Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29703 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Wednesday, June 16, 2021 | |
Setter
Jay (Jeremy Mutch) | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29703]
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Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
2Kiwis | |
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
In the homophone wars, the shoe* is on the other foot today.* although the Brits would say 'boot' rather than 'shoe'[5]
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 | Reluctant to entertain Italian lady /for/ a drink (10) |
Donna[8] is the Italian word for woman—and, in some contexts, lady. In other contexts, a more appropriate translation for lady would be signora[8].
Chardonnay[5] is a variety of white wine grape used for making champagne and other wines or a wine made from the Chardonnay grape.
| 6a | Problem seen on source of deer // lick (4) |
The rub[5] is the central problem or difficulty in a situation ⇒
that was the rub—she had not cared enough[from Shakespeare's Hamlet ( iii. i. 65)].
| 9a | Poles interceding in characteristic // passage (7) |
| 10a | Instrument // viewed in kaleidoscopic colours (7) |
| 12a | That girl drinking beer with courage /will be/ game (4,3,6) |
Bottle[5] is an informal British term denoting the courage or confidence needed to do something difficult or dangerous ⇒
I lost my bottle completely and ran.
American Pastime?
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| There are comments from Brits on Big Dave's Crossword Blog stating they are not familiar with the game in question. From a perusal of my dictionaries, I find it present in only my US dictionaries and not in my British dictionaries, so it would seem to be an American term—or at least a term that originated in America. The term is not found in the British edition of Lexico (Oxford Dictionaries) but is in the US edition (although with hyphens). I must say, though, that I did a serious double take when I read the usage example (the editor must have been in a particularly randy mood when he (or she) wrote that entry! Spin-the-bottle[6] is a party game in which players take turns spinning a bottle lying flat, and then kiss the person to whom the bottle neck points on stopping ⇒ Though kissing may become boring after a round or two of spin-the-bottle, kissing is a lot safer and less intimate than having oral sex in front of a crowd. |
| 14a | Maoist youth // argued about drive back (3,5) |
Red Guard[5] is the name of any of various radical or socialist groups, in particular an organized detachment of workers during the Russian Revolution of 1917 and a militant youth movement in China (1966–76) which carried out attacks on intellectuals and other disfavoured groups as part of Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution.
| 15a | Split // finance ultimately invested in London building (6) |
| 17a | Help for driver // reversing vehicle after test (6) |
The test referred to in the clue is not the SAT[7] (Scholastic Aptitude Test or Scholastic Assessment Test), a Reasoning Test taken by high school students in the United States for admission into colleges.
Rather, it is the National Curriculum assessments[7], a series of educational assessments, colloquially known as Sats or SATs, used to assess the attainment of children attending maintained schools* in England. They comprise a mixture of teacher-led and test-based assessment depending on the age of the pupils.
* In England and Wales, a maintained school[5] is a school that is funded by a local education authority. In North America, such a school would be called a public school. However, in the UK, the term public school is used for a special class of independent school. (read more )
In Britain, an independent school[10] is a school that is neither financed nor controlled by the government or local authorities; in other words, an independent school[2] is not paid for with public money and does not belong to the state school system.
A private school[2,5] is a special case of independent school, being a school run independently by an individual or group, especially for profit and supported wholly by the payment of fees.
A public school[2] is yet another class of independent school, a secondary school, especially a boarding school run independently of the state, financed by a combination of endowments and pupils' fees.
What we in North America would call a public school[2], is known in the UK as a state school[5] or a maintained school*.
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In Britain, an independent school[10] is a school that is neither financed nor controlled by the government or local authorities; in other words, an independent school[2] is not paid for with public money and does not belong to the state school system.
A private school[2,5] is a special case of independent school, being a school run independently by an individual or group, especially for profit and supported wholly by the payment of fees.
A public school[2] is yet another class of independent school, a secondary school, especially a boarding school run independently of the state, financed by a combination of endowments and pupils' fees.
What we in North America would call a public school[2], is known in the UK as a state school[5] or a maintained school*.
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Satnav[5] is navigation dependent on information received from satellites*.
* In North America, we would refer to such a system as GPS. However, GPS is merely one of several global or regional satnav systems.[7] The British use the generic term for such systems. GPS—like kleenex or xerox — is a brand name that has effectively become a generic term.
| 19a | Driving force /may be/ arrogance in front of team (8) |
Airscrew[5] is a British name for an aircraft propeller*.
* Screw[5] is a historical name for a ship's or aircraft's propeller (considered as acting like a screw in moving through water or air) ⇒
But steamships were improving as the screw propeller replaced the paddle wheel and iron replaced wood.
| 21a | These may cut // supremo absorbed by wild NHS praise (7,6) |
Supremo[5] is an informal British term for a person in overall charge of an organization or activity ⇒
Instead he will defer to a new supremo who will take charge in the spring.
Scratching the Surface
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| The National Health Service[5] (also National Health, abbreviation NHS) is a system of national medical care in the UK paid for mainly by taxation and started by the Labour government in 1948. |
| 24a | Whip /may see/ little weight attached to Tory regularly absent (7) |
Scratching the Surface
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| A whip[5]
is an official of a political party appointed to maintain
parliamentary discipline among its members, especially so as to ensure
attendance and voting in debates. By the way, the truant Tory makes another appearance later in the puzzle. |
| 25a | Student doing badly with golf /and/ getting stuck (7) |
"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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| 26a | Entertainer // that's attractive to a parasite? (4) |
| 27a | Couriers /in/ confusion with Greens in disarray (10) |
Down
| 1d | Pretty // cunning (4) |
| 2d | Gathered /there's/ a transmitter for the audience (7) |
How do you say that?
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| The homophone works perfectly well for me but it generated a lot of complaints on Big Dave's Crossword Blog. Apparently several English dialects (of which there are apparently more than fifty in total) pronounce "amass" as though it were spelled "amarse" (with an R in it). I don't know if these are the same non-rhotic dialects that don't pronounce R when it is, in fact, present*. If they are, then I suppose all those unused Rs have to go somewhere! * I'm guessing that is the case as those complaining about this homophone are the individuals who customarily speak up in support of the non-rhotic homophones and vice versa. |
| 3d | Unfortunately I'm old -- I sustain // pretence (13) |
| 4d | Ant panicked a politician // with the habit of swimming (8) |
"politician " = TORY [member of British political party]
A Tory[10] is a member or supporter of the Conservative Party in Great Britain [or, for that matter, in Canada].
The Conservative Party[5] is a major right of centre British political party promoting free enterprise and private ownership that emerged from the old Tory Party* under Sir Robert Peel in the 1830s and 1840s.
* Historically, a Tory[10] was a member of the English political party that opposed the exclusion of James, Duke of York from the royal succession (1679–80). Tory remained the label for subsequent major conservative interests until they gave birth to the Conservative Party in the 1830s.
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A Tory[10] is a member or supporter of the Conservative Party in Great Britain [or, for that matter, in Canada].
The Conservative Party[5] is a major right of centre British political party promoting free enterprise and private ownership that emerged from the old Tory Party* under Sir Robert Peel in the 1830s and 1840s.
* Historically, a Tory[10] was a member of the English political party that opposed the exclusion of James, Duke of York from the royal succession (1679–80). Tory remained the label for subsequent major conservative interests until they gave birth to the Conservative Party in the 1830s.
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Natatory[10] (or natatorial[5,10]) is a technical or literary term meaning of or related to swimming.
| 5d | More than enough // beer to keep person who's been elected (5) |
"person who's been elected " = MP
Politicians seem to be everywhere—after all, we are in the midst of an election campaign!
| 7d | Ring in schedule /for/ early-morning caller (7) |
| 8d | Analysed // having stopped working (6,4) |
| 11d | Drier /and/ unusually calm on the side (7,6) |
Clothes maiden[10] (another name for maiden[10]) is a Northern England dialect term for a clothes horse, a frame on which clothes are hung to dry.
| 13d | Go over plot /for/ one who's habitually bad-tempered (10) |
Crosspatch[5] is an informal, derogatory term for a bad-tempered person ⇒
York is bulging at the walls with Scrooges, Grinches, crotchety crosspatches and other assorted bah humbuggers.
| 16d | Has Colin beaten // this chap? (8) |
Chap[3,4,11] (show more ) is an informal British[5] or chiefly British[3] term for a man or boy — although a term that is certainly not uncommon in Canada.
Chap[3,4,11] is a shortened form of chapman[3,4,11], an archaic term for a trader, especially an itinerant pedlar[a,b].
[a] Pedlar is the modern British spelling of peddler[14] which, in most senses, is considered by the Brits to be a US or old-fashioned British spelling. The exception is in the sense of a dealer in illegal drugs which the Brits spell as drug peddler.
[b] The current meaning of chap[2] dates from the 18th century. In the 16th century, chap meant 'a customer'. The dictionaries do not explain how a shortened form of 'chapman' (pedlar) came to mean 'customer'.
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[a] Pedlar is the modern British spelling of peddler[14] which, in most senses, is considered by the Brits to be a US or old-fashioned British spelling. The exception is in the sense of a dealer in illegal drugs which the Brits spell as drug peddler.
[b] The current meaning of chap[2] dates from the 18th century. In the 16th century, chap meant 'a customer'. The dictionaries do not explain how a shortened form of 'chapman' (pedlar) came to mean 'customer'.
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| 18d | Speaker systems // cause anger in travellers after vacation (7) |
The phrase "after vacation" is an indication to remove the contents (interior letters) from the word "T(raveller)S". Vacation[10] is used in the sense of the act of departing from or abandoning property, etc. Thus the setter would seem to be suggesting that the interior letters pack up and leave.
Tannoy[5] (Trademark) is the brand name of a type of public address system. In Britain, the term has become a generic term for a public address system to such an extent that it is even used as a verb meaning to transmit or announce over a public address system ⇒
the news was tannoyed one afternoon.
| 20d | Relief // especially seen during ceremony (7) |
| 22d | Flier // essential to meagre beginnings (5) |
The grebe[5] is a diving waterbird with a long neck, lobed toes, and almost no tail, typically having bright breeding plumage used in display.
| 23d | Hagglers occasionally /finding/ time (4) |
Key to Reference Sources:
[1] - The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition
[2] - Search Chambers - (Chambers 21st Century Dictionary)
[3] - TheFreeDictionary.com (American Heritage Dictionary)
[4] - TheFreeDictionarycom (Collins English Dictionary)
[5] - Lexico (formerly Oxford Dictionaries Online) (Oxford Dictionary of English)
[6] - Lexico (formerly Oxford Dictionaries Online) (Oxford Advanced American Dictionary)
[7] - Wikipedia
[8] - Reverso Online Dictionary (Collins French-English Dictionary)
[9] - Infoplease (Random House Unabridged Dictionary)
[10] - CollinsDictionary.com (Collins English Dictionary)
[11] - TheFreeDictionary.com (Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary)
[12] - CollinsDictionary.com (Webster’s New World College Dictionary)
[13] - MacmillanDictionary.com (Macmillan Dictionary)
[14] - CollinsDictionary.com (COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary)
[15] - CollinsDictionary.com (Penguin Random House LLC/HarperCollins Publishers Ltd )
Signing off for today — Falcon
