Introduction
Welcome to the North American Daily Telegraph Cryptic Crossword Forum.Although the National Post has ceased publishing cryptic crosswords, those of us addicted to them can continue to get our daily fix direct from The Daily Telegraph. In addition to various subscription options offered by the newspaper itself (the online edition of the paper, the Telegraph Puzzles website, as well as Android and Apple apps), The Daily Telegraph 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.
Leave a comment to tell what you think of the new direction and format.
Statement From the National Post
I am sure we were all shocked and disappointed by the demise of cryptic crosswords in the National Post. I also did not appreciate the replacement puzzle being described in an article published on October 15 as not "the
diabolical British-style [cryptic] puzzles that include references
to Latin prefixes, obscure nymphs from Greek mythology and lines
from Milton’s Paradise Lost. This is — many will be relieved to hear
— not what is in store with the Universal daily and weekend
puzzles."
This prompted me to write the following to Rob Roberts, the Editor in Chief:
I have been a subscriber to the National Post since day one, having had my Financial Post subscription converted to a National Post subscription when the paper was launched. For many years I have been an avid fan of the cryptic crosswords carried by the National Post, both the weekday Daily Telegraph puzzle as well as the weekend Cox and Rathvon puzzle.
Your decision to discontinue these features is deeply disappointing. To add insult to injury, I found the gratuitous, disparaging remarks about cryptic crosswords made in the article published on October 15 introducing the replacement puzzle to be extremely insulting.
I have therefore cancelled my subscription.
to which he replied:
Hello, thanks for your note.
We understand your displeasure. Those features have been very popular among our readers for a very long time, and we’ve heard from a lot of people since this change was made.
There were a suite of puzzle and comics changes made for financial reasons across the Postmedia Network. Each paper exchanged their own collection of offerings for a unified collection from a single provider.
It saved us a lot of money. And as we transition our legacy media company to a leaner, digital-oriented company we need to find any savings we can, especially those that spare us other, more painful cuts. We hope you find new favourites among these new puzzles and features.
We continue to work very hard to create a newspaper you continue to find worth subscribing to. I hope you change your mind.
Rob
Emily and Henry: Not Adieu but Au Revoir
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
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Publication date
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Puzzle number
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Setter
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| Monday, October 17, 2022 | DT 30120 |
Campbell (Allan Scott) |
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Link to review
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Reviewer
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Difficulty
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Enjoyment
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| DT 30120 – Review | Falcon | ★★★ | ★★★ | ||
Across
1a Robber /in/ gang, Italian (6)
12a Jellyfish // petrifying woman (6)
21a Tension /caused by/ lover hiding note (6)
| 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)
26a Member of the clergy, // American patriot, approaching North Dakota (8)
Down
5d Duck taken by each female // thief (3,4)
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)
15d Performer, // stripper, removing top after short time (3-6)
| 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)
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Publication date
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Puzzle number
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Setter
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| Tuesday, October 18, 2022 | DT 30121 | Anthony Plumb (Unconfirmed) | |||
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Link to review
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Reviewer
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Difficulty
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Enjoyment
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| DT 30121 – Review | Twmbarlwm | ★★ | ★★★★ | ||
Across
1a Athletes who get the highest // value petrol annoyed with Shell initially (4-8)
12a Fool European maiden by holding large // meeting (8)
13a Hard interrupting Italian novelist, editor // reflected (6)
15a Egg on sandwiches Mussolini, perhaps, // made (8)
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)
26a This writer is one day behind rear of coconut // shy (5)
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)
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. |
2d Actress, say, removing soft // coat (5)
4d In jail, guard picked up // something to eat (4)
5d Tense about a certain // prize (8)
6d Journey around grand // upland area (5)
22d Loaded // gun's first removed from convict hideout (5)
both old lags were sentenced to ten years' imprisonment.
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Publication date
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Puzzle number
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Setter
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| Wednesday, October 19, 2022 | DT 30122 | Unknown | |||
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Link to review
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Reviewer
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Difficulty
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Enjoyment
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| 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 wetor (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)
15a Saw // agent dressed in brown (6)
16a A gee-gee pinned by the German // weapon (6)
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)
Down
1d I am upset, your setter? // I am speechless! (4)
2d Heads? // Crazy people (4)
4d One using brain is engaged by boffin // who works in the lab? (15)
7d Like mode of transport // traversing sporting venue? (10)
a football ground; (ii)
Liverpool’s new ground is nearing completion.
13d Short period imbibing champagne substitute /that's/ more flavoursome? (7)
14d Guards // so large doing turns (7)
20d Repair // fine kitchen vessel without its lid (6)
23d Garment // is taken up for a queen to wear (4)
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Publication date
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Puzzle number
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Setter
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| Thursday, October 20, 2022 | DT 30123 | silvanus | |||
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Link to review
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Reviewer
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Difficulty
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Enjoyment
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| DT 30123 – Review | Mr K | ★★★★ | ★★★★ | ||
Across
9a Airline service cross about // supposedly unmissable target? (4,4)
10a Skill /of/ primarily kind old doctor in Cumbrian area (4-3)
11a Greek character visits second // gravestone, possibly (8)
12 Little old man retired, lacking in desire (6)
15a Rum, maybe /from/ Italy, son left half-finished (4)
m 1991; one s one d.
16a Entering southern strait, Norman occasionally /is/ sleepy (9)
21a Got a load of // fish, we're told (4)
24a Issue // anaesthetic (6)
27a Caught golfer /making/ embarrassing error (7)
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)
Henry m. Georgina 1957, 1s 2d.
Down
2d Tripe // small number in Essex noshed regularly (8)
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)
7d Understands it's stated patient individual /requires/ cosmetic surgery (4,3)
In dealing with this series of difficult circumstances, she displayed the patience of Job.
11d City // Spice Girl barely missed (9)
14d Prime student to limit pressure before American // exam (6-4)
18 Respectful // First Lady has tear succeeding Republican (8)
* not to mention Seth and her other sons and daughters [Gen 5:4]
19d Cook recipe accessed by upper-class // gourmet (7)
U manners.
20d Play /and/ series of books attracting magazine (7)
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Publication date
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Puzzle number
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Setter
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| Friday, October 21, 2022 | DT 30124 | proXimal (Steve Bartlett) | |||
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Link to review
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Reviewer
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Difficulty
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Enjoyment
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| 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.
5a Decline // accompanying soldiers in retreat (6)
11a Superhuman removing leader // of ancient people (5)
12a Simple // game with short cue (6)
13a Neighbourhood // against chains being put on little space (8)
22a Perhaps Poirot's // man given many tasks (8)
26a Bung // kid stuck in empty bottle (5)
| In the surface reading, bung[16B] denotes a stopper, especially of cork or rubber, for a cask, piece of laboratory glassware, etc. |
27a Fellow nurses worn-out // continued at length (7,2)
28a Overindulge /in/ Greek island group (6)
My mother indulges the children dreadfully.Thus, overindulge[2] must mean to pamper or spoil someone excessively.
29a Good man eyed new // moon (8)
[a] Collins English to Spanish Dictionary
I will return later with the Down clues.
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Publication date
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Puzzle number
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Setter
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| Saturday, October 22, 2022 | DT 30125 | {TBD} | |||
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Link to review
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Reviewer
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Difficulty
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Enjoyment
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| DT 30125 – Hints DT 30125 – Review |
{TBD} | {★★★★★} | {★★★★★} | ||
Notes
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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.
| Symbols and Markup Conventions | |
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| Click here for further explanation and usage examples of the symbols and markup conventions used on this blog. | |
References
Key to Reference Sources:
