviour) meaning characteristic of or appropriate to the upper social
classes ⇒ U manners
.
In Crosswordland, the term "books" – or similar expressions such as today's "series of books" – is commonly used to clue either the Old Testament (OT) or the New Testament (NT). Today the setter leaves it up to the solver to figure out which one.
Hello![7]
is a weekly magazine specializing in celebrity news and human-interest
stories, published in the United Kingdom since 1988. It is the United
Kingdom local edition of
¡Hola!, the Spanish weekly magazine. A Canadian version of the magazine,
Hello! Canada, has been published since 2006.
Othello[7] (
in full The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice) is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1601 and 1604.
|
Publication date
|
Puzzle number
|
Setter
|
| Friday, October 21, 2022 |
DT 30124 |
proXimal (Steve Bartlett) |
|
Link to review
|
Reviewer
|
Difficulty
|
Enjoyment
|
| DT 30124 – Review
|
Senf
|
★★★/★★★★
|
★★★/★★★★
|
Across 1a King having // coronation (8)The regnal ciphers (monograms) of British monarchs are initials
formed from the Latin version of their first name followed by either
Rex or
Regina (Latin for king or queen, respectively). Thus, the regnal cipher of King Charles is
CR[5] – from the Latin
Carolus Rex if tradition be followed. However, the Royal Mint is issuing coins with the inscription
Charles III so perhaps Latin really is a dead language (or half-dead language) and King Charles will be known as
Charles Rex.
* A
cipher[5] (
also spelled cypher) is a
monogram[5] or
motif of two or more interwoven letters, typically a person's initials, used to identify a personal possession or as a logo. The
Corps of Royal Engineers[7], usually just called the
Royal Engineers (
abbreviation RE), and commonly known as the
Sappers[7],
is a corps of the British Army that provides military engineering and
other technical support to the British Armed Forces.
Ionic[16B] is an adjective meaning of or relating to Ionia, its inhabitants, or their dialect of Ancient Greek.
Ionia[16B] was
an ancient region on the western coast of Asia Minor and on adjacent islands in the Aegean that was colonized by the ancient Greeks. 12a Simple // game with short cue (6)
In Crosswordland, a game is apt to be
rugby union[10] (
abbreviation RU[5]),
a form of rugby football played between teams of 15 players (in contrast to rugby league[5], which is played in teams of thirteen).Versus[16B] (abbreviation v or, especially US, vs) is a preposition meaning (especially in a competition or lawsuit) against or in opposition to.
22a Perhaps Poirot's // man given many tasks (8)Hercule Poirot[7]
is a fictional Belgian detective, created by English writer Agatha Christie (1890–1976).
In Greek and Roman mythology,
Hercules[5] was a hero of superhuman strength and courage who
performed twelve immense tasks or ‘labours’ imposed on him and who after
death was ranked among the gods.
Bung[10] (
noun) is British slang for a bribe.
In the surface reading, bung[16B] denotes a stopper, especially of cork or rubber, for a cask, piece of laboratory glassware, etc.
|
At Oxford and Cambridge universities, a
fellow[10] is a member of the governing body of a college who is usually a member of the teaching staff.
A
don[10] is a member of the teaching staff at a university or college, especially at Oxford or Cambridge.
Cos is an alternative spelling of
Kos[5], a Greek island in the southeastern Aegean, one of the Dodecanese group. It is the home of
cos lettuce[5] (
known to North Americans as romaine[5]).
Indulge means to pamper or spoil someone ⇒
My mother indulges the children dreadfully.
Thus,
overindulge[2] must mean to pamper or spoil someone excessively.
29a Good man eyed new // moon (8)The abbreviation
G for
good may come from its use in education as a grade awarded on school assignments or tests
[a] or in numismatics as a grade of coin
[7].
[a] Collins English to Spanish Dictionary
Ganymede[16B]
is the brightest and largest of the four Galilean satellites of
Jupiter, and the largest in the solar system (named for a beautiful
Trojan youth in Greek mythology who was abducted by Zeus to Olympus and
made the cupbearer of the gods).
I will return later with the Down clues.
|
Publication date
|
Puzzle number
|
Setter
|
| Saturday, October 22, 2022 |
DT 30125 |
{TBD} |
|
Link to review
|
Reviewer
|
Difficulty
|
Enjoyment
|
DT 30125 – Hints
DT 30125 – Review
|
{TBD}
|
{★★★★★}
|
{★★★★★}
|
Notes
|
As this was a Saturday "Prize Puzzle" in Britain, there are two entries related to it on Big Dave's Crossword Blog — the first, posted on the date of publication, contains hints for selected clues while the second is a full review issued following the entry deadline for the contest. The vast majority of reader comments will generally be found attached to the "hints" posting with a minimal number — if any — accompanying the full review. |
Commentary on the Saturday puzzle will be added later.
