Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29812 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Thursday, October 21, 2021 | |
Setter
Giovanni (Don Manley) | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29812]
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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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* The BD Rating may be meaningless as Miffypops has frequently stated that he never changes it from its default value (***/***). In cases where the BD Rating on his reviews has been changed from the default value, it has been done by someone else such as Big Dave or crypticsue.
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Introduction
There's a diverse mix of clues in this puzzle from Giovanni and I added a couple of new words to my memory bank. Unfortunately, my memory bank is a bit like my physical filing system—the fact that an item has been filed does not necessarily mean that it can readily be retrieved!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 | Act gloomily, troubled /by/ this study of global warming etc? (11) |
| 9a | Manage // to come through cardiac operation (4) |
| 10a | In favour of attacking /and/ advancing (11) |
What did he say?
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In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Miffypops refers to the the beginning of the solution as aThis would appear to be a conflation of 'pro' and 'preposition'—or, perhaps, merely a simple typo.thee-letter proposition .... |
| 11a | The music coming from / birds? / The opposite! (4) |
The phrase "the opposite" is an inverted logic indicator which tells the solver to invert (or reverse) the logic or meaning of the statement immediately preceding it. Doing so leads one to reinterpret the wordplay as "Birds coming from the music".
This clue construction effectively places the definition in the middle of the wordplay. While this is a rarely seen phenomenon, we did see another example as recently as yesterday—albeit in a clue employing a different cryptic device.
The emu[5] is a large flightless fast-running Australian bird resembling the ostrich, with shaggy gray or brown plumage, bare blue skin on the head and neck, and three-toed feet.
| 14a | Form of rap embraced by this unconventional // musician (7) |
| 16a | Strain to bite around // hard bit of food (4,3) |
A pine nut[5] is the edible seed of various pine trees.
| 17a | Girls with a misplaced /and/ greedy king (5) |
In Greek mythology, Midas[5] was a king of Phrygia, who, according to one story, was given by Dionysus the power of turning everything he touched into gold.
The Story Behind the Picture
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| According to mythology, the god Dionysus granted Midas his wish that whatever he might touch should be changed into gold ("the golden touch"[7]). One of his first acts was to turn all the roses in his garden to gold. However, when he sat down to a meal, all his food and drink turned to gold and he realized that the "gift" he had been granted was in reality a curse. When his daughter came to him distraught that the roses had lost their fragrance, he reached out to console her and she turned into a golden statue. |
| 18a | Relax /and/ laugh out loud by lake (4) |
LOL[5] (or lol) is an abbreviation of laughing out loud or laugh out loud and is used [principally on social media] to draw attention to a joke or amusing statement, or to express amusement.
| 19a | Lass having left // -- a source of irritation (4) |
| 20a | High-ranking woman // to ask for alms with hesitation (5) |
Begum[5] is an Indian term for:
- a Muslim woman of high rank
- the title of a married Muslim woman, equivalent to Mrs.
| 22a | Like some rocks // beast knocked over by river (7) |
| 23a | Cease to be involved with // one section of newspaper? (4-3) |
A pull-out[5] is a section of a magazine, newspaper, or other publication that is designed to be detached and kept.
| 24a | One makes a noise // disappearing -- one unseen (4) |
| 28a | Is Ruth's son one sunk in depression, // being like Adam? (11) |
In the Bible, Obed[7] was a son of Boaz and Ruth, the father of Jesse, and the grandfather of David. He is named as one of Jesus' ancestors in the genealogies recorded in the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke.
In the book of Genesis in the Bible, God commands Adam[7] not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. However, Eve convinces Adam to disobey the order and they are punished by God for their disobedience.
| 29a | Resentful // soldiers stuck in home counties (4) |
"home counties " = SE
The Home Counties[5] are the counties surrounding London in the south-east (SE) part of England, into which London has extended. They comprise chiefly Essex, Kent, Surrey, and Hertfordshire.
No exact definition of the term exists and the composition of the Home Counties remains a matter of debate. While Oxford Dictionaries restrictively lists them as being chiefly Essex, Kent, Surrey, and Hertfordshire, Wikipedia tells us that the Home Counties[7] are generally considered to include Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Surrey and Sussex (although Sussex does not border London).
Other counties more distant from London, such as Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Dorset, Hampshire and Oxfordshire are also sometimes included in the list due to their close proximity to the capital and their connection to the London regional economy.
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The Home Counties[5] are the counties surrounding London in the south-east (SE) part of England, into which London has extended. They comprise chiefly Essex, Kent, Surrey, and Hertfordshire.
No exact definition of the term exists and the composition of the Home Counties remains a matter of debate. While Oxford Dictionaries restrictively lists them as being chiefly Essex, Kent, Surrey, and Hertfordshire, Wikipedia tells us that the Home Counties[7] are generally considered to include Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Surrey and Sussex (although Sussex does not border London).
Other counties more distant from London, such as Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Dorset, Hampshire and Oxfordshire are also sometimes included in the list due to their close proximity to the capital and their connection to the London regional economy.
hide
| 30a | Abused tradesmen to // walk out in protest? (11) |
Down
| 2d | Transport vehicle with central bit set aside /for/ bird (4) |
Lorry[5] is the common name in the UK for the vehicle known in North America as a truck[5]; nevertheless, the word truck also seems to be used in the UK*.
The lory[5] is a small Australasian and southeast Asian parrot with a brush-tipped tongue for feeding on nectar and pollen, having mainly green plumage with patches of bright colour.
| 3d | Be apathetic /as/ doctor needing exercise (4) |
| 4d | Old city is gone round by Thomas -- contributing to this? (7) |
The entire clue is a cryptic definition in which the wordplay is embedded.
"old city " = UR
Ur[5] is an ancient Sumerian city formerly on the Euphrates, in southern Iraq. It was one of the oldest cities of Mesopotamia, dating from the 4th millennium BC, and reached its zenith in the late 3rd millennium BC. Ur[7] is considered by many to be the city of Ur Kasdim mentioned in the Book of Genesis as the birthplace of the Hebrew patriarch Abraham.
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Ur[5] is an ancient Sumerian city formerly on the Euphrates, in southern Iraq. It was one of the oldest cities of Mesopotamia, dating from the 4th millennium BC, and reached its zenith in the late 3rd millennium BC. Ur[7] is considered by many to be the city of Ur Kasdim mentioned in the Book of Genesis as the birthplace of the Hebrew patriarch Abraham.
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| 5d | Some ore? // A good deal, by the sound of it (4) |
| 6d | Book // group (7) |
Genesis[5] is the first book of the Bible, which includes the stories of the creation of the world, Noah’s Ark, the Tower of Babel, and the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph.
Genesis[7]
are an English rock band formed in 1967 that has undergone many changes
in both membership and musical style over the course of its existence. (show more )
The most commercially successful and longest-lasting line-up consisted of keyboardist Tony Banks, bassist/guitarist Mike Rutherford and drummer/singer Phil Collins. Former members include original lead singer Peter Gabriel and guitarists Anthony Phillips and Steve Hackett. The band underwent many changes in musical style over its career, from folk music to progressive rock in the 1970s, before moving towards pop at the end of the decade.
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The most commercially successful and longest-lasting line-up consisted of keyboardist Tony Banks, bassist/guitarist Mike Rutherford and drummer/singer Phil Collins. Former members include original lead singer Peter Gabriel and guitarists Anthony Phillips and Steve Hackett. The band underwent many changes in musical style over its career, from folk music to progressive rock in the 1970s, before moving towards pop at the end of the decade.
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| 7d | 'Let's hear it for the ordinary potato' -- // one expressing opinion (11) |
| 8d | New list with variety /and/ flexibility (11) |
| 12d | Classical scholar, // I go up into hilltops distractedly (11) |
A philologist is an expert in or student of philology[5], the branch of knowledge that deals with the structure, historical development, and relationships of a language or languages.
| 13d | Initial // pain merrily dealt with (11) |
| 15d | River // bank with black content (5) |
The Tiber[5] is a river of central Italy, upon which Rome stands. It rises in the Tuscan Apennines and flows 405 km (252 miles) generally southwestwards, entering the Tyrrhenian Sea at Ostia.
| 16d | Meet one's obligations /and/, by implication, yap (3,2) |
This clue contains what I like to think of as "inverse* wordplay"—to be precise, an "inverse reversal". The solution "PAY UP" could be a reversal (up in a down clue) of PAY which would be "yap" which appears in the clue itself. The phrase "by implication" is the indicator for the inverse wordplay.
In a normal clue, wordplay in the clue generates a result that appears in the solution. In the case of inverse wordplay, all or part of the solution can be interpreted as wordplay which would generate a result that is found in the clue itself.
* This type of cryptic device is more often referred to as "reverse wordplay". Perhaps due to my background in mathematics and engineering, I prefer to think of it as "inverse wordplay" as the concept parallels that of inverse functions in mathematics. In this case, labelling the device as an "inverse reversal" also allows one to avoid the inelegant label "reverse reversal".
| 20d | Queue at the pub? // Musician will be familiar with it (3,4) |
In music notation, a bar line[5] is a vertical line used in a musical score to mark a division between bars [measures].
Here and There
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| A bar[7] (or measure) is a segment of time defined by a given number of beats, each of which are assigned a particular note value. The word bar is more common in British English, and the word measure is more common in American English, although musicians generally understand both usages. Originally, the word bar derives from the vertical lines drawn through the staff (or stave) to mark off metrical units. In British English, the vertical line is also known as a bar, but often the term bar line is used in order to avoid confusion between the two meanings of bar. In American English, the word bar stands for the lines and nothing else. * In standard Western musical notation[7], the staff[7], or stave, is a set of five horizontal lines and four spaces that each represent a different musical pitch—or, in the case of a percussion staff, different percussion instruments—on which a musical score is written. For British musicians, stave[4,5,10,14]
would seem to be the name of choice whereas in North America, staff[1,2,3,11,12] is likely the more commonly used term. (show more )
Among British dictionaries, both Lexico (Oxford Dictionaries)[5] and Collins English Dictionary[4,10,14] characterize stave as a British term, while The Chambers Dictionary[1] and Chambers 21st Century Dictionary[2] do not. American dictionaries[3,11,12], on the other hand, do not seem to consider stave to be a British term. Furthermore, most dictionaries show stave[1,2,3,4,10,11,12] as an alternative term for staff[1,2,3,4,10,11]. Lexico, on the other hand, takes a contrarian view, listing staff[5] as an alternative term for stave[5]. hide |
| 21d | Actors /given/ holiday seasons with new introduction (7) |
Here and There
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The British use the word holiday(s) for what North Americans (especially our neighbours south of the border) would call vacation[5]. (read more )
Holiday[5,10] (often holidays) is a chiefly British term for a period in which a break is taken from work or studies for rest, travel, or recreation ⇒ (i) I spent my summer holidays on a farm; (ii) Fred was on holiday in Spain. According to British dictionaries, the usual US and Canadian term for such a break is vacation. However, I am accustomed to hearing the two terms used almost interchangeably in this sense—in much the same manner that I would use fall and autumn interchangeably. This may not be the case in all parts of Canada, but I grew up in the Maritimes and have lived in Eastern Ontario for most of my life, both areas where British traditions are particularly strong. In Britain, the word vacation[5] has a very specific meaning, a fixed holiday period between terms in universities and law courts ⇒ the Easter vacation. In North America, such a period might be called a break[7]. hide |
In the British sense of the word, the traditional "holiday season" (or, as we might say, "vacation period") is summer.
A mummer[5] is an actor in a traditional masked mime or a mummers' play.
| 25d | Crazy // Conservative entertained by gents? (4) |
"Conservative " = C [member of British political party]
The abbreviation for Conservative may be either C.[10] or Con.[10].
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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The abbreviation for Conservative may be either C.[10] or Con.[10].
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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The gents[5] is a British term for a men's public toilet.
Loo[5] is an informal British term for a toilet [either as a room or a plumbing fixture].
What did he say?
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In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Miffypops describes the synonym for gents asThe Brits appear to have nearly as many words for 'toilet' as the Inuit have for 'snow' with the smallest room[10] being yet another one.A regular term for the smallest room. |
| 26d | Alternative to road on the rise? // One's given false account (4) |
| 27d | Insect // occupying dung naturally (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
