Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29923 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Tuesday, March 1, 2022 | |
Setter
X-Type | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29923]
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Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
Mr K | |
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, June 25, 2022 edition of the National Post. | |
Introduction
I learned several new things from today's puzzle – the material found in a ship's hold, a British name for a geological feature and some railway terminology.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 | Cocktail of wine duly // hard to handle (8) |
| 5a | Cost of maintenance /of/ high castle tower (6) |
A keep[5] is the strongest or central tower of a castle, acting as a final refuge.
| 10a | Thrilling tale: // unknown items recorded here? (8,7) |
Double definition, the first being whimsical.
A suspense account[5] is an account in the books of an organization in which items are entered temporarily before allocation to the correct or final account.
| 11a | Shelters not opened /in/ these pleasant garden spots (7) |
| 12a | Unorthodox /and/ rotten cricketer restricting English (7) |
A bat[5] is a person batting, especially in cricket; in other words, a batsman ⇒
the team's opening bat.
" English " = E[2]
| 13a | Went up // as century came to a close (8) |
The abbreviation for century or centuries is c[5] (also c.) ⇒
a watch case, 19th c.
| 15a | Car, primarily an old banger, // not costing a lot (5) |
Banger[5] is an informal British term for an old car in poor condition ⇒
they’ve only got an old banger.
| 18a | The top's come off loudspeaker -- // bother! (5) |
Tannoy[5] (Trademark) is 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.
| 20a | Men gathered for a board meeting? (5,3) |
| 23a | Dull brown, new-age // material found in ship's hold (7) |
Dun[5] denotes of a dull greyish-brown colour.
" new " = N[5] [in place names on maps;
N Zealand]
Dunnage[5] is loose wood, matting, or similar material used to keep a cargo in position in a ship's hold.
| 25a | Female made a record -- /it's/ sold (7) |
| 26a | Men with horns closest to fight // mythical creature (4,4,7) |
The Loch Ness monster[5] is a large creature alleged to live in the deep waters of Loch Ness in Scotland. Reports of its existence date from the time of St Columba (6th century); despite recent scientific expeditions, there is still no proof of its existence.
| 27a | Standard achieved without Mike /in/ street procession (6) |
" Mike " = M[5] [NATO Phonetic Alphabet[7]]
| 28a | In favour of pipes /and/ various manufactured items (8) |
Down
| 1d | As tune changes, // remove an MP, perhaps (6) |
| 2d | Sink // was given nasty bash at home (9) |
| 3d | Perform /in/ river? Lovely (7) |
The River Exe[7] rises on Exmoor in Somerset, 8.4 kilometres (5 mi) from the Bristol Channel coast, but flows more or less directly due south*, so that most of its length lies in Devon. It reaches the sea at a substantial ria, the Exe Estuary, on the south (English Channel) coast of Devon.
* and, thus, away from the Bristol Channel
| 4d | Odd odes and singular // measures (5) |
| 6d | Peaceful -- /or/ perhaps loco? (7) |
Loco[5] is an informal British term for a locomotive.
In the age of steam, the 4-6-2 locomotive* became almost globally known as a Pacific[7] type.
* Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-6-2 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and two trailing wheels on one axle.
Post Mortem
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| I only understood the latter part of the clue after reading Mr K's review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog. |
| 7d | Issue /as/ former partner getting cuddles on a regular basis (5) |
| 8d | Mine's the best /of/ places for rapid vehicle maintenance (8) |
| 9d | Kit often seen with this /in/ taxi -- a lot? Almost (8) |
| 14d | Get less // iron, one could say? (8) |
Double definition, the second being whimsical
| 16d | Lively // quote half-hearted author's written up (9) |
| 17d | Arrives at rim /to see/ rockfall? (8) |
Landslip[5] is a British alternative term for landslide.
| 19d | At last, Harry gets what's deserved /and/ longed for (7) |
| 21d | Any number in goal maybe, with Germany // held in contempt (7) |
"any number " = N [n[10]; mathematical symbol]
| 22d | Publicity material with alternative directions /for/ ornaments (6) |
| 24d | New diamonds, right? /That's/ better! (5) |
The "new" from 23a makes a return appearance.
Ice[5] is an informal term for diamonds.
" right " = R [r or r.[2]]
| 25d | Bone // incorporated into life mural (5) |
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
